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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19263-8.txt b/19263-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69e188f --- /dev/null +++ b/19263-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12232 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris, by +Henry Labouchère + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris + +Author: Henry Labouchère + +Release Date: September 13, 2006 [EBook #19263] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIARY OF THE BESIEGED *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Blenkinship, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net + + + + + + +DIARY + +OF + +THE BESIEGED RESIDENT + +IN PARIS. + + + + +DIARY + +OF + +THE BESIEGED RESIDENT + +IN PARIS. + + + + +REPRINTED FROM "THE DAILY NEWS," + +WITH + +SEVERAL NEW LETTERS AND PREFACE. + + + + +IN ONE VOLUME. + + + + +Second Edition, Revised. + + + + +LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. +1871. + +_The Right of Translation is Reserved_. + +LONDON: BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + ++-------------------------------------------------------------+ +|Transcriber's note: In this book there are inconsistencies in| +|accentation and capitalisation; these have been left as in | +|the original. This book contains two chapters labeled XVII. | ++-------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The publishers of these letters have requested me to write a preface. In +vain I have told them, that if prefaces have not gone out of date, the +sooner they do, the better it will be for the public; in vain I have +despairingly suggested that there must be something which would serve +their purpose, kept in type at their printers, commencing, "At the +request of--perhaps too partial--friends, I have been induced, against +my own judgment, to publish, &c., &c., &c.;" they say that they have +advertised the book with a preface, and a preface from me they must and +will have. Unfortunately I have, from my earliest childhood, religiously +skipped all introductions, prefaces, and other such obstructions, so +that I really do not precisely know how one ought to be written; I can +only, therefore, say that-- + +These letters are published for the very excellent reason that a +confiding publisher has offered me a sum of money for them, which I was +not such a fool as to refuse. They were written in Paris to the _Daily +News_ during the siege. I was residing there when the war broke out; +after a short absence, I returned just before the capitulation of +Sedan--intending only to remain one night. The situation, however, was +so interesting that I stayed on from day to day, until I found the +German armies drawing their lines of investment round the city. Had I +supposed that I should have been their prisoner for nearly five months, +I confess I should have made an effort to escape, but I shared the +general illusion that--one way or the other--the siege would not last a +month. + +Although I forwarded my letters by balloon, or sent them by messengers +who promised to "run the blockade," I had no notion, until the armistice +restored us to communications with the outer world, that one in twenty +had reached its destination. This mode of writing, as Dr. William +Russell wittily observed to me the other day at Versailles, was much +like smoking in the dark--and it must be my excuse for any inaccuracies +or repetitions. + +Many of my letters have been lost _en route_--some of them, which +reached the _Daily News_ Office too late for insertion, are now +published for the first time. The reader will perceive that I pretend to +no technical knowledge of military matters; I have only sought to convey +a general notion of how the warlike operations round Paris appeared to a +civilian spectator, and to give a fair and impartial account of the +inner life of Paris, during its isolation from the rest of Europe. My +bias--if I had any--was in favour of the Parisians, and I should have +been heartily glad had they been successful in their resistance. There +is, however, no getting over facts, and I could not long close my eyes +to the most palpable fact--however I might wish it otherwise--that their +leaders were men of little energy and small resource, and that they +themselves seemed rather to depend for deliverance upon extraneous +succour, than upon their own exertions. The women and the children +undoubtedly suffered great hardships, which they bore with praiseworthy +resignation. The sailors, the soldiers of the line, and levies of +peasants which formed the Mobiles, fought with decent courage. But the +male population of Paris, although they boasted greatly of their +"sublimity," their "endurance," and their "valour," hardly appeared to +me to come up to their own estimation of themselves, while many of them +seemed to consider that heroism was a necessary consequence of the +enunciation of advanced political opinions. My object in writing was to +present a practical rather than a sentimental view of events, and to +recount things as they were, not as I wished them to be, or as the +Parisians, with perhaps excusable patriotism, wished them to appear. + +For the sake of my publishers, I trust that the book will find favour +with the public. For the last three hours I have been correcting the +proofs of my prose, and it struck me that letters written to be +inserted in separate numbers of a daily paper, when published in a +collected form, are somewhat heavy reading. I feel, indeed, just at +present, much like a person who has obtained money under false +pretences, but whose remorse is not sufficiently strong to induce him to +return it. + + + + +DIARY +OF THE +BESIEGED RESIDENT IN PARIS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +PARIS, _September 18th._ + +No one walking on the Champs Elysées or on the Boulevards to-day would +suppose that 300,000 Prussians are within a few miles of the city, and +intend to besiege it. Happy, said Laurence Sterne, in his "Sentimental +Journey," the nation which can once a week forget its cares. The French +have not changed since then. To-day is a fête day, and as a fête day it +must be kept. Every one seems to have forgotten the existence of the +Prussians. The Cafés are crowded by a gay crowd. On the Boulevard, +Monsieur and Madame walk quietly along with their children. In the +Champs Elysées honest mechanics and bourgeois are basking in the sun, +and nurserymaids are flirting with soldiers. There is even a lull in the +universal drilling. The regiments of Nationaux and Mobiles carry large +branches of trees stuck into the ends of their muskets. Round the statue +of Strasburg there is the usual crowd, and speculators are driving a +brisk trade in portraits of General Uhrich. "Here, citizens," cries one, +"is the portrait of the heroic defender of Strasburg, only one sou--it +cost me two--I only wish that I were rich enough to give it away." +"Listen, citizens," cries another, "whilst I declaim the poem of a lady +who has escaped from Strasburg. To those who, after hearing it, may wish +to read it to their families, I will give it as a favour for two sous." +I only saw one disturbance. As I passed by the Rond Point, a very tall +woman was mobbed, because it was thought that she might be a Uhlan in +disguise. But it was regarded more as a joke than anything serious. So +bent on being happy was every one that I really believe that a Uhlan in +the midst of them would not have disturbed their equanimity. "Come what +may, to-day we will be merry," seemed to be the feeling; "let us leave +care to the morrow, and make the most of what may be our last fête day." + +Mr. Malet, the English secretary, who returned yesterday from Meaux, had +no small difficulty in getting through the Prussian lines. He started on +Thursday evening for Creil in a train with a French officer. When they +got to Creil, they knocked up the Mayor, and begged him to procure them +a horse. He gave them an order for the only one in the town. Its +proprietor was in bed, and when they knocked at his door his wife cried +out from the window, "My husband is a coward and won't open." A voice +from within was heard saying, "I go out at night for no one." So they +laid hands on the horse and harnessed it to a gig. All night long they +drove in what they supposed was the direction of the Prussian outposts, +trumpeting occasionally like elephants in a jungle. In the morning they +found themselves in a desert, not a living soul to be seen, so they +turned back towards Paris, got close in to the forts, and started in +another direction. Occasionally they discerned a distant Uhlan, who rode +off when he saw them. On Friday night they slept among the +Francs-tireurs, and on the following morning they pushed forward again +with an escort. Soon they saw a Prussian outpost, and after waving for +some time a white flag, an officer came forward. After a parley Mr. +Malet and his friend were allowed to pass. At three o'clock they arrived +at Meaux. Count Bismarck was just driving into the town; he at once +recognised Mr. Malet, whom he had known in Germany, and begged him to +call upon him at nine o'clock. From Mr. Malet I know nothing more. I +tried to "interview" him with respect to his conversation with Count +Bismarck, but it takes two to make a bargain, and in this bargain he +declined to be the number two. About half an hour afterwards, however, I +met a foreign diplomatist of my acquaintance who had just come from the +British Embassy. He had heard Mr. Malet's story, which, of course, had +been communicated to the Corps Diplomatique, and being slightly +demoralised, without well thinking what he was doing, he confided it to +my sympathising ear. + +Mr. Malet, at nine o'clock, found Count Bismarck seated before a table +with wine and cigars. He was in high spirits and very sociable. This I +can well believe, for I used to know him, and, to give the devil his +due, he is one of the few Prussians of a sociable disposition. The +interview lasted for more than two hours. Count Bismarck told Mr. Malet +that the Prussians meant to have Metz and Strasburg, and should remain +in France until they were obtained. The Prussians did not intend to +dismantle them, but to make them stronger than they at present are. "The +French," he said, "will hate us with an undying hate, and we must take +care to render this hate powerless." As for Paris, the German armies +would surround it, and with their several corps d'armée, and their +70,000 cavalry, would isolate it from the rest of the world, and leave +its inhabitants to "seethe in their own milk." If the Parisians +continued after this to hold out, Paris would be bombarded, and, if +necessary, burned. My own impression is that Count Bismarck was not such +a fool as to say precisely what he intended to do, and that he will +attack at once; but the event will prove. He added that Germany was not +in want of money, and therefore did not ask for a heavy pecuniary +indemnity. Speaking of the French, Count Bismarck observed that there +were 200,000 men round Metz, and he believed that Bazaine would have to +capitulate within a week. He rendered full justice to the courage with +which the army under Bazaine had fought, but he did not seem to have a +very high opinion of the French army of Sedan. He questioned Mr. Malet +about the state of Paris, and did not seem gratified to hear that there +had been no tumults. The declaration of the Republic and its peaceful +recognition by Paris and the whole of France appeared by no means to +please him. He admitted that if it proved to be a moderate and virtuous +Government, it might prove a source of danger to the monarchical +principle in Germany. + +I do trust that Englishmen will well weigh these utterances. Surely they +will at last be of opinion that the English Government should use all +its moral influence to prevent a city containing nearly two million +inhabitants being burnt to the ground in order that one million +Frenchmen should against their will be converted into Germans. It is our +policy to make an effort to prevent the dismemberment of France, but the +question is not now so much one of policy as of common humanity. No one +asks England to go to war for France; all that is asked is that she +should recognise the _de facto_ Government of the country, and should +urge Prussia to make peace on terms which a French nation can honourably +accept. + +General Vinoy, out reconnoitering with 15,000 men, came to-day upon a +Prussian force of 40,000 near Vincennes. After an artillery combat, he +withdrew within the lines of the forts. There have been unimportant +skirmishes with the enemy at several points. The American, the Belgian, +the Swiss, and the Danish Ministers are still here. Mr. Wodehouse has +remained to look after our interests. All the secretaries were anxious +to stay. I should be glad to know why Mr. Falconer Atlee, the British +Consul at Paris, is not like other consuls, at his post. He withdrew to +Dieppe about three weeks ago. His place is here. Neither a consul, nor a +soldier, should leave his post as soon as it becomes dangerous. + +Victor Hugo has published an address to the nation. You may judge of its +essentially practical spirit by the following specimen:--"Rouen, draw +thy sword! Lille, take up thy musket! Bordeaux, take up thy gun! +Marseilles, sing thy song and be terrible!" I suspect Marseilles may +sing her song a long time before the effect of her vocal efforts will in +any way prevent the Prussians from carrying out their plans. "A child," +say the evening papers, "deposited her doll this afternoon in the arms +of the statue of Strasburg. All who saw the youthful patriot perform +this touching act were deeply affected." + + +_September 19th._ + +I don't know whether my letter of yesterday went off or not. As my +messenger to the post-office could get no authentic intelligence about +what was passing, I went there myself. Everybody was in military +uniform, everybody was shrugging his shoulders, and everybody was in the +condition of a London policeman were he to see himself marched off to +the station by a street-sweeper. That the Prussian should have taken the +Emperor prisoner, and have vanquished the French armies, had, of course, +astonished these worthy bureaucrats, but that they should have ventured +to interfere with postmen had perfectly dumbfounded them. "Put your +letter in that box," said a venerable employé on a high stool. "Will it +ever be taken out?" I asked. "Qui sait?" he replied. "Shall you send off +a train to-morrow morning?" I asked. There was a chorus of "Qui sait?" +and the heads disappeared still further with the respective shoulders to +which they belonged. "What do you think of a man on horseback?" I +suggested. An indignant "Impossible" was the answer. "Why not?" I asked. +The look of contempt with which the clerks gazed on me was expressive. +It meant, "Do you really imagine that a functionary--a postman--is going +to forward your letters in an irregular manner?" At this moment a sort +of young French Jefferson Brick came in. Evidently he was a Republican +recently set in authority. To him I turned. "Citizen, I want my letter +to go to London. It is a press letter. These bureaucrats say that they +dare not send it by a horse express; I appeal to you, as I am sure you +are a man of expedients." "These people," he replied, scowling at the +clerks, "are demoralised. They are the ancient valets of a corrupt +Court; give me your letter; if possible it shall go, 'foi de citoyen.'" +I handed my letter to Jefferson, but whether it is on its way to +England, or still in his patriotic hands, I do not know. As I passed out +through the courtyard I saw postmen seated on the boxes of carts, with +no horses before them. It was their hour to carry out the letters, and +thus mechanically they fulfilled their duty. English Government +officials have before now been jeered at as men of routine, but the most +ancient clerk in Somerset House is a man of wild impulse and boundless +expedient compared with the average of functionaries great and small +here. The want of "shiftiness" is a national characteristic. The French +are like a flock of sheep without shepherds or sheep-dogs. Soldiers and +civilians have no idea of anything except doing what they are ordered to +do by some functionary. Let one wheel in an administration get out of +order, and everything goes wrong. After my visit to the post-office I +went to the central telegraph office, and sent you a telegram. The clerk +was very surly at first, but he said that he thought a press telegram +would pass the wires. When I paid him he became friendly. My own +impression is that my twelve francs, whoever they may benefit, will not +benefit the British public. + +From the telegraph-office I directed my steps to a club where I was +engaged to dine. I found half-a-dozen whist tables in full swing. The +conversation about the war soon, however, became general. "This is our +situation," said, as he dealt a hand, a knowing old man of the world, a +sort of French James Clay: "generally if one has no trumps in one's +hand, one has at least some good court cards in the other suits; we've +got neither trumps nor court cards." "Et le General Trochu?" some one +suggested. "My opinion of General Trochu," said a General, who was +sitting reading a newspaper, "is that he is a man of theory, but +unpractical. I know him well; he has utterly failed to organise the +forces which he has under his command." The general opinion about Trochu +seemed to be that he is a kind of M'Clellan. "Will the Garde Nationale +fight?" some one asked. A Garde National replied, "Of course there are +brave men amongst us, but the mass will give in rather than see Paris +destroyed. They have their families and their shops." "And the Mobiles?" +"The Mobiles are the stuff out of which soldiers are made, but they are +still peasants, and not soldiers yet." On the whole, I found the tone in +"fashionable circles" desponding. "Can any one tell me where Jules Favre +has gone?" I asked. Nobody could, though everybody seemed to think that +he had gone to the Prussian headquarters. After playing a few rubbers, I +went home to bed at about one o'clock. The streets were absolutely +deserted. All the cafés were shut. + +Nothing in the papers this morning. In the _Figaro_ an article from that +old humbug Villemessant. He calls upon his fellow-citizens in Paris to +resist to the death. + +"One thing Frenchmen never forgive," he says,--"cowardice." + +The _Gaulois_ contains the most news. It represents the Prussians to be +all round Paris. At Versailles they have converted the Palais into a +barrack. Their camp fires were seen last night in the forest of Bondy. +Uhlans have made their appearance at St. Cloud. "Fritz" has taken up his +quarters at Ferrières, the château of Baron Rothschild. "William"--we +are very familiar when we speak of the Prussian Royal family--is still +at Meaux. "No thunderbolt," adds the correspondent, "has yet fallen on +him." The Prussian outposts are at the distance of three kilometres from +St. Denis. Near Vitry shots have been heard. In the environs of +Vincennes there has been fighting. It appears General Ambert was +arrested yesterday. He was reviewing some regiments of Nationaux, and +when they cried, "Vive la République" he told them that the Republic did +not exist. The men immediately surrounded him, and carried him to the +Ministry of the Interior, where I presume he still is. The _Rappel_ +finds faults with Jules Favre's circular. Its tone, it says, is too +humble. The _Rappel_ gives a list of "valets of Bonaparte, _ce coquin +sinistre_," who still occupy official positions, and demands that they +shall at once be relieved from their functions. The _Rappel_ also +informs its readers that letters have been discovered (where?) proving +that Queen Victoria had promised before the war to do her best to aid +Germany. + +Butler of a friend of mine, whose house is close by the fortifications, +and who has left it in his charge, has just been to see me. The house is +a "poste" of the National Guard. Butler says the men do not sleep on the +ramparts, but in the neighbouring houses. They are changed every +twenty-four hours. He had rather a hard time of it last night with a +company from the Faubourg St. Antoine. As a rule, however, he says they +are decent, orderly men. They complain very much that their business is +going to rack and ruin; when they are away from their shops, they say, +impecunious patriots come in to purchase goods of their wives, and +promise to call another day to pay for them. On Saturday night the +butler reports 300 National Guards were drawn up before his master's +house, and twenty-five volunteers were demanded for a service of danger. +After some time the twenty-five stepped forward, but having heard for +what they were wanted, eighteen declined to go. + +A British coachman just turned up offers to carry letters through--seems +a sharp plucky fellow. I shall employ him as soon as the Post-office is +definitely closed. British coachman does not think much of the citizen +soldiers in Paris. "Lor' bless you, sir, I'd rather have 10,000 +Englishmen than the lot of them. In my stable I make my men obey me, but +these chaps they don't seem to care what their officers says to them. I +seed them drill this morning; a pretty green lot they was. Why, sir, +giving them fellow Chassepots is much like giving watches to naked +savages." + +The Breton Mobiles are making pilgrimages to the churches. I hope it may +do them good. I hear the curés of Paris have divided the ramparts +between them, and are on the fortifications--bravo! curés. By-the-bye, +that fire-eater, Paul de Cassagnac, has not followed the example of his +brother Imperial journalists. He enlisted as a Zouave, fought well, and +was taken prisoner at Sedan. He is now employed by his captors in making +bread. I hope his bread will be better than his articles. + + +1.30 P.M. + +Been sitting with a friend who commands a company of National Guards. +The company is now outside the fortifications. Friend tells me that the +men in his company are mostly small shopkeepers. At first it was +difficult to get them to come to drill, but within the last few days +they have been drilling hard, and he is convinced that they will fight +well. Friend tells me that a large number of National Guards have run +away from Paris, and that those who remain are very indignant with them. +He requests me to beg my countrymen, if they see a sturdy Monsieur +swelling it down Regent Street, to kick him, as he ought to be defending +his country. I fulfil his request with the greatest pleasure and endorse +it. I have just seen a Prussian spy taken to prison. I was seated before +a café on the Boulevard des Capucines. Suddenly there was a shout of "un +Prussien;" every one rushed towards the Place de l'Opéra, and from the +Boulevard Haussmann came a crowd with a soldier, dressed as an +artilleryman, on a horse. He was preceded and followed by about one +hundred Mobiles. By his side rode a woman. No one touched them. Whether +he and his "lady friend" were Germans I do not know; but they certainly +looked Germans, and extremely uncomfortable. + + +3 P.M. + +Been to Embassy. Messenger Johnson arrived this morning at 12 o'clock. +He had driven to Rouen. At each post station he was arrested. He drove +up to the Embassy, followed by a howling mob. As he wore an unknown +uniform they took him for a Prussian. Messenger Johnson, being an old +soldier, was belligerently inclined. "The first man who approaches," &c. +The porter of the Embassy, however, dragged him inside, and explained to +the mob who he was. He had great difficulty in calming them. One man +sensibly observed that in these times no one should drive through Paris +in a foreign uniform, as the mass of the people knew nothing of Queen's +messengers and their uniforms. Messenger Johnson having by this time got +within the Embassy gates, the mob turned on his postilion and led him +off. What his fate has been no one has had time to ask. + +When I went upstairs I found Wodehouse sitting like patience on a stool, +with a number of Britons round him, who wanted to get off out of Paris. +Wodehouse very justly told them that Lord Lyons had given them due +notice to leave, and that they had chosen at their own risk to remain. +The Britons seemed to imagine that their Embassy was bound to find them +a road by which they might safely withdraw from the town. One very +important Briton was most indignant--"I am a man of wealth and position. +I am not accustomed to be treated in this manner. What is the use of +you, sir, if you cannot ensure my safe passage to England? If I am +killed the world shall ring with it. I shall myself make a formal +complaint to Lord Granville," said this incoherent and pompous donkey. +Exit man of position fuming; enter unprotected female. Of course she was +a widow, of course she had lost half-a-dozen sons, of course she kept +lodgings, and of course she wanted her "hambassader" generally to take +her under his wing. I left Wodehouse explaining to her that if she went +out of Paris even with a pass, she might or might not be shot according +to circumstances. I will say for him that I should not be as patient as +he is, were I worried and badgered by the hour by a crowd of shrieking +women and silly men. + + +4 P.M. + +Fighting is going on all round Paris. There are crowds on the Boulevard; +every one is asking his neighbour for news. I went to one of the Mairies +to hear the bulletins read. The street was almost impassable. At last I +got near enough to hear an official read out a despatch--nothing +important. The commanders at Montrouge and Vincennes announce that the +Prussians are being driven back. "Et Clamart?" some one cries. "A bas +les alarmistes," is the reply. Every one is despondent. Soldiers have +come back from Meudon demoralised. We have lost a position, it is +whispered. I find a friend, upon whose testimony I can rely, who was +near Meudon until twelve o'clock. He tells me that the troops of the +line behaved badly. They threw away their muskets without firing a shot, +and there was a regular _sauve qui peut_. The Mobiles, on the other +hand, fought splendidly, and were holding the position when he left. I +am writing this in a café. It is full of Gardes Nationaux. They are +saying that if the troops of the line are not trustworthy, resistance is +hopeless. A Garde National gives the following explanation of the +demoralisation of the army. He says that the Imperial Government only +troubled itself about the corps d'élite; that the object in the line +regiments was to get substitutes as cheaply as possible; consequently, +they are filled with men physically and morally the scum of the nation. +Semaphore telegraphs have been put up on all the high public buildings. +There are also semaphores on the forts. I see that one opposite me is +exchanging signals. The crowd watch them as though by looking they would +discover what they mean. "A first success," says a National next to me, +"was absolutely necessary for us, in order to give us confidence." "But +this success we do not seem likely to have," says another. The attempt +to burn down the forests seems only partially to have succeeded. The +Prussians appear to be using them, and the French to the last carrying +on war without scouts. + + +6 P.M. + +Evening papers just out. Not a word about Clamart. The _Liberté_ says +the Minister of the Interior refers journalists to General Trochu, who +claims the right to suppress what he pleases. When will French +Governments understand that it is far more productive of demoralisation +to allow no official news to be published than to publish the worst? +Rochefort has been appointed President of a Committee of Barricades, to +organise a second line of defence within the ramparts. + + +7 P.M. + +The cannon can be distinctly heard. The reports come from different +quarters. Jules Favre, I hear from a sure source, is at the Prussian +headquarters. + + +7.30 P.M. + +I live _au quatrième_ with a balcony before my room. I can see the +flashes of cannon in the direction of Vincennes. There appears to be a +great fire somewhere. + + +12 P.M. + +Have driven to the Barrière de l'Enfer. Nothing there. On the Champ de +Mars I found troops returned from Clamart. They complain that they never +saw their officers during the engagement, that there were no scouts in +the Bois de Clamart, and that the Prussians succeeded by their old game +of sticking to the cover. At first they fell back--the French troops +pressed on, when they were exposed to a concentric fire. From the Champs +Elysées I drove to the Buttes de Montmartre. Thousands of people +clustered everywhere except where they were kept off by the Nationaux, +who were guarding the batteries. The northern sky was bright from the +reflection of a conflagration--as the forest of St. Germain was burning. +It was almost light. We could see every shot and shell fired from the +forts round St. Denis. At ten o'clock I got back to the Boulevard des +Italiens. Every café was closed. It appears that at about nine o'clock +the Café Riche was full of Gardes Mobiles, officers, and _lorettes_. +They made so much noise that the public outside became indignant, and +insisted on their giving up their orgie. The National Guard joined in +this protest, and an order was sent at once to close every café. Before +the Maison Dorée I saw a few _viveurs_, gazing at its closed windows as +though the end of the world had come. This café has been opened day and +night for the last twenty years. From my balcony I can no longer hear +the cannon; the sky, however, is even brighter from the conflagration +than it was. + + +_September 20th._ + +The firing has recommenced. We can hear it distinctly. General Ambert +has been cashiered. _Figaro_ announces that Villemessant has returned. +We are given a dozen paragraphs about this humbug of humbugs, his +uniform, &c., &c. I do not think that he will be either killed or +wounded. The latest telegram from the outer world announces that "Sir +Campbell"--médecin Anglais--has arrived at Dieppe with despatches to the +Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Marine. + + +11 A.M. + +Paris very quiet and very despondent. Few soldiers about. The Line is +reviled, the Mobile extolled. From all accounts the latter seem to have +behaved well--a little excited at first, but full of pluck. Let the +siege only last a week and they will be capital soldiers, and then we +shall no longer be called upon, to believe the assertions of military +men, that it takes years of drill and idling in a barrack to make a +soldier. + +My own impression always has been that Malet brought back a written +answer from Bismarck offering to see Jules Favre. Can it be that, after +all, the Parisians, at the mere sound of cannon, are going to cave in, +and give up Alsace and Lorraine? If they do, I give them up. If my +friends in Belleville descend into the streets to prevent this ignominy, +I descend with them. + + +4 P.M. + +I got, about an hour ago, some way on the road to Charenton, when I was +turned back, and a couple of soldiers took possession of me, and did not +leave me until I was within the city gate. I could see no traces of any +Prussians or of any fighting. Two English correspondents got as far as +St. Denis this morning. After having been arrested half-a-dozen times +and then released, they were impressed, and obliged to carry stones to +make a barricade. They saw no Prussians. I hear that a general of +artillery was arrested last night by his men. There is a report, also, +that the Government mean to decimate the cowards who ran away yesterday, +_pour encourager les autres_. The guns of the Prussians which they have +posted on the heights they took yesterday it is said will carry as far +as the Arc de Triomphe. + +There have been two deputations to the Hôtel de Ville to interview the +Government with respect to the armistice. One consisted of about 100 +officers of the National Guard, most of them from the Faubourgs of St. +Antoine and the Temple. They were of course accompanied by a large +crowd. Having been admitted into the Salle du Trône, they were received +by the Mayor of Paris and M. Jules Ferry. The reply of the latter is not +very clear. He certainly said that no shameful peace should be +concluded; but whether, as some assert, he assured the officers that no +portion of French soil should be ceded is not equally certain. Shortly +after this deputation had left, another arrived from the Republican +clubs. It is stated that M. Jules Ferry's answer was considered +satisfactory. The walls have been placarded with a proclamation of +Trochu to the armed force. He tells them that some regiments behaved +badly at Clamart; but the assertion that they had no cartridges is +false. He recommends all citizens to arrest soldiers who are drunk or +who propagate false news, and threatens them with the vigorous +application of the Articles of War. Another proclamation from Kératry +warns every one against treating soldiers or selling them liquor when +they already have had too much. I went to dine this evening in an +estaminet in the Faubourg St. Antoine. It was full of men of the +people, and from the tone of their observations I am certain that if M. +Jules Favre concludes an armistice involving any cession of territory, +there will be a rising at once. The cafés are closed now at 10 o'clock. +At about 11 I walked home. One would have supposed oneself in some dull +great provincial town at 3 in the morning. Everything was closed. No +one, except here and there a citizen on his way home, or a patrol of the +National Guard, was to be seen. + + +_September 21st._ + +I suppose that you in England know a good deal more of what is passing +at the Prussian headquarters than we do here. M. Jules Favre's departure +was kept so close a secret, that it did not ooze out until yesterday. +The "ultras" in the Government were, I understand on good authority, +opposed to it, but M. Jules Favre was supported by Picard, Gambetta, and +Kératry, who, as everything is comparative, represent the moderate +section of our rulers. We are as belligerent and cheery to-day as we +were despondent on Monday evening. When any disaster occurs it takes a +Frenchman about twenty-four hours to accustom himself to it. During this +time he is capable of any act of folly or despair. Then follows the +reaction, and he becomes again a brave man. When it was heard that the +heights at Meudon had been taken, we immediately entered into a phase of +despair. It is over now, and we crow as lustily as ever. We shall have +another phase of despondency when the first fort is taken, and another +when the first shells fall into the town; but if we get through them, I +really have hopes that Paris will not disgrace herself. Nothing of any +importance appears to have taken place at the front yesterday. The +commanders of several forts sent to Trochu to say that they have fired +on the Prussians, and that there have been small outpost engagements. +During the day the bridges of St. Cloud, Sèvres, and Billancourt were +blown up. I attempted this morning to obtain a pass from General Trochu. +Announcing myself as a "Journaliste Anglais," I got, after some +difficulty, into a room in which several of his staff were seated. But +there my progress was stopped. I was told that aides-de-camp had been +fired on, and that General Trochu had himself been arrested, and had +been within an inch of being shot because he had had the impudence to +say that he was the Governor of Paris. I suggested that he might take me +with him the next time he went out, and pointed out that correspondents +rode with the Prussian staffs, but it was of no use. From Trochu I went +to make a few calls. I found every one engaged in measuring the distance +from the Prussian batteries to his particular house. One friend I found +seated in a cellar with a quantity of mattresses over it, to make it +bomb-proof. He emerged from his subterraneous Patmos to talk to me, +ordered his servant to pile on a few more mattresses, and then +retreated. Anything so dull as existence here it is difficult to +imagine. Before the day is out one gets sick and tired of the one single +topic of conversation. We are like the people at Cremorne waiting for +the fireworks to begin; and I really do believe that if this continues +much longer, the most cowardly will welcome the bombs as a relief from +the oppressive ennui. Few regiments are seen now during the day marching +through the streets--they are most of them either on the ramparts or +outside them. From 8 to 9 in the morning there is a military movement, +as regiments come and go, on and off duty. In the courtyard of the +Louvre several regiments of Mobiles are kept under arms all night, ready +to march to any point which may be seriously attacked. A good many +troops went at an early hour this morning in the direction of St. Cloud. + +The weather is beautiful--a lovely autumn morning. They say that +Rochefort and his friends are busily employed at Grenelle. + +1.30 _o'clock_. + +The cannonade has been audible for the last half-hour. It is getting +every moment louder. The people are saying that Mont Valérien _donne_. I +am going up to the Avenue de l'Impératrice, where I shall be able to see +what is going on. + +2.30 _o'clock_. + +Come back; heavy firing--but I could not make out whether it came from +Mont Valérien. Jules Favre has returned. They say the Prussians will +only treat in Paris. Just seen an American who tried to get with a +letter to General Sheridan. He got into the Prussian lines, but could +not reach headquarters. On his return he was nearly murdered by the +Mobiles; passed last night in a cell with two drunkards, and has just +been let out, as all his papers were found _en règle_. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +_September 22nd._ + +I sent off a letter yesterday in a balloon; whether it reaches its +destination, or is somewhere in the clouds, you will know before I do. +The difficulties of getting through the lines are very great, and will +become greater every day. The Post-office says that it tries to send +letters through, but I understand that the authorities have little hope +of succeeding. Just now I saw drawn up in the courtyard of the Grand +Hotel a travelling carriage, with hampers of provisions, luggage, and an +English flag flying. Into it stepped four Britons. Their passports were +viséd, they said, by their Embassy, and they were starting for England +_viâ_ Rouen. Neither French nor Prussians would, they were convinced, +stop them. I did not even confide a letter to their hands, as they are +certain, even if they get through the French outposts, to be arrested by +the Prussians and turned back. Yesterday on the return of Jules Favre he +announced that the King of Prussia required as a condition of Peace the +cession of Alsace and Lorraine, and as the condition of an armistice +immediate possession of Metz, Strasburg, and Mont Valérien. The +Government immediately met, and a proclamation was at once posted on the +walls signed by all the members. After stating it had been reported that +the Government was inclined to abandon the policy to which it owed its +existence, it goes on in the following words:--"Our policy is this. +Neither an inch of our territory nor a stone of our fortresses. The +Government will maintain this until the end." + +Yesterday afternoon we "manifested" against peace. We "manifest" by +going, if we are in the National Guard, with bouquets at the ends of our +muskets to deposit a crown of _immortelles_ before the statue of +Strasburg. If we are unarmed, we walk behind a drum to the statue and +sing the "Marseillaise." At the statue there is generally some orator on +a stool holding forth. We occasionally applaud him, but we never listen +to him. After this we go to the Place before the Hôtel de Ville, and we +shout "Point de Paix." We then march down the Boulevards, and we go home +satisfied that we have deserved well of our country. As yesterday was +the anniversary of the proclamation of the First Republic, we were in a +very manifesting mood. M. Gambetta issued proclamations every half hour, +calling upon us, in more or less flowery language, to die for our +country. M. Arago, the Mayor, followed suit, heading his manifestoes +with the old, rallying cry, "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité." I suppose +the French are so constituted that they really cannot exist without +processions, bouquets to statues, and grand phrases. Notwithstanding all +this humbug, a large portion of them mean, I am sure, to fight it out. +They have taken it into their heads that Paris can be successfully +defended, and if it is not, they are determined that it shall not be +their fault. It is intended, I understand, to keep well beneath the +cover of the forts, not to risk engagements more than is +necessary--gradually to convert the splendid raw material of the Mobiles +into good soldiers, by accustoming them to be under fire, and then, if +things go well, to fall on one or other of the Prussian armies. It is +hoped, too, that the Prussian communications will be menaced. Such is +the plan, and every one pretends to believe that it will succeed; +whether they are right or wrong time will show. + +The Government, an ex-diplomatist, who has been talking to several of +its members this morning, tells me, is a "unit." There was a party ready +to accept the dismantling of Metz and Strasburg, but as this concession +will not disarm the Prussians, they have rallied to the "not a stone of +one fortress" declaration. + +Of course I cannot be expected to give aid and comfort to our besiegers +by telling them, if they seize this letter, what is being done inside to +keep them out. But this I think it will do them no harm to know. The +National Guard man the ramparts. In the angles of the bastions there are +Mobiles. At points close by the ramparts there are reserves of Mobiles +and National Guards, ready at a moment's notice both by day and night to +reinforce them. In the centre of the town there are reserves under arms. +Outside the gates, between the forts and the ramparts, troops are massed +with artillery, and the forts are well garrisoned. A gentleman who has +lately been under a cloud, as he was the inventor of the Orsini bombs, +has several thousand men at work on infernal machines. This magician +assures me that within a week he will destroy the German armies as +completely as were the Assyrians who besieged Samaria under Sennacherib. +He is an enthusiast, but an excellent chemist, and I really have hopes +that he will before long astonish our friends outside. He promises me +that I shall witness his experiments in German corpore vili; and though +I have in mind a quotation about being hoisted with one's own petard, I +shall certainly keep him to his word. On the whole the King of Prussia, +to use Mr. Lincoln's phrase, will find it a big job to take Paris if the +Parisians keep to their present mood. Mr. Washburne told me yesterday +that he does not think he shall leave. There is to be a consultation of +the Corps Diplomatique to-morrow, under the presidency of the Nuncio, +to settle joint action. I admire the common sense of Mr. Washburne. He +called two days ago upon the Government to express his sympathy with +them. Not being a man of forms and red tape, instead of going to the +Foreign-office, he went to the Hôtel de Ville, found a Council sitting, +shook hands all round, and then withdrew. I have serious thoughts of +taking up my quarters at the English Embassy. It belongs to me as one of +the nation, and I see no reason why I should not turn my property to +some account. + +Yesterday's papers contained an official announcement that a company of +mutual assurance against the consequences of the bombardment has been +formed. Paris is divided into three zones, and according to the danger +proprietors of houses situated in each of them are to be admitted into +the company on payment of one, two, or three per cent. It comforts me, +comparatively, to find that I am in the one per cent. zone, and, unless +my funds give way, I shall remain there. + +Spies are being arrested every half hour. Many mistakes are made from +over zeal, but there is no doubt that a good many Germans are in the +town disguised in French uniforms. The newspapers ask what becomes of +them all, and suggest that they should be publicly shot. It is beautiful +weather, and as I sit writing this at my open window I have great +difficulty in believing that we are cut off from the rest of the world +by a number of victorious armies, who mean to burn or starve us out. M. +John Lemoinne in the _Journal des Débats_ this morning has a very +sensible article upon the position of the Government. He says that +between the first and the second of these two ultimatums there is a vast +difference, and he exhorts the Government to stand by the first, but not +to refuse peace if it can be obtained by the dismantling of Metz and +Strasburg. The _Temps_ of this evening takes the same view of the +proclamation. The ultra Republican journals, on the other hand, support +the policy of the Government. M. Felix Pyat, in his organ, _Le Combat_, +urges war to the death, and proposes that we should at once have Spartan +banquets, at which rich and poor should fare alike. A proposal has been +made to start a national subscription for a musket of honour to be given +to the man who shoots the King of Prussia. There are already 2,000 +subscribers of one sou each to the testimonial. The latest proclamation +I have seen on the walls is one from the Mayor of Paris, informing the +public that the coachmen of Paris are not to be ill-treated by their +fares because they are not on the ramparts. As the coachmen of Paris are +usually excessively insolent, I shall not be sorry to hear that they +have at length met with their deserts. A coachman who was driving me +yesterday told me in the strictest confidence that he was a man who +never meddled in politics, and, consequently, it was a matter of +absolute indifference to him whether Napoleon or a "General Prussien" +lived in the Tuileries; and this, I suspect, is the view that many here +take, if they only dared say it. + +It is amusing to observe how every one has entered into the conspiracy +to persuade the world that the French nation never desired war--to hear +them, one would suppose that the Rhine had never been called the +national frontier of France, and that the war had been entered into by +Badinguet, as they style the late Emperor, against the wishes of the +army, the peasantry, and the bourgeoisie. Poor old Badinguet has enough +to answer for already, but even sensible Frenchmen have persuaded +themselves that he, and he alone, is responsible for the war. He is +absolutely loathed here. I sometimes suggest to some Gaul that he may +possibly be back again some day; the Gaul immediately rolls his eyes, +clenches his fists, and swears that if ever Badinguet returns to Paris +he (the Gaul) will himself shoot him. + +An American, who took an active part in the Confederate defence of +Richmond, has just been in to see me. He does not believe that the town +will hold out long, and scoffs at the mode in which it is being +defended. I reserve my opinion until I have seen it under fire. +Certainly they "do protest too much." The papers contain lists of +citizens who have sworn to die rather than surrender. The bourgeois, +when he goes off to the ramparts, embraces his wife in public, and +assumes a martial strut as though he were a very Curtius on the way to +the pit. Jules is perpetually hugging Jacques, and talking about the +altar of his country on which he means to mount. I verily believe that +the people walking on the Boulevards, and the assistants of the shops +who deal out their wares, in uniform, are under the impression that they +are heroes already, perilling life and limb for their country. Every +girl who trips along thinks that she is a Maid of Saragossa. It is +almost impossible for an Englishman to realise the intense delight which +a Frenchman has in donning a uniform, strutting about with a martial +swagger, and listening to a distant cannonade. As yet the only real +hardships we have suffered have been that our fish is a little stale, +and that we are put on short allowance of milk. The National Guards on +the ramparts, I hear, grumble very much at having to spend the night in +the open air. The only men I think I can answer for are the working men +of the outer faubourgs and a portion of the Provincial Gardes Mobiles. +They do mean to fight. Some of the battalions of the National Guards +will fight too, but I should be afraid to trust the greater portion of +them, even behind earthworks. "Remember," says the _Figaro_ to them +to-day, "that you have wives and children; do not be too venturesome." +This advice, I think, was hardly needed. As for the regular troops, they +are not to be trusted, and I am not sorry to think that there are 10,000 +sailors in the forts to man the guns. + +We have been manifesting again to-day. I was in hopes that this nonsense +was over. On the Place de la Concorde there was a crowd all the +afternoon, applauding orators, and companies of National Guards were +bringing bouquets to the statue of Strasburg. At the Hôtel de Ville a +deputation of officers of the National Guards came to urge the +Government to put off the elections. After a short parley this was +promised. Another demonstration took place to urge the Government not to +make peace, to accept as their colleagues some "friends of the people," +and to promise not to re-establish in any form a police force. An +evasive answer was given to these demonstrators. It seems to me that the +Government, in its endeavours to prevent a collision between the +moderates and the ultras, yield invariably to the latter. What is really +wanted is a man of energy and determined will. I doubt if Trochu has +either. + +The bold Britons who tried to run the blockade have returned. They +managed to get over the bridge of Neuilly, but were arrested a few yards +beyond it and brought back to General Ducrot. One of them was taken in +with the passports of the five. "I cannot understand you English," the +General said; "if you want to get shot we will shoot you ourselves to +save you trouble." After some parley, General Ducrot gave them a pass to +go through the French lines, but then he withdrew it, and said he must +consult General Trochu. When the spokesman emerged, he found his friends +being led off by a fresh batch of patriots for having no passports, but +they at length got safely back to the Grand Hotel. Their leader, who is +an intelligent man in his way, gives a very discouraging account of what +he saw outside. The Mobiles were lying about on the roads, and everyone +appeared to be doing much what he pleased. This afternoon I went up to +the Trocadero to look at the heights on which they say that there are +already Prussian guns. They appear most uncomfortably near. Those who +had telescopes declared that they could see both guns and Prussians. We +were always told until within a few days that Mont Valérien would +protect all that side of Paris. How can the engineers have made such a +mistake? + +This evening I went to call upon one of the chiefs of '48, and had an +interesting conversation with him. He says that many think that he and +his friends ought to be in the Government, and that eventually they all +will be; he added "the Reds are determined to fight, and so long as the +Government does not make a humiliating peace they will support it." I +tried to get out what he considered a humiliating peace, but he rather +fenced with the question. He tells me that at the Folies Bergères, the +headquarters of the ultras, great dissatisfaction is felt with the +Committees of the "Clubs" for having gone yesterday to the Hôtel de +Ville, and endeavoured to force the Government to declare that it would +not treat with the Prussians whilst they were on French soil, and to +allow them to establish a "Commune" as an _imperium in imperio_. "The +army of the Loire," said my friend, "will soon fall on the rear of the +Prussians; we have only to hold out for a few weeks, and this, depend +upon it, we shall do." Now, to the best of my belief, the army of the +Loire only exists on paper, but here was a sensible man talking of it as +though it consisted of some 200,000 seasoned troops; and what is more +strange, he is by no means singular in his belief. A fortnight ago it +was the army of Lyons, now it is the army of the Loire. How reasonable +men can allow themselves to put their faith in these men of buckram, I +cannot imagine. + + +_September 23rd._ + +Firing has been going on since three o'clock this morning. The +newspapers contain accounts more or less veracious respecting fights +outside the forts, in which great numbers of Prussians have been killed. +M. Jules Favre publishes an account of his interview with Count Bismarck +in the _Journal Officiel_. M. Villemessant in the _Figaro_ informs the +world that he has left his wife outside, and would willingly allow one +of his veins to be opened in exchange for a letter from her. We are +still engaged in our old occupation--vowing to die for our country. I +hear that there has been serious fighting in the neighbourhood of St. +Denis. This morning I saw another of the '48 Republicans--he seemed +inclined to upset the Government more on the ground that they are +incapable than because he differs with them in politics. I give this +letter to a friend who will get it into the balloon, and go off to the +Trocadero, to see how things are getting on. + +The Solferino Tower on the Buttes Montmartre has been pulled down. No +one is to be allowed to hoist the Geneva flag unless the house contains +at least six beds for wounded. We have now a bread as well as a meat +maximum. + + +_September 24th._ + +We are as despondent to-day as we were jubilant yesterday. The success +at the front seems to have dwindled down to an insignificant artillery +combat. The _Electeur Libre_ gives the following account of it. On the +previous evening 8,000 Prussians had taken the redoubt of _Villejuif_. +At one in the morning some regiments advanced from there towards Vitry, +and occupied the mill of Saqui, while on the left about 5,000 +established themselves on the plateau of Hautes-Bruyères. The division +of General Maud'huy re-took these positions. At five o'clock in the +morning the Prussians tried to occupy them a second time, but failed, +and at half-past seven o'clock they fell back. At nine they attacked +again, when a column of our troops, issuing from the Porte d'Italie, +arrived. The fray went on until ten o'clock, when the Prussians +retreated towards Sceaux. This tallies to a great extent with what I was +told by an officer this morning who had taken part in the engagement. + +The _Gazette Officielle_ contains a decree cashiering M. Devienne, +President of the Cour de Cassation, and sending him to be judged by his +own court, for having been the intermediary between Badinguet and his +mistress, Marguerite Bellanger. Two letters are published which seem to +leave no doubt that this worthy judge acted as the go-between of the two +lovers. + +Mr. George Sanders, whilom United States Consul in London, and one of +the leaders of the ex-Confederacy, is here; he is preparing plans for a +system of rifle pits and zigzags outside the fortifications, at the +request of General Trochu. Mr. Sanders, who took an active part in the +defence of Richmond, declares that Paris is impregnable, if it be only +well defended. He complains, however, that the French will not use the +spade. + + +4 _o'clock_ P.M. + +We have been in a state of wild enthusiasm all this afternoon. At about +1 o'clock it was rumoured that 20,000 Prussians and 40 cannon had been +taken. There had been a heavy firing, it was said, this morning, and a +Prussian force had approached near the forts of Ivry and Bicêtre. +General Vinoy had issued forth from Vincennes, and, getting behind them, +had forced them under the guns of the forts, where they were taken +prisoners. The Boulevards immediately were crowded; here a person +announcing that he had a despatch from the front, here another vowing he +had been there himself. Wherever a drum was heard there was a cry of +"Here come the prisoners!" Tired of this, at about 4 o'clock I drove to +Montrouge. It is a sort of Parisian Southwark. I found all the +inhabitants lining the streets, waiting, too, for news. A regiment +marched in, and there was a cry that it had come from the front; then +artillery filed by out of the city gate. I tried myself to pass, and had +got half-way through before I was stopped, then I was turned back. The +prisoners here, close by the scene of action, had dwindled down to +5,000. Imagine Southwark, with every man armed in it, and a battle going +on at Greenwich, and you will have an idea of the excitement of +Montrouge. + + +6 _o'clock_ P.M. + +The Boulevards almost impassable; the streets before the Mairies +absolutely impassable; no official confirmation of the victory. Everyone +who is not inventing news is waiting for it. A proclamation has been +issued by General Trochu conceived in a very sensible spirit, telling +the National Guard that the moment is ill chosen for pacific +demonstrations, with crowns and bouquets. I hear that some of the +soldiers who ran away at Clamart have been shot. + +Some of the papers discovered in the Tuileries are published. There is a +letter from Jecker to Conti, in which he says that De Morny had promised +him to get the Mexican Government to pay his claims on condition of +receiving 30 per cent. of profits. A letter signed Persigny complains +that an _employé_ in the Cabinet Noir is in want, and ought to be given +money to prevent his letting out secrets. A letter from the Queen of +Holland tells Napoleon that if he does not interfere in Germany his own +dynasty will suffer. A note of the Emperor, without date, says, "If +France boldly places itself on the terrain of the nationalities, it is +necessary to prove that the Belgian nationality does not exist. The +Cabinet of Berlin seeming ready to enter into negotiations, it would be +well to negotiate a secret _acte_, which would pledge both parties. This +act would have the double advantage of compromising Prussia and of being +for her a pledge of the sincerity of the Emperor." The note then goes on +to say that it is necessary to dissipate the apprehensions of Prussia. +"An _acte_ is wanted," it continues; "and one which would consist of a +regulation of the ulterior fate of Belgium in concert with Prussia +would, by proving at Berlin that the Emperor desires the extension which +is necessary to France since the events which have taken place in +Germany, be at least a relative certainty that the Prussian Government +would not object to our aggrandisement towards the North." + +I drove this morning through the fighting faubourgs with a member of the +Barricade Committee. Barricades are being erected everywhere, and they +are even stronger than the outer fortifications. There are, too, some +agreeable little chemical surprises for the Prussians if ever they get +into the town. In reply to some suggestions which I made, my friend +said, "Leave these people to form their own plans. They understand +street fighting better than any one in the world." At La Villette, +Crenelle, and other faubourgs inhabited by the blouses, there is no lack +of patriotism, and they will blow themselves and their homes up rather +than yield. + +The bold Britons started again in their Derby turn-out yesterday. +Nothing has been heard of them since. We do not know whether they have +been imprisoned or what has become of them. I have already entrusted my +letters to balloons, boatmen, peasants, and Americans, but I do not know +whether they have reached you or not. The last balloon was pursued by a +Prussian one, the newspapers say! + +Yesterday the Nuncio called together all the diplomatists still here, +and they determined to try to communicate with Bismarck. They seem to +imagine that a twenty-four hours' notice will be given before a +bombardment commences, when they will have time to get out. I send this +letter by a Government balloon. I shall send a copy to-morrow by a +private balloon, if it really does start as announced. + +The _Gazette Officielle_ "unites with many citizens in asking Louis +Blanc to go to England, to obtain the sympathies of the English nation +for the Republic." This is all very well, but how is he to get there? + + +_September 25th._ + +No news of any importance from the front. It is a fête day, but there +are few holiday makers. The presence of the Prussians at the gates, and +the sound of the cannon, have at last sobered this frivolous people. +Frenchmen, indeed, cannot live without exaggeration, and for the last +twenty-four hours they have taken to walking about as if they were +guests at their own funerals. It is hardly in their line to play the +_justum et tenacem_ of Horace. Always acting, they are now acting the +part of Spartans. It is somewhat amusing to see the stern gloom on the +face of patriots one meets, who were singing and shouting a few days +ago--more particularly as it is by no means difficult to distinguish +beneath this outward gloom a certain keen relish, founded upon the +feeling that the part is well played. One thing, however, is certain, +order has at length been evolved from disorder. Except in the morning, +hardly any armed men are to be seen in the streets, and even in the +central Boulevards, except when there is a report of some success or +during an hour in the evening, there are no crowds. In the fighting +faubourgs there is a real genuine determination to fight it out to the +last. The men there have arms, and they have not cared to put on +uniforms. Men, women, and children are all of one mind in the quarters +of the working men. I have been much struck with the difference between +one of these poor fellows who is prepared to die for the honour of his +country, between his quiet, calm demeanour, and the absurd airs, and +noisy brawls, and the dapper uniforms of the young fellows one meets +with in the fashionable quarters. It is the difference between reality +and sham, bravery and bombast. + +The newspapers are beginning to complain of the number of Chevaliers of +the Red Cross, who are daily becoming more numerous. Strong men, they +say, should not enrol themselves in a corps of non-combatants. It is +said, also, that at Clamart these chevaliers declined to go under fire +and pick up the wounded, and that the ambulances themselves made a +strategic movement to the rear at the commencement of the combat. The +flag of the Convention of Geneva is on far too many houses. From my +window I can count fifteen houses with this flag floating over them. + +We have most wonderful stories about the Prussians, which, although they +are generally credited, I take leave to doubt. Villagers who have +slipped through the lines, and who play the part of the intelligent +contraband of the American Civil War, are our informants. They represent +the Prussian army without food, almost without clothing, bitterly +repenting their advance into France, demoralised by the conviction that +few of their number will be again in their homes. We are treated every +day, too, to the details of deeds of heroism on the part of Mobiles and +Nationaux, which would make Achilles himself jealous. There is, we are +told, a wonderful artilleryman in the fort before St. Denis, the +perfection of whose aim carries death and destruction into the Prussian +ranks. + +I am not sorry to learn that the sale of the ultra papers is not large. +M. Blanqui's office was yesterday broken into by some National Guards, +who made it clear to this worthy that he had ill chosen his moment to +attack the Government. I have not myself the slightest dread of a +general pillage. The majority of the working men no doubt entertain +extreme Socialist ideas, but any one of them who declined to make any +distinction between his property and that of his richer neighbours would +be very roughly handled. So long as the Government sticks to its policy +of no surrender, it will be supported by the faubourgs; if, however, it +attempts to capitulate upon humiliating terms, it will be ejected from +the Hôtel de Ville. A sharp bombardment may, perhaps, make a change in +public opinion, but I can only speak of the opinion of to-day. The +Government declares that it can never run short of ammunition; but it +seems to me that we cannot fire off powder and projectiles eternally, +and that one of these mornings we shall be told that we must capitulate, +as there is no more ammunition. Americans who are here, complain very +much of the Parisians for not using the spade more than they do. +Earthworks, which played so large a part in the defence both of +Sebastopol and Richmond, are unknown at Paris. Barricades made of paving +stones in the streets, and forts of solid masonry outside, are +considered the _ne plus ultra_ of defensive works. For one man who will +go to work to shovel earth, you may find a thousand who will shoulder a +musket. "Paris may be able to defend itself," the Americans say, "but it +is not defending itself after what our generals would consider the most +approved method." We have no intelligence of what is passing in France +beyond our lines. We presume that a great army is forming beyond the +Loire; but yesterday a friend of mine, who received this assurance from +M. Gambetta, could not discover that he had any reason to believe it, +except the hope that it was true. + +It is a somewhat singular thing that Rochefort, who was regarded even by +his friends as a vain, mad-brained demagogue, has proved himself one of +the most sensible and practical members of the Government. He has +entirely subordinated his own particular views to the exigencies of the +defence of the capital; and it is owing to his good sense that the +ultras have not indulged in any revolutionary excesses. + +I have already endeavoured to forward to you, by land, water, and air, +copies of the Tuileries papers which have been published. That poor old +pantaloon, Villemessant, the proprietor and editor of the _Figaro_, who +is somewhat roughly handled by them, attempts to defend himself in his +paper this morning, but utterly fails to do so. His interested +connection with the Imperial Government is proved without the shadow of +a doubt, and I trust that it will also prove the death of his newspaper, +which has long been a disgrace to the press of France. I went to look +after the proprietor of another paper yesterday, as he had promised me +that, come what may, he would get his own and my letters through the +Prussian lines. My friend, I found, had taken himself off to safe +quarters before the last road was closed. For my part I despise any +Parisian who has not remained here to defend his native city, whether he +be Imperialist or Republican, noble or merchant. + + +_Evening (Sunday)._ + +They could stand it no longer; the afternoon was too fine. Stern +patriotism unbent, and tragic severity of demeanour was forgotten. The +Champs Elysées and the Avenue de la Grande Armée were full of people. +Monsieur shone by his absence; he was at the ramparts, or was supposed +to be there; but his wife, his children, his _bonne_, and his kitchen +wench issued forth, oblivious alike of dull care and of bombarding +Prussians, to enjoy themselves after their wont by gossiping and lolling +in the sun. The Strasburg fetish had its usual crowd of admirers. Every +bench in the Champs Elysées was occupied. Guitars twanged, organs were +ground, merry-go-rounds were in full swing, and had it not been that +here and there some regiment was drilling, one would have supposed +oneself in some country fair. There were but few men; no fine toilets, +no private carriages. It was a sort of Greenwich-park. At the Arc de +Triomphe was a crowd trying to discover what was going on upon the +heights above Argenteuil. Some declared they saw Prussians, while others +with opera glasses declared that the supposed Prussians were only trees. +In the Avenue de l'Impératrice was a large crowd gazing upon the Fort +of Mont Valérien. This fort, because I presume it is the strongest for +defence, is the favourite of the Parisians. They love it as a sailor +loves his ship. "If I were near enough," said a girl near me, "I would +kiss it." "Let me carry your kiss to it," replied a Mobile, and the pair +embraced, amid the cheers of the people round them. At Auteuil there +were _fiacres_ full of sightseers, come to watch the Prussian batteries +at Meudon, which could be distinctly seen. Occasionally, too, there came +a puff of smoke from one of the gunboats. + + +_September 26th._ + +Do the Prussians really mean to starve us out? The Government gave out a +fortnight ago that there was food then within the city for two months' +consumption for a population of two millions. It is calculated that, +including the Mobiles, there are not above 1,500,000 mouths at present +to feed, so that with proper care the supplies may be made to last for +three months. Prices are, however, already rising. We have a bread and a +meat maximum, but to force a butcher to sell you a cutlet at the tariff +price, one has to go with a corporal's guard, which cannot always be +procured. The _Gazette Officielle_ contains a decree regulating the sale +of horse-flesh. I presume if the siege lasts long enough, dogs, rats, +and cats will be tariffed. I have got 1000 francs with me. It is +impossible to draw upon England; consequently, I see a moment coming +when, unless rats are reasonable, I shall not be able to afford myself +the luxury of one oftener than once a week. When I am at the end of my +1000 francs, I shall become an advocate for Felix Pyat's public tables, +at which, as far as I understand his plan, those who have money pay, and +those who have not, eat. + +Yesterday was a quiet day. The forts occasionally fired to "sound the +enemy's lines," but that was all. But how is it all to end? In a given +time the Parisians will eat themselves out and fire themselves out. The +credulity of the public is as great as ever. We are told that "France is +rising, and that in a few weeks three armies will throw themselves on +the Prussians, who are already utterly disorganised." In vain I ask, +"But what if these three armies do not make their appearance?" I am +regarded as an idiot for venturing to discredit a notorious fact. If I +dared, I would venture to suggest to some of my warlike friends that a +town which simply defends itself by shutting its gates, firing into +space, and waiting for apocryphal armies, is not acting a very heroic +part. + +M.F. Pyat announces in the _Combat_ that the musket of honour which is +to be given to the man who shoots the King of Prussia is to have +inscribed upon it the word "Peacemaker." We have taken it into our heads +that the German army, Count Bismarck, the Crown Prince, and all the +Generals of the Corps d'Armée are in favour of peace, and the only +obstacle to its being at once concluded lies in the obstinacy of the +Monarch, whom we usually term "that mystic drunkard." + +The _Rappel_ contains the report of a meeting which was held last night +of all the Republican Committees. Resolutions were adopted blaming the +Government for putting off the municipal elections. The adjournment, +however, of these elections is, I am convinced, regarded as a salutary +measure by a majority even of the ultras. + +I dropped into the English Embassy this morning to see what was doing +there. Mr. Wodehouse, I understand, intends to leave before the +bombardment commences. He is a civilian, and cannot be blamed for this +precautionary measure. I cannot, however, but suppose that the military +attaché, who is a colonel in the army, will remain. There is a notion +among the members of the Corps Diplomatique that the Prussians before +they bombard the town will summon it to surrender. But it seems to me +very doubtful whether they will do so. Indeed, I for one shall not +believe in a general bombardment before I see it. To starve us out seems +to me their safest game. Were they to fire on the town, the public +opinion of the civilised world would pronounce against them. + +The Mobiles, who receive 1 franc 50 centimes a day, complain that they +are unable to support themselves on this pittance. The conduct of these +peasants is above all praise. Physically and morally they are greatly +the superiors of the ordinary run of Parisians. They are quiet, orderly, +and, as a rule, even devout. Yesterday I went into the Madeleine, where +some service was going on. It was full of Mobiles listening to the +prayers of the priest. The Breton regiments are accompanied by their +priests, who bless them before they go on duty. If the Parisians were +not so thoroughly conceited, one might hope that the presence of these +villagers would have a beneficial effect upon them, and show them that +the Frenchmen out of Paris are worth more than those within it. The +generation of Parisians which has arrived at manhood during the +existence of the Empire is, perhaps, the most contemptible that the +world has ever seen. If one of these worthies is rich enough, his dream +has been to keep a mistress in splendour; if this has been above his +means, he has attempted to hang on to some wealthy _vaurien_. The number +of persons without available means who somehow managed to live on the +fat of the land without ever doing a single day's honest work had become +enormous. Most of them have, on some pretext or other, sneaked out of +Paris. One sees now very few ribbons of the Legion of Honour, +notwithstanding the reckless profusion with which this order was +lavished. The Emperor's flock, marked with the red streak, have +disappeared. + +We have received news through a carrier pigeon that one of the postal +balloons has reached Tours. I trust that it will have carried my letter +to you. I intend henceforward to confide my letter to the post every +second day, and as I have got a copying machine, to send copy by any +messenger who is attempting to run the blockade. We are told that +balloons are to leave every evening; but as the same announcement +informs us that they will not only take letters but officials appointed +to functions in the provinces, I am afraid that there is almost too much +promised to render it likely that the programme will be carried out. + + +_Afternoon._ + +I have just made an attempt to see what is going on between the forts +and the ramparts, which has been a failure. I had obtained an order to +circulate for the necessities of the defence from a member of the +Government, and with this in my pocket I presented myself at several of +the gates. In vain I showed my pass, in vain I insisted upon the serious +consequences to Paris in general, and to the officer whom I was +addressing in particular, if I were not allowed to fulfil my circulating +mission. I had to give it up at last, and to content myself with +circulating inside the ramparts. On them, however, I managed to get, +thanks to a tradesman with whom I had often dealt, who was in command. I +was told that a member of the Government, his name no one seemed to +know, had addressed the "poste" yesterday, and urged the men to resist +until one or other of the armies which were forming in the provinces +could arrive and crush the enemy. Everything appeared, where I was, +ready for an attack. The sentinels were posted at short intervals, the +artillerymen were lying about near their guns, and in the Rue des +Remparts there were several hundred National Guards. They seemed to be +taking things easily, complained that the nights were a little chilly +and that business at home was at a standstill. In the course of my walk +I saw a great many barricades in process of formation. Eventually, I +presume, we shall have a second line of defences within the outer walls. +This second line has already been divided, like the ramparts, into nine +sections, each with a separate commander. I met at least a dozen +_soi-disant_ Prussian spies being conducted to prison. Each of them was +surrounded by twelve men, with bayonets fixed. Coming home I saw nine +French soldiers with placards bearing the inscription, "Miserable +cowards." Of course, the usual crowd accompanied them. I heard that they +were on their way to be shot. + +The newspapers of this afternoon make a good deal of noise about the +exploits of the gunboat in the bend of the Seine between Point du Jour +and Boulogne. They claim that its gun has dismounted the Prussian +batteries on the terrace of Meudon, and that it successfully engaged +several field batteries which fired upon it from the Park of St. Cloud. +This may or may not be true. We are also called upon to believe that +five shots from Fort Ivry destroyed the Prussian batteries at Choisy le +Roi. + +The latest proclamation issued is one from General Trochu, in which he +says that it was the fault of no one that the redoubts which were in +course of construction when the Prussians arrived before the town were +not finished, and that they were abandoned for strategical reasons. + +The latest Ultra paper publishes the account of a meeting which was +remarkable, it observes, for the "excellent spirit which animated it, +and the serious character of the speeches which were delivered at it." +This is one of these serious orations--"The Citizen Arthur de Fonvielle +recommends all citizens to exercise the greatest vigilance as regards +the manoeuvres of the police, and more especially those of the Préfet of +the Police. This Ministry has passed from the hands of a Corsican into +those of one of the assassins of the Mexican Republic." I derive +considerable amusement from the perusal of the articles which are daily +published reviling the world in general for not coming to the aid of +Paris. I translate the opening paragraphs of one of them which I have +just read:--"In the midst of events which are overwhelming us, there is +something still more melancholy than our defeat: it is our isolation. +For a month the world has looked on with an impassibility, mingled with +shame and cynicism, at the ruin of a capital which possesses the most +exquisite gifts of sociability, the principal jewel of Europe, and the +eternal ornament of civilisation." Nothing like having a good opinion of +oneself. + + +_Evening._ + +I hear of some one going to try to-morrow to get through the lines, so I +give him a copy of this letter. My last letter went off--or rather did +not go off--by a private balloon. The speculator rushed in, just as I +expected him to be off, and said, "Celestine has burst." To my horror I +discovered that he was speaking of the balloon. He then added, +"Ernestine remains to us," and to Ernestine I confided my letter. I have +not seen the speculator since; it may be that Ernestine has burst too. + +The latest _canard_ is that 10,000 Prussians are in a wood near +Villejuif, where they have been driven by the French. As they in the +most cowardly manner decline to come out of it, the wily Parisian braves +are rubbing the outer circle of trees over with petroleum, as a +preparatory step to burn them out. This veracious tale is believed by +two-thirds of Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +_September 27th,_ 8 A.M. + +I have sent you numerous letters, but I am not aware whether you have +received them. As very probably they are now either in the clouds or in +the moon, I write a short resume of what has passed since we have been +cut off from the outer world, as I believe that I have a very good +chance this morning to communicate with you. + +When the town was first invested the greatest disorder existed. For a +few days officers, even generals, were shot at by regiments outside the +fortifications; the National Guards performed their service on the +ramparts very reluctantly, and, when possible, shirked it. The Mobiles +were little better than an armed mob of peasants. The troops of the line +were utterly demoralised. The streets were filled with troopers +staggering about half drunk, and groups of armed Mobiles wandering in +ignorance of the whereabouts of their quarters and of their regiments. +The Government was divided into two parties--one supported by the +Moderates, and anxious to make peace on reasonable terms; the other +supported by the Ultras, and determined to continue the contest at all +hazards. The Ministers were almost in despair at finding the utter +disorder in which everything had been left by their predecessors. Little +by little this condition of things has mended for the better. Since the +failure of the mission of M. Jules Favre, and the exorbitant demands +which were then put forward by Count Bismarck, both Moderates and Ultras +have supported the men who are in power. It is felt by all that if Paris +is to be defended with any prospect of success, there must be absolute +union among its defenders. The Deputies of Paris are not thought, +perhaps, to be endowed with any very great administrative ability, but +Mr. Lincoln's proverb respecting the difficulty of a person changing his +horse whilst he is crossing a stream is acted on, and so long as they +neither commit any signal act of folly, nor attempt to treat with +Prussia either for peace or a capitulation, I think that no effort will +be made to oust them. They are, I believe, doing their best to organise +the defence of this city, and if they waste a little time in altering +the names of the streets, and publishing manifestoes couched in grand +and bombastic phrases, it must be remembered that they have to govern +Frenchmen who are fond of this species of nonsense. With respect to the +military situation, the soldiers of all sorts are kept well together, +and appear to be under the command of their officers. The National +Guard, although it still grumbles a little, does its duty on the +ramparts. The soldiers of the line are kept outside the town. The +Mobiles have passed many hours in drill during the last ten days; they +are orderly and well conducted, and if not soldiers already, are a far +more formidable force than they were at the commencement of the siege. +Whether they will ever become available for operations in the open field +is, perhaps, questionable, for their regiments would probably be thrown +into confusion if called upon to act together. Within the line of the +forts, however, there is no reason to suppose that they will not fight +well. The forts are manned by sailors, who are excellent artillerists, +and the guns are formidable ones. On the Seine there is a flotilla of +gunboats. The city has food and ammunition for two months. Paris, +therefore, ought to be able to hold out for these two months. She has +her own population, a large portion of which consists of the working +men, who have never been backward in fighting. The provinces have been +drained of their best blood, which has been brought up to the capital. +All that remains of the French army is here. At the lowest average the +armed force in Paris amounts to 450,000 men, and there are about 500,000 +more from which this force can recruit itself. If, then, the capital +does not hold out for two months, she will deserve the contempt of the +world--if she does hold out for this period, she will at least have +saved her honour, and, to a certain extent, the military reputation of +France. + +The newspapers are still pursuing the very questionable policy of +exaggerating every little affair of the outposts into a victory, and +assuring those who read their lucubrations that powerful armies are on +the march to raise the siege. The only real military event of any +consequence which has taken place has resulted in a Prussian success. +The French were driven back from some half-finished redoubts at +Chatillon, and the Prussians now occupy the heights between Sèvres and +Meudon, from whence, if they establish batteries, they will be able to +shell a portion of the town. In the second affair which took place, +absurd stories have been repeated respecting the advantages gained by +the French; but they are, to say the least, extremely apocryphal, and +even were they true they are of small importance. For the last few days +the forts have fired upon any Prussian troops that either were or were +supposed to be within shot; and the gunboats have attempted to prevent +the erection of batteries on the Sèvres-Meudon plateau. In point of +fact, the siege has not really commenced; and until it is seen how this +vast population bears its hardships, how the forts resist the guns which +may be brought to bear upon them, and how the armed force conducts +itself under fire, it is impossible to speculate upon results. + +Considering the utter stagnation in trade, the number of working men out +of employment, and the irritation caused by defeat, it must be admitted +that the Parisians of all classes are behaving themselves well. The rich +residents have fled, and left to their poorer neighbours the task of +defending their native city. There have been no tumults or disorders, +except those caused by the foolish mania of supposing every one who is +not known must necessarily be a spy. Political manifestations have taken +place before the Hôtel de Ville, but the conciliatory policy adopted by +the Government has prevented their degenerating into excesses. Public +opinion, too, has pronounced against them. From what I have heard and +observed, I am inclined to think that the majority of the bourgeoisie +are in favour of a capitulation, but that they do not venture to say so; +and that the majority of the working men are opposed to peace on any +terms. They do not precisely know themselves what would be the result of +holding out, but they vaguely trust to time, and to the chapter of +accidents. In the middle and upper classes there are also many who take +the same view of the situation. "Let us," they say, "hold out for two +months, and the condition of things will in all probability be altered, +and if so, as we cannot be worse off, any change must be to our +advantage." + +Shut up with the Parisians in Paris, I cannot help feeling a good deal +of sympathy for them, notwithstanding their childish vanity, their +mendacity, and their frivolity. I sincerely trust, therefore, if they do +seriously resist their besiegers, that the assurances of the Government +that there are ample supplies of food and of ammunition, are not part of +the system of official lying which was pursued by their predecessors; +and I hope that the grandiloquent boasts and brave words that one hears +from morning to night will be followed by brave deeds. + +This morning Messenger Johnson was sent off with despatches to England +from the British Embassy. He was provided with a safe-conduct, signed by +General Trochu, and a letter to the Commandant of the Fort of Vanves, +enjoining him to forward Mr. Johnson under a flag of truce to the +Prussian lines. At half-past nine Messenger Johnson, arrayed in a pair +of high boots with clanking spurs, the belongings, I presume, of a +Queen's messenger, stepped into his carriage, with that "I should like +to see any one touch me" air which is the badge of his tribe. His +coachman being already drunk, he was accompanied by a second man, who +undertook to drive until Jehu had got over the effect of his potations. +I myself have always regarded Queen's messengers as superior beings, to +be addressed with awe, and whose progress no one would venture to +arrest. Such, however, was not the opinion of the National Guards who +were on duty at the gate through which Messenger Johnson sought to leave +this beleagured town. In vain Messenger Johnson showed his pass; in vain +he stated that he was a free-born Briton and a Queen's messenger. These +suspicious patriots ignored the pass, and scoffed at the _Civis +Romanus_. In fact, I tremble as I write it, several of them said they +felt somewhat inclined to shoot any Briton, and more particularly a +Queen's Messenger, whilst others proposed to prod Messenger Johnson with +their bayonets in his tenderest parts. Exit under these circumstances +was impossible. For some time Messenger Johnson sat calm, dignified, and +imperturbable in the midst of this uproar, and then made a strategical +retreat to the Ministry of War. He was there given an officer to +accompany him; he again set forth, and this time he was more fortunate, +for he got through the gate, and vanished from our horizon. I called at +the Embassy this afternoon, and found our representative, Mr. +Wodehouse, confident that Messenger Johnson would arrive at his +destination. Mr. Wodehouse when I left him was engaged in pacifying a +lunatic, who had forced his way into the Embassy, and who insisted that +he was the British Ambassador. I was surprised to learn that there are +still at least 3000 of our countrymen and women in Paris. Most of them +are in a state of absolute destitution, some because they have no means, +others because they are unable to draw upon the funds in England. Mr. +Herbert has established a species of soup kitchen, so they will not +starve until we all do. Mr. Wallace, the heir of Lord Hertford, who had +already given the munificent donation of 12,000l. to the Ambulance fund, +has also provided funds for their most pressing wants. + +In to-day's _Journal des Débats_ M. John Lemoinne points out to his +readers that M. Bismarck, in his remarks to M. Jules Favre, expressed +the opinion of Germany, and that the expression of his views respecting +the necessity of Germany annexing Alsace and Lorraine is not necessarily +an insult to France. The war, says M. Lemoinne, never was a war of +monarchs, but a war of nations. France as well as the Emperor is +responsible for it. It must continue to be, he continues, a war _à +outrance_ between two races. The terms of peace proposed by M. Bismarck +cannot be accepted by France. The moderate tone and dignified melancholy +of this article contrast favourably with that of almost all the leaders +in the other papers, and more particularly in those of the +ultra-Republican press. In _La France_, a moderate and well-conducted +journal, I find the following remarks:--"Paris is the capital of France +and of the world. Paris besieged is a beautiful, a surprising spectacle. +The sky is blue, the atmosphere is pure, this is a happy augury, fifteen +days of patience on the part of the Parisians, fifteen days to arm in +the provinces, and the German army will be irreparably compromised. It +will then be unable to cut its way out of the circle of fire which will +surround it." When journals of the standing of _La France_ deal in this +sort of nonsense it is not surprising that the ex-Imperialist organs, +which are endeavouring to curry favour with the mob, are still more +absurd. The _Figaro_ concludes two columns of bombast with the following +flight:--"But thou, O country, never diest. Bled in all thy veins by the +butchers of the North, thy divine head mutilated by the heels of brutes, +the Christ of nations, for two months nailed on the cross, never hast +thou appeared so great and so beautiful, Thou neededst this martyrdom, O +our mother, to know how we love thee. In order that Paris, in which +there is a genius which has given her the empire of the world, should +fall into the hands of the barbarians, there must cease to be a God in +heaven. As God she exists, and as God she is immortal. Paris will never +surrender." When it is remembered that this ignorant, vain, foolish +population has for nearly twenty years been fed with this sort of stuff, +it is not surprising that even to this hour it cannot realise the fact +that Paris is in any danger of being captured. The ultra-Republican +press is becoming every day more virulent. M. Blanqui, in his organ, _La +Patrie en Danger_, after praising the act of a person of the name of +Malet, who last February shot an officer who refused to shout "Vive la +République," thus continues:--"I was reminded of this when the other day +I saw defile on the boulevards a regiment of rustic peasants. I raised +my hat to salute these soldiers of liberty, but there was no response +from them. Malet would have raised the kepi of one of the captains with +a bullet, and he would have done well. Let us be without pity. Vive +Marat! We will do justice ourselves...." The ultra-Republicans, of the +stamp of M. Blanqui and M. Felix Pyat, seem to be under the impression +that it is far more important to establish a Republican form of +Government in France than to resist the Prussians. In the meetings which +they hold every evening they clamour for the election at once of a +municipality, because they hope to become themselves members of it, and +then to absorb all the power which is now wielded by the Provisional +Government. Beyond discrediting themselves by these attempts to disturb +the harmony within the walls, which is of such vital importance at the +present moment, I do not think that they will do much. I have talked to +many working men, and whatever may be their political opinions, they are +far too sensible to play the game of the Prussians by weakening the +existing Government. After the Prussians perhaps the deluge; but as long +as they are before Paris, and the Provisional Government does not +capitulate, I do not dread any political disorders. What we may come to, +are bread riots. There is already an immense deal of misery, and, as the +siege continues and provisions rise in price, it will of course +increase. + +I was talking this morning to a gentleman who used at one time to play a +very important part in public life, who is well acquainted with most of +the members of the Government, and who is a man of calm judgment. I was +anxious to obtain his opinion upon the situation, and this is a _résumé_ +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. As for the +fortresses, they have not been taken, and yet they have not arrested the +Prussian advance on Paris; consequently their destruction would not +seriously weaken the defences of the country." I asked whether Paris +would now consent to these terms. "No," he said, "if the Government +offered them there would be a revolution. Paris, rightly or wrongly, +believes that she will be able to hold out for two months, and that +during this time there will be a _levée en masse_." "And do you share +this opinion?" I asked. "I am not of a very sanguine character" he +replied; "but I really am now inclined to believe that the Prussians +will never enter Paris unless they starve us into a surrender." "Then," +I said, "I suppose they will starve us out." "I am an old man," he said, +"and I always remember Philip's saying, 'Time and I are two,' In two +months many things may happen. Winter is coming on. The Prussian army is +composed of men engaged in business at home and anxious to return; the +North does not love the South, and divisions may arise. The King of +Prussia is an old man, and he may die. Without absolutely counting upon +a French army raising the siege, there are _levées_ forming in Lyons and +elsewhere, and the Germans will find their communications seriously +menaced. Russia, too, and Austria may interfere, so I think that we are +wise to resist as long as we can." "But if you have to capitulate, what +will happen?" I asked. "If we do capitulate, our disaster will be +complete," he answered. "I do not anticipate disorders; the population +of Paris is an intelligent one, it wishes the Government to resist as +long as it can, but not to prolong an impossible situation. Paris must +do her part in defending the country, she can do no more." "Well," I +said, "supposing that the Prussians were to withdraw, and peace were to +be concluded on reasonable terms, what do you think would take place?" +"Gambetta, Jules Favre, and the majority of the Parisian Deputies would +call a Constituent Assembly as soon as possible, and resign power into +its hands. They are moderate Republicans, but between a Red Republic and +a Constitutional Monarchy they would prefer the latter. As practical +men, from what I know of them, I am inclined to think that they would be +in favour of the Orleanist family--either the Comte de Paris or the Duc +d'Aumale." "And would the majority of the Constituent Assembly go with +them?" I asked. "I think it would" he replied. "The Orleanist family +would mean peace. Of late years Frenchmen have cared very little for +military glory; their dream has been to save money. One advantage of our +disasters is that it has limited the number of pretenders to the Throne, +for after the capitulation of Sedan, neither the army nor the peasants +will support a Bonaparte. There will be two parties--the +ultra-Republicans, and the advocates of a Constitutional Monarchy under +a Prince of the House of Orleans. Unless the friends of the Orleans +Princes commit some great fault, they are masters of the situation." + +I went down this morning to the Halles Centrales. There was very little +going on. _Bonnes_ were coming to market, but most of the booths were +untenanted, and the price of vegetables, eggs, and butter was +exorbitant. "Why do you complain of me?" said a dealer to a +customer--"is it my fault? Curse Badinguet and that wretch of a +Bismarck; they choose to fight, so you must pay double for these +carrots" The butchers yesterday published an appeal against the maximum; +they said that the cost of animals is so great that they positively are +losing upon every joint which they sell. A new proclamation of the Mayor +has just been issued, announcing that 500 oxen and 4,000 sheep will +daily be slaughtered and sold to the butchers at a price to enable them +to gain 20 per cent, by retailing meat at the official tariff. I find +that, come what may, we have coffee and sugar enough to last many +months, so that provided the bread does not fail, we shall take some +time to starve out. + +This afternoon a dense column of smoke was seen rising in the air in the +direction of La Villette, and it gradually covered the town with a dark +cloud. The pessimists among the Boulevard quidnuncs insisted that the +town had been set on fire by the Prussians; the optimists were convinced +that the 10,000, who for some reason or other are supposed to be in a +wood, patiently waiting to be roasted, were being burnt. It turns out +that some petroleum in the Buttes de Chaumont caught fire. After burning +about two hours, the fire was put out by heaping dirt on it. + +The Prussians still occupy the plateau of Meudon, and despatches from +the forts say that troops are supposed to be concentrating between +Meudon and Sèvres. We have come to the conclusion that as the Prussians +do not fire upon Grenello and Auteuil, they have neither Krupp nor siege +guns. I trust this may prove true. News has been received from Tours; it +was brought by an officer who ran the blockade. We are much elated to +learn that the result of M. Jules Favre's interview has been posted up +throughout France. We believe that the effect of this measure "will be +equal to an army." The Post Office informs the public that a regular +system of balloons has been organised, and that letters will be received +and forwarded to the provinces and abroad, provided they do not weigh +above four grammes. A deputation of English and American correspondents +waited to-day on M. Jules Favre, to ask him to give them facilities to +send their letters by the balloons. This he promised to do. He also half +promised to let all correspondents have a pass, on stating who they are. +The worst of a pass is, that it is no protection against arrest, for, +say your captors, "Prussian spies are so cunning that they would be +precisely the persons to have papers, either forged or stolen." Another +trouble is, that if you are arrested, you are generally shut up, with +half-a-dozen thieves and drunkards, for about twenty-four hours, before +a Commissary condescends to inquire into your case. No one as yet has +ever troubled me; but the spy mania certainly does not add to the charm +of the residence of a stranger in Paris just now. I would rather run the +chance of being hit during a bombardment, than affront the certainty of +twenty-four hours in a filthy police cell. Suspicion is, no doubt, +carried to a ridiculous excess; but it is equally true that +unquestionable spies are arrested every day under every sort of +disguise. Mr. Washburne told me yesterday that he saw a _soi-disant_ +"Invalide" arrested, who turned out to be a regular "spectacled +Dutchman." + + +_September 28th._ + +Nothing new at the front. We suppose that the enemy are concentrating +troops on the Sèvres-Meudon plateau, and that they intend to attack on +that side. We are confident that the guns of Mont Valérien will prevent +the success of this attack. On the opposite side of Paris they are +endeavouring to erect batteries; but they are unable to do so on account +of the fire of Fort Nogent. It seems to me that we are shouting before +we are quite out of the wood; but we are already congratulating +ourselves upon having sustained a siege which throws those of Saragossa +and Richmond into the shade. If we have not yet been bombarded, we have +assumed "an heroic attitude of expectation;" and if the Prussians have +not yet stormed the walls, we have shown that we were ready to repel +them if they had. Deprived of our shepherd and our sheep-dogs, we civic +sheep have set up so loud a ba-ba, that we have terrified the wolves who +wished to devour us. In the impossible event of an ultimate capitulation +we shall hang our swords and our muskets over our fire-places, and say +to our grandchildren, "I, too, was one of the defenders of Paris." In +the meantime, soldiers who have run away when attacked are paraded +through the streets with a placard on their breasts, requesting all good +citizens to spit upon them. Two courts-martial have been established to +judge spies and marauders, and in each of the nine sections there is a +court-martial to sit upon peccant National Guards. "The sentence," says +the decree, "will at once be executed by the detachment on duty." We are +preparing for the worst; in the Place of the Panthéon, and other +squares, it is proposed to take up the paving stones, because they will, +if left, explode shells which may strike them. The windows of the Louvre +and other public edifices are being filled with sand bags. This morning +I was walking along the Rue Lafayette, when I heard a cry "A bas les +cigares!" and I found that if I continued to smoke, it was thought that +I should set light to some ammunition waggons which were passing. + +Yesterday evening there was a report, which was almost universally +credited, that a revolution had broken out in London, because the +English Government had refused to aid Paris in driving back the +Prussians. The Parisians find it impossible to understand that the world +at large can see little distinction between a French army entering +Berlin and a Prussian army entering Paris. Their capital is to them a +holy city, and they imagine that the Christian world regards the +Prussian attack upon it much as the Mahometan world would regard a +bombardment of Mecca. No doubt it will be a shocking thing to bombard a +city such as this, filled with women and children; still, being an +Englishman, I cannot see that it would be worse than to bombard London. +The newspapers of this morning contain a _précis_ of a letter from "our +Fritz" to William "the mystic drunkard." Our Fritz writes to his papa to +say that he ought to have accepted peace when it was proffered by Jules +Favre. How the contents of the letter are known in Paris is not stated. +But here we know everything. We know that at a council of war held two +days ago at Versailles a majority declared that it was impossible to +take Paris. We know that the German soldiers are dying of starvation and +clothed in rags. We know that they are forced by their officers, against +their will, to attack their French brothers. Did not yesterday a +National Guard himself take five Prussian prisoners? They were starving, +and thankfully accepted a piece of bread. They had a wounded companion +in a wheelbarrow, who continually shook his fist in the direction of the +"mystic drunkard," and plaintively moaned forth the only French word he +knew, "Misérable, misérable!" Did not another National Guard go into a +house recently occupied by "Bavarians," and find the following words +written on a shutter--"Poor Frenchmen, we love you: they force us to +fight against you?" I believe all this, and many other strange facts, +because I see them in print in the newspapers. Can it possibly be that I +am over-credulous? Am I wrong, too, in believing that France is rising +_en masse_, that Moltke did not understand his business in advancing on +Paris, and that he will be crushed by the armies of the Loire and a +dozen other places--if, indeed, our gallant heroes congregated in Paris +give their brethren outside time to share in the triumph of defeating +him? _En attendant_, we eat, drink, and are reasonably merry; our +defenders mount guard, and drill when they are off guard. Our wary +Mobiles outside not only refuse to allow Prussians to pass, but such is +their vigilance, they generally arrest officers of any regiment except +their own who come within their ken. These worthy fellows will, I +believe, fight with bravery. The working men, too, are engaged in +heaping up barricades, and are ready to allow themselves to be killed +and their landlords' houses to be blown up rather than surrender. The +sailors in the forts are prepared to hold them like ships against all +comers. The "infantry of the marine" is commanded by an old tar who +stands no nonsense. A few days ago he published an order complaining +that the marines "undulated under fire." Some of his officers went to +him as a deputation to protest against this slur on them and their men; +but he cut their remonstrances short by immediately cashiering the +spokesman. To-day he announces that if his men are supplied with drink +within the limits of his command he will burn down all the pothouses. It +is greatly to be deplored that the determined spirit of this Admiral +does not animate all his brother commanders; they are perpetually +engaged in discussing with those who are under their orders, and appear +to be afraid to put down insubordination with a high hand. If ever they +venture upon any act of rigour, they are called upon by the Ultra press +to justify it, and they generally do so in a lengthy letter. + +I have been, as the Americans say, much exercised of late respecting +certain persons whom I have seen strolling about the streets, avoiding +as much as possible their species. Whenever anyone looked at them they +sneaked away with deprecating glances. They are dressed in a sort of +pea-jacket, with hoods, black trousers, and black caps, and their +general appearance was a cross between a sailor and a monk. I have at +length discovered with surprise that these retiring innocents are the +new sergents-de-ville of M. Kératry, who are daily denounced by the +Ultras as ferocious wolves eager to rend and devour all honest citizens. +If this be true, I can only say that they are well disguised in sheep's +clothing. + +Letters from Paris, if ever they do get to London, must necessarily be +so dull, that they can hardly repay the trouble of reading them. Life +here is about as lively as life on board a ship. The two main subjects +of conversation, the military preparations within the town, and the +amount of food, are in honour tabooed to correspondents. With respect to +the former I will only say, that if the Prussians do carry the forts and +the enceinte, they will not have taken Paris; with regard to the latter, +I can state that we shall not be starved out for some time. Besides the +cattle which have been accumulated, we have 90,000 horses; and although +a cab horse may not taste as good as Southdown mutton, I have no doubt +that Parisian cooking will make it a very palatable dish for hungry men; +there are, too, a great many dogs, and the rats have not yet left the +sinking ship. As for coffee and sugar we have enough to last for six +months; and, unless the statistics of the Government are utterly +worthless, come what may we shall not lack bread for many a day. + +The Rump of the Corps Diplomatique has held a second meeting, and a +messenger has been sent to Bismarck to know--1st, whether he means to +bombard the city; 2nd, whether, if he does, he intends to give the usual +twenty-four hours' notice. Diplomates are little better than old women +when they have to act on an emergency. Were it not for Mr. Washburne, +who was brought up in the rough-and-ready life of the Far West, instead +of serving an apprenticeship in Courts and Government offices, those who +are still here would be perfectly helpless. They come to him at all +moments, and although he cannot speak French, for all practical purposes +he is worth more than all his colleagues put together. Lord Lyons would, +I believe, have remained, had he not been over persuaded by timid +colleagues, who were ordered to do as he did. It is a great pity that he +did not act according to his own judgment; but Republics, we know, are +not in good odour with courtiers. As for that poor creature Metternich, +he was utterly demoralized. He was more of a Chamberlain of Badinguet +than an Ambassador, and, of course, when his friend disappeared, he +took the earliest opportunity to follow his example. + + +_September 29th._ + +We still are cut off from the outer world, but neither "the world +forgetting," nor, we imagine, "by the world forgot." The inhabitants of +the "Mecca of civilization" are still, like Sister Anne, looking out for +some one to come to their assistance. I am utterly sick and tired of the +eternal brag and bombast around me. Let the Parisians gain some success, +and then celebrate it as loudly as they please: but why, in the name of +common sense, will they rejoice over victories yet to come? "We are +preserving," they say, "a dignified expectative attitude." Mr. Micawber +put the thing in more simple vernacular when, he said that he was +waiting for something to turn up. "First catch your hare" is a piece of +advice which our patriots here would scoff at. They have not yet caught +the Prussians, but they have already, by a flight of imagination, cooked +and eaten them. Count Moltke may as well--if I am to believe one quarter +of what I hear--like the American coon, come down. In a question of +military strategy between the grocers of Paris and the Prussian generals +I should have thought that the odds were considerably in favour of the +latter, but I am told that this is not so, and that in laying siege to +Paris they are committing a mistake for which a schoolboy would be +deservedly whipped. If you eliminate the working-class element, which +has not been corrupted by the Imperial system, the population of this +town is much what I imagine that of Constantinople to have been when it +was taken by the Turks. They are Greeks of the lower empire. Monsieur +sticks his kepi on one side of his head, and struts and swaggers along +the Boulevard as though he were a bantam cock. We have lost the _petits +crevés_ who formed so agreeable an element in society, but they have +been replaced by the military dandy, a being, if possible, still more +offensive. This creature mounts some sorry screw and parades the +Boulevard and the Champs Elysées, frowning dismally upon the world in +general, and twirling his moustache with the one hand, whilst he holds +on to the saddle with the other. His sword is of the longest, his waist +is of the tightest, and his boots are of the brightest. His like is only +to be seen in England when the _Battle of Waterloo_ is played at +Astley's, but his seat is not as good as that of the equestrian warriors +of that establishment. As he slowly paces along he gazes slyly to see +how many people are looking at him, and it must be owned that those who +do see him, vastly admire him. What manner of beings these admirers are +may be imagined from their idol. No contrast can be greater than that +which exists between the Parisian Bobadils and the Provincial Mobiles. +The latter are quiet and orderly, eager to drill and without a vestige +of bluster--these poor peasants are of a very different stuff from the +emasculated, conceited scum which has palmed itself off on Europe as +representative Frenchmen. The families with whom they lodge speak with +wonder of their sobriety, their decency, and their simple ways, and in +their hearts almost despise them because they do not ravish their +daughters or pillage their cellars; and neither swear every half-hour to +die for their country, nor yell the "Marseillaise." If Paris be saved, +it will be thanks to them and to the working men of the capital. But it +will be the old _sic vos non vobis_ story; their brave deeds and +undemonstrative heroism will be forgotten, and Jules and Alphonse, the +dandies and braggarts of the Boulevard, will swear to their own heroism. +I trust that the Prussians will fail to take Paris, because I think that +the French are right to fight on rather than submit to the dismemberment +of their country; and because I prefer a Republic to a Monarchy where a +King reigns by right divine. But when I read the bombastic articles in +the newspapers--when I see the insane conceit and the utter ignorance of +those with whom I am thrown--when I find them really believing that they +are heroes because they are going, they say, to win battles, it is +difficult to entertain any great sympathy for them. How utterly must +poor old Badinguet, before whom they cringed for years--who used them, +bought them, and made his market out of their vanity, their ignorance, +and their love of theatrical claptrap, despise them, as he dreams again +through life's dream in the gardens of his German prison. They call him +now a "sinister scoundrel" and a "lugubrious stage player." But he was +their master for many a long year, and they owe their emancipation from +his yoke to Prussian arms and not to themselves. + +A committee of "subsistence" has been established. The feud between the +butchers and the public still continues, and most of the meat stalls are +closed. The grocers, too, are charging absurd prices for their goods. +_La Liberté_ suggests that their clients should do themselves justice, +and one of these mornings, unless these gentry abate their prices, some +grocer will be found hanging before his door. Although provisions are +plentiful, the misery is very great. Beggars increase in number every +day--they are like one of the plagues of Egypt. I was taking a cup of +coffee this morning before a café, and I counted twenty-three beggars +who asked me for money whilst I was sitting there. We still derive much +comfort from caricaturing Badinguet, William, and Bismarck. The latest +effort represents Badinguet and William as Robert Macaire and Bertrand. +Another represents Badinguet eating an eagle. "Coquin," says William, +"what are you doing with your eagle?" "Eating it," replies Badinguet; +"what else can I do with it?" Little statuettes, too, of the "two +friends," Badinguet and William, are in great request. William, with an +immense moustache, scowls at Badinguet, who humbly kneels before him. + +M. Jules Favre, in reply to the English press deputation, sent last +night to say that each correspondent must make a personal application to +General Trochu. I know what that means already. All I ask is that my +letters should be put up in a balloon. As for passes, I have one +already, and it has not been of the slightest service to me. _Les +Nouvelles_ heads an article "English Spies," and proposes that to +simplify the question of whether they are spies or not, all English in +Paris should at once be shot. I cannot say that I personally have found +any ill-feeling to exist against me because I am an Englishman. +Yesterday afternoon I was in a crowd, and some one suggested that I was +a spy; I immediately mounted on a chair and explained that I was a +"journaliste Anglais," and pointed out to my friends that they ought to +be obliged to me for remaining here. "If any one doubts me," I added, +"let us go to the nearest commissary." No one did doubt me, and fifty +patriots immediately shook hands with me. The French people are apt to +form hasty judgments sometimes, and to act on them still more hastily, +but if one can get them to listen for a moment, they are reasonable, and +soon their natural good nature asserts itself. The zealous but +well-intended Mobiles are the most dangerous, for they shoot you first +and then apologise to your corpse. An order is placarded to-day of +Governor Trochu's, announcing that anyone trying to pass the lines will +be sent before the Courts Martial, or if he or she runs away when +ordered to stop, will be shot on the spot. This latter clause allows a +very great latitude for zeal, more particularly as the "lines" just now +are little more than a geographical expression. Their Emperor is a +prisoner, the enemy is thundering at their gates, they are shut up here +like rats in a hole; they have been vanquished in the only engagement +they have had with their besiegers, and yet the Parisians believe that, +compared with them, the Germans are an inferior race, and, like the +slave before Marius, will shrink abashed before the majesty of Paris. +"If we," say their newspapers, "the wisest, the best, the noblest of +human beings, have to succumb to this horde of barbarians that environ +us, we shall cease to believe in the existence of a Providence." + +The movement on the part of the "Ultras" to elect at once a municipality +is gaining strength. Yesterday several chiefs of the faubourg battalions +of the National Guard interviewed Jules Ferry on the subject. Ledru +Rollin has declared himself in favour of it, and this morning there are +evidences that the Government is inclined to give way to the pressure, +for a decree is published in the _Journal Officiel_ ordering a +registration of voters. The worst of Frenchmen is that, no matter how +patriotic each one may be, he is convinced that the interests of his +country require that he should be one of its rulers. The men of '48 who +have returned from exile are surprised that they are almost forgotten by +the present generation, which regards them as interesting historical +relics, and puts its faith in new gods. At the clubs every evening the +Government is denounced for refusing to admit into its ranks this or +that patriot, or adjourning the municipal elections, and for not sending +revolutionary agents into the provinces. A newspaper this morning makes +the excellent suggestion that M. Blanqui, M.F. Pyat, and their principal +adherents should be invited to proceed at once to the provinces in a +balloon, invested with the rank of Government agents. "They cannot," it +adds, "do so much harm there as they are doing here; and then, too, the +balloon may burst." Personally, I should be glad to see a moderate +Republic established here, for I regard a Court as a waste of public +money; but it seems to me that Republicans should remember that it is +for the nation, and not for them, to decide what shall henceforward be +the form of government. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +_September 30th._ + +We are still beating our tom-toms like the Chinese, to frighten away the +enemy, and our braves still fire off powder at invisible Uhlans. The +Prussians, to our intense disgust, will not condescend even to notice +us. We jeer at them, we revile them, and yet they will not attack us. +What they are doing we cannot understand. They appear to have withdrawn +from the advanced positions which they held. We know that they are in +the habit of making war in a thoroughly ungentlemanly manner, and we +cannot make up our minds whether our "attitude" is causing them to +hesitate, or whether they are not devising some new trick to take us by +surprise. That they are starving, that their communications with Germany +are cut off, that their leaders are at loggerheads, that the Army of the +Loire will soon be here to help us to demolish them, we have not the +slightest doubt. The question is no longer whether Paris will be +taken--that we have solved already--it is whether the Prussians will be +able to get back to the Rhine. We are thankful that Bismarck did not +accept Jules Favre's offer of a money indemnity. We would not give a +hundred francs now to ensure peace or an armistice. I went this morning +into a shop, the proprietor of which, a bootmaker, I have long known, +and I listened with interest to the conversation of this worthy man +with some of his neighbours who had dropped in to have a gossip, and to +congratulate him on his martial achievements, as he had been on guard in +a bastion. We first discussed why the Army of the Loire had not arrived, +and we came to the conclusion that it was engaged in rallying Bazaine. +"I should like to read your English newspapers now," said one; "your +_Tims_ told us we ought to cede Alsace and Lorraine, but its editor must +now acknowledge that Paris is invincible." I told him that I felt +convinced that he did so regularly every morning. "No peace," shouted a +little tailor, who had been prancing about on an imaginary steed, +killing imaginary Prussians, "we have made a pact with death; the world +knows now what are the consequences of attacking us." The all-absorbing +question of subsistence then came up, and some one remarked that beef +would give out sooner than mutton. "We must learn," observed a +jolly-looking grocer, "to vanquish the prejudices of our stomachs. Even +those who do not like mutton must make the sacrifice of their taste to +their country." I mildly suggested that perhaps in a few weeks the +stomachs which had a prejudice against rats would have to overcome it. +At this the countenance of the gossips fell considerably, when the +bootmaker, after mysteriously closing the door, whispered, "A secret was +confided to me this morning by an intimate friend of General Trochu. +There is a tunnel which connects Paris with the provinces, and through +it flocks and herds are entering the town." This news cheered us up +amazingly. My bootmaker's wife came in to help him off with his military +accoutrements; so, with a compliment about Venus disarming Mars, I +withdrew in company with an American, who had gone into the shop with +me. This American is a sort of transatlantic Bunsby. He talks little, +but thinks much. His sole observation to me as we walked away was this, +"They will squat, sir, mark my words, they will squat." I received this +oracular utterance with respect, and I leave it to others to solve its +meaning, I am myself a person of singular credulity, but even I +sometimes ask myself whether all I hear and read can be true. Was there +really, as all the newspapers this morning inform me, a meeting last +Sunday at London of 400,000 persons, who were addressed by eminent +M.P's, and by the principal merchants and owners of manufactories in +England, at which resolutions were adopted denouncing the Queen, and +calling upon Mr. Gladstone either to retire from office, or to declare +war against Prussia? + +The Tuileries correspondence, of which I gave a short summary yesterday, +reveals the fact that both M. de Cassagnac and Baron Jerome David were +regular pensioners on the Civil List. The cost of the Prince Imperial's +baptism amounted to 898,000fr. The cousins, male and female, of the +Emperor, received 1,310,975fr. per annum; the Duc de Persigny received +in two months, 60,000fr.; Prince Jablonowyski, Countess Gajan, Madame +Claude Vignon, Le General Morris, and many other ladies and gentlemen +who never did the State any service, are down for various sums. Among +other items is one of 1,200fr. to General de Failly for sugar plums. The +Duchess of Mouchy, whose name continually appears, received 2,000,000fr. +as a marriage portion. The son of the American Bonaparte had a pension +of 30,000fr.; Madame Ratazzi of 24,000fr.; her sister, Madame Turr, the +same; Marquis Pepoli, 25,000fr. But the poor relations do not appear to +have been contented with their pensions, for on some pretext or other +they were always getting extra allowances out of their rich cousin. As +for Prince Achille Murat, the Emperor paid his debts a dozen times. +Whatever he may have been to the outer world, poor old Badinguet seems +to have been a Providence to his forty-two cousins and to his personal +friends. He carried out Sidney Smith's notion of charity--put his hand +into someone else's pocket, and gave away what he stole liberally. + +_Figaro_, with its usual good taste, recommends the battalions of the +National Guard to choose celebrities of the _demi-monde_ for their +vivandières. From what I hear every day, I imagine that the battalions +will be far more likely to hang the editor of this facetious paper than +to take his advice. I am told by the kiosque women that its sale is +falling off daily. + +The clubs and their organs have announced that the municipal elections +are to take place, with or without the consent of the Government, on +October 2, and that not only the inhabitants of Paris, but the Gardes +Mobiles and the peasants who have taken refuge within the walls of the +city are to vote. In the working men's quarters there is undoubtedly a +strong feeling in favour of these elections being held at once. But the +working men do not attend the clubs. I have dropped into several of +them, and the audience appeared to me principally to be composed of +strongminded women and demagogues, who never did an honest day's work in +their lives. The Government has, however, been "interviewed" on the +subject of the municipal elections by the chiefs of the battalions of +the National Guards of the Faubourgs, and, if only some men of position +can be found to put themselves at the head of the movement, it will +cause trouble. As yet, Ledru-Rollin is the only known politician who +avowedly favours it. The Government is, I believe, divided upon the +expediency of holding the elections at once, or rather I should say, +upon the possibility of putting them off without provoking disturbances. +I am inclined to think that, as is usually the case, the Moderates will +yield on this point to their Ultra colleagues. Very possibly they may +think that, if ever a capitulation becomes necessary, it will be as well +to make the nominees of the Faubourgs share in the responsibility. As +Jules Favre said of Rochefort, they are perhaps safer in the Government +than outside of it. + +The column of the Place Vendôme is daily bombarded by indignant +patriots, who demand that it should be razed to the ground, and the +metal of which it is composed be melted down into cannon. The statue of +Napoleon I., in the cocked hat and great-coat, which used to be on its +summit, was removed a few years ago to a pedestal at the end of the +Avenue de la Grande Armée. It has been concealed to preserve it from the +iconoclasts. There has been a lull of late in M. Gambetta's +proclamations. Within the last twenty-four hours, not above two fresh +ones have appeared. The newspapers are beginning to clamour for a +sortie. Why, they ask, are we to allow ourselves to be besieged by an +army which does not equal in numbers our own? Why are we to allow them +quietly to establish their batteries? There is a certain amount of sense +in these complaints, though the vital question of how regiments, which +have never had an opportunity of being brigaded together, will be able +to vanquish in the open field the disciplined troops of Germany, is the +unknown [Greek: x] in the problem which has yet to be solved. It is +evident, however, that the question must be tested, unless we are to +remain within the fortifications until we have digested our last omnibus +horse. If the enemy attacks, there is fair ground to suppose that he +will be repelled; but then, perhaps he will leave us to make the first +move. Without entering into details, I may say that considerable +engineering skill has been shown of late in strengthening the defences, +that the Mobiles and the National Guard, if their words mean anything, +which has yet to be proved, are full of fighting, and that the armed +force at our disposal has at length been knocked into some sort of +shape. Every day that the Prussian attack is delayed diminishes its +chance of success. "If they do carry the town by assault," said a +general to me yesterday, "it will be our fault, for, from a military +point of view, it is now impregnable." What the effect of a bombardment +may be upon the morale of the inhabitants we have yet to see. In any +case, however, until several of those hard nuts, the forts, have been +cracked, a bombardment can only be partial. + +There was heavy firing last night, and it increased in intensity this +morning. At about one o'clock I saw above 100 wounded being brought to +the Palais de l'Industrie, and on going to Montrouge I found the church +near the fortifications full of them. The following is the official +account of what has happened: + + Our troops in a vigorous sortie, successively occupied Chevilly and + l'Hay, and advanced as far as Thiais and Choisy-le-Roi. All these + positions were solidly occupied, the latter with cannon. After a + sharp artillery and musketry engagement our troops fell back on + their positions with a remarkable order and _aplomb_. The Garde + Mobile were very firm. _En somme journée très honorable_. Our + losses have been considerable. Those of the enemy probably as + considerable. TROCHU. + +I need not add that as usual we have had rumours all day of a great +victory and a junction with the Army of the Loire. General Trochu's +despatch, dated 10-30, Bicêtre, reduces matters to their real +dimensions. + + +_October 1st._ + +Although the Government statistics respecting the amount of food in +Paris have been published, and are consequently, in all probability, in +the hands of the Prussians, I do not like to give them myself. It can, +however, do no harm to explain the system which is being adopted by the +authorities to make our stores hold out as long as possible. Every +butcher receives each morning a certain amount of meat, calculated upon +his average sales. Against this meat he issues tickets in the evening +to his customers, who, upon presentation of the ticket the next morning, +receive the amount for which they have inscribed themselves at the price +fixed by the tariff of the week. When tickets have been issued by the +butcher equivalent to the meat which he is to receive, he issues no +more. Yesterday a decree was promulgated, ordering all persons having +flour on sale to give it up to the Government at the current price. It +will, I presume, be distributed to the bakers, like the meat to the +butchers. As regards meat, the supply does not equal the demand--many +persons are unable to obtain tickets, and consequently have to go +without it. Restaurants cannot get enough for their customers. This +evening, for instance, at seven o'clock, on going into a restaurant, I +found almost everything already eaten up. I was obliged to "vanquish the +prejudices of my stomach," and make a dinner on sheeps' trotters, +pickled cauliflower, and peaches. My stomach is still engaged in +"vanquishing its prejudice" to this repast, and I am yet in the agonies +of indigestion. In connection, however, with this question of food, +there is another important consideration. Work is at a standstill. +Mobiles and Nationaux who apply _formâ pauperis_ receive one franc and a +half per diem. Now, at present prices, it is materially impossible for a +single man to buy sufficient food to stave off hunger for this sum, how +then those who depend upon it for their sustenance, and have wives and +families to support out of it, are able to live, it is difficult to +understand. Sooner or later the population will have to be rationed like +soldiers, and, if the siege goes on, useless mouths will have to be +turned out. It was supposed that the peasants in the neighbourhood of +Paris, who were invited to take refuge within its walls, would bring +more than enough food with them for themselves and their families, but +they preferred to bring their old beds and their furniture. Besides our +stores of flour, of sheep, and of oxen, we have twenty-two million +pounds of horse-flesh to fall back upon, so that I do not think that we +shall be starved out for some time; still the misery among those who +have no money to buy food will, unless Government boldly faces the +question, be very great. Everything, except beef, mutton, and bread, is +already at a fancy price. Ham costs 7fr. the kilo.; cauliflowers, +1.50fr. a head; salt butter 9fr. the kilo, (a kilo, is about two +pounds); a fat chicken 10fr.; a thin one, 5fr.; a rabbit, 11fr.; a duck, +9fr.; a fat goose, 20fr. + +Rents, too, are as vexed a question as they are in Ireland. In a few +days the October term comes due. Few can pay it; it is proposed, +therefore, to allow no landlord to levy it either before the close of +the siege or before December. + +General Trochu, in his Rapport Militaire of yesterday's proceedings, +expands his despatch of yesterday evening. The object, he says, was, by +a combined action on both banks of the Seine, to discover precisely in +what force the enemy was in the villages of Choisy-le-Roi and Chevilly. +Whilst the brigade of General Giulham drove the enemy out of Chevilly, +the head of the column of General Blaise entered the village of Thiais, +and seized a battery of cannon, which, however, could not be moved for +want of horses. At this moment the Prussians were reinforced, and a +retreat took place in good order. General Giulham was killed. General +d'Exea, while this combat was going on, marched with a brigade on +Creteil, and inflicted a severe loss with his mitrailleuses on the +enemy. This report contrasts favourably with the florid, exaggerated +accounts of the engagement which are published in this morning's papers. +I am glad to find that France possesses at least one man who tells the +truth, and who can address his fellow-citizens in plain language. The +credulity of the Parisians, and their love of high-flown bombast, amount +to a disease, which, if this city is not to sink into a species of +Baden Baden, must be stamped out. Mr. O'Sullivan recently published an +account of his expedition to the Prussian headquarters in the _Electeur +Libre_. Because he said that the Prussians were conducting themselves +well in the villages they occupied, the editor of the paper has been +overwhelmed with letters reviling him for publishing such audacious +lies. Most Frenchmen consider anyone who differs from them to be either +a knave or a fool, and they fabricate facts to prove their theories. An +"intelligent young man" published a letter this morning saying that he +had escaped from Versailles, and that already 700 girls have been +ravished there by the Prussians. This intelligent young man's tale will +be credited, and Mr. O'Sullivan will be disbelieved by nine-tenths of +this population. They believe only what they wish to believe. + +M. Rochefort has issued a "poster" begging citizens not to construct +private barricades. There must, he justly observes, be "unity in the +system of interior defences." The _Réveil_ announces that the Ultras do +not intend to proceed to revolutionary elections of a municipality +to-morrow, because they have hopes that the Government intend to yield +on this question. The Prefect of the Police is actively engaged in an +attempt to throw light upon Pietri's connection with the plots which +periodically came to a head against the Empire. Documents have been +discovered which will show that most of these plots were got up by the +Imperial police. Pietri, Lagrange, and Barnier, a _juge d'instruction_, +were the prime movers. A certain Bablot received 20,000fr. for his +services as a conspirator. + +The complaints of the newspapers against the number of young men who +avoid military duty by hooking themselves on in some capacity or other +to an ambulance are becoming louder every day. For my part I confess +that I look with contempt upon any young Frenchman I meet with the red +cross on his arm, unless he be a surgeon. I had some thoughts of making +myself useful as a neutral in joining one of these ambulances, but I was +deterred by what happened to a fellow-countryman of mine who offered his +services. He was told that thousands of applicants were turned away +every day, and that there already were far more persons attached to +every ambulance than were necessary. + +Dr. Evans, the leading spirit of the American ambulance, the man whose +speciality it was to have drawn more royal teeth, and to have received +more royal decorations than any other human being, has left Paris. Mr. +Washburne informs me that there are still about 250 Americans here, of +whom about forty are women. Some of them remain to look after their +homes, others out of curiosity. "I regard," said an American lady to me +to-day, who had been in a southern city (Vicksburg, if I remember +rightly), when it was under fire, "a bombardment as the finest and most +interesting effort of pyrotechnical skill, and I want to see if you +Europeans have developed this art as fully as we have, which I doubt." + + +_October 2nd._ + +I wrote to General Trochu yesterday to ask him to allow me to accompany +him outside the walls to witness military operations. His secretary has +sent me a reply to-day regretting that the General cannot comply with my +request. The correspondent of the _Morning Post_ interviewed the +secretary yesterday on the same subject, but was informed that as no +_laisser passer_ was recognised by the Mobiles, and as General Trochu +had himself been arrested, the Government would not take upon itself the +responsibility of granting them. This is absurd, for I hear that neither +the General nor any of his staff have been fired upon or arrested during +the last week. The French military mind is unable to understand that the +world will rather credit the testimony of impartial neutrals than +official bulletins. As far as correspondents are concerned, they are +worse off under the Republic than even under the Empire. + +M. Louis Blanc's appeal to the people of England is declamatory and +rhetorical in tone, and I am inclined to think that the people of +England are but a Richard Doe, and that in reality it is addressed to +the Parisians. M. Blanc asks the English in Paris to bear witness that +the windows of the Louvre are being stuffed with sandbags to preserve +the treasures within from the risks of a bombardment. I do so with +pleasure. I cannot, however, bear him out in his assertions respecting +the menacing calm of Paris, and the indomitable attitude of its National +Guards. M. Blanc, like most of his countrymen, mistakes the wish for the +will, words for deeds, promises for performance. What has happened here, +and what is happening? The forts are manned with sailors, who +conscientiously fire off their cannon. A position has been lost. Two +sorties consisting of troops and armed peasants have been driven back. +The National Guards do duty on the ramparts, drill in the streets, offer +crowns to the statue of Strasburg, wear uniforms, and announce that they +have made a pact with death. I sincerely trust that they may distinguish +themselves, but they have not had an opportunity to do so. Not one of +them has as yet honoured his draft on death. Behind their forts, their +troops, their crowd of peasants, and their ramparts, they boast of what +they will do. If they do really bury themselves beneath the ruins of +their capital they will be entitled to the admiration of history, but as +yet they are civilians of the present and heroes of the future. Noisy +blusterers may be brave men. I have no doubt there are many in Paris +ready to die for their country. I can, however, only deal with facts, +and I find that the Parisians appear to rely for safety upon everything +except their own valour. One day it is the Army of the Loire; another +day it is some mechanical machine; another day dissensions among the +Prussian generals; another day the intervention of Russia or Austria. In +the meantime, clubs denounce the Government; club orators make absurd +and impracticable speeches, the Mayor changes the names of streets, and +inscribes Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité on the public buildings. The +journals of all colours, with only one or two exceptions, are filled +with lies and bombast, and the people believe the one and admire the +other. The Minister of the Interior placards the walls with idle +proclamations, and arrests Bonapartists. Innocent neutrals are mobbed as +Prussian spies, and the only prisoners that we see are French soldiers +on their way to be shot for cowardice. Nothing is really done to force +the Prussians to raise the siege, although the defenders exceed in +number the besiegers. How can all this end? In a given time provisions +and ammunition will be exhausted, and a capitulation must ensue. I wish +with all my heart that the hosts of Germany may meet with the same fate +as befell the army of Sennacherib; but they are not likely to be killed +or forced to retreat by speeches, pacts with death, sentimental appeals, +and exaggerated abuse. + +The _Temps_ calculates that our loss on Friday amounted to about 500 +wounded and 400 killed. The object of the sortie was to blow up a bridge +over the Seine, and to rouse the courage of the Parisians by obtaining a +marked success at a point where the Prussians were not supposed to be in +force. Neither end was attained, and consequently we are greatly +depressed. Count Bismarck has not condescended to send a reply to the +Corps Diplomatique, requesting to be allowed to establish postal +communication with their Governments, much to the disgust of that +estimable body. + +The result of the pryings of the Government into the papers of their +predecessors has as yet only disclosed the facts, that most of the +conspiracies against the Empire were got up by the police, and that the +Emperor bribed porters and postmen to open letters. His main object +seems to have been to get hold of the letters of his Ministers to their +mistresses. The fourth livraison of the Tuileries papers contains the +report of a spy on the doings of the Russian Military Attaché. This +gentleman lost some document, and observes that it can only be his +Prussian colleague who took it from him. Such is diplomacy. The weather +is beautiful. Women and children are making holiday in the streets. The +inner line of barricades is nearly finished. + + +_Evening._ + +The news of the fall of Strasburg and Toul was received by the +Government here this morning, and has just been made public. "In +falling," says M. Gambetta, "they cast a glance towards Paris to affirm +once more the unity and indivisibility of the Republic; and they leave +us as a legacy the duty to deliver them, the honour to revenge them." +The Boulevards were crowded, and everyone seemed as much astonished as +if they had never believed this double disaster to be possible. Many +refused to credit the news. _L'Electeur Libre_ proposes to meet the +emergency by sending "virile missionaries into the provinces to organise +a _levée en masse_, to drive from our territory the impious hordes which +are overrunning it." These missionaries would, I presume, go to their +posts in balloons. It never seems to occur to anyone here that the +authority of a Parisian dropping down from the clouds in a parachute in +any province would be contested. The right of Paris to rule France is a +dictum so unquestioned in the minds of the Parisians, that their +newspapers are now urging the Government to send new men to Tours to +oust those who were sent there before the commencement of the siege. It +strikes no one that the thirty-eight million of Frenchmen outside Paris +may be of opinion that the centralization of all power in the hands of +the most corrupt and frivolous capital in the universe has had its share +in reducing France to her present desperate condition, and may be +resolved to assert their claim to have a voice in the conduct of public +affairs. The Parisians regard all provincials as helots, whose sole +business it is to hear and to obey. If the result to France of her +disasters could be to free her at once from the domination of the +Emperor and of Paris, she would in the end be the gainer by them. + +I hear that General Vinoy expresses himself very satisfied with the +soldierly bearing of the Mobiles who were under fire on Friday. It was +far better, he says, than he expected. He ascribes the failure of his +sortie to the forts having forewarned the Prussians by their heavy +firing between three and four o'clock in the morning. M. de Rohan, +"delegate of the democracy of England," has written a long letter to M. +Jules Favre informing him that a friend who has arrived from London (!) +has brought news of an immense meeting which has been held in favour of +France, and that this meeting represents the opinion of the whole of +England. M. Jules Favre, in his reply, expresses his sincere thanks "for +the sentiments which have been so nobly expressed in the name of the +English nation." The correspondence occupies two columns in the _Journal +Officiel_. M. de Rohan's residence in England is, I should imagine, in +the vicinity of Tooley-street. + + +_October 3rd._ + +The _Journal Officiel_ contains a decree ordering the statue of +Strasburg, on the Place de la Concorde, to be replaced by one in bronze. +No war news. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +_October 5th._ + +From a military, or rather an engineering point of view, Paris is +stronger to-day than it was two weeks ago. The defences have been +strengthened. With respect, however, to its defenders, they are much +what they were. The soldiers of the line and the marines are soldiers; +the Mobiles and the Nationaux, with some few exceptions, remain armed +citizens. Each battalion is an _imperium in imperio_. The men ignore +every one except their own officers, and these officers exercise but +little influence except when they consent to act in strict accordance +with the feelings of those whom they are supposed to command. Some of +the battalions appear to be anxious to fight, but it unfortunately +happens that these are the very ones which are most undisciplined. The +battalions of the _bourgeois_ quarters obey orders, but there is no go +in them. The battalions of the artizan Faubourgs have plenty of go, but +they do not obey orders. General Trochu either cannot, or does not, +desire to enforce military discipline. Outside the enceinte, the hands +of the Mobiles are against every man, but no notice is taken when they +fire at or arrest officers of other corps. The Courts-martial which sit +are a mere farce. I see that yesterday a Franc-tireur was tried for +breaking his musket when ordered to march. He was acquitted because the +court came to the conclusion that he was "un brave garçon." The +application of military law to the Nationaux is regarded by these +citizens as an act of arbitrary power. Yesterday several battalions +passed the following resolution:--"In order to preserve at once +necessary discipline and the rights of citizens, no man shall +henceforward be brought before a council of war, or be awarded a +punishment, except with the consent of the family council of his +company." + +I am not a military man, but it certainly does appear to me strange that +the Prussians are allowed quietly to entrench themselves round the city, +and that they are not disturbed by feints and real sorties. We can act +on the inner lines, we have got a circular railroad, and we have armed +men in numbers. General Trochu has announced that he has a plan, the +success of which he guarantees; he declines to confide to a soul any of +its details, but he announces that he has deposited it with his notary, +Maître Duclos, in order that it may not be lost to the world in the +event of his being killed. As yet no one has fathomed this mysterious +plan; it appears to contemplate defensive rather than offensive +operations. + +Mont Valérien now fires daily. Its commander has been changed; its +former one has been removed because the protests against the silence of +this fort were so loud and strong. His successor, with the fate of his +predecessor before him, bangs away at every Uhlan within sight. For the +commanders of forts to be forced to keep up a continual fire in order to +satisfy public opinion, is not an encouraging state of things. The +assertion of the Government, that no reports of what is going on in +France have been received from Tours, is discredited. They have got +themselves in a mess by their former declarations that communications +with the exterior were kept up; for if they know nothing, it is asked +what can these communications have been worth. Our last news from +outside is derived from a Rouen newspaper of the 29th ult., which is +published to-day. + +A few days ago it was announced that all pledges below the value of +20fr. would be returned by the Mont-de-Piété without payment. Since then +everyone has been pledging articles for sums below this amount, as a +second decree of the same nature is expected. It is not a bad plan to +give relief in this manner to those in want. As yet, however, there is +no absolute destitution, and as long as the provisions last I do not +think that there will be. So long as flour and meat last, everyone with +more or less trouble will get his share. As the amount of both these +articles is, however, finite, one of these days we shall hear that they +are exhausted. The proprietors have been deprived of their power to sue +for rents, consequently a family requires but little ready money to rub +on from hand to mouth. My landlord every week presents me with my bill. +The ceremony seems to please him, and does me no harm. I have pasted +upon my mantlepiece the decree of the Government adjourning payment of +rent, and the right to read and re-read this document is all that he +will get from me until the end of the siege. Yesterday I ordered myself +a warm suit of clothes; I chose a tailor with a German name, so I feel +convinced that he will not venture to ask for payment under the present +circumstances, and if he does he will not get it. If my funds run out +before the siege is over I shall have at least the pleasure to think +that this has not been caused by improvidence. + +Some acquaintances of mine managed in the course of yesterday to get out +to Villejuif without being arrested. I have not been so fortunate. I +have charged the _barrières_ three times, and each time have had to +retire discomfited. My friends describe the soldiers of the line in the +front as utterly despising their allies the Mobiles. They camp out +without tents, in order to be ready at any moment to resist an attack. + + +_October 7th._ + +Paris would hardly be recognised under its present aspect by those +citizens of the Far West who are in the habit of regarding it as a place +where good Americans go when they die. In the garden of the Tuileries, +where _bonnes_ used to flirt with guardsmen, there is an artillery camp. +The guns, the pickets of horses, the tents, the camp-fires, and the +soldiers in their shirt-sleeves, have a picturesque effect under the +great trees. On the Place de la Concorde from morning to evening there +is a mob discussing things in general, and watching the regiments as +they defile with their crowns before the statue of Strasburg. In the +morning the guns of the forts can be heard heavily booming; but the +sound has now lost its novelty, and no one pays more attention to it +than the miller to the wheel of his mill. In the Champs Elysées there +are no private carriages, and few persons sitting on the chairs. The +Palais de l'Industrie is the central ambulance; the Cirque de +l'Impératrice a barrack. All the cafés chantants are closed. Some few +youthful votaries of pleasure still patronise the merry-go-rounds; but +the business cannot be a lucrative one. Along the quays by the river +side there are cavalry and infantry regiments under tentes d'abri. The +Champ de Mars is a camp. In most of the squares there are sheep and +oxen. On the outer Boulevards lines of huts have been built for the +Mobiles, and similar huts are being erected along the Rue des Remparts +for the Nationaux on duty. Everywhere there are squads of Nationaux, +some learning the goose-step, others practising skirmishing between the +carts and fiacres, others levelling their guns and snapping them off at +imaginary Prussians. The omnibuses are crowded; and I fear greatly that +their horses will be far from tender when we eat them. The cabbies, +once so haughty and insolent, are humble and conciliatory, for Brutus +and Scævola have taught them manners, and usually pay their fares in +patriotic speeches. At the Arc de Triomphe, at the Trocadero, and at +Passy, near the Point du Jour, there are always crowds trying to see the +Prussians on the distant hills, and in the Avenue de l'Impératrice (now +the Avenue Uhrich), there are always numerous admirers of Mont Valérien +gazing silently upon the object of their worship. In the Faubourg St. +Antoine workmen are lounging about doing nothing, and watching others +drilling. In the outer faubourgs much the same thing goes on, except +where barricades are being built. Round each of these there is always a +crowd of men and women, apparently expecting the enemy to assault them +every moment. At the different gates of the town there are companies of +Mobiles and National Guards, who sternly repel every civilian who seeks +to get through them. On an average of every ten minutes, no matter where +one is, one meets either a battalion of Nationaux or Mobiles, marching +somewhere. The asphalt of the boulevards, that sacred ground of dandies +and smart dresses, is deserted during the daytime. In the evening for +about two hours it is thronged by Nationaux with their wives; Mobiles +who ramble along, grinning vaguely, hand in hand, as though they were in +their native villages; and loafers. There, and in the principal streets, +speculators have taken advantage of the rights of man to stop up the +side walks with tables on which their wares are displayed. On some of +them there are kepis, on others ointment for corns, on others statuettes +of the two inseparables of Berlin, William and his little Bismarck, on +others General Trochu and the members of the Government in gilt +gingerbread. The street-hawkers are enjoying a perfect carnival--the +last editions of the papers--the Tuileries' papers--the caricatures of +Badinguet--portraits of the heroic Uhrich, and infallible cures for the +small-pox or for worms, are offered for sale by stentorian lungs. +Citizens, too, equally bankrupt alike in voice and in purse, place four +lighted candles on the pavement, and from the midst of this circle of +light dismally croak the "Marseillaise" and other patriotic songs. As +for beggars, their name is legion; but as every one who wants food can +get it at the public cantines, their piteous whines are disregarded. +Lodgings are to be hired in the best streets for about one-tenth part of +what was asked for them two months ago, and even that need not be paid. +Few shops are shut; but their proprietors sit, hoping against hope, for +some customer to appear. The grocers, the butchers, and the bakers, and +the military tailors, still make money; but they are denounced for doing +so at the clubs as bad patriots. As for the hotels, almost all of them +are closed. At the Grand Hotel, there are not twenty persons. Business +of every kind is at a standstill. Those who have money, live on it; +those who have not, live on the State: the former shrug their shoulders +and say, "Provided it does not last;" the latter do not mind how long it +lasts. All are comparatively happy in the thought that the eyes of +Europe are on them, and that they have already thrown Leonidas and his +Spartans into the shade. + +The Government has placarded to-day a despatch from Tours. Two armies +are already formed, we are told--one at Lyons, and the other at----. The +situation of Bazaine is excellent. The provinces are ready. The +departments are organising to the cry of "Guerre à outrance, ni un pouce +de terrain, ni une pierre de nos forteresses!" I trust that the news is +true; but I have an ineradicable distrust of all French official +utterances. A partial attempt is being made to relieve the population. +At the Mairies of the arrondissements, tickets are delivered to heads of +families, giving them the right to a certain portion of meat per diem +until January. The restaurants are still fairly supplied; so that the +system of rationing is not yet carried out in its integrity. + +I am not entirely without hopes that the trial through which France is +passing will in the end benefit it. Although we still brag a good deal, +there is within the last few days a slight diminution of bluster. Cooped +up here, week after week, the population must in the end realise the +fact that the world can move on without them, and that twenty years of +despotism has enervated them and made other nations their equals, if not +their superiors. As Sydney Smith said of Macaulay, they have occasional +flashes of silence. They sit, now and then, silent and gloomy, and mourn +for the "Pauvre France." "Nous sommes bien tombés." This is a good sign, +but will it outlive a single gleam of success? Shall we not in that case +have the Gallic cock crowing as lustily as ever? The French have many +amiable and engaging qualities, and if adversity would only teach them +wisdom, the country is rich enough to rise from the ruin which has +overtaken it. M. Jules Simon has published a plan of education which he +says in twenty years will produce a race of virile citizens; but this is +a little long to wait for a social regeneration. At present they are +schoolboys, accustomed to depend on their masters for everything, and +the defence of Paris is little more than the "barring out" of a girls' +school. They cannot, like Anglo-Saxons, organise themselves, and they +have no man at their head of sufficient force of character to impose his +will upon them. The existing Government has, it is true, to a certain +extent produced administrative order, but they have not succeeded in +inspiring confidence in themselves, or in raising the spirit of the +Parisians to the level of the situation. The Ultras say justly, that +this negative system cannot last, and that prompt action is as much a +political as it is a military necessity. + +The sixth livraison of the Tuileries papers has just appeared. Its +contents are unimportant. There is a receipt from Miss Howard, the +Emperor's former mistress, showing that between 1850 and 1855 she +received above five million francs. This sum was not, however, a +sufficient remuneration in her opinion, for her services, as in July, +1855, she writes for more, and says "the Emperor is too good to leave a +woman whom he has tenderly loved in a false position." This and several +other of her letters are addressed to the Emperor's Secretary, whose +functions seem to have been of a peculiarly domestic character. Indeed, +the person who fulfilled them would everywhere, except at a Court, have +been called something less euphonious than "secretary." A report from M. +Duvergier, ex-Secretary-General of the Police, is published respecting +the _Cabinet Noir_. It is addressed to the then Minister of the +Interior. It is lengthy, and very detailed. It appears that occasionally +the Emperor's own letters were opened. + +I went to the Hôtel de Ville this afternoon, to see whether anything was +going on there. Several battalions passed by, but they did not +demonstrate _en passant_. The place was full of groups of what in +England would be called the "dangerous classes." They were patiently +listening to various orators who were denouncing everything in general, +and the Government in particular. The principal question seemed to be +that of arms. Frenchmen are so accustomed to expect their Governments to +do everything for them, that they cannot understand why, although there +were but few Chassepots in the city, every citizen should not be given +one. It is indeed necessary to live here and to mix with all classes to +realise the fact that the Parisians have until now lived in an ideal +world of their own creation. Their orators, their statesmen, and their +journalists, have traded upon the traditions of the First Empire, and +persuaded them that they are a superior race, and that their +superiority is universally recognised. Utterly ignorant of foreign +languages and of foreign countries, they believe that their literature +is the only one in the world, and that a Frenchman abroad is adored as +something little less than a divinity. They regard the Prussians round +their city much as the citizens of Sparta would have regarded Helots, +and they are so astonished at their reverses, that they are utterly +unable to realise what is going on. As for trying to make them +comprehend that Paris ought to enjoy no immunity from attack which +Berlin or London might not equally claim, it is labour lost. "The +neutrals," I heard a member of the late Assembly shouting in a café, +"are traitors to civilisation in not coming to the aid of the Queen of +Europe." They did their very best, they declare, to prevent Napoleon +from making war. Yet one has only to talk with one of them for half an +hour to find that he still hankers after the Rhine, and thinks that +France wishes to be supreme in Europe. + + +_October 8th._ + +Yesterday I happened to be calling at the Embassy, when a young English +gentleman made his appearance, and quietly asked whether he could take +any letters to England. He is to start to-day in a balloon, and has paid +5,000f. for his place. I gave him a letter, and a copy of one which I +had confided on Wednesday to an Irishman who is trying to get through +the lines. I hear that to-morrow the Columbian Minister is going to the +Prussian Headquarters, and a friend of mine assures me that he thinks if +I give him a letter by one o'clock to-day this diplomatist will take it. +The Corps Diplomatique are excessively indignant with the reply they +have received from Count Bismarck, declining to allow any but open +despatches through the Prussian lines. They have held an indignation +meeting. M. Kern, the Swiss Minister, has drawn up a protest, which has +been signed by himself and all his colleagues. The Columbian Minister +is to be the bearer of it. It bombards Bismarck with copious extracts +from Puffendorf and Grotius, and cites a case in point from the siege of +Vienna in the 15th century. It will be remembered that Messenger +Johnson, at the risk of his life and at a very great expense to the +country, brought despatches to the Parisian Embassy on the second day of +the siege. I recommend Mr. Rylands, or some other M.P. of independent +character, to insist upon Parliament being informed what these important +despatches were. The revelation will be a curious one. + +Yesterday afternoon I made an excursion into the Bois de Boulogne under +the convoy of a friend in power. We went out by the Porte de Neuilly. +Anything like the scene of artificial desolation and ruin outside this +gate it is impossible to imagine. The houses are blown up--in some +places the bare walls are still standing, in others even these have been +thrown down. The Bois itself, from being the most beautiful park in the +world, has become a jungle of underwood. In the roads there are large +barricades formed of the trees which used to line them, which have been +cut down. Between the ramparts and the lake the wood is swept clean +away, and the stumps of the trees have been sharpened to a point. About +8,000 soldiers are encamped in the open air on the race-course and in +the Bois. Near Suresnes there is a redoubt which throws shell and shot +into St. Cloud. We are under the impression that the firing from this +redoubt, from Valérien, Issy, and the gunboat Farcy, which took place on +Thursday morning, between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., has destroyed the batteries +and earthworks which the Prussians were erecting on the heights of St. +Cloud and Meudon-Clamart. You, however, are better informed respecting +the damage which was done than we are. When I was in the Bois the +redoubt was not firing, and the sailors who man it were lounging about, +exactly as though they had been on board ship. Occasionally +Mont-Valérien fired a shot, but it was only a sort of visiting card to +the Prussians, for with the best glasses we could see nothing of them. +Indeed, the way they keep under cover is something wonderful. "I have +been for three weeks in a fort," said the aide-de-camp of one of the +commanders of a southern fort, "every day we have made reconnaissances, +and I have not seen one single Prussian." + +From what I learn, on good authority, the political situation is this. +The Government consists mainly of Orleanists. When they assumed the +direction of public affairs, they hoped to interest either Austria or +Russia in the cause of France. They were, therefore, very careful to +avoid as much as possible any Republican propagandism either at home or +abroad. Little by little they have discovered that if France is to be +saved it must be by herself. Some of them, however, still hanker after a +Russian intervention, and do not wish to weaken M. Thiers' prospects of +success at St. Petersburg. They have, however, been obliged to yield to +the Republicanism of the Parisian "men of action," and they have +gradually drifted into a Government charged not only with the defence of +the country, but also with the establishment of a Republic. As is usual +in all councils, the extreme party has gained the ascendancy. But the +programme of the Ultras of the "ins" falls far short of that of the +Ultras of the "outs." The latter are continually referring to '93, and +as the Committee of Public Safety then saved France, they are unable to +understand why the same organisation should not save it now. Their +leaders demand a Commune, because they hope to be among its members. The +masses support them, because they sincerely believe that in the election +of a Commune Paris will find her safety. The Government is accused of a +want of energy. "Are we to remain cooped up here until we are starved +out?" ask the Ultras. "As a military man, I decline to make a sortie," +replies General Trochu. "We are not in '93. War is waged in a more +scientific manner," whispers Ernest Picard. The plan of the Government, +if plan it has, appears to be to wear out the endurance of the besiegers +by a defensive attitude, until either an army from the provinces cuts +off their communications, or the public opinion of Europe forces them to +raise the siege. The plan of the Ultras is to save Paris by Paris; to +make continual sorties, and, every now and then, one in such force that +it will be a battle. I am inclined to think that theoretically the +Government plan is the best, but it ignores the material it has to do +with, and it will find itself obliged either to adopt the policy of the +Ultras, or to allow them to elect a "Commune," which would soon absorb +all power. The position appears to me to be a false one, owing to the +attempt to rule France from Paris through an occasional despatch by +balloon. What ought to have been done was to remove the seat of +Government to another town before the siege commenced, and to have left +either Trochu or some other military man here to defend Paris, as Uhrich +defended Strasburg. But the Government consisted of the deputies of +Paris; and had they moved the seat of Government, they would have lost +their _locus standi_. Everyone here sees the absurdity of Palikao's +declaration, that Bazaine was commander-in-chief when he was invested in +Metz, but no one seems to see the still greater absurdity of the supreme +civil and military Government of the whole country remaining in Paris +whilst it is invested by the German armies. Yesterday, for instance, a +decree was issued allowing the town of Roubaix to borrow, I forget how +much. Can anything be more absurd than for a provincial town to be +forced to wait for such an authorisation until it receives it from +Paris? It is true that there is a delegation at Tours, but, so long as +it is nothing but a delegation, it will be hindered in its operations by +the dread of doing anything which may conflict with the views of its +superiors here. Paris at present is as great an incubus to France as the +Emperor was. Yesterday M. Gambetta started in a balloon for Tours, and +in the interests of France I shall be glad to see his colleagues one and +all follow him. The day before a balloon had been prepared for him, but +his nerves failed him at the last moment, and he deferred his departure +for twenty-four hours. + +M. Rochefort was "interviewed" yesterday by a deputation of women, who +asked to be employed in the hospitals instead, of the men who are now +there. He promised to take their request into consideration. I was down +yesterday at the headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale, and I +cannot say that I think that the accusations of the Ultra-press +respecting the number of young Frenchmen there, is borne out by facts. +There have been, however, a vast number of _petits crevés_ and others +who have shirked military service by forming themselves into amateur +ambulances. The "sergents de ville" have received orders to arrest +anyone wearing the Red Cross who is unable to produce his certificate as +an _infirmier_. This has thrown the _petits crevés_--the pets of priests +and old ladies--those youths who are best described by the English +expression, "nice young men for a small tea-party"--into consternation. +I saw yesterday one of these emasculated specimens of humanity arrayed +in a suit of velvet knickerbockers, with a red cross on his arm, borne +off to prison, notwithstanding his whining protests. + +Another abuse which has been put an end to is that of ladies going about +begging for money for the "wounded." They are no longer allowed to do so +unless they have an authorisation. I have a lively recollection of an +old grandaunt of mine, who used to dun every one she met for a shilling +for the benefit of the souls of the natives of Southern Africa, and as I +know that the shillings never went beyond ministering to the wants of +this aged relative, warned by precocious experience, I have not allowed +myself to be caught by the "ladies." + +A singular remonstrance has been received at the British Embassy. In the +Rue de Chaillot resides a celebrated English courtezan, called Cora +Pearl, and above her house floats the English flag. The inhabitants of +the street request the "Ambassador of England, a country the purity and +the decency of whose manners is well known," to cause this bit of +bunting, which is a scandal in their eyes, to be hauled down. I left Mr. +Wodehouse consulting the text writers upon international law, in order +to discover a precedent for the case. Colonel Claremont is doing his +best to look after the interests of his fellow-countrymen. I had a +prejudice against this gentleman, because I was unable to believe that +any one hailing from the Horse Guards could under any circumstances make +himself a useful member of society. I find, however, that he is a man of +energy and good common sense, with very little of the pipeclay about +him. + +From Monday next a new system of the distribution of meat is to come +into force. Between 450 and 500 oxen and 3,500 sheep are to be daily +slaughtered. This meat is to be divided into twenty lots, one for each +arrondissement, the size of each lot to be determined by the number of +the inhabitants of the particular arrondissement. The lot will then be +divided between the butchers in the arrondissement, at twenty centimes +per kilogramme below the retail price. Each arrondissement may, however, +adopt a system of rations. I suspect most of the beef I have eaten of +late is horse; anyhow, it does not taste like ordinary beef. To obtain a +joint at home is almost impossible. In the first place, it is difficult +to purchase it; in the second place, if, when bought, it is spotted by +patriots going through the street, it is seized upon on the ground that +any one who can obtain a joint for love or money must be an aristocrat +who is getting more than his share. I met a lady early this morning, who +used to be most fashionable. She was walking along with a parcel under +her shawl, and six dogs were following her. She asked me to drive them +away, but they declined to go. I could not understand their sudden +affection for my fair friend, until she confided to me that she had two +pounds of mutton in her parcel. A tariff for horse-flesh is published +to-day; it costs--the choice parts, whichever they may be--1f 40c. the +kilo.; the rest, 80c. the kilo. + +_Figaro_ yesterday published a "correspondence from Orleans." The +_Official Gazette_ of this morning publishes an official note from the +Prefect of Police stating that this correspondence is "a lie, such as +those which the _Figaro_ invents every day." + + +_Afternoon._ + +I have just returned from the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville. When I got +there at about two o'clock six or seven thousand manifesters had already +congregated there. They were all, as is the nature of Frenchmen in a +crowd, shouting their political opinions into their neighbours' ears. +Almost all of them were Nationaux from the Faubourgs, and although they +were not armed, they wore a kepi, or some other distinctive military +badge. As well as I could judge, nine out of ten were working men. Their +object, as a sharp, wiry artizan bellowed into my ear, was to force the +Government to consent to the election of a Commune, in order that the +Chassepots may be more fairly distributed between the bourgeois and the +ouvriers, and that Paris shall no longer render itself ridiculous by +waiting within its walls until its provisions are exhausted and it is +forced to capitulate. There appeared to be no disposition to pillage; +rightly or wrongly, these men consider that the Government is wanting in +energy, and that it is the representative of the bourgeoisie and not of +the entire population. Every now and then, some one shouted out "Vive +la Commune!" and all waved their caps and took up the cry. After these +somewhat monotonous proceedings had continued about half an hour, +several bourgeois battalions of National Guards came along the quay, and +drew up in line, four deep, before the Hôtel de Ville. They were not +molested except with words. The leading ranks of the manifesters +endeavoured by their eloquence to convince them that they ought not to +prevent citizens peacefully expressing their opinions; but the grocers +stood stolidly to their arms, and vouchsafed no reply. At three o'clock +General Trochu with his staff rode along inside the line, and then +withdrew. General Tamisier then made a speech, which of course no one +could hear. Shortly afterwards there was a cry of "Voilà Flourens--Voilà +nos amis," and an ouvrier battalion with its band playing the +Marseillaise marched by. They did not halt, notwithstanding the +entreaties of the manifesters, for they were bound, their officers +explained, on a sacred mission, to deposit a crown before the statue of +Strasburg. When I left the Place the crowd was, I think, increasing, and +as I drove along the Rue Rivoli I met several bourgeois battalions +marching towards the Hôtel de Ville. I presume, therefore, that General +Trochu had thought it expedient to send reinforcements. "We will come +back again with arms," was the general cry among the ouvriers, and +unless things mend for the better I imagine that they will keep their +word. The line of demarcation between the bourgeois and the ouvrier +battalions is clearly marked, and they differ as much in their opinions +as in their appearance. The sleek, well-fed shopkeeper of the Rue +Vivienne, although patriotic, dreads disorder, and does not absolutely +contemplate with pleasure an encounter with the Prussians. The wild, +impulsive working man from Belleville or La Villette dreads neither +Prussians without, nor anarchy within. If he could only find a leader he +would blow up himself and half Paris rather than submit to the +humiliation of a capitulation. Anything he thinks is better than this +"masterly inactivity." Above the din of the crowd the cannon could be +heard sullenly firing from the forts; but even this warning of how near +the foe is, seemed to convey no lesson to avoid civil strife. Unless +General Trochu is a man of more energy than I take him to be, if ever +the Prussians do get into the town they will find us in the condition of +the Kilkenny cats. + + +_October 9th._ + +The representative of the Republic of Columbia, to whom I had given my +letter of yesterday, has returned it to me, as he was afraid to cross +the lines with it. The Briton who has paid for a place in a balloon is +still here, and he imagines that he will start to-morrow, so I shall +give him my Columbian letter and this one. I understand that any one who +is ready to give assurances that he will praise everything and every one +belonging to the Government, is afforded facilities for sending out +letters by the Post-office balloons, but I am not prepared to give any +other pledge except that I shall tell the truth without fear or favour. + +The _Journal Officiel_ of this morning, and the Moderate papers, boast +that the Ultra manifestation of yesterday was a complete failure. As +usual, they cry before they are out of the wood. After I left the Place +it appears that there was a counter manifestation of bourgeois National +Guards, who arrived in military order with their arms. Jules Favre +addressed them. Now as far as I can make out, these battalions went to +the Hôtel de Ville on their own initiative. No one, however, seems to +see any incongruity in the friends of the Government making an armed +demonstration as a protest against armed and unarmed demonstrations in +general. The question of the municipal elections will lie dormant for a +few days, but I see no evidence that those who were in favour of it have +altered their minds. As far as yesterday's proceedings were concerned, +they only go to prove the fact, which no one ever doubted, that the +bourgeoisie and their adherents are ready to support the Government, but +they have also proved to my mind conclusively that the working men as a +body have entirely lost all confidence in the men at the head of +affairs. + +On the pure merits of the question, I think that the working men have +reason on their side. They know clearly what they want--to make sorties +and to endeavour to destroy the enemy's works; if this fails--to make +provisions last as long as possible by a system of rationing--and then +to destroy Paris rather than surrender it. The Government and their +adherents are waiters on Providence, and, except that they have some +vague idea that the Army of the Loire will perform impossibilities, they +are contented to live on from day to day, and to hope that something +will happen to avert the inevitable catastrophe. I can understand a +military dictatorship in a besieged capital, and I can understand a +small elected council acting with revolutionary energy; but what I +cannot understand is a military governor who fears to enforce military +discipline, and a dozen respectable lawyers and orators, whose sole idea +of Government is, as Blanqui truly says, to issue decrees and +proclamations, and to make speeches. The only practical man among them +is M. Dorian, the Minister of Public Works, M. Dorian is a hard-headed +manufacturer, and utterly ignoring red tape, clerks, and routine; he has +set all the private ateliers to work, to make cannon and muskets. I have +not yet heard of his making a single speech, or issuing a single +proclamation since the commencement of the siege, and he alone of his +colleagues appears to me to be the right man in the right place. I do +not take my views of the working men from the nonsense which is printed +about them in official and semi-official organs. They are the only class +here which, to use an Americanism, is not "played out." The Government +dreads them as much as the Empire did; but although they are too much +carried away by their enthusiasm and their impulsiveness, they are the +only persons in Paris who appear to have a grain of common sense. "As +for the Army of the Loire," said one of them to me this morning, "no +one, except a fool or a Government employé, can believe that it will +ever be able to raise the siege, and as for all these bourgeois, they +consider that they are heroes because once or twice a week they pass the +night at the ramparts; they think first of their shops, then of their +country." "But how can you imagine that you and your friends would be +able to defeat the Prussians, who are disciplined soldiers?" I asked. +"We can at least try," he replied. I ventured to point out to my friend +that perhaps a little discipline in the ouvrier battalions might not be +a bad thing; but he insisted that the indiscipline was caused by their +distrust of their rulers, and that they were ready to obey their +officers. "Take," he said "Flourens' battalions. They do not, it is +true, march as regularly as the bourgeois, and they have nothing but +kepis and old muskets; but, as far as fighting goes, they are worth all +the bourgeois put together." I do not say that Trochu is not wise to +depend upon the bourgeois; all I say is, that as the Empire fell because +it did not venture to arm any except the regular soldiers, so will Paris +render itself the laughing stock of Europe, if its defence is to depend +upon an apocryphal Army of the Loire, marines from the Navy, peasants +from the provinces, and the National Guards of the wealthy quarters. To +talk of the heroic attitude of Paris, when the Parisians have not been +under fire, is simply absurd. As long as the outer forts hold out, it is +no more dangerous to "man the ramparts" than to mount guard at the +Tuileries. I saw to-day a company of mounted National Guards exercising. +Their uniforms were exquisitely clean, but I asked myself of what +earthly use they were. Their commander ordered them to charge, when +every horse butted against the one next to him. I believe a heavy gale +of wind would have disconnected all these warriors from their chargers. +I fully recognise the fact that the leaders of the ouvriers talk a great +deal of nonsense, and that they are actuated as much by personal +ambition as by patriotism; but it is certain that the individual working +man is the only reality in this population of corrupt and emasculated +humbugs; everyone else is a windbag and a sham. + +A decree has been issued, informing all who have no means of subsistence +that they will receive a certain amount of bread per diem upon +application at their respective mairies. We are also told that if we +wish to make puddings of the blood of oxen, we must mix pigs' blood with +it, otherwise it will be unwholesome. + +It has been showery to-day, and I never have witnessed a more dismal +Sunday in Paris. A pigeon from. Gambetta's balloon has returned, but +this foolish bird lost _en route_ the message which was attached to its +neck. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +_October 10th._ + +It is very curious how close, under certain conditions of wind and +temperature, the cannonade appears to be, even in the centre of the +town. This morning I was returning home at about two o'clock, when I +heard a succession of detonations so distinctly, that I literally went +into the next street, as I imagined that a house must be falling down +there. It is said that the palace of St. Cloud has been destroyed. + +As well as I can learn, General Burnside came into Paris mainly to +discuss with Mr. Washburne the possibility of the American families who +are still here being allowed to pass the Prussian lines. He saw Jules +Favre, but, if he attempted any species of negotiation, it could have +led to nothing, as we are so absolutely confident that the Army of the +Loire will in a few days cut off the Prussian supplies, and we are so +proud of our attitude, that I really believe if Jules Favre were to +consent to pay a war indemnity as a condition of peace, he and his +friends would be driven from power the next day. + +Having nothing particularly to boast of to-day, the newspapers request +the world to be good enough to turn its eyes upon Gambetta traversing +space in a balloon. A nation whose Minister is capable of this heroic +feat must eventually drive the enemy from its soil. The _Figaro_, in +fact, hints that in all probability peace will be signed at Berlin at no +very distant date. The _Gaulois_, a comparatively sensible newspaper, +thus deals with this aërial voyage:--"As the balloon passed above the +Prussian armies, amid the clouds and the birds, the old William probably +turned to Bismarck and asked, 'What is that black point in the sky?' 'It +is a Minister,' replied Bismarck; 'it is the heroic Gambetta, on his way +to the Loire. In Paris he named prefects; on the Loire he will assemble +battalions.' Favourable winds wafted the balloon on her course; perhaps +Gambetta landed at Cahors, his natal town, perhaps somewhere +else--perhaps in the arms of Crémieux, that aged lion. To-morrow the +provinces will resound with his voice, which will mingle with the +rattling of arms and the sound of drums. Like a trumpet, it will peal +along the Loire, inflaming hearts, forming battalions, and causing the +manes of St. Just and Desmoulins to rise from their graves." + +Yesterday a battalion of the National Guard was drawn up before the +Hôtel de Ville, but there was no demonstration of the Ultras. M. Arago, +the Mayor of Paris, made a few speeches from a window, which are +described as inflaming the hearts of these heroic soldiers of the +country. The rain, however, in the end, sent the heroic soldiers home, +and obliged M. Arago to shut his window. A day never passes without one +or more of our rulers putting his head out of some window or other, and +what is called "delivering himself up to a fervid improvisation." The +Ultra newspapers are never tired of abusing the priests, who are +courageously and honestly performing their duty. Yesterday I read a +letter from a patriot, in which he complains that this caste of crows +are to decree the field of battle, and asks the Government to decree +that the last moments of virtuous citizens, dying for their country, +shall not be troubled by this new Horror. To-day a citizen writes as +follows:--"Why are not the National Guards installed in the churches? +Not only might they find in these edifices dedicated to an extinct +superstition, shelter from the weather, but orators might from time to +time in the pulpits deliver speeches. Those churches which are not +required by the National Guard might serve as excellent stables for the +oxen, the sheep, and the hogs, which are now parked out in the open +air." + +Next to the priests and the churches, the streets named after members +and friends of the late Imperial family excite the ire of patriots. The +inhabitants of the quartier Prince Eugène, have, I read to-day, decided +that the Boulevard Prince Eugène shall henceforward be called the +Boulevard Dussault, "the noble child of the Haute Vienne, who was +murdered by the aides of the infamous Bonaparte." + +We are not, as you might perhaps suppose, wanting in news. The French +journalists, even when communications with the rest of the world were +open, preferred to evolve their facts from their moral consciousness--their +hand has not lost its cunning. Peasants, who play the part here of the +intelligent contraband of the American civil war, bring in daily the most +wonderful stories of the misery which the Prussians are suffering, and the +damage which our artillery is causing them--and these tales are duly +published. Then, at least three times a week we kill a Prussian Prince, +and "an army" relieves Bazaine. A few days ago a troop of 1500 oxen marched +into our lines, "they were French oxen, and they were impelled by their +patriotism." This beats the ducks who asked the old woman to come and kill +them. + +The clubs appear to be divided upon the question of the "commune." In +most of them, however, resolutions have been passed reaffirming their +determination to hold the elections with or without the consent of the +Government. Rochefort to-day publishes a sensible reply to Flourens, who +called upon him to explain why he does not resign. "I have," he says, +"descended into the most impenetrable recesses of my conscience, and I +have emerged with the conviction that my withdrawal would cause a +conflict, and this would open a breach to the Prussians. You will say +that I am capitulating with my convictions; if it be so, I do not +necessarily capitulate with the Prussians. I silence my political +instincts; let our brave friends in Belleville allow theirs to sleep for +a time." I understand that in the council which was held to decide upon +the advisability of adjourning these elections, Rochefort, Simon, Ferry, +and Arago voted against the adjournment, and Pelletan, Garnier Pagés, +Picard, and Favre in favour of it. Trochu then decided the question in +the affirmative by a threat that, if the elections were allowed to take +place, he would resign. + + +_October 11th._ + +The notions of a Pall Mall dandy respecting Southwark or the Tower +Hamlets are not more vague than those of the Parisian bourgeois or the +Professional French journalist respecting the vast Faubourgs peopled by +the working men which encircle this city. From actual observation they +know nothing of them. They believe them to be the homes of a dangerous +class--communistic and anarchical in its tendencies, the sworn foes +alike of law, order, and property. The following are the articles of +faith of the journalist:--France is the world. Paris is France. The +boulevards, the theatres, some fifty writers on the press, and the +bourgeoisie of the fashionable quarters of the city, are Paris. Within +this narrow circle he may reason justly, but he never emerges from it, +and consequently cannot instruct others about what he does not know +himself. Since the fall of the Emperor, the Parisian bourgeois has +vaguely felt that he has been surrounded by two hostile armies--the +Prussian without the walls, and the working men within. He has placed +his trust in Trochu, as twenty years ago he did in Cavaignac. The siege +had not lasted a week before he became convinced that the Prussians were +afraid of him, because they had not attacked the town; and within the +last few days he has acquired the conviction, upon equally excellent +grounds, that the working men also tremble before his martial attitude. +On Friday last he achieved what he considers a crowning triumph, and he +is now under the impression that he has struck terror into the breasts +of the advocates of the Commune by marching with his battalion to the +Hôtel de Ville. "We"--and by "we" he means General Trochu and +himself--"we have shown them that we are not to be trifled with," is his +boast from morning to night. Now, if instead of reading newspapers which +only reflect his own views, and passing his time, whether on the +ramparts or in a café, surrounded by men who share his prejudices, the +worthy bourgeois would be good enough to accompany me to Belleville or +La Villette, he would perhaps realise the fact that, as usual, he is +making himself comfortable in a fool's paradise. He would have an +opportunity to learn that, while the working men have not the remotest +intention to pillage his shop, they are equally determined not to allow +him and his friends to make Paris the laughing-stock of Europe. With +them the "Commune" is but a means to an end. What they want is a +Government which will carry out in sober earnest M. Jules Favre's +rhetorical figure that "the Parisians will bury themselves beneath the +ruins of their town rather than surrender." The lull in the +"demonstrations" to urge the Government either to carry out this +programme, or to associate with themselves men of energy who are ready +to do so, will not last long; and when next Belleville comes to the +Hôtel de Ville, it will not be unarmed. The bourgeois and the working +man worship different gods, and have hardly two ideas in common. The +bourgeois believes in the Army of the Loire; believes that in +sacrificing the trade profits of a few months, and in catching a cold by +keeping guard occasionally for a night on the ramparts, he has done his +duty towards his country, and deserves the admiration of all future +ages. As for burying himself, beneath, the ruins of his shop, it is his +shop as much as his country that he is defending. He is gradually +wearying of the siege; the pleasure of strutting about in a uniform and +marching behind a drum hardly compensates for the pecuniary losses which +he is incurring. He feels that he is already a hero, and he longs to +repose upon his laurels. When Bazaine has capitulated, and when the +bubble of the Army of the Loire has burst, he will, if left to himself, +declare and actually believe that Paris has surpassed in heroism and +endurance Troy and Saragossa; and he will accept what is inevitable--a +capitulation. The working man, on the other hand, believes in no Army of +the Loire, troubles himself little about Bazaine, and has confidence in +himself alone. Far from disliking the siege, he delights in it. He lives +at free quarters, and he walks about with a gun, that occupation of all +others which is most pleasing to him. He at least is no humbug; he has +no desire to avoid danger, but rather courts it. He longs to form one in +a sortie, and he builds barricades, and looks forward with grim +satisfaction to the moment when he will risk his own life in defending +them, and blow up his landlord's house to arrest the advance of the +Prussians. What will be the upshot of this radical divergence of opinion +between the two principal classes which are cooped up together within +the walls of Paris, it is impossible to say. The working men have, as +yet, no leaders in whom they place confidence, and under whose guidance +they would consent to act collectively. It may be that this will prevent +them from giving effect to their views before the curtain drops; they +are strongly patriotic, and they are disinclined to compromise the +success of the defence by internal quarrels. Very possibly, therefore, +they will be deceived by promises on the part of the Government, and +assurances that Paris will fight it out to the last ditch, until the +moment to act has passed. As for the bourgeois and the Government, their +most powerful ally is the cry, "No division; let us all be united." They +are both, however, in a radically false position. They have called upon +the world to witness how a great capital can die rather than surrender; +and yet, if no external agency prevents the surrender, they have no +intention to fulfil their boast of dying. Any loophole for escape from, +the alternative in which they have thrust themselves they would welcome. +"Our provisions will last three months," they say; "during this time +something must happen to our advantage." "What?" I inquire. "The Army of +the Loire will advance, or Bazaine will get out of Metz, or the +Prussians will despair of success, or we shall be able to introduce +convoys of provisions." "But if none of these prophecies are +realised.--what then?" I have asked a hundred times, without ever +getting a clear answer to my question. By some strange process of +reasoning in what, as Lord Westbury would say, they are pleased to call +their minds, they appear to have arrived at the conviction that Paris +never will be taken, because they are unable to realise the possibility +of an event which they seem to consider is contrary to that law of +nature, which, has made her the capital and the mistress of the world. A +victorious army is at their gates; they do not dare even to make a +formidable sortie; there is no regular army in the field outside; their +provisions have a limit; they can only communicate with the rest of the +world by an occasional balloon; and yet they regard the idea of a +foreign occupation of Paris much as we do a French invasion of +England--a thing so improbable as to be barely possible. + +Yesterday there were a few groups on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, but +they were rather curious spectators than "manifesters." At about two +o'clock the rappel was beaten in the Place Vendôme, and several +battalions of the National Guard of the quartier marched there and +broke up these groups. M. Jules Ferry's head then appeared from the +window, and he aired his eloquence in a speech congratulating the +friends of order on having rallied to the defence of the Government. It +is a very strange thing that no Frenchman, when in power, can understand +equal justice between his opponents and his supporters. The present +Government is made up of men who clamoured for a Municipal Council +during the Empire, and whose first step upon taking possession of the +Hôtel de Ville was to decree the immediate election of a "Commune." +Since then, yielding to the demands of their own supporters, they have +withdrawn this decree, and now, if I go unarmed upon the Place de +l'Hôtel de Ville and cry "Vive la Commune," I am arrested; whereas if +any battalion of the National Guard chooses, without orders, to go there +in arms and cry, "à bas la Commune," immediately it is congratulated for +its patriotism by some member of the Government. + +Nothing new has passed at the front since yesterday. I learn from this +morning's papers, however, that Moltke is dead, that the Crown Prince is +dying of a fever, that Bismarck is anxious to negotiate, but is +prevented by the obstinacy of the King, that 300 Prussians from the +Polish provinces have come over to our side, and that the Bavarian and +Wurtemberg troops are in a state of incipient rebellion. "From the fact +that the Prussian outposts have withdrawn to a greater distance from the +forts," the _Electeur Libre_, tells me, "it is probable that the +Prussians despair of success, and in a few days will raise the siege." +Most of the newspapers make merry over the faults in grammar in a letter +which has been discovered and published from the Empress to the Emperor, +although I doubt if there is one Frenchman in the world who could write +Spanish as well as the Empress does French. + + +_Evening._ + +It appears that yesterday the cheques signed by M. Flourens were not +recognised by the Etat Major of his "secteur." On this he declared that +he would beat the "generale" in Belleville and march on the Hôtel de +Ville. The quarrel was, however, patched up--no disturbance occurred. +For some reason or other M. Flourens, until he gave in his resignation, +commanded five battalions of the National Guard; he has been told that +he can be re-elected to the command of any one of them, but that he +cannot be allowed to be at the head of more than one. This man is an +enthusiast, and, I am told, not quite right in his head. In personal +appearance he is a good-looking gentlemanly fellow. As long as +Belleville acts under his leadership there is no great fear that any +danger will arise, because his own men distrust, not his good faith, but +his sense. + +Gambetta has sent a despatch from Montdidier, by a pigeon. He says, +"Everywhere the people are rising; the Government of the National +Defence is universally acclaimed." + +The Papal Nuncio is going to try to get through on Thursday. He says he +is anxious about the Pope--no wonder. + + +_October 12th._ + +"What is truth?" said jesting Pilate, and would not wait for an answer; +the Parisians of 1870 are as indifferent about truth as this unjust +Roman judge was. It is strange that their own want of veracity does not +lead them to doubt that of others; they are alike credulous and +mendacious. A man comes into a café, he relates every detail of an +action in which he says he was engaged the day before; the action has +never taken place, but every one believes him; one of the auditors then +perhaps says that he has passed the night in a fort, and that its guns +destroyed a battery which the enemy was erecting; the fort has never +fired a shot, but the first speaker goes off convinced that a battery +has been dismounted. For my part I have given up placing the least faith +in anything I hear or read. As for the newspapers they give currency to +the most incredible stories, and they affect not only to relate every +shot that has been fired, but the precise damage which it has done to +the enemy, and the number of men which it has killed, and wounded. They +have already slain and taken prisoner a far greater number of Prussians +than, on any fair calculation, there could have been in the besieging +army at the commencement of the siege. Since the commencement of the war +the Government, the journalists, the generals, and the gossips have been +engaged apparently in a contest to test the limits of human credulity. +Under the Republic the game is still merrily kept up, and although the +German armies are but a few miles off, we are daily treated to as many +falsehoods respecting what goes on at the front as when they were at +Sedan, or huddled together in those apocryphal quarries of Jaucourt. "I +saw it in a newspaper," or "I was told it by an eye-witness," is still +considered conclusive evidence of the truth of no matter what fact. +To-day, I nearly had a dispute with a stout party, who sat near me as I +was breakfasting in a café, because I ventured, in the mildest and most +hesitating manner, to question the fact that an army of 250,000 men was +at Rouen, and would in the course of this week attack the Prussians at +Versailles. "It is here, sir," he said indignantly pointing to his +newspaper; "a peasant worthy of belief has brought the news to the +Editor; are we to believe no one?" There were a dozen persons +breakfasting at the same time, and I was the only one who did not +implicitly believe in the existence of this army. This diseased state of +mind arises mainly, I presume, from excessive vanity. No Parisian is +able to believe anything which displeases him, and he is unable not to +believe anything which flatters his _amour propre_. He starts in life +with a series of delusions, which all he has read and heard until now +have confirmed. No journal dares to tell the truth, for if it did its +circulation would fall to nothing. No Parisian, even if by an effort he +could realise to himself the actual condition of his country, would dare +to communicate his opinion to his neighbour, for he would be regarded as +a traitor and a liar. The Bostonians believe that Boston is the "hub of +the universe," and the Parisian is under the impression that his city is +a species of sacred Ark, which it is sacrilege to touch. To bombard +London or Berlin would be an unfortunate necessity of war, but to fire a +shot into Paris is desecration. For a French army to live at the expense +of Germany is in the nature of things; for a German army to live at the +expense of Frenchmen is a barbarity which the civilised world ought to +resent. If the result of the present campaign is to convince Frenchmen +that, as a nation, they are neither better nor worse than other nations, +and to convince Parisians that Paris enjoys no special immunity from the +hardships of war, and that if it sustains a siege it must accept the +natural consequences, it will not have been waged in vain, but will +materially conduce to the future peace of the world. As yet--I say it +with regret--for I abominate war and Prussians, and there is much which +I like in the French--this lesson has not been learnt. Day by day I am +becoming more convinced that a lasting peace can only be signed in +Paris, and that the Parisians must be brought to understand by hard +experience that, if victory means an accession of military glory, defeat +means humiliation, and that the one is just as possible as the other. If +the siege were raised to-morrow, the occupation of Alsace and Lorraine +by an enemy would be disbelieved within six months by this vain, +frivolous populace; and even if the German army does ever defile along +the Boulevards, I shall not be surprised if we are told, as soon as they +have withdrawn, that they never were there. Shut up in this town with +its inhabitants, my sympathies are entirely on their side, but my reason +tells me that Bismarck is right in insisting upon treating in Paris. Let +him, if he can, come in here; let him impose upon France such a war +indemnity, that every man, woman, and child in the country will curse +the folly of this war for the next fifty years; and let him give up his +scheme of annexation, and he will then have acted in the interests of +Europe, and ultimately in those of France herself. Prussia, after the +battle of Jena, was as low as France is now. Napoleon stripped her of +her provinces, and she acceded to the treaty of her spoliation, but at +the first favourable opportunity she protested her signature, and the +world has never blamed her for so doing. France, if she is deprived of +Alsace, will do the same. If she signs the treaty, it will only be +binding on her until she is strong enough to repudiate it. A treaty of +territorial spoliation imposed by force never has and never will bind a +nation. The peace of Europe will not be lasting if France hawks about +her alliance, and is ready to tender it to any Power who wishes to carry +out some scheme of aggrandisement, and who will aid her to re-conquer +the provinces which she has lost. I have always regarded the Prussians +as a disagreeable but a sensible nation, but if they insist upon the +annexation of Alsace, and consider that the dismemberment of France will +conduce to the unity of Germany, I shall cease to consider them as more +sensible than the Gauls, with whom my lot is now cast. The Austrians +used to say that their defensive system rendered it necessary that they +should possess the Milanese and Venetia; but the possession of these two +Italian provinces was a continual source of weakness to them, and in the +end dragged them into a disastrous war. The Prussians should meditate +over this, and over the hundred other instances in history of +territorial greed overreaching itself, and they will then perhaps be +more inclined to take a fair and impartial view of the terms on which +peace ought to be made. "Moderation in success is often more difficult +to practise than fortitude in disaster," says the copy-book. My lecture +upon European politics is, I am afraid, somewhat lengthy, but it must be +remembered that I am a prisoner, and that Silvio Pellico, under similar +circumstances, wrote one of the most dreary books that it ever was my +misfortune to read and to be required to admire. I return to the recital +of what is passing in my prison house. + +Last night and early this morning I had an opportunity to inspect the +bars of the cage in which I am confined. I happened to say before a +superior officer that I was very desirous to see what was going on on +the ramparts and in the forts at night, but that I had as yet been +foiled in my endeavours to do so, when he told me that he would take me +to both, provided in any account that I might give of them I would not +mention localities, which might get him into trouble, or in general +anything which might afford aid and comfort to the enemy. Of course I +accepted his offer, and at eleven o'clock P.M. we started on horseback. +We soon struck the Rue des Remparts, and dismounted. Along the top of +the ramparts there was a line of sentinels. They were so numerous in +some places that they almost touched each other. Every few minutes the +cry, "Sentinelles, prenez gardé à vous," went along. Behind them grandes +gardes and other patrols were continually passing, and we could hardly +move a step without being obliged to give the password, with a bayonet +in close proximity to our chests. The National Guards were sleeping, in +some places in tents, in others in huts, and I found many more in the +neighbouring houses. Here and there there was a canteen, where warm +coffee and other such refreshments were sold, and in some places +casemates were already built. In the bastions there were camps of +Artillerymen, Mobiles, and Nationaux. All was very quiet, and I was +agreeably surprised to find with what order and method everything was +conducted. At about four o'clock this morning we passed through one of +the gates, outside there were patrols coming and going, and I could see +numerous regiments on each side of the road, some in tents, others +sleeping in the open air, or trying to do so, for the nights are already +very chilly. We were stopped almost every two minutes, and my friend had +to explain who and what he was. At last we reached a fort. Here we had a +long parley before we were admitted. When we got in, the day was +breaking. We were taken into the room of the Commandant, with whom my +friend had some business to transact. He was a sailor, and from his cool +and calm demeanour, I am convinced that he will give a good account of +himself if he is attacked. In the fort there were Mobiles and soldiers, +and by the guns stood the sailors. I talked to several of them as they +leant against their guns, or walked up and down as though they were +keeping watch on deck. None of them had left the fort for the last three +weeks, and they seemed to have no particular desire to go "on shore," as +they called Paris. Their fire, they said, had, they believed, done +considerable damage to the works which the Prussians had tried to erect, +within their range. The Commandant now came out with some of his +officers, and we tried to search with telescopes the distant woods which +were supposed to conceal the enemy. I confess that I saw absolutely +nothing except trees and some houses, which were in ruins, "Throw a +shell into those houses," cried the Commandant, and off went one of the +great guns. It fell wide. "Try again," he said. This time we could see +through the glasses that the house had been hit, for a portion of one of +the walls toppled over, and a column of dust arose. No Prussians, +however, emerged. A few shots were then fired promiscuously into the +woods, in order to sound the lines; and then Commandant, officers, +friend and I, withdrew to breakfast. I was, of course, cautious in my +conversation, and all that was said I do not care to repeat--the general +feeling, however, seemed to be that the prospects of Paris defending +itself successfully were considerably weakened by the "lot of lawyers" +who interfered with matters about which they knew nothing. The National +Guards, who I hear are to occupy the forts, were laughed at by these +warriors; as for the Mobiles, it was thought that in two months they +might become good soldiers, but that their discipline was most +defective. "When we get them in here," said a gruff old Captain, "we do +not stand their nonsense; but outside, when they are alone with their +officers, they do very much what they please." The soldiers of the +regular army, I was told, had recovered their _morale_, and if well led, +might be depended upon. As was natural, the sailors were greatly +extolled, and I think they deserved it; the best come from Brittany; and +like Joe Bagstock, they are tough, sir, very tough--what are called in +French, "wolves of the sea." Breakfast over, we returned to Paris in +company with two or three officers, who had been given leave of absence +for the day. This afternoon, hearing that egress was allowed at the +Barrière de Neuilly, I started out in a fiacre, to see what was to be +seen in that direction. Along the Avenue de Neuilly there were +encampments of soldiers of the line and Mobiles. At the bridge of +Neuilly my fiacre was stopped, but having explained to the commander of +the picket that I wanted to take a walk, and shown my papers, for some +reason best known to himself, he allowed me to go forward on foot. In +Courbevoie all the houses were shut up, except those occupied by troops, +and the windows of these were filled with sandbags. Right and left trees +were being cut down, and every moment some old poplar was brought to the +ground. I passed through Courbevoie, as no one seemed to notice me, and +held on to the right until I struck Asnières. It is a species of French +Greenwich, full of hotels, tea-gardens, and restaurants. The last time I +had been there was on a Sunday, when it was crowded with Parisian +bourgeois, and they were eating, drinking, dancing, and making merry. +The houses had not been destroyed, but there was not a living soul in +the place. On the promenade by the river the leaves were falling from +the trees under which were the benches as of old. The gay signs still +hung above the restaurants, and here and there was an advertisement +informing the world that M. Pitou offered his hosts beer at so much the +glass, or that the more ambitious Monsieur Some One Else was prepared to +serve an excellent dinner of eels for 2fr., but I might as well have +expected to get beer or eels in Palmyra as in this village where a few +short weeks ago fish, flesh, and fowl, wine and beer were as plentiful +as at Greenwich and Richmond during the season. Goldsmith's "Deserted +Village," I said to myself, and I should have repeated some lines from +this admirable poem had I remembered any; as I did not, I walked on in +the direction of Colombes, vaguely ruminating upon Pompeii, Palmyra, +fish dinners at Greenwich, and the mutability of human things. I had +hardly left Asnières, however, and was plodding along a path, when I was +recalled to the realities of life by half-a-dozen Mobiles springing up +from behind a low wall, and calling upon me to stop, while they enforced +their order by pointing their muskets at my head. I stood still, and +they surrounded me. I explained that I was an Englishman inhabiting +Paris, and that I had come out to take a walk. My papers were brought +out and narrowly inspected. My passport, that charter of the Civis +Romanus, was put aside as though it had been a document of no value. A +letter from one of the authorities, which was a species of unofficial +_laisser passer_, was read, and then a sort of council of war was held +about what ought to be done with me. They seemed to be innocent and well +meaning peasants; they said that they had orders to let no one pass, and +they were surprised that I had got so far without being stopped. I told +them that they were quite right to obey their _consigne_, and that I +would go back the way I had come. One of them suggested that I might be +a spy, but he accepted my assurance that I was not. Another proposed to +keep me as a captive until some officer passed; but I told them that +this was contrary to all law, human and divine, civil and military. +"Well, gentlemen," I at last said, "I will now wish you good day, my +mother will be anxious about me if I do not return, otherwise I should +have been happy to remain in such good society;" and with this speech I +turned back and went towards Asnières; they did not follow me, but +remained with their mouths open, utterly unable to grasp the idea why an +Englishman should be taking a walk in the neighbourhood of Paris, and +why he should have an aged mother anxiously awaiting his return in the +city. (N.B.--If you want to inspire a Frenchman with a sort of +sentimental respect, always talk of your mother; the same effect is +produced on a German by an allusion to your bride.) At the bridge of +Neuilly the guard had been changed, and I had a lengthy discussion +whether I ought to be imprisoned or allowed to pass. I was inclined to +think that I owe the latter motion being carried, to a very eloquent +speech which I threw off, but this may perhaps be vanity on my part, as +Mont Valérien was also discoursing at the same time, and dividing with +me the attention of my auditors. + +M. de Kératry has resigned his post of Prefect of the Police, and has +been succeeded by M. Edmond Adam, who is said to be a man of energy. +Yesterday M. Jules Ferry went down to Belleville, and delivered several +speeches, which he informs us to-day in a letter were greatly +applauded. The _Official Gazette_ contains an intimation that M. +Flourens is to be prosecuted, but I greatly question whether it is more +than _brutum fulmen_. The Council of War has condemned five of the +soldiers who ran away at the fight of Chatillon. Several others who were +tried for the same offence have been acquitted. It is reported that an +engagement took place this afternoon at Villejuif, but no details are +yet known. There is no doubt that the Prussians have enlarged their +circle round Paris, and that they have massed troops near Choisy-le-Roi. +What these two manoeuvres portend, we are all anxiously discussing. + +Several balloons went off this morning. I have deluged the Post-office +with letters, but I doubt if they ever get any farther. Mr. Hore, the +naval attaché of the British Embassy, also left this morning for Tours. +As the Parisian fleet consists of one gunboat, I presume that he +considers that his valuable services may be utilised elsewhere. + + +_October 13th._ + +Frenchmen have none of that rough and tumble energy which enables +Anglo-Saxons to shake themselves, no matter under what circumstances, +into some sort of shape. Left to themselves they are as helpless as +children, it takes a certain time to organize them, and to evolve order +from chaos, but when once the process is effected, they surpass us in +administrative mechanism, and in readiness to fall into new ways. The +organization of Paris, as a besieged city, is now in good working trim, +and it must be admitted that its results are more satisfactory than a +few weeks ago could have been anticipated. Except when some important +event is taking place at the front, there are no crowds in the streets, +and even the groups which used to impede circulation are now rare. The +National Guards go in turn to the ramparts, like clerks to their office. +In the morning the battalions are changed, and those who come off duty +march to their respective "quartiers" and quietly disband. Unless there +is some extraordinary movement, during the rest of the day and night +there is little marching of troops. In the evening the Boulevards are +moderately full from eight to ten o'clock, but now that only half the +number of street lamps are lit--they look gloomy even then--at half-past +ten every _café_ and shop is closed, and half-an-hour later every one +has gone home. There are no quarrels and no drunkards. Robberies +occasionally occur, but they are rare. "Social evils" have again made +their appearance, but they are not so insolently conspicuous as they +were under the paternal rule of the Empire. Paris, once so gay, has +become as dull as a small German capital. Its inhabitants are not in the +depths of despair, but they are thoroughly bored. They are in the +position of a company of actors shut up in a theatre night and day, and +left to their own devices, without an audience to applaud or to hiss +them. "What do you think they are saying of us in England?" is a +question which I am asked not less than a hundred times every day. My +interrogator usually goes on to say, that it is impossible that the +heroism of the population has not elicited the admiration of the world. +It seems to me that if Paris submits to a blockade for another month, +she will have done her duty by France; but I cannot for the life of me +see that as yet she has done anything to entitle her to boast of having +set the world an example of valour. + +Yesterday, it appears by the official report, there was a reconnaissance +in force under General Ducrot in the direction of Bougival and Rucil. +The Mobiles, we are told, behaved well, but the loss on either side was +insignificant. Our amateur strategists are divided as to the expediency +of taking Versailles, with the whole Prussian quartier-général, or +reopening communications with the provinces by the way of Orleans. The +relative advantages of these two schemes is hotly debated in the +newspapers and the pothouses. A more practical suggestion to form +mobilised regiments of National Guards by taking the most active men +from the existing battalions is being seriously considered by the +Government. This is all the news, except that a battalion of Amazons is +in course of formation. They are to wear trousers, kepis, and blouses, +and to be armed like the National Guard. The walls are covered with +large placards inviting enlistments. It is reported that the Government +are in possession of evidence to show that many of those female +ornaments of the Imperial Court who were called cocodettes, and who +spent in dress every year three times the annual income of their +husbands, were in the pay of Bismarck. This intelligent and unscrupulous +gentleman also, it is said, has a corps of spies recruited from all +nations, consisting of good-looking men of pleasant address and of a +certain social standing, whose business it was to insinuate themselves +into the good graces of the beauties of Parisian society, and then +endeavour to pick up the secrets of their husbands and friends. I am +inclined to think that there is a good deal of truth in this latter +allegation, because for several years I have known fascinating +foreigners who used to frequent the clubs, the Bois, and the salons of +the great world, and lead a joyous life without having any recognised +means of existence. I have been struck more than once with the anxiety +of these gentry to hook themselves on to the train of any lady who was +either the relative of a man in power or who was supposed to be on +intimate terms with a minister or a courtier. Every man, said Sir Robert +Walpole, has his price, and Bismarck might be justified in making the +same reflection as far as regards what is called European good society. + +The eighth _livraison_ of the Tuileries papers has appeared; it contains +two letters from General Ducrot to General Frossard, a despatch from the +French Foreign-office to Benedetti, a report on France by Magne, and a +letter from a prefect to Pietri. From the few papers of any importance +which have been discovered in the Imperial palaces, our friend Badinguet +must have had an inkling when he last left Paris that he might not +return, and must have put his papers in order, _i.e._, in the +fire-place. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +_Evening._ + +I am very much afraid that it will be some time before my letters reach +you, if indeed they ever do. I had entrusted one to Lord Lyons' butler, +a very intelligent man, who was to accompany Mr. Hore, our naval +attaché, to Tours; but, alas, they did not get further than the Prussian +lines at Epinay, and they are back again at the Embassy. Mr. Hore had +with him a letter from the Nuncio to the Crown Prince, but the officer +in command of the outpost declined to take charge of it. The Columbian +Minister, too, who was charged with the protest of the Corps +Diplomatique to Bismarck on account of his refusal to allow their +despatches to go out, has also returned, to re-peruse Grotius and +Puffendorf, in order to find more precedents with which to overwhelm +Bismarck. The Greek Minister has managed to run the blockade. A son of +Commodore Lynch made an attempt to get out, but after being kept twelve +hours at the Prussian outposts, and fired on by the French, he has +returned to share our imprisonment. This morning I read in one of the +papers a wonderful account of what Mr. Lynch had seen when with the +Prussians. Meeting him this evening, I asked him whether it was true. He +told me that he had already been to the newspaper to protest against its +appearance, as every statement in it was destitute of foundation. He +could, however, get no redress; the editor or his _locum tenens_ told +him that one of their reporters had given it him, and that he knew +nothing more about it. This is an instance of the reckless mode in which +the business of journalism is conducted here. + +I made two visits this afternoon, one to a pothouse in Belleville, the +other to a countess in the Faubourg St. Germain. I went to the former in +order to find out what the Bellevillites thought of things in general. I +found them very discontented with the Government, and divided in opinion +as to whether it would be more in the interests of the country to turn +it out at present, or to wait, until the Prussians were defeated, and +then do so. They are all very angry at the counter-manifestation of the +bourgeois against them in the Commune. "The Government," said one of +them to me, "is weak and incapable, it means to deceive us, and is +thinking more of bringing back the Comte de Paris than of defending the +town. We do not wish it to be said that we compromise the success of the +defence by agitation, but either it must show more energy, or we will +drive it from the Hôtel de Ville." I quoted to my friend Mr. Lincoln's +saying, about the mistake of changing a horse when half-way over a +river. "That is all very well," replied a citizen, who was discussing +some fiery compound at a table near me, "but we, unfortunately, have +only an ass to carry us over, and he will be swept away down the stream +with us on his back." Somebody now asked me what I was doing in Paris. I +replied that I was the correspondent of an English newspaper. Several +immediately shook me by the hand, and one of them said to me, "Pray tell +your countrymen that we men of Belleville are not what the bourgeois and +their organs pretend. We do not want to rob our neighbours; all we ask +is, to keep the Prussians out of Paris." He said a good deal more which +it is needless to repeat, but I willingly fulfil his request, to give +my testimony that he, and thousands like him, who are the bugbear of the +inhabitants of the richer districts of the city, are not by any means as +black as they are painted. They are impulsive and somewhat inclined to +exaggerate their own good qualities and the faults of others; they seem +to think that anyone who differs from them must be a knave or a fool, +and that the form of government which they prefer ought at once to be +established, whether it obtains the suffrages of the majority or not; +their knowledge, too, of the laws of political and social economy is, to +say the least, vague; but they are honest and sincere, mean what they +say, do not mistake words for deeds, and after the dreary inflated +nonsense one is compelled to listen to from their better educated +townsmen, it is refreshing to talk with them. From the Belleville +pothouse I went to the Faubourg St. Germain. In this solemn abode of a +fossil aristocracy I have a relative--a countess. She is, I believe, my +cousin about sixteen times removed, but as she is the only person of +rank with whom my family can claim the most distant relationship, we +stick to the cousinship and send her every year cheap presents, which +she reciprocates with still more meretricious _bonbons_. When I was +ushered into her drawing-room, I found her taking afternoon tea with two +old gentlemen, also a mild young man, and a priest. A "Lady of the +Faubourg," who has any pretensions to beauty, but who is of Cornelia's +mood, always has two or three old gentlemen, a mild young man, and a +priest, who drop in to see her almost every afternoon. "Are you come to +congratulate us?" said my cousin, as I entered. I kissed her hand. +"What," she continued, "have you not heard of the victory?" I opened my +eyes. "Madame," said one old gentleman, "alludes to the taking of Choisy +le Roy." I mildly hinted that the news of this important event had not +reached me. "Surprising!" said he, "I saw Vinoy myself yesterday." "It +does not follow," I suggested, "that he has taken Choisy to-day." +"Monsieur, perhaps, is not aware," jeered old gentleman No. 2, "that +60,000 men have broken through the Prussian lines, and have gone to the +relief of Bazaine." "I have not the slightest doubt of the fact; it is +precisely what I expected would occur," I humbly observed. "As for the +victory," struck in the mild young man, "I can vouch for it; I myself +have seen the prisoners." "Surely," added my cousin, "you must have +heard the cannon; ah! you English are all the same; you are all +Prussians, your Queen, your _'Tims'_, and all of you." I took refuge in +a cup of tea. One old gentleman came and stood before me. I knew well +what was coming--the old, old question. "Well, what does England think +of our attitude now?" I said that only one word could properly qualify +it--sublime. "We are sacrificing our lives," said the mild young man. I +looked at him, and I greatly fear that I smiled--"that is to say," he +continued, "we are prepared to sacrifice them." "Monsieur is in the +Garde Nationale?" I asked. "Monsieur is the only son of a widow," put in +my cousin. "But I mean to go to the ramparts for all that," added the +orphan. "You owe yourself to your mother," said the priest--"and to your +country," I suggested, but the observation fell very flat. "It is a +grand sight," observed one old gentleman, as he put a third lump of +sugar in his tea, and another into his pocket, "a glorious spectacle, to +see a population that was supposed to be given up to luxury, subsisting +cheerfully week after week upon the simplest necessaries of existence." +"I have not tasted game once this year, and the beef is far from good," +sighed old gentleman No. 2; "but we will continue to endure our +hardships for months, or for years if need be, rather than allow the +Prussians to enter Paris." This sort of Lacedemonian twaddle went on +during the whole time of my visit, and my cousin evidently was proud of +being surrounded by such Spartans. I give a specimen of it, as I think +these worthies ought to be gratified by their heroic sacrifices being +made public. "I'd rough it in a campaign as well as any linesman," said +the cornet of her Majesty's Life Guards; "give me a pint of claret and a +chicken every day, or a cut at a joint, and I would ask for nothing +more;" and the Belgravian knight's idea of the discomforts of war is +very like that of the beleaguered Gaul. Want may come, but as yet never +has a large city enjoyed greater abundance of bread and meat. The poor +are nourished by the State. The rich have, perhaps, some difficulty in +getting their supply of meat, but this is the fault of a defective +organization; in reality they are only deprived of those luxuries the +habitual use of which has impaired the digestions of half of them. It is +surely possible to exist for a few weeks on beef, mutton, flour, +preserved vegetables, wine, milk, eggs, and every species of sauce that +cook ever contrived. At about seven, provisions at the restaurants +sometimes run short. I dined to-day at a bouillon at six o'clock for +about half-a-crown. I had soup, salt cod, beef (tolerable, but perhaps a +shade horsey), rabbit, French beans, apple fritters, grapes, and coffee. +This bill of fare is a very long way from starvation. + + +_October 14th._ + +According to the official account of yesterday's proceedings, General +Trochu was anxious to discover whether the Prussians were in force upon +the plateau of Chatillon, or had withdrawn from that position. The +villages of Chatillon, Bagneux, and Clamart, were consequently attacked, +and after an artillery and musketry engagement, the Prussian reserves +were brought up, thus proving that the report that they had withdrawn +was unfounded. The retreat then commenced under the fire of the forts. +About 100 prisoners were taken; in the evening they were brought to the +Place Vendôme. The newspapers are one and all singing peans over the +valour of the Mobiles--those of the Côte d'Or most distinguished +themselves. Although the whole thing was little more than a +reconnaissance, its effect has been electrical. The battalions of the +National Guard sing the Marseillaise as of old, and everyone is full of +confidence. Some of the officers who were engaged tell me that the +Mobiles really did show coolness under fire, and that they fought well +with the bayonet in the village of Bagneux. Between carrying an advanced +post and forcing the Prussian army to raise the siege, there is of +course a slight difference, but I see no reason why these strong, +healthy peasants should not become excellent troops. What they want are +commanders who are old soldiers, and would force them to submit to +regular discipline. The _Official Gazette_ contains the following +decree: "Every officer of the National Guard whose antecedents are of a +nature to compromise the dignity of the epaulette, and the consideration +of the corps in which he has been elected, can be revoked. The same +punishment may be inflicted upon those officers who render themselves +guilty of continuous bad conduct, or of acts wanting in delicacy. The +revocation will be pronounced by the Government upon a report of the +Minister of War." If the Government has enough determination to carry +out this decree, the National Guard will greatly profit by it. + +Yesterday evening at the Folies Bergères a demonstration was made +against the Princes of the Orleans family, who are said to be in command +of an army at Rouen. It was determined to send a deputation to the +Government on the subject. This move is important, as the Folies +Bergères is rather the rendezvous of the Moderate Republicans than of +the Ultras. + +A letter from Havre, dated October 4, has been received, in which it is +stated that the ex-Emperor has issued an address to the nation. I do not +know what his chances of restoration are in the provinces, but here +they are absolutely hopeless. The Napoleonic legend was founded upon +victories. Since the name of Napoleon has been coupled with the +capitulation of Sedan, it is loathed as much as it once was adulated. +Apart from his personal following, Napoleon III. has not 100 adherents +in Paris. + + +_October 15th._ + +Colonel Loyd Lindsay arrived here yesterday morning with £20,000 for the +ambulances, and leaves to-morrow with the Comte de Flavigny, the +President of the Ambulance Internationale. Mr. Herbert is getting +anxious respecting the future of the destitute English still here; and +with all due respect to our charitable friends at home, it appears to me +that Paris is rich enough to look after its own wounded. The flag of the +Cross of Geneva waves over several thousand houses, and such is the +desire of brave patriots to become members of an ambulance corps, that +the services of neutrals are declined. + + +_October 16th._ + +We are told that the ex-Emperor has issued a proclamation, _urbi +orbique_, and that his agents are engaged in London and elsewhere in +intriguing in his behalf. I cannot believe that they have any chance of +gaining adherents to their master's cause in England. That halo of +success which blinded a portion of the English press to the iniquities +which were concealed beneath the Imperial purple has now disappeared. +The publication of the papers discovered in the Tuileries has stripped +despotism of its tinsel, and has revealed the vile and contemptible arts +by which a gallant nation has been enslaved. The Government of Napoleon, +as Mr. Gladstone said of that of Bomba, "was a negation of God upon +earth." His councillors were bold bad men, ever plotting against each +other, and united alone in a common conspiracy to grow rich at the +expense of their country, _creverunt in exitio patriæ_. His court was +the El Dorado of pimps and parasites, panders and wantons. For eighteen +long years he retained the power, which he had acquired through perjury +and violence, by pandering to the baser passions of his subjects, and by +an organized system of fraud, mendacity, and espionnage. Beneath his +blighting rule French women only sought to surpass each other in +reckless extravagance, and Frenchmen lost the courage which had half +redeemed their frivolity. Honest citizens there were, indeed, who +protested against these Saturnalia of successful villany and rampant +vice, but few listened to their warnings. They were jeered at by the +vulgar, fined, imprisoned, or banished by Ministers and Magistrates. All +that was good, noble, and generous in the nation withered in the +uncongenial atmosphere. The language of Pascal and of Corneille became +the medium of corrupting the minds of millions. The events of the day +were some actress who had discovered a new way to outrage decency, or +some new play which deified a prostitute or an adulteress. Paris became +the world's fair, to which flocked the vain, the idle, and the debauched +from all corners of the globe. For a man to be rich, or for a woman to +find favour in the eyes of some Imperial functionary, were ready +passports to social recognition. The landmarks between virtue and vice +were obliterated. The Court lady smiled in half-recognition on the +courtezan, and paid her homage by endeavouring to imitate her dress and +her manners. Cardsharpers and stockjobbers, disreputable adventurers and +public functionaries were intimate friends. No one, able to insult +modest industry by lavish ostentation, was asked how he had acquired his +wealth. Honour and honesty were prejudices of the past. What has been +the consequence? It is a comment upon despotism, which I hope will not +be lost upon those who extol the advantages of personal government, and +who would sacrifice the liberty of all to the concentrated energy of +one. The armies of France have been scattered to the winds; the +Emperor, who knew not even how a Cæsar should die, is a prisoner; his +creatures are enjoying their booty in ignoble ease, not daring even to +fight for the country which they have betrayed. The gay crowd has taken +to itself wings; an emasculated bourgeoisie, grown rich upon fashionable +follies, and a mob of working men, unused to arms, and distrustful even +of their own leaders, are cowering beneath the ramparts of Paris, +opposing frantic boasts, pitiful lamentations, unskilled valour, to the +stern discipline of the legions of Germany, whose iron grasp is +contracting closer and closer every day round the vaunted capital of +modern civilization. You know better than we do what is passing in the +provinces, but I can answer for it that the Parisians, low as they have +fallen, are not so lost to every impulse of honour as to be ready to +welcome back in triumph the prime cause of their degradation, the man of +December and of Sedan. Titania, in the _Midsummer Night's Dream_, +idealizes the weaver, and invests him with every noble attribute, and +then as soon as she regains her senses, turns from him with disgust and +exclaims, "Oh, how mine eyes do loathe thee now." So it was and so it is +with Paris and Napoleon, "None so poor to do him honour now." + +The Government is daily becoming more and more military, and the +Parisian Deputies are becoming little more than lay figures. M. +Gambetta, the most energetic of them, has left for the provinces. MM. +Jules Favre, Picard, and Pelletan are almost forgotten. Rochefort +devotes himself to the barricades, and M. Dorian, a hard-headed +manufacturer, is occupying himself in stimulating the manufacture of +cannon, muskets, and munitions of war. These gentlemen, with the +exception of the latter, are rather men of words than of action. They do +neither harm nor good. Of General Trochu, into whose hands, by the mere +force of circumstances, all civil and military authority is +concentrating, _Bonum virum, facile dixeris, magnum libenter_. He is, I +believe, a good general and a good administrator. Although he awakens no +enthusiasm, confidence is felt by the majority in his good sense. It is +thought, however, that he is wanting in that energy and audacity which +are requisite in a leader, if victory is to be wrested from the Germans. +He forgets that time is not his ally, and that merely to hold Paris +until that surely inevitable hour arrives when the provisions are +exhausted will neither save France nor her capital. He is a man slow to +form a plan, but obstinate in his adherence to it; unwilling to move +until he has his forces perfectly under control, and until every +administrative detail is perfected--better fitted to defend Troy for ten +years than Paris for a few months--in fact, a species of French +M'Clellan. + +We are now in a position, according to our military authorities, to hold +out as long as our provisions last. If Paris does this, without being so +heroic as her citizens imagine that she already is, she will have done +her duty by France. Nicholas said, when Sebastopol was besieged, that +winter was his best ally; and winter will soon come to our aid. The +Prussians are a long way from their homes; if the provinces rise it will +be difficult for them to keep their lines of communication open, and to +feed their troops. It may also be presumed that they will be harassed by +the 300,000 armed men who are cooped up here, and who are acting on the +inner circle. Cannon are being cast which, it is expected, will render +the sorties far more effective. On the other hand, the question has not +yet been solved whether the Parisians will really support the hardships +of a siege when they commence, and whether there will not be internal +dissensions. At present the greatest confidence is felt in ultimate +success. The Parisians cannot realise to themselves the possibility of +their city being taken; they are still, in their own estimation, the +representative men of "la grande nation," and they still cite the +saying of Frederick the Great that, were he King of France, not a sword +should be drawn without his permission, as though this were a dictum +that a sage had uttered yesterday. They feed every day on the vaunts and +falsehoods which their newspapers offer them, and they digest them +without a qualm. While they expect the provinces to come to their aid, +they are almost angry that they should venture to act independently of +their guidance. They are childishly anxious to send out commissaries to +take the direction of affairs in Normandy and Touraine, for the +provincials are in their eyes slaves, born to serve and to obey the +capital. Indeed, they have not yet got over their surprise that the +world should continue to move now that it is deprived of its pivot. All +this folly may not prevent their fighting well. Fools and braggarts are +often brave men. The Parisians have an indomitable pride, they have +called upon the world to witness their achievements, and the thought of +King William riding in triumph along the Boulevards is so bitter a one, +that it may nerve them to the wildest desperation. If, however, Bazaine +capitulates, and the armies of the Loire and of Lyons are only the +figments of their own brains, it may be that they will bow to what they +will call destiny. "Heaven has declared against us," is an expression +that I already hear frequently uttered. It is indeed as impossible to +predicate here, as it is in London, what may be the mood of this fickle +and impulsive population a week hence. All I can positively say is, that +at the present moment they are in "King Cambyses' vein." We ought not to +judge a foreign nation by our own standard, but it is impossible not to +re-echo Lord Bolingbroke's "poor humanity" a hundred times a day, when +one reads the inflated bombast of the newspapers, and hears the nonsense +that is talked by almost everyone; when one sees the Gaul marching off +to the ramparts convinced, because he wears a kepi and a sword, that he +is a very Achilles; when regiments solemnly crown a statue with laurel +crowns, and sign round robins to die for their country. All these antics +ought not to make one forget that these men are fighting for the holiest +of causes, the integrity of their country, and that the worst of +Republics is better than the best of feudal monarchies; but I confess I +frequently despair of their ever attaining to the dignity of free men, +until they have been further tried in the school of adversity. + +Yesterday M. Jules Favre, in reply to a deputation from the Club of the +Folies Bergères, stated that he was not aware that the Orleans Princes +were in France. "If the army of succour," he said, "comes to us, we will +extend our hands to it; but if it marches under the Orleans banner, the +Government will not recognise that banner. As a man, I deplore the law +which proscribes this family; as a citizen and a politician, I maintain +it. Even if these Princes were to abdicate their dynastic pretensions, +the Government will remember Bonaparte, and how he destroyed the +Republic in 1851, and energetically protest against their return." This +reply when reported to the Club was greatly applauded. Probably none of +its members had ever heard the proverb that beggars ought not to be +choosers. + +The event of the day has been the arrest of M. Portales, the editor of +the _Vérité_. This newspaper, after asserting that the Government has +received news from the provinces, asks a series of questions. In the +afternoon the editor was arrested, and this morning the _Official +Gazette_ thus replies to the queries: No news has been concealed. The +last official despatch received is one from Gambetta, announcing his +safe arrival at Montdidier. The Government has received an old copy of +the _Standard_, but this journal, "notoriously hostile to France," +contained sensational intelligence, which appeared absolutely untrue. +To-day it has received a journal of Rouen of the 12th, and it hastens to +publish the news derived from this source. Bismarck never proposed an +armistice through Burnside. The General only unofficially informed +Trochu that Bismarck's views were not altered since he had met Favre at +Ferrières, when he stated that "if he considered an armistice realizable +for the convocation of an Assembly, he would only grant it for +forty-eight hours; he would refuse to include Metz, or to permit +provisions to enter Paris, and exclude from the Assembly our brave and +unhappy compatriots of Alsace and Lorraine." The _Official Gazette_ then +gives extracts from the Rouen paper, which are very contradictory. Our +newspapers, however, in commenting on them, come to the conclusion that +there are two armies in the field well equipped, and that they have +already achieved important successes. The situation also of Bazaine is +proved to be excellent. _Quem Dem, &c._ + +Two of the mayors have ordered all crucifixes to be removed from the +ambulances in their arrondissements. Their conduct is almost universally +blamed. The enlistment of the Amazons, notwithstanding the efforts of +the Government, still continues. The pretty women keep aloof from the +movement; the recruits who have already joined are so old and ugly that +possibly they may act upon an enemy like the head of Medusa. + + +_October 17th._ + +The newspapers to-day almost universally blame the arrest of M. +Portales. This gentleman, with M.E. Picard, started, just before the +siege commenced, a paper called _L'Electeur Libre_. It was thought that +M. Picard's position as a member of the Government rendered it +impossible for him to remain the political director of a newspaper, so +he withdrew, but appointed his brother as his successor. This did not +please M. Portales, who with most of the staff left the _Electeur +Libre_, and founded _La Vérité_. It is, therefore, somewhat suspicious +that this new paper should be the only one whose editor has been +imprisoned for circulating "falsehoods." In the first place, almost +every French newspaper of any circulation trades upon lies; in the +second place, it appears that in this particular case the _Vérité_ only +put in the sensational form of questions a letter from the _Times_' +correspondent at Tours. This letter it publishes to-day, and appeals to +the public to judge between M. Portales and M. Picard. The fact is that +this population can neither tell nor hear the truth. The English papers +are one and all in bad odour because they declined to believe in the +Emperor's victories, and if a _Daily News_ comes in here with an account +of some new French reverse, I shall probably be imprisoned. Government +and people have laid down this axiom, "bad news false news." General +Trochu again appears in print in a long circular letter to the +commandants of the corps d'armée and the forts. He desires them each to +send him in a list of forty men who have distinguished themselves, and +their names and no others will appear in the order of the day. "We +have," says the General, "to cause this grand thought, which monarchies +decline to recognise but which the Republic should hold sacred, to +penetrate into the minds of our officers and soldiers--opinion alone can +worthily recompense the sacrifice of a life; remember that if you make a +bad choice of the men you recommend, you will gravely compromise your +responsibility towards me, and at the same time the great principle +which I would have prevail." The General is a very copious writer, and +it seems to me that he would do well to remember that if he can only +drive away the Prussians, he will have time enough afterwards to +introduce his "grand thoughts" into the army. Two things, says Thiers, +impose upon Frenchmen--military glory and profound silence. Trochu has +the first to win, and he apparently scorns the latter. He is a species +of military doctrinaire, and he finds it difficult to avoid lecturing +soldiers or civilians at least once a day. I was looking at him the +other day, and I never saw calm, serene, self-complacency more clearly +depicted upon the human countenance. Failure or success will find him +the same--confident in himself, in his plans, and his grand thoughts. If +he eventually has to surrender, he will console himself by coupling with +the announcement of his intention many observations--very wise, very +beautiful, very lengthy, and very stale. + +Mr. Herbert tells me that there are more English here than he had +imagined. He estimates their number at about 4000, about 800 of whom are +destitute. The funds at his disposal for them would have already run +short had not Mr. Wallace again largely contributed to them. They are +fed with rice and Liebig, but the great difficulty has been to find fat +to add to this mess. The beasts that are killed are so lean that it is +almost impossible to obtain it except at an extravagant price. Tallow +candles have been seriously suggested, but they too are scarce. The +English, as foreigners, cannot claim rations, and were it not for the +kindness of Mr. Herbert and Mr. Wallace, they would, I am afraid, really +starve. All their rich fellow-countrymen, with the exception of Mr. +Wallace, have left Paris, and even if they were here they would not be +able to do anything unless they had money with them, as it is impossible +to draw on London. Winter is coming on, and clothes and fuel as well as +food will be wanted. I would suggest to the charitable in England to +send contributions to Mr. Herbert. I can hardly suppose that Count +Bismarck would decline to let the money pass through the Prussian lines. +I hear that Mr. Washburne has obtained a half permission to send his +countrymen out of the town, if so, I think it would be well if the poor +English were also to leave; but this, of course, will require money. + +The Nuncio has managed to get away; he declined to take letters with +him. E. Washburne, United States Minister, Lopez de Arosemana, Chargé +d'Affaires of Honduras, Duke Aquaviva, Chargé d'Affaires of Monaco, and +the other members of the Corps Diplomatique still here, have signed and +published a protest against the refusal of Count Bismarck to let their +despatches to their respective Governments leave Paris sealed. That Mr. +Washburne should be indignant I can well understand; but although I do +not personally know either Lopez de Arosemana, or Aquaviva, Chargé +d'Affaires of Monaco, I can understand Count Bismarck not being +absolutely satisfied with the assurance of these potent signors that +nothing except official despatches should pass under their seal. That +the Prince of Monaco should be debarred for a few months from receiving +communications from his representative in Paris, may perhaps be +unpleasant to him, but must be a matter of the most profound +indifference to the rest of the world. + +It is somewhat amusing to observe how justice is administered when any +dispute arises in the streets. The sergents-de-ville immediately +withdraw, in order not to prejudice the question by their presence. A +sort of informal jury is impanelled, each disputant states his case, and +the one who is thought by the tribunal to be in fault, is either taken +off to prison, or cuffed on the spot. I have bought myself a sugar-loaf +hat of the First Republic, and am consequently regarded with deference. +To-day a man was bullying a child, and a crowd gathered round him; I +happened just then to come up, room was immediately made for me and my +hat, and I was asked to give my opinion as to what ought to be done with +the culprit. I suggested kicking, and as I walked away, I saw him +writhing under the boots of two sturdy executioners, amid the applause +of the spectators. "The style is the man," said Buffon; had he lived +here now he would rather have said "the hat is the man." An English +doctor who goes about in a regulation chimney-pot has already been +arrested twenty-seven times; I, thanks to my revolutionary hat, have +not been arrested once. I have only to glance from under its brim at any +one for him to quail. + + +_October 18th._ + +A decree has been issued ordering a company of 150 men to be mobilised +in each battalion of the National Guard. Three of these companies are +together to form a mobilised battalion, and to elect their commander. +The _Journal Officiel_ contains two long reports upon the works of +defence which have been executed since the commencement of the siege. +They give the number of guns on each bastion, and the number of rounds +to each gun, the number of cartridges, and the amount of powder in +store. Unless these reports be patriotic fictions, it seems strange to +publish them in the newspapers, as they must inevitably fall into the +hands of the Prussians. Be this as it may, I do not feel at liberty to +quote from them. General Ducrot publishes a letter protesting against a +statement of the German journals that he escaped from Pont-à-Mousson +when on parole. He asserts that his safe-conduct had been given up, and +that he consequently was free to get away if he could. His evasion is +very similar to that of F. Meagher from Australia. M. Jules Favre +publishes a circular to the French Diplomatic Agents abroad, in reply to +Count Bismarck's report of the meeting at Ferrières. You will probably +have received it before you get this letter. It is more rhetorical than +logical--goes over the old ground of the war having been declared +against Napoleon rather than against the French nation, and complains +that "the European Cabinets, instead of inaugurating the doctrine of +mediation, recommended by justice and their own interests, by their +inertness authorise the continuation of a barbarous struggle, which is a +disaster for all and an outrage on civilization." M. Jules Favre cannot +emancipate himself from the popular delusions of his country, that +France can go to war without, if vanquished, submitting to the +consequences, and that Paris can take refuge behind her ramparts without +being treated as a fortified town; at the same time he very rightly +protests against the Prussian theory of the right of conquest implying a +moral right to annex provinces against the wishes of their inhabitants. + +Few have been in Paris without having driven through the Avenue de +l'Impératrice. What has been done there to render it impregnable to +attack will consequently give an idea what has been done everywhere. At +the Bois de Boulogne end of the avenue the gate has been closed up by a +wall and a moat; behind them there is a redoubt. Between this and the +Arc de Triomphe there are three barricades made of masonry and earth, +and three ditches. Along the grass on each side of the roadway, the +ground has been honey-combed, and in each hole there are pointed stakes. +In every house Nationaux are billeted; in two of them there are +artillerymen. In the Avenue de Neuilly, and in many other parts of the +town, the preparations against an assault are still more formidable. +Bagatelles, the villa of the late Lord Hertford, has been almost gutted +by 2,000 Mobiles, who make it their headquarters. We are exceedingly +proud of having burnt down St. Cloud, and we say that if this does not +convince the Prussians that we are in earnest, we will burn down +Versailles. I wonder whether the proverb about cutting off one's nose to +spite one's face has an equivalent in French. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +_October 19th._ + +A despatch is published this morning from M. Gambetta, giving a very +hopeful account of things in the provinces. As, however, this gentleman +on his arrival at Tours issued a proclamation in which he announced that +there were one-third more guns in Paris than it is even pretended by the +Government that there are, I look with great suspicion upon his +utterances. The latest declaration of the Government differs essentially +from that which was made at the commencement of the siege. A friend of +mine pointed out to one of its members this discrepancy, when he replied +that the Government had purposely understated their resources at first. +This may be all very fair in war, but it prevents a reasonable person +placing the slightest confidence in anything official. Dr. Johnson did +not believe in the earthquake at Lisbon for one year after the news +reached London, and I shall not believe in the resources of the +provinces until they prove their existence by raising the siege. I am +very curious to discover what is thought of Paris by the world. There is +but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. If really by holding +out for several months the situation can be altered for the better, the +Parisians are right to do so, but if the Government is only humbugging +them with false intelligence, if they are simply destroying their own +villages in the neighbourhood, and exhausting their resources within +the town, whilst a Prussian army is living at the cost of their country, +it seems to me that they are acting like silly schoolboys rather than +wise men, and that there really is something in the sneer of Bismarck +that the Deputies of Paris are determined, _coûte qui coûte_, to +preserve the power with which the hazards of a revolution invested them. + +The newspapers this morning are full of articles lauding M. Jules +Favre's circular, and reviling the proposals of Bismarck. The following +extract from the _Liberté_ will serve as an example of their usual +tone:--"A word of gratitude to the great citizen, to Jules Favre. Let +him know that his honest, eloquent, and brave words give us strength, +dry our tears, and cure our wounds. Poor and dear France! Provinces +crushed and towns blockaded, populations ruined, and thou, O Paris, once +the city of the fairies, now become the city of the grave times of +antiquity, raise thy head, be confident, be strong. It is thy heart that +has spoken, it is thy soul unconquered, invincible, the soul of thy +country that has appealed to the world and told it the truth." The +_Liberté_, after this preliminary burst, goes on to say, that it knew +before that Bismarck was everything that was bad, but that it has now +discovered that, besides possessing every other vice, he is a liar, and +if there is one thing that France and the _Liberté_ cannot endure, it is +a man who does not tell the truth. If the Prussians are not driven out +of France by words, it certainly will be a proof that mere words have +very little effect in shaping the destinies of nations. + +Each person now receives 100 grammes of meat per diem, the system of +distribution being that every one has to wait on an average two hours +before he receives his meat at the door of a butcher's shop. I dine +habitually at a bouillon; there horse-flesh is eaten in the place of +beef, and cat is called rabbit. Both, however, are excellent, and the +former is a little sweeter than beef, but in other respects much like +it; the latter something between rabbit and squirrel, with a flavour all +its own. It is delicious. I recommend those who have cats with +philoprogenitive proclivities, instead of drowning the kittens, to eat +them. Either smothered in onions or in a ragout they are excellent. When +I return to London I shall frequently treat myself to one of these +domestic animals, and ever feel grateful to Bismarck for having taught +me that cat served up for dinner is the right animal in the right place. + +I went last night to the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin; it has become +the rendezvous of the optimists, and speeches were delivered to prove +that everything was for the best in the best of worlds, and poetry was +recited to prove that the Prussians must eventually be defeated. The +chair was taken by M. Coquerel, who with great truth said that Paris had +fallen so low that the siege might be considered almost a blessing, and +that the longer it lasted, the more likely was it to aid in the work of +regeneration, which alone can make this world a globe of honourable men +and honest women. It will, indeed, do the Parisians all the good in the +world to keep guard on the ramparts instead of doing nothing but gossip +till one or two in the morning at cafés. + +General Trochu, that complete letter-writer, to-day replies to General +Ducrot, telling him that his proclamation respecting his evasion from +Pont-à-Mousson is most satisfactory. + +The military events of this week have been unimportant. The forts have +continued silent, and reconnaissances have been made here and there. The +faubourgs, too, have been quiet. Everything is being done to make the +siege weigh as little upon the population as possible. Thus, for +instance, few lamps are lit in the streets, but the shops and cafés are +still a blaze of light; they close, however, early. Here is rather a +good story; I can vouch for its truth. The Government recently visited +the Tuileries. They were received by the governor, whom they found +established in a suite of apartments. He showed them over the palace, +and then offered them luncheon. They then incidentally asked him who had +nominated him to the post he so ably filled. "Myself," he replied; "just +by the same authority as you nominated yourselves, and no less." There +was heavy firing all through the night in the direction of Vannes. + +M. Mottu, the mayor of the 11th arrondissement, who had entered into a +campaign against crucifixes, has been removed. The Government were +"interviewed" last night by the chiefs of thirty battalions of Gardes +Nationales of the 11th arrondissement on the subject. The deputation was +assured that M. Mottu would be reinstated in his mairie if he would +promise to moderate his zeal. + + +_October 20th._ + +"The clients of M. Poiret are informed that they can only have one plate +of meat," was the terrible writing which stared me on the wall, when I +went to dine at my favourite bouillon--and, good heavens, what a portion +it was! Not enough for the dinner of a fine lady who has previously +gorged herself at a private luncheon. If meat is, as we are told, so +plentiful that it will last for five weeks more, the mode in which it is +distributed is radically bad. While at a large popular restaurant, where +hundreds of the middle classes dine, each person only gets enough cat or +horse to whet his appetite for more; in the expensive cafés on the +Boulevards, feasts worthy of Lucullus are still served to those who are +ready to part with their money with the proverbial readiness of fools. +Far more practical, my worthy Republicans, would it be to establish +"liberté, égalité, fraternité" in the cook shops, than to write the +words in letters of gold over your churches. In every great city there +always is much want and misery; here, although succour is supposed to be +afforded to all who require it, many I fear are starving owing to that +bureaucrat love of classification which is the curse of France. After my +meagre dinner, I was strolling along the quays near the river, +_l'estomac_ as _leger_ as M. Ollivier's heart, when I saw a woman +leaning over the parapet. She turned as I was passing her, and the lamp +from the opposite gate of the Tuileries shone on her face. It was honest +and homely, but so careworn, so utterly hopeless, that I stopped to ask +her if she was ill. "Only tired and hungry'" she replied; "I have been +walking all day, and I have not eaten since yesterday." I took her to a +café and gave her some bread and coffee, and then she told me her story. +She was a peasant girl from Franche Comté, and had come to Paris, where +she had gone into service. But she had soon tired of domestic servitude, +and for the last year she had supported herself by sewing waistcoats in +a great wholesale establishment. At the commencement of the siege she +had been discharged, and for some days she found employment in a +Government workshop, but for the last three weeks she had wandered here +and there, vainly asking for work. One by one she had sold every article +of dress she possessed, except the scanty garments she wore, and she had +lived upon bread and celery. The day before she had spent her last sou, +and when I saw her she had come down to the river, starving and +exhausted, to throw herself into it. "But the water looked so cold, I +did not dare," she said. Thus spoke the grisette of Paris, very +different from the gay, thoughtless being of French romance, who lives +in a garret, her window shrouded with flowers, is adored by a student, +and earns enough money in a few hours to pass the rest of the week +dancing, gossiping, and amusing herself. As I listened to her, I felt +ashamed of myself for repining because I had only had one plate of meat. +The hopeless, desolate condition of this poor girl is that of many of +her class to-day. But why should they complain? Is not King William the +instrument of Heaven, and is he not engaged in a holy cause? That Kings +should fight and that seamstresses should weep is in the natural order +of things. Frenchmen and Frenchwomen only deserve to be massacred or +starved if they are so lost to all sense of what is just as to venture +to struggle against the dismemberment of their country, and do not +understand how meet and right it is that their fellow-countrymen in +Alsace should be converted into German subjects. + +General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea, and who takes a somewhat larger +view of things than the sententious Trochu, has been good enough to +furnish me with a pass, which allows me to wander unmolested anywhere +within the French outposts. "If you attempt to pass them," observes the +General, "you will be shot by the sentinels, in obedience to my orders." +A general order also permits anyone to go as far as the line of the +forts. Yesterday I chartered a cab and went to Boulogne, a village on +the Seine, close by the wood of the same name. We drove through a +portion of the Bois; it contained more soldiers than trees. Line and +artillerymen were camped everywhere, and every fifty yards a group was +engaged in skinning or cutting up a dead horse. The village of Boulogne +had been deserted by almost all the inhabitants. Across some of the +streets leading to the river there were barricades, others were open. In +most of the houses there were soldiers, and others were in rifle-pits +and trenches. A brisk exchange of shots was going on with the Prussians, +who were concealed in the opposite houses of St. Cloud. I cannot +congratulate the enemy upon the accuracy of their aim, for although +several evilly disposed Prussians took a shot at my cab, their bullets +whistled far above our heads, and after one preliminary kick, the old +cab-horse did not even condescend to notice them. As for the cabman, he +was slightly in liquor, and at one of the cross-streets leading to the +river he got off his box, and performed a war-dance to show his contempt +for the skill of the enemies of his nation. In the Grand Place there was +a long barricade, and behind it men, women, and children were crouching +watching the opposite houses, from which every now and then a puff of +smoke issued, followed by a sharp report. The soldiers were very orderly +and good-natured; as I had a glass, some of them took me up into the +garrets of a deserted house, from the windows of which we tried in vain +to espy our assailants. My friends fired into several of the houses from +which smoke issued, but with what effect I do not know. The amusement of +the place seemed to be to watch soldiers running along an open road +which was exposed to fire for about thirty yards. Two had been killed in +the morning, but this did not appear in any way to diminish the zest of +the sport. At least twenty soldiers ran the gauntlet whilst I was there, +but not one of them was wounded. As well as I could make out, the damage +done to St. Cloud by the bombs of Mont Valérien is very inconsiderable. +A portion of the Palace and a few houses were in ruins, but that was +all. There is a large barrack there, which the soldiers assured me is +lit up every night, and why this building has not been shelled, neither +they nor I could understand. The newspapers say that the Prussians have +guns on the unfinished redoubt of Brinborion; it was not above 1,000 +yards from where I was standing, but with my glass I could not make out +that there were any there. Several officers with whom I spoke said that +it was very doubtful. On my return, my cabman, who had got over his +liquor, wanted double his fare. "For myself," he said, "I am a +Frenchman, and I should scorn to ask for money for running a risk of +being shot by a _canaille_ of a German, but think of my horse;" and then +he patted the faithful steed, whom I may possibly have the pleasure to +meet again, served up in a sauce piquante. The newspapers, almost +without exception, protest against the mediation of England and Russia, +which they imagine is offered by these Powers. "It is too late," says +the organ of M. Picard. "Can France accept a mediation which will snatch +from her the enemy at the moment when victory is certain?" + + +_October 25th._ + +Has General Trochu a plan?--if so, what is it? It appears to me, as Sir +Robert Peel would have said, that he has only three courses to pursue: +first, to do nothing, and to capitulate as soon as he is starved out; +this would, I reckon, bring the siege to an end in about two months: +secondly, to fight a battle with all his disposable forces, which might +be prolonged for several days, and thus risk all upon one great venture: +thirdly, to cut his way out of Paris with the line and the Mobiles. The +two united would form a force of about 150,000 men, and supported by 500 +cannon, it may reasonably be expected that the Prussian lines would be +pierced. In this case a junction might be effected with any army which +exists in the provinces, and the combined force might throw itself upon +the enemy's line of communications. In the meantime Paris would be +defended by its forts and its ramparts. The former would be held by the +sailors and the mobilized National Guards of Paris, the latter by the +Sedentary Garde Nationale. Which of these courses will be adopted, it is +impossible to say; the latter, however, is the only one which seems to +present even a chance of ultimate success. With respect to the second, I +do not think that the Mobiles could stand for days or even for hours +against the artillery and musketry force of their opponents. They are +individually brave, but like all raw troops they become excited under +fire, shoot wildly, then rush forward in order to engage in a +hand-to-hand encounter, and break before they reach the Prussian lines. +In this respect the troops of the line are not much better. The +Prussian tactics, indeed, have revolutionized the whole system of +warfare, and the French, until they have learnt them, will always go to +the wall. + +Every day that this siege lasts, convinces me more and more that General +Trochu is not the right man in the right place. He writes long-winded +letters, utters Spartan aphorisms, and complains of his colleagues, his +generals, and his troops. The confidence which was felt in him is +rapidly diminishing. He is a good, respectable, honest man, without a +grain of genius, or of that fierce indomitable energy which sometimes +replaces it. He would make a good Minister of War in quiet times, but he +is about as fit to command in the present emergency as Mr. Cardwell +would be. His two principal military subordinates, Vinoy and Ducrot, are +excellent Generals of Division, but nothing more. As for his civilian +colleagues, they are one and all hardly more practical than Professor +Fawcett. Each has some crotchet of his own, each likes to dogmatize and +to speechify, and each considers the others to be idiots, and has a +small following of his own, which regards him as a species of divinity. +They are philosophers, orators, and legists, but they are neither +practical men nor statesmen. I understand that General Trochu says, that +the most sensible among them is Rochefort. + +We want to know what has become of Sergeant Truffet. As the Prussians +are continually dinning it into Europe that the French fire on their +flags of truce, the following facts, for the truth of which I can vouch, +may, perhaps, account for it; if, indeed, it has ever occurred. A few +days ago, some French soldiers, behind a barricade a little in advance +of the Moulin Saqui, saw a Bavarian crawl towards them, waving a white +flag. When he stopped, the soldiers called to him to come forward, but +he remained, still waving his flag. Sergeant Truffet then got over the +barricade, and went towards him. Several Germans immediately rushed +forward, and sergeant, flag, and Germans, disappeared within the enemy's +lines. The next day, General Vinoy sent an officer to protest against +this gross violation of the laws of war, and to demand that the sergeant +should be restored. The officer went to Creteil, thence he was sent to +Choisy le Roi, where General Jemplin (if this is how he spells his name) +declined to produce the sergeant, who, he said, was a deserter, or to +give any explanation as to his whereabouts. Now Truffet, as his +companions can testify, had not the remotest intention to desert. He was +a good and steady soldier. He became a prisoner, through a most odious +stratagem, and a Prussian general, although the facts have been +officially brought before him, has refused to release him. The Germans +are exceedingly fond of trumping up charges against the French, but they +have no right to expect to be believed, until they restore to us our +Truffet, and punish the Bavarians who entrapped him by means of a false +flag of truce. + +The subscription for the 1500 cannon hangs fire. The question, however, +whether both cannon and Chassepots can be made in Paris is solved, as +the private workshops are making daily deliveries of both to Government. +At the commencement of the siege it was feared that there would not be +enough projectiles; these, also, are now being manufactured. For the +last week, the forts have been firing at everything and anything. The +admirals in command say that the sailors bore themselves so, that they +are obliged to allow them to fire more frequently than is absolutely +necessary. + +I have been endeavouring to form an estimate of the absolute cost in +money of the siege, per diem. The National Guard receive in pay +24,000l., rations to themselves and families amount to about 10,000l., +the Mobiles do not cost less than 30,000l. Unproductive industries +connected with the war, about 15,000l. Rations to the destitute, 5000l. +When, in addition to these items, it is remembered that every +productive industry is at a standstill, it is no exaggeration to say +that Paris is eating its head off at the rate of 200,000l. per diem. + +Flourens has been re-elected commander-in-chief of five battalions of +Belleville National Guards. The Government, however, declines to +recognize this cumulative command. The "Major" writes a letter to-day to +the _Combat_ denouncing the Government, and demanding that the Republic +"should decree victory," and shoot every unsuccessful general. Blanqui +says that he lost his election as commander of a battalion, through the +intrigues of the Jesuits. It was proposed on Saturday, at a club, to +make a demonstration before the Hôtel de Ville, in favour of M. Mottu, +the Mayor of the eleventh arrondissement, who was dismissed on account +of his crusade against crucifixes. An amendment, however, was carried, +putting it off until famine gives the friends of a revolution new +adherents. Crucifixes were denounced by an orator in the course of the +evening, as "impure nudities, which ought not to be suffered in public +places, on account of our daughters." + +The great meat question is left to every arrondissement to decide +according to its own lights. As a necessary consequence of this, while +in one part of Paris it takes six hours to get a beef-steak, in others, +where a better system of distribution prevails, each person can obtain +his ration of 100 grammes without any extraordinary delay. Butter now +costs 18fr. the pound. Milk is beginning to get scarce. The "committee +of alimentation" recommends mothers to nourish their babies from what +Mr. Dickens somewhere calls "nature's founts." + +I had a conversation yesterday with one of the best writers on the +French press, and I asked him to tell me what were the views of the +sensible portion of the population respecting the situation. He replied, +"We always were opposed to the Empire; we knew what the consequences +eventually would be. The deluge has overtaken us, and we must accept the +consequences. In Paris, few who really are able to form a just estimate +of our resources, can expect that the siege can have any but a +disastrous termination. Everyone, however, has lost so much, that he is +indifferent to what remains. We feel that Paris would be disgraced if at +least by a respectable defence she does not show that she is ready to +sacrifice herself for France." "But," I said, "you are only putting off +the inevitable hour at a heavy cost to yourself." "Perhaps," he replied, +"we are not acting wisely, but you must take into consideration our +national weaknesses; it is all very well to say that we ought to treat +now, and endeavour to husband our resources, so as to take our revenge +in twenty years, but during that twenty years we should not venture to +show ourselves abroad, or hold up our heads at home." "In the end, +however, you must treat," I said. "Never," he replied. "Germany may +occupy Alsace and Lorraine, but we will never recognise the fact that +they are no longer French." "I hardly see," I said, "that this will +profit you." "Materially, perhaps not," he answered, "but at least we +shall save our honour." "And what, pray, will happen after the +capitulation of Paris?" "Practically," he replied, "there is no +Government in France, there will not be for about two years, and then, +probably, we shall have the Orleans princes." The opinions enunciated by +this gentleman are those of most of the _doctrinaires_. They appear to +be without hope, without a policy, and without any very definite idea +how France is to get out of the singularly false position in which the +loss of her army, and the difficulty of her people to accept the +inevitable consequences, have placed her. My own impression is, that the +provinces will in the end insist upon peace at any cost, as a +preliminary step towards some regular form of government, and the +withdrawal of the German troops, whose prolonged occupation of +department after department must exhaust the entire recuperative +resources of the country. + + +_October 27th._ + +At an early hour yesterday morning, about 100 English congregated at the +gate of Charenton _en route_ for London. There were with them about 60 +Americans, and 20 Russians, who also were going to leave us. Imagine the +indignation of these "Cives Romani," when they were informed that, while +the Russians and the Americans would be allowed to pass the Prussian +outposts, owing to the list of the English wishing to go not having +reached Count Bismarck in time, they would have to put off their journey +to another day. The guard had literally to be turned out to prevent them +from endeavouring to force their way through the whole German army. I +spoke this morning to an English butler who had made one of the party. +This worthy man evidently was of opinion that the end of the world is +near at hand, when a butler, and a most respectable person, is treated +in this manner. "Pray, sir, may I ask," he said, with bitter scorn, +"whether her Majesty is still on the throne in England?" I replied, "I +believed that she was." "Then," he went on, "has this Count Bismarck, as +they call him, driven the British nobles out of the House of Lords? +Nothing which this feller does would surprise me now." Butler, Chargé +d'Affaires, and the other _cives_, are, I understand, to make another +start, as soon as the "feller" condescends to answer a letter which has +been forwarded to him, asking him to fix a day for their departure. + +We are daily anticipating an attack on the Southern side of the city. +The Prussians are close into the forts on their line from Meudon to +Choisy-le-Roi. Two days ago it was supposed that they were dragging +their siege guns to batteries which they had prepared for them, +notwithstanding our fire, which until now we proudly imagined had +rendered it impossible for them to put a spade to the ground. Our +generals believe, I know not with what truth, that the Prussians have +only got twenty-six siege guns. If they are on the plateau of Meudon, +and if they carry, as is asserted, nine kilometres, a large portion of +the city on the left bank of the Seine will be under fire. On our side +we have approached so close to the villages along the Prussian line in +this direction that one side or the other must in self-defence soon make +an attack. The newspapers of yesterday morning having asserted that +Choisy-le-Roi was no longer occupied by the enemy, I went out in the +afternoon to inspect matters. I got to the end of the village of Vitry, +where the advanced posts, to whom I showed my pass, asked me where I +wanted to go. I replied, to Choisy-le-Roi. A corporal pointed to a house +at some distance beyond where we were standing. "The Prussians are in +that house," he said. "If you like, you can go forward and look at them; +they are not firing." So forward I went. I was within a hundred yards of +the house when some Francs-tireurs, hid in the field to the right of +the road, commenced firing, and the Fort d'Ivry from behind opened fire. +The Prussians on their side replied with their needle-guns. I got behind +a tree, feeling that my last hour was come. There I remained about half +an hour, for whenever I moved a bullet came whizzing near me. At last a +thought, a happy thought, occurred to me. I rolled myself into a ditch, +which ran alongside the road, and down this ditch I crept until I got +close to the barricade, over which I climbed with more haste than +dignity. The soldiers were greatly amazed at my having really believed a +statement which I had read in the newspapers, and their observations +respecting the Parisians and their "organs" were far from complimentary. +On my way back by Montrouge, I stopped to gossip with some Breton +Mobiles. They, too, spoke with the utmost scorn of the patriots within +the walls. "We are kept here," they said, "to defend these men, all of +whom have arms like us; they live comfortably inside the ramparts, +whilst the provinces are being ravaged." These Breton Mobiles are the +idols of the hour. They are to the Republic what the Zouaves were to the +Empire. They are very far, however, from reciprocating the admiration +which the Republicans entertain for them. They are brave, devout, +credulous peasants, care far more for Brittany than they do for Paris, +and regard the individuals who rule by the grace of Paris with feelings +the reverse of friendly. The army and the Mobiles, indeed, like being +cooped up here less and less every day, and they cannot understand why +the 300,000 National Guards who march and drill in safety inside the +capital do not come outside and rough it like them. While I was talking +to these Bretons one of them blew his nose with his handkerchief. His +companions apologised to me for this piece of affectation. "He is from +Finisterre," they said. In Finisterre, it appears, luxury is enervating +the population, and they blow their noses with handkerchiefs; in other +parts of Brittany, where the hardy habits of a former age still prevail, +a more simple method is adopted. + +The volunteering from the National Guard for active service has been a +failure. 40,000 men were required; not 7,000 have sent in their names. +The Ultras say that it is a scheme to get rid of them; the bourgeoisie +say nothing, but volunteer all the less. The fact is, the siege as far +as regards the Parisians has been as yet like hunting--all the pleasure +of war, with one per cent. of the danger; and so long as they can help +it they have no intention to increase that per-centage. As for the 1,500 +cannon, they have not yet been made; but many of them have already been +named. One is to be called the "Jules Favre," one the "Populace," "We +already hear them thunder, and see the Prussians decimated," says the +_Temps_, and its editor is not the first person who has counted his +chickens before they are hatched. + +All yesterday afternoon and evening the Fort of Issy, and the battery of +the Bois de Boulogne, fired heavily on Brinborion and Meudon, with what +result no one knows. Yesterday morning the _Combat_ announced that +Marshal Bazaine was treating for the surrender of Metz in the name of +Napoleon. The Government was interviewed, and denied the fact. In the +evening the _Combat_ was burnt on the Boulevards. The chief of General +Ducrot's staff has published a letter protesting against the assertions +of certain journals that the fight at Malmaison produced no results. On +the contrary, he says it gained us sixty square kilometres of ground in +the plain of Genevilliers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +_October 28th._ + +I see at a meeting of the mayors, the population of Paris is put down at +2,036,000. This does not include the regular army, or the Marines and +Mobiles outside and within the lines. The consumption of meat, +consequently, at the rate of 100 grammes per diem, must amount to +between 400,000 and 500,000lbs. per diem. Although mutton according to +the tariff is cheaper than beef, I rarely see any at the restaurants. +This tells its own tale, and I imagine that in three weeks from now at +the very latest fresh meat will have come to an end. + +I am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that there is no more fight in +the working men than in the bourgeois. The National Guard in Montmartre +and Batignolles have held an indignation meeting to protest against +their being employed in the forts. A law was passed on August 10 calling +under arms all unmarried men between 25 and 40. In Paris it has never +been acted on; it would, however, be far better to regularly enrol this +portion of the National Guard as soldiers than to ask for volunteers. As +long as these "sedentary" warriors can avoid regular service, or +subjecting themselves to the discipline and the hardships of real +soldiers, they will do so. Before the Panthéon, the mayor of an +arrondissement sits on a platform, writing down the names of volunteers. +Whenever one makes his appearance, a roll of drums announces to his +fellow-citizens that he has undertaken to risk his valuable life outside +the ramparts. It really does appear too monstrous that the able-bodied +men of this city should wear uniforms, learn the goose-step, and refuse +to take any part in the defence within shot of the enemy. That they +should object to be employed in a campaign away from their homes, is +hardly in accordance with their appeal to the provinces to rise _en +masse_ to defend France, but that they should decline to do anything but +go over every twelve days to the ramparts, is hardly fighting even for +their own homes. Surely as long as the siege lasts they ought to +consider that the Government has a right to use them anywhere within the +lines of investment They make now what they call military promenades, +that is to say, they go out at one gate, keep well within the line of +the forts, and come in at another gate. Some of the battalions are ready +to face the enemy, although they will not submit to any discipline. The +majority, however, do not intend to fight outside the ramparts. I was +reading yesterday the account of a court-martial on one of these heroes, +who had fallen out with his commanding officer, and threatened to pass +his sword through his body. The culprit, counsel urged, was a man of an +amiable, though excitable disposition; the father of two sons, had once +saved a child from drowning, and had presented several curiosities to a +museum. Taking these facts into consideration, the Court condemned him +to six days' imprisonment, his accuser apologised to him, and shook +hands with him. What is to be expected of troops when military offences +of the grossest kind are treated in this fashion? I know myself officers +of the Garde Nationale, who, when they are on duty at the ramparts, +quietly leave their men there, and come home to dinner. No one appears +to consider this anything extraordinary. Well may General Trochu look up +to the sky when it is overcast, and wish that he were in Brittany +shooting woodcocks. He has undertaken a task beyond his own strength, +and beyond the strength of the greatest general that ever lived. How can +the Parisians expect to force the Prussians to raise the siege? They +decline to be soldiers, and yet imagine that in some way or other, not +only is their city not to be desecrated by the foot of the invader, but +that the armies of Germany are to be driven out of France. + + +_October 30th._ + +We really have had a success. Between the north-eastern and the +north-western forts there is a plain, cut up by small streams. The high +road from Paris to Senlis runs through the middle of it, and on this +road, at a distance of about six kilometres from Paris, is the village +of Bourget, which was occupied by the Prussians. It is a little in +advance of their lines, which follow a small river called the Morée, +about two kilometres in the rear. At 5 A.M. last Friday Bourget was +attacked by a regiment of Francs-tireurs and the 9th Battalion of the +Mobiles of the Seine. The Prussians were driven out of it, and fell back +to the river Morée. During the whole of Friday the Prussian artillery +fired upon the village, and sometimes there was a sharp interchange of +shots between the advanced posts. On Friday night two attacks in +considerable force were directed against the position, but both of them +failed. At nine on Saturday morning, after a very heavy artillery fire +from the batteries at Stains and Dugny, which was replied to from the +forts of Aubervilliers and l'Est, La Briche and St. Denis, heavy masses +of infantry advanced from Staines and Gonesse. When they approached the +village the fire which was concentrated on them was so heavy that they +were obliged to fall back. At about twelve o'clock I went out by the +gate of La Villette. Between the ramparts and the Fort of Aubervilliers +there were large masses of troops held in reserve, and I saw several +battalions of National Guards among them, belonging, I heard, to the +Volunteers. I pushed on to an inn situated at the intersection of the +roads to Bourget and Courneuve. There I was stopped. It was raining +hard, and all I could make out was that Prussians and French were busily +engaged in firing, the former into Bourget, the latter into Stains and +Dugny. It appears to have been feared that the Prussians would make an +attack from Bourget upon either St. Denis or Aubervilliers; it was +discovered, however, that they had no batteries there. Whether we shall +be able to hold the position, or whether, if we do, we shall derive any +benefit from it beyond having a large area in which to pick up +vegetables, time alone will prove. On returning into Paris I came across +in the Rue Rivoli about 200 patriots of all ages, brandishing flags and +singing patriotic songs. These were National Guards, who had been +engaged in a pacific demonstration at the Hôtel de Ville, to testify +their affection to the Republic, and to demonstrate that that affection +should be reciprocated by the Republic in the form of better arms, +better pay, and better food. They had been harangued by Rochefort and +Arago. I see by this morning's paper that the latter requested them to +swear that not only would they drive the Prussians out of France, but +that they would refuse to treat with any Government in Germany except a +Republican one. + +A decree of General Trochu converts the Legion of Honour into a military +decoration. The journalists of all colours are excessively indignant at +this, for they all expect, when the party which they support is in +power, to be given this red ribbon as a matter of course. It has been so +lavishly distributed that anyone who has not got it is almost obliged to +explain why he is without it, in the way a person would excuse himself +if he came into a drawing-room without a coat. + +The theatres are by degrees reopening. In order not to shock public +opinion, the programmes of their entertainments are exceedingly dull. +Thus the Comédie Française bill of fare for yesterday was a speech, a +play of Molière's without costumes, and an ode to Liberty. I can +understand closing the theatres entirely, but it seems to me absurd +increasing the general gloom, by opening them in order to make the +audiences wish that they were closed. Fancy, for an evening's +entertainment, a speech from Mr. Cole, C.B.; the play of _Hamlet_ played +in the dresses of the present century; and an ode from Mr. Tupper. + +A few days ago the newspapers asserted that M. Thiers had entered Paris, +having been provided with a safe conduct by the King of Prussia. It is +now said that he is not here yet, but that he shortly will be. Of course +if Count Bismarck allows him to come in, he does so rather in the +interests of Prussia than of France. I cannot believe myself that, +unless Prussia has given up the idea of annexing Alsace and Lorraine to +Germany, negotiation will be productive of good results. If Metz can be +taken, if the armies of the provinces can be defeated, and if the +provisions within the city become less plentiful than they are now, then +perhaps the Parisians will accept the idea of a capitulation. At +present, however, the very large majority believe that France must +eventually conquer, and that the world is lost in wonder and admiration +of their attitude. The siege is one long holiday to the working classes. +They are as well fed as ever they were, and have absolutely nothing to +do except to play at soldiers. Although the troops are unable to hold +the villages within the fire of their forts, they are under the delusion +that--to use the favourite expression--the circle in which we are +inclosed is gradually but surely being enlarged. I was this morning +buying cigars at a small tobacconist's. "Well," said the proprietor of +the shop to me, "so we are to destroy the Prussians in twenty days." +"Really," I said. "Yes," he replied, "I was this morning at the Mairie; +there was a crowd before it complaining that they could not get meat. A +gentleman--a functionary--got upon a stool. 'Citizens and citizenesses,' +he said, 'be calm; continue to preserve the admirable attitude which is +eliciting the admiration of the world. I give you my honour that +arrangements have been made to drive the Prussians away from Paris in +twenty days.' Of course," added my worthy bourgeois, "this functionary +would not have spoken thus had the Government not revealed its plans to +him." At this moment a well dressed individual entered the shop and +asked for a subscription for the construction of a machine which he had +invented to blow up the whole Prussian army. I expected to see him +handed over to a policeman, but instead of this the bourgeois gave him +two francs! What, I asked, is to be expected of a city peopled by such +credulous fools? + +A dispute is going on as to the relative advantages of secular and +religious education. The Mayor of the 23rd arrondissement publishes +to-day an order to the teachers within his domains, forbidding them to +take the children under their charge to hear mass on Sundays. The +municipality has also published a decree doubling the amount contributed +by the city to the primary schools. Instead of eight million francs it +is to be henceforward sixteen millions. This is all very well, but +surely it would be better to put off questions affecting education until +the siege is over. The alteration in the nomenclature of the streets +also continues. The Boulevard Prince Eugène is to be called the +Boulevard Voltaire, and the statue of the Prince has been taken down, to +be replaced by the statue of the philosopher; the Rue Cardinal Fesch is +to be called the Rue de Chateaudun. The newspapers also demand that the +Rue de Londres should be rebaptised on the ground that the name of +Londres is detested even more than Berlin. "If Prussia" (says one +writer) "wages against us a war of bandits and savages, it is England +which, in the gloom of its sombre country houses, pays the Uhlans who +oppress our peasants, violate our wives, massacre our soldiers, and +pillage our provinces. She rejoices over our sufferings." + +The headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale are to move to-morrow +from the Palais de l'Industrie to the Grand Hotel. In the Palais it was +impossible to regulate the ventilation. It was always either too hot or +too cold. Another objection to it which was urged by the medical men +was, that one-half of it served as a store for munitions of war. + + +4 P.M. + +So we have been kicked neck and crop out of Bourget. I have got such a +cold that I have been lying up to-day. A friend of mine has just come +in, and tells me that at eight this morning a regiment on their way to +Bourget found the Mobiles who were in it falling back. Some Prussian +troops appeared from between Stains and Courneuve, and attempted to cut +off the retreat. Whether we lost any cannon my friend does not know. He +thinks not. Some of our troops were trapped, the others got away, and +fell back on the barricades in front of Aubervilliers. My friend +observes that if it was not a rout, it was extremely like one. He thinks +that we were only allowed to get into Bourget in order to be caught like +rats in a trap. When my friend left the forts were firing on Pierrefitte +and Etains, and the Prussians were established in front of Bourget. My +friend, who thinks he has a genius for military matters, observes that +we ought to have either left Bourget alone, or held it with more troops +and more artillery. The Mobiles told him that they had been starving +there for forty-eight hours, and only had two pieces of 12, two of 4, +and one mitrailleuse. The Prussians had brought up heavy guns, and +yesterday they established a battery of twenty-one cannon, which +cannonaded the village. + + +_October 31st._ + +Yesterday evening until eleven o'clock--a late hour now for Paris;--the +Boulevards were crowded. Although the news that Bourget had been retaken +by the Prussians had been _affiché_ at the Mairies, those who asserted +it were at first treated as friends of Prussia. Little by little the +fact was admitted, and then, every one fell to denouncing the +Government. To-day the official bulletin states that we retreated in +good order, leaving "some" prisoners. From what I hear from officers who +were engaged, the Mobiles fought well for some time, although their +ammunition was so wet that they could only fire twelve shots with their +cannon, and not one with their mitrailleuse. When they saw that they +were likely to be surrounded, there was a stampede to Aubervilliers and +to Drancy, the latter of which was subsequently evacuated. To-day we +have two pieces of news--that M. Thiers entered Paris yesterday, and +that Metz has fallen. The _Journal des Débats_ also publishes copious +extracts from a file of provincial papers up to the 26th, which it has +obtained. + +I hear that M. Thiers advises peace on any terms. The Government of +Paris is in a difficult position. It has followed in the course of +Palikao. By a long _suggestio falsi et suppressio veri_ it has led the +population of this city to believe that the position of France has +bettered itself every day that the siege has lasted. We have been told +that Bazaine could hold out indefinitely, that vast armies were forming +in the provinces, and would, before the middle of November, march to the +relief of Paris; that the investing army was starving, and that it had +been unable to place a single gun in position within the range of the +forts; that we had ample provisions until the month of February, and +that there would not be the slightest difficulty in introducing convoys. +Anyone who ventured to question these facts was held up to public +execration. General Trochu announced that he had a "plan," and that if +only he were left to carry it out, it must result in success. All this +time the General and the members of the Government, who were at +loggerheads with each other, privately confessed to their friends that +the situation was growing every day more critical. + +The attempt to obtain volunteers from the population of the capital for +active service outside the gates has resulted in a miserable failure, +and the Government does not even venture to carry out the law, which +subjects all between twenty-five and thirty-five to enrolment in the +army. With respect to public opinion, all are opposed to the entry of +the Prussians into Paris, or to a peace which would involve a cession of +territory; but many equally object to submitting either to real hardship +or real danger. They hope against hope that what they call their +"sublime attitude" will prevent the Prussians from attacking them, and +that they may pass to history as heroes, without having done anything +heroic. I had thought that the working men would fight well, but I think +so no longer. Under the Empire they got high wages for doing very +little. Since the investment of the capital, they have taken their 1fr. +50c. and their rations for their families, and done hardly anything +except drill, gossip, and about once a week go on the ramparts. So fond +they are of this idle existence, that although workshops offer 6fr. a +day to men, they cannot obtain hands. With respect to provisions, as yet +the poorer classes have been better off than they ever were before. +Every one gets his 50 or 100 grammes of meat, and his share of bread. +Those persons alone who were accustomed to luxuries have suffered from +their absence. Meat of some kind is, however, to be obtained by any +person who likes to pay for it about twice its normal value. So afraid +is the Government of doing anything which may irritate the population, +that, contrary to all precedent, the garrison and the wounded alone are +fed with salt meat. What the result of M. Thiers' mission will be, it +is almost impossible to say. The Government will be anxious to treat, +and probably it will put forward feelers to-morrow to see how far it may +dare go. Some of its members already are endeavouring to disconnect +themselves from a capitulation, and, if it does take place, will assert +that they were opposed to it. Thus, M. Jules Favre, in a long address to +the mayors of the banlieus yesterday, goes through the old arguments to +prove that France never desired war. + +This gentleman is essentially an orator, rather than a statesman. When +he went to meet Count Bismarck at Ferrières, he was fully prepared to +agree to the fortresses in Alsace and Lorraine being rased; but when he +returned, the phrase, "_Ni un pouce du territoire, ni une pierre des +forteresses_," occurred to him, and he could not refrain from +complicating the situation by publishing it. + +To turn for a moment to less serious matters. I never shall see a donkey +without gratefully thinking of a Prussian. If anyone happens to fall out +with his jackass, let me recommend him, instead of beating it, to slay +and eat it. Donkey is now all the fashion. When one is asked to dinner, +as an inducement one is told that there will be donkey. The flesh of +this obstinate, but weak-minded quadruped is delicious--in colour like +mutton, firm and savoury. This siege will destroy many illusions, and +amongst them the prejudice which has prevented many animals being used +as food. I can most solemnly assert that I never wish to taste a better +dinner than a joint of a donkey or a _ragout_ of cat--_experto crede_. + + +_November 1st._ + +We have had an exciting twenty-four hours. The Government of the +National Defence has in the course of yesterday been deposed, +imprisoned, and has again resumed the direction of public affairs. I +went yesterday, between one and two o'clock, to the Hôtel de Ville. On +the place before it there were about 15,000 persons, most of them +National Guards from the Faubourgs, and without arms, shouting, "Vive la +Commune! Point d'armistice!" Close within the rails along the façade +there were a few Mobiles and National Guards on duty. One of the two +great doorways leading into the hotel was open. Every now and then some +authority appeared to make a speech which no one could catch; and at +most of the windows on the first floor there was an orator +gesticulating. The people round me said that the mayors of Paris had +been summoned by Arago, and were in one room inside deliberating, whilst +in another was the Government. I managed to squeeze inside the rails, +and stood near the open door. At about 2.30 the Mobiles who guarded it +were pushed back, and the mob was forcing its way through it, when +Trochu appeared, and confronted them. What he said I could not hear. His +voice was drowned in cries of "A bas Trochu!" Jules Simon then got on a +chair, to try the effect of his eloquence; but in the midst of his +gesticulations a body of armed men forced their way through the +entrance, and with about 300 of the mob got inside the Hotel. Just then +three or four shots were fired. The crowd outside scampered off, yelling +"Aux armes!" and running over each other. I thought it more prudent to +remain where I was. Soon the mob returned, and made a rush at both the +doors; for the one which had been open had been closed in the interval. +This one they were unable to force, but the other, winch leads up a +flight of steps into the great covered court in the middle of the +building, yielded to the pressure, and through it I passed with the +crowd; whilst from the windows above slips were being thrown out with +the words "Commune décrétée--Dorian president" on them. The covered +court was soon filled. In the middle of it there is a large double +staircase leading to a wide landing, from which a door and some windows +communicate with a long salle. + +This, too, was invaded, and for more than two hours I remained there. +The spectacle was a curious one--everybody was shouting, everybody was +writing a list of a new Government and reading it aloud. In one corner a +man incessantly blew a trumpet, in another a patriot beat a drum. At one +end was a table, round which the mayors had been sitting, and from this +vantage ground Felix Pyat and other virtuous citizens harangued, and, as +I understood, proclaimed the Commune and themselves, for it was +impossible to distinguish a word. The atmosphere was stifling, and at +last I got out of a window on to the landing in the courtyard. Here +citizens had established themselves everywhere. I had the pleasure to +see the "venerable" Blanqui led up the steps by his admirers. This +venerable man had, _horresco referens_, been pushed up in a corner, +where certain citizens had kicked his venerable frame, and pulled his +venerable white beard, before they had recognised who he was. By this +time it appeared to be understood that a Government had been +constituted, consisting of Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Delescluze, Louis +Blanc, Flourens, and others. Flourens, whom I now perceived for the +first time, went through a corridor, with some armed men, and I and +others followed him. We got first into an antechamber, and then into a +large room, where a great row was going on. I did not get farther than +close to the door, and consequently could not well distinguish what was +passing, but I saw Flourens standing on a table, and I heard that he was +calling upon the members of the Government of National Defence, who were +seated round it, to resign, and that Jules Favre was refusing to do so. +After a scene of confusion, which lasted half an hour, I found myself, +with those round me, pushed out of the room, and I heard that the old +Government had been arrested, and that a consultation was to take place +between it and the new one. Feeling hungry, I now went to the door of +the Hôtel to get out, but I was told I could not do so without a +permission from the citizen Blanqui. I observed that I was far too +independent a citizen myself to ask any one for a permit to go where I +liked, and, as I walked on, the citizen sentinel did not venture to stop +me. As I passed before Trochu's headquarters at the Louvre I spoke to a +captain of the Etat-Major, whom I knew, and whom I saw standing at the +gate. When he heard that I had just come from the Hôtel de Ville, he +anxiously asked me what was going on there, and whether I had seen +Trochu. General Schmitz, he said, had received an order signed by the +mayors of Paris to close the gates of the town, and not on any pretext +to let any one in or out. At the Louvre he said all was in confusion, +but he understood that Picard had escaped from the Hôtel de Ville, and +was organizing a counter-movement at the Ministry of Finance. Having +dined, I went off to the Place Vendôme, as the generale was beating. The +National Guards of the quarter were hurrying there, and Mobile +battalions were marching in the same direction. I found on my arrival +that this had become the headquarters of the Government; that an officer +who had come with an order to Picard to go to the Hôtel de Ville, signed +by Blanqui, had been arrested. General Tamisier was still a prisoner +with the Government. Soon news arrived that a battalion had got inside +the Hôtel de Ville and had managed to smuggle Trochu out by a back door. +Off I went to the Louvre. There Trochu, his uniform considerably +deteriorated, was haranguing some battalions of the Mobiles, who were +shouting "Vive Trochu!" Other battalions were marching down the Rue +Rivoli to the Hôtel de Ville. I got into a cab and drove there. The +Hôtel was lit up. On the "place" there were not many persons, but all +round it, in the streets, were Mobiles and Bourgeois National Guards, +about 20,000 in all. The Hôtel was guarded, I heard, by a Belleville +battalion, but I could not get close in to interview them. This lasted +until about two o'clock in the morning, when the battalions closed in, +Trochu appeared with his staff, and in some way or other, for it was so +dark, nothing could be seen, the new Government was ejected; M. Jules +Favre and his colleagues were rescued. M. Delescluze, who was one of the +persons there, thus describes what took place: "A declaration was signed +by the new Government declaring that on the understanding that the +Commune was to be elected the next day, and also the Provisional +Government replaced by an elected one, the citizens designed at a public +meeting to superintend these elections withdrew." This was communicated +first to Dorian, who appears to have been half a prisoner, half a +friend; then to the members of the old Government, who were in +honourable arrest; then to Jules Ferry outside. A general sort of +agreement appears then to have been made, that bygones should be +bygones. The Revolutionists went off to bed, and matters returned to the +point where they had been in the morning. Yesterday evening a decree was +placarded, ordering the municipal elections to take place to-day, signed +Etienne Arago; and to-day a counter-decree, signed Jules Favre, +announces that this decree appeared when the Government was _gardé à +vue_, and that on Thursday next a vote is to be taken to decide whether +there is to be a Commune or not. + +To-day the streets are full of National Guards marching and +counter-marching, and General Tamisier has held a review of about 10,000 +on the Place Vendôme. Mobile battalions also are camped in the public +squares. I went to the Hôtel de Ville at about one o'clock, and found +Mr. Washburne there. We both came to the conclusion that Trochu had got +the upper hand. Before the Hôtel de Ville there were about 5,000 +Mobiles, and within the building everything appeared quiet. Had General +Trochu been a wise man he would have anticipated this movement, and not +rendered himself ridiculous by being imprisoned with his council of +lawyers and orators for several hours by a mob. The working men who +performed this feat seemed only to be actuated by a wild desire to fight +out their battle with the Prussians, and not to capitulate. They wished +to be led out, as they imagine that their undisciplined valour would be +a match for the German army. They showed their sense by demanding that +Dorian should be at the head of the new Government. He is not a +Demagogue, he has written no despatches, nor made any speeches, nor +decreed any Utopian reforms after the manner of his colleagues. But, +unlike them, he is a practical man of business, and this the working men +have had discernment enough to discover. They are hardly to be blamed if +they have accepted literally the rhetorical figures of Jules Favre. When +he said that, rather than yield one stone of a French fortress, Paris +would bury itself beneath its ruins, they believed it. I need hardly say +that neither the Government nor the bourgeoisie have the remotest +intention to sacrifice either their own lives or their houses merely in +order to rival Saragossa. They have got themselves into a ridiculous +position by their reckless vaunts, and they have welcomed M. Thiers, as +an angel from heaven, because they hope that he will be able to save +them from cutting too absurd a figure. He left yesterday at three +o'clock, and I understand he has full powers to negotiate an armistice +upon any terms which will save the _amour-propre_ of the Parisians. I +should not be surprised, however, if the Government continues to resist +until the town is in real danger or has suffered real privations. If the +Parisians take it into their heads that they will be able to palm +themselves off as heroes by continuing for a few weeks longer their +passive attitude of opposition, they will do so. What inclines them to +submit to conditions now, is not so much the capitulation of Bazaine, +as the dread that by remaining much longer isolated they will entirely +lose their hold on the Provincials. That these Helots should venture to +express their opinions, or to act except in obedience to orders from the +capital, fills them with indignation. + + +_November 2nd._ + +The Government has issued the following form, on which a vote is to be +taken to-morrow: "Does the population of Paris maintain, Yes or No, the +powers of the Government of National Defence?" + +The Ultras bitterly complain that the members of the Government agreed +to the election of a Commune, on the recommendation of all the mayors, +and that now they are going back from their concession, and are +following in the steps of the Empire and taking refuge in a Plebiscite. +They, therefore, recommend their friends to abstain from voting. The +fact is, that the real question at issue is, whether Paris is to resist +to the end, or whether it is to fall back from the determination to do +so, which it so boldly and so vauntingly proclaimed. The bourgeois are +getting tired of marching to the ramparts, and making no money; the +working-men are thoroughly enjoying themselves, and are perfectly ready +to continue the _status quo_. I confess I rather sympathise with the +latter. They may not be over wise, but still it seems to me that Paris +ought to hold out as long as bread lasts, without counting the cost. She +had invited the world to witness her heroism, and now she endeavours to +back out of the position which she has assumed. I have not been down to +Belleville to-day, but I hear that there and in the other outer +Faubourgs there is great excitement, and the question of a rising is +being discussed. Flourens and some other commanders of battalions have +been cashiered, but they are still in command, and no attempt is being +made to oblige them to recognise the decree. Rochefort has resigned his +seat in the Government, on the ground that he consented to the election +of the Commune. The general feeling among the shopkeepers seems to be to +accept an armistice on almost any terms, because they hope that it will +lead to peace. We will take our revenge, they say, in two years. A +threat which simply means that if the French army can fight then, they +will again shout "_à Berlin_!" M. Thiers is still at Versailles. There +appears to be a tacit truce, but none knows precisely what is going on. +A friend of mine saw General Trochu yesterday on business, and he tells +me that this worthy man was then so utterly prostrated, that he did not +even refer to the business which he had come to transact. Never was a +man more unfit to defend a great capital. "Why do you not act with +energy against the Ultras?" said my friend. "I wish," replied Trochu, +"to preserve my power by moral force." This is all very well, but can +the commander of a besieged town be said to have preserved his power +when he allows himself to be imprisoned by a mob for six hours, and then +does not venture to punish its leaders? Professor Fustel de Coulanges +has written a reply to Professor Mommsen. He states the case of France +with respect to Alsace very clearly. "Let Prussia double the war-tax she +imposes on France, and give up this iniquitous scheme of annexation," +ought to be the advice of every sincere friend of peace. In any case, if +Alsace and Lorraine are turned with the German Rhine Provinces into a +neutral State, I do hope that we shall have the common sense not to +guarantee either its independence or its neutrality. If we do so, within +ten years we shall infallibly be dragged into a Continental war. We have +a whim about Belgium, one day it will prove a costly one; we cannot, +however, afford to indulge in many of these whims. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +_November 3rd._ + +The vote is being taken to-day whether the population of Paris maintains +in power the Government of National Defence. On Saturday each of the +twenty arrondissements is to elect a Mayor and four adjuncts, who are to +replace those nominated by the Government. Of course the Government will +to-day have a large majority. Were it to be in the minority the +population would simply assert that it wishes to live under no +Government. This plebiscite is in itself an absurdity. The real object, +however, is to strengthen the hands of the depositories of power, and to +enable them to conclude an armistice, which would result in a +Constituent Assembly, and would free them from the responsibility of +concluding peace on terms rather than accept which they proudly asserted +a few weeks ago they would all die. The keynote of the situation is +given by the organs of public opinion, which until now have teemed with +articles calling upon the population of the capital to bury itself +beneath its ruins, and thus by a heroic sacrifice to serve as an example +to the whole of France. To-day they say, "It appears that the provinces +will not allow Paris to be heroic. They wish for peace; we have no right +to impose upon them our determination to fight without hope of victory." +The fact is that the great mass of the Parisians wish for peace at any +price. Under the circumstances I do not blame them. No town is obliged +to imitate the example of Moscow. If, however, it intends after +submitting to a blockade, to capitulate on terms which it scouted at +first, before any of its citizens have been even under fire, and before +its provisions are exhausted, it would have done well not to have called +upon the world to witness its sublimity. My impression is that on one +point alone the Parisians will prove obstinate, and that is if the +Prussians insist upon occupying their town; upon every other they will +only roar like "sucking doves." Rather than allow the German armies to +defile along the Boulevards, they would give up Alsace, Lorraine, and +half a dozen other provinces. As regards the working-men, they have far +more go in them than the bourgeois, and if the Prussians would oblige +them by assaulting the town, they would fight well in the streets; but +with all their shouts for a sortie, I estimate their real feelings on +the matter by the fact that they almost unanimously, on one pretext or +another, decline to volunteer for active service outside the ramparts. + +The elections on Saturday, says M. Jules Favre, will be a "negation of +the Commune." By this I presume he means that the elected Mayors and +their adjuncts will only exercise power in their respective +arrondissements, but that their collective action will not be +recognised. As, however, they will be the only legally elected body in +Paris, and as, undoubtedly, they will frequently meet together, it is +very probable that they will be able to hold their own against the +Government. The word "Commune" is taken from the vocabulary of the first +Revolution. During the Reign of Terror the Municipality was all +powerful, and it styled itself a "Commune." By "Commune," consequently, +is simply meant a municipality which is strong enough to absorb tacitly +a portion of the power legally belonging to the Executive. + +The Government now meets at one or other of the ministries. At the +Hôtel de Ville Etienne Arago still reigns. Being a member of the +Government himself, he cannot well be turned out by his own colleagues, +but they distrust him, and do not clearly know whether he is with them +or against them. Yesterday, several battalions were stationed round the +hotel. Arago came out to review them. He was badly received, and the +officers let him understand that they were not there to be reviewed by +him. Soon afterwards General Tamisier passed along the line, and was +greeted with shouts of "A bas la Commune!" + +I am sorry for Trochu; he is a good, honourable, high-minded man; +somewhat obstinate, and somewhat vain; but actuated by the best +intentions. He has thrust himself into a hornet's nest. In vain he now +plaintively complains that he has made Paris impregnable, that he cannot +make sorties without field artillery, and that he is neither responsible +for the capitulation of Metz, nor the rout the other day at Bourget. +What, then, say his opponents with some truth, was your wonderful plan? +Why did you put your name to proclamations which called upon us, if we +could not conquer, at least to die? Why did you imprison as calumniators +those who published news from the provinces, which you now admit is +true? It is by no means easy for him or his colleagues to reply to these +questions. + +General Bellemare has been suspended. He, it appears, is to be the +scapegoat of the Bourget affair. I hear from the Quartier-Général that +the real reason why the artillery did not arrive in time to hold this +position was, not because Bellemare did not ask for it, but because he +could not get it. Red tape and routine played their old game. From St. +Denis none could be sent, because St. Denis is within the "territorial +defence of Paris," and Bourget is not. In vain Bellemare's officers went +here and there. They were sent from pillar to post, from one aged +General to another, and at eleven o'clock on the day when Bourget was +taken, after the troops had been driven out of it, the artillery, every +formality having been gone through, was on its way to the village. It is +pleasant, whilst one is cut off from the outer world, to be reminded by +these little traits of one's native land, its War-Office and its +Horse-Guards. + +I was out yesterday afternoon along our southern advanced posts. A few +stray shots were occasionally fired by Francs-tireurs; but there seemed +to be a tacit understanding that no offensive operations should take +place. The fall of the leaves enables us to distinguish clearly the +earthworks and the redoubts which the Prussians have thrown up. I am not +a military man, but my civilian mind cannot comprehend why Vanves and +Montrouge do not destroy with their fire the houses occupied on the +plateau of Chatillon by the Prussians. I asked an officer, who was +standing before Vanves, why they did not. He shrugged his shoulders, and +said, "It is part of the plan, I suppose." Trochu is respected by the +troops, but they have little confidence in his skill as a commander. In +the evening I went to the Club Rue d'Arras, which is presided over by +the "venerable" Blanqui in person, and where the Ultras of the Ultras +congregate. The club is a large square room, with a gallery at one end +and a long tribune at the other. On entering through a baize door one is +called upon to contribute a few sous to the fund for making cannon. When +I got there it was about 8.30. The venerable Blanqui was seated at a +table on the tribune; before him were two assessors. One an unwholesome +citizen, with long blond hair hanging down his back, the other a most +truculent-looking ruffian. The hall was nearly full; many were in +blouses, the rest in uniform; about one-fifth of the audience was +composed of women, who either knitted, or nourished the infants, which +they held in their arms. A citizen was speaking. He held a list in his +hand of a new Government. As he read out the names some were applauded, +others rejected. I had found a place on a bench by the side of a lady +with a baby, who was occupied, like most of the other babies, in taking +its supper. Its food, however, apparently did not agree with it, for it +commenced to squall lustily. "Silence," roared a hundred voices, but the +baby only yelled the louder. "Sit upon it," observed some energetic +citizens, looking at me, but not being a Herod, I did not comply with +their order. The mother became frightened lest a _coup d'état_ should be +made upon her offspring, and after turning it up and solemnly smacking +it, took it away from the club. By this time orator No. 1 had been +succeeded by orator No. 2. This gentleman, a lieutenant in the National +Guard, thus commenced. "Citizens, I am better than any of you. +(Indignant disapproval.) In the Hôtel de Ville on Monday I told General +Trochu that he was a coward." (Tremendous shouts of "You are a liar," +and men and women shook their fists at the speaker.) Up rose the +venerable Blanqui. There was a dead silence. "I am master here," he +said; "when I call a speaker to order he must leave the tribune, until +then he remains." The club listened to the words of the sage with +reverential awe, and the orator was allowed to go on. "This, perhaps, no +one will deny," he continued. "I took an order from the Citizen Flourens +to the public printing establishment. The order was the deposition of +the Government of National Defence"--(great applause)--and satisfied +with his triumph the lieutenant relapsed into private life. After him +followed several other citizens, who proposed resolutions, which were +put and carried. I only remember one of them, it was that the Jesuits in +Vaugirard (a school) should at once be ejected from the territories of +the Republic. At ten o'clock the venerable Blanqui announced that the +sitting was over, and the public noisily withdrew. An attempt has been +made by the respectable portion of the community to establish a club at +the Porte St. Martin Theatre, where speakers of real eminence nightly +address audiences. I was there a few evenings ago, and heard A. Coquerel +and M. Lebueier, both Protestant pastors, deliver really excellent +speeches. The former is severe and demure, the latter a perfect +Boanerges. He frequently took up a chair and dashed it to the ground to +emphasise his words. This club is usually presided over by M. Cernuschi, +a banker, who was in bad odour with the Imperial Government for having +subscribed a large sum for the electoral campaign against the +Plebiscite. Another club is held at the Folies Bergères, an old +concert-hall, something like the Alhambra. The principal orator here is +a certain Falcet, a burly athlete, who was, I believe, formerly a +professional wrestler. Here the quality of the speeches is poor, the +sentiments of the speakers mildly Republican. At the Club Montmartre the +president is M. Tony Reveillon, a journalist of some note. The assessors +are always elected. A person proposes himself, and the President puts +his name to the audience. Generally a dozen are rejected before the two +necessary to make the meeting in order are chosen. Every time I have +been there an old man--I am told an ex-professor in a girls' school--has +got up, and with great unction blessed the National Guards--the "heroic +defenders of our homes." Sometimes he is encored several times; and were +his audience to let him, I believe that he would continue blessing the +"heroic defenders" until the next morning. The old gentleman has a most +reverent air, and I should imagine in quiet times goes about as a blind +man with a dog. He was turned out of the school in which he was a +professor--a profane disbeliever in all virtue assures me--for being +rather too affectionate towards some of the girls. "I like little +girls--big ones, too," Artemus Ward used to say, and so it appears did +this worthy man. Besides the clubs which I have mentioned, there are +above 100 others. Most of them are kept going by the sous which are +collected for cannon, or some other vague object. Almost all are +usually crowded; the proceedings at most of them are more or less +disorderly; the resolutions carried more or less absurd, and the +speeches more or less bad. With the exception of the Protestant pastors, +and one or two others, I have not heard a single speaker able to talk +connectedly for five minutes. Wild invectives against the Prussians, +denunciations against Europe, abuse of every one who differs from the +orator, and the very tallest of talk about France--what she has done, +what she is doing, and what she will do--form the staple of almost all +the speeches. + + +_Evening._ + +I went down to Belleville this afternoon. Everything was quiet. The +people, as usual, in the streets doing nothing. If you can imagine the +whole of Southwark paid and fed by the Government, excused from paying +rent, arrayed in kepis and some sort of uniform, given guns, and passing +almost all the time gossiping, smoking, and idling, you will be able to +form a correct notion of the aspect of Belleville and the other outer +faubourgs. The only demonstration I have heard of has been one composed +of women, who marched down the Rue du Temple behind a red flag, shouting +"Vive la Commune." As far as is yet known, about one-seventh of the +population have voted "No." The army and the Mobiles have almost all +voted "Yes." A friend of mine, who was out driving near Bobigny, says he +was surrounded by a Mobile regiment, who were anxious to know what was +passing in Paris. He asked them how they had voted. "For peace," they +replied. "If the National Guards wish to continue the war, they must +come out here and fight themselves." Many battalions have issued +addresses to the Parisians saying that they will not fight for a +Commune, and that the provinces must have a vote in all decisions as to +the future destinies of France. General Vinoy also has issued an order +to the 13th Corps d'Armée, declaring that if the peace of Paris is +disturbed he will march at its head to put down disorders. + + +_November 5th._ + +That Paris is prudent to seize upon the first loophole to get out of the +position into which she has inconsiderately thrust herself is most +certain. Never for a moment did I believe that the Parisians, +indifferent to all but honour, would perish to the last man rather than +give up one inch of territory, one stone of a fortress. Heroic constancy +and endurance under misfortune are not improvised. A population, +enervated by twenty years of slavery, corruption, and luxury, is not +likely to immolate itself for country, like the Spartans at Thermopylæ. +People who mean to die do not sign a preliminary round-robin to do so. +Real fighting soldiers do not parade the streets behind half-a-dozen +fantastically dressed _vivandières_. When in a town of 2,000,000 +inhabitants not above 12,000 can be found ready to submit to military +discipline, and to go outside an inner line of fortifications, it is +ridiculous to expect a defence like that of Saragossa. We are under the +impression to-day that an armistice will be signed to-morrow. No one +affects even to doubt that the word means peace. The bourgeoisie are +heartily tired of playing at soldiers, the game has lost its novelty, +and the nights are too cold to make an occasional pic-nic to the +fortifications agreeable any longer. Besides, business is business, and +pleasant as it may be to sit arrayed in uniform behind a counter, in the +long run customers are more remunerative, if not so glorious. The cry +for peace is universal, the wealthy are lusting after the flesh-pots of +Egypt, the hotel-keepers are eagerly waiting for the rush of sightseers, +and the shopkeepers are anxious to make up for lost time by plundering +friend and foe. The soldiers, although Trochu is popular with them, +have neither faith nor confidence in his generalship. The Mobiles and +peasants recently from their villages wish to go home, and openly tell +the Parisians that they have no intention to remain out in the cold any +longer on salt beef, whilst the heroic citizens are sleeping quietly in +their houses, or in barracks, and gorging themselves with fresh +provisions. As for the working-men, they are spoiling for a fight in the +streets, either with the Prussians, or, if that cannot be, with anyone +else. They are, however, so thoroughly enjoying themselves, doing +nothing, and getting paid for doing it, that they are in too good a +temper to be mischievous. The new Prefect of the Police has arrested +Felix Pyat and other leaders of the riot of last Monday. Flourens and +the venerable Blanqui are only not in prison because they are in hiding. +The mayors of the different arrondissements are being elected to-day, +but no one seems to trouble himself about the election. + +The vote of Thursday has somewhat surprised the bourgeoisie. That +one-seventh of the population should have registered their deliberate +opinion that they prefer no Government to that under which they are +living is by no means a reassuring fact, more particularly when this +seventh consists of "men of action," armed with muskets, and provided +with ammunition. As long as the Line and the Mobiles remain here, Trochu +will be able, if he only acts with firmness, to put down all tendencies +to disorder; but were there to be a fight between the friends of the +Government among the Garde Nationale and its opponents, I am not certain +that the former would have the upper hand. As it is, the Hôtel de Ville +and the Louvre are guarded by Breton battalions of the Mobile, and Vinoy +has announced that if there is a disturbance he will at once march to +the aid of the Government at the head of his division. Many complaints +are made about the mode in which the vote was taken on Thursday; some +of them appear to me to be just. The fact is, that Frenchman have not +the most elementary notion of fair play in an election. No matter what +body of men are in power, they conceive that they have a perfect right +to use that power to obtain a verdict in their favour from their +fellow-citizens. Tried by our electioneering code, every French election +which I ever witnessed would be annulled on the ground of "intimidation" +and "undue influence." + + +_Evening._ + +No news yet about the armistice. I hear that it is doubtful whether it +will be signed, but no doubt respecting it seems to disquiet the minds +of the Parisians. I cannot help thinking that they have got themselves +again into a fool's paradise. Their newspapers tell them that the +Neutral Powers are forcing Prussia to be reasonable, and that Bismarck +is struck with awe at the sight of our "heroic attitude." As for his not +accepting any terms which we may put forward, the idea does not enter +the mind of any one. I must say, however, that there is a vague feeling +that perhaps we are not quite so very sublime as we imagine. Even to pay +a war indemnity seems to be a concession which no one anticipated. For +the first time since I have known the Parisians, they are out of conceit +with themselves. "If Prussia forces us to make peace now, in five years +we will crush her," is the somewhat vague threat with which many console +themselves. Others say that on the conclusion of peace they will leave +France; but whether this is intended to punish France, Prussia, or +themselves, I do not know. Others boldly assert that they are prevented +from immolating themselves by the Neutral Powers. It is the old story of +"hold me back, don't let me get at him." One thing, however, is certain, +that the capture of Bazaine, the disaster at Bourget, the row at the +Hôtel de Ville, the Prussian cannon on the heights of Meudon, and the +opportune arrival of Thiers, have made this population as peaceful +to-day, as they were warlike a few weeks ago. + +I really am sorry for these vain, silly, gulled humbugs among whom I am +living. They have many amiable qualities, although, in trying to be +Spartans, they have mistaken their vocation. They are, indeed, far too +agreeable to be Spartans, who in private life must have been the most +intolerable of bores. It is a sad confession of human weakness, but, as +a rule, persons are not liked on account of their virtues. Excessively +good people are--speaking socially--angular. Take, for instance, the +Prussians; they are saints compared with the French. They have every +sort of excellence: they are honest, sober, hard-working, +well-instructed, brave, good sons, husbands, and fathers; and yet all +this is spoilt by one single fault--they are insupportable. Laugh at the +French, abuse them as one may, it is impossible to help liking them. +Admire, respect the Prussians as one may, it is impossible to help +disliking them. I will venture to say that it would be impossible to +find 100 Germans born south of the Main who would declare, on their +honour, that they prefer a Prussian to a Frenchman. The only Prussian I +ever knew who was an agreeable man was Bismarck. All others with whom I +have been thrown--and I have lived for years in Germany--were proud as +Scotchmen, cold as New Englanders, and touchy as only Prussians can be. +I once had a friend among them. His name was Buckenbrock. Inadvertently +I called him Butterbrod. We have never spoken since. A Prussian +lieutenant is the most offensive specimen of humanity that nature and +pipeclay have ever produced. Apart from all political considerations, +the supremacy of this nation in Europe will be a social calamity, unless +France, like vanquished Greece, introduces the amenities of society +among these pedants, squires, and martinets. + +What, however, is to be done for the French? Nothing, I am afraid. They +have brought their troubles on their own heads; and, to use an +Americanism, they must face the music. Even at this late moment they +fail to realise the fact that they ever will be called upon to endure +any real hardships, or that their town ever really will be bombarded. I +was watching the crowd on the Boulevards this afternoon. It was +dispirited because it had for twenty-four hours set its heart upon +peace, and was disappointed like a child who cannot get the toy it +wants; but I will venture to say, not one person in his heart of hearts +really imagined that perhaps within a week he might be blown up by a +bomb. They either will not or cannot believe that anything will happen +which they do not desire. Facts of this kind must be palpably brought +home to them before they will even imagine that they are possible. + +The army has been re-organized by that arch organizer Trochu. According +to this new plan, the whole armed force is divided into three armies. +The first comprises the National Guards; the second, under General +Ducrot, is what may be called the active army; it consists of three +corps, commanded respectively by Generals Vinoy, d'Exea, and Renault. +The third comprises all the troops in the forts, in the cottages +adjacent to the forts, which have to be occupied for their defence, and +the fourth commanded by Trochu. The second army will have four cannon to +each thousand men, and will be used to effect a sortie, if possible. +This new arrangement is not well received by military men. Both among +soldiers and officers, General Vinoy is far more popular than any other +general; he is a sort of French Lord Clyde. Until now he had a +coordinate command with Ducrot. That he should be called upon to serve +under him is regarded as an injustice, more particularly because Ducrot +is an intimate personal friend of Trochu. Ducrot and Trochu believe in +themselves, and believe in each other; but no one else believes in +them. They certainly have not yet given the slightest evidence of +military capacity, except by criticising what has been done by others. +Now, at last, however, Trochu will have an opportunity to carry out his +famous plan, by which he asserts that he will raise the blockade in +fourteen days, and of which he has given the fullest details in his +will. Ridicule kills in France--and since this eminent General, as an +evidence that he had a plan, appealed to the will which he had deposited +with his lawyer, he lost all influence. I need not say that this +influence has not been restored by the absurd arrest to which he was +subjected by Messrs. Flourens and Blanqui. + + +_November 6th._ + +So we have declined the armistice. The Government deliberated exactly +five minutes over the question. The _Journal Officiel_ says:--"Prussia +expressly refused to entertain the question of revictualment, and only +admitted under certain reserves the vote of Alsace and Lorraine." No +further details are given. An opportunity has been lost, which may never +recur. Public opinion was disposed to accept a cessation of the siege on +almost any terms. General Trochu, however, and his colleagues had not +the civic courage to attach their names to a document which would +afterwards have been cast in their teeth. A friend of mine, a military +man, saw Trochu late last night. He strongly urged him to accept the +armistice, but in vain. "What do you expect will occur? You must know +that the position is hopeless," said my friend. "I will not sign a +capitulation," was all he could get from Trochu. This worthy man is as +obstinate as only weak men can be; his colleagues, as self-seeking as +only French politicians can be. The news that the armistice had been +rejected, fell like a thunderclap upon the population. I never remember +to have witnessed a day of such general gloom since the commencement of +the siege. The feeling of despair is, I hear, still stronger in the +army. Were the real condition of things outside known, I am certain that +the Government would be forced to conclude an armistice, on no matter +what terms. I happened to come across to-day a file of English +newspapers up to the 22nd ult., and I fully realised how all +intelligence from without has been distorted by the Government to serve +its own purposes. Now a few days ago, these very papers had been lent to +Trochu. He read them, kept them two days to show some of his colleagues, +and then returned them. One single extract was published by the _Journal +Officiel_--a German report upon the defences of Paris. No man in the +House of Commons is more fond of special pleading than Sir Roundell +Palmer. When anyone complains of it, the reply is, that he teaches some +children their catechism on Sundays. So, when anyone ventures to +question the veracity of Trochu, one is told that he has adopted his +brother's children. + +According to measurements which have been made, the Prussian batteries +at Sèvres and Meudon will carry to the Champ de Mars. From Montretout +their guns would throw shells into the Champs Elysées; but we think that +Valérien will silence them as soon as they open. Meat is getting more +and more scarce every day. That great moralist, Dr. Johnson, said that +he should prefer to dine with a Duke than the most agreeable of +Commoners. I myself at present should prefer to dine with a leg of +mutton than the most agreeable of human beings--Duke or Commoner. I +hear, on what I believe to be good authority, that we shall see the end +of our fresh meat on or about the 20th of this month. + +Yesterday, all the hidden stores which had been hoarded up with an eye +to a great profit were thrown on the market. To-day they have again +disappeared. Lamb is, however, freely offered for sale, and curiously +enough, at the same time, live dogs are becoming scarce. + +Several Ultras have been elected mayors of the different +arrondissements; among them Citizen Mottu, who was turned out of his +mayorship about a fortnight ago because he refused to allow any child to +attend a place of worship except with his own consent. It is all very +well for M. Jules Favre to say that the election of mayors is a negation +of a Commune. As I understand it, a Commune is but a council of elected +mayors. If the Government loses its popularity, the new mayors will +become a Commune. The more, however, the majority desire peace, the less +likely will they be to throw themselves into the arms of Citizen Mottu +and his friends, who are all for war _à outrance_. + + +_Monday, November 7th._ + +The newspapers of to-day, with the exception of the Ultra organs, are +loud in their expressions of regret that the armistice has not been +agreed to. The Government gives no further details, but yesterday +afternoon M. Jules Favre informed several members of the press who +"interviewed" him, that Prussia refused to allow the introduction of +provisions into Paris during the duration of the armistice. I have long +ceased believing any assertion of a member of the French Government, +unless supported by independent evidence. But if this be really true, I +must say that Count Bismarck has been playing a game with the Neutral +Powers, for it can hardly be expected that Paris would consent to +suspend all military operations against the Prussians, whilst their +process of reducing the town by starvation was uninterrupted. Besides, +as such a condition would have amounted practically to a capitulation, +it would have been more frank on the part of Count Bismarck to have +submitted the question in that form. I anticipate very shortly a sortie +in force. An attempt will be made with the Second Army to pierce the +Prussian lines. There appears no reason to doubt that it will fail, and +then the cry for peace will become so strong that the Government will +be obliged to listen seriously to it. + +General Trochu's new organization is severely criticised. I hear from +military men that he elaborated it himself with his personal friends. So +secret was it kept, that the Minister of War knew nothing about it until +it appeared in the _Journal Officiel_ yesterday. After the scene of last +Monday General Vinoy reproached Trochu for having tamely submitted to +arrest and insult by a mob for several hours, and strongly hinted that a +French general owed it to his cloth not to allow his decorations to be +torn from his breast. It is said by General Vinoy's friends that those +observations are mainly the cause why he has been deprived of his +independent command, and placed under the orders of General Ducrot, with +respect to whose evasion from Sedan many French officers shake their +heads. + +I cannot help thinking that the result of the vote of the army on +Thursday last is only relatively correct. Line, Mobile, and Marines do +not amount to 250,000 men, unless I am very much mistaken. The Second +Army, under Ducrot, will number about 110,000 men. + +The English at last are about to leave. They are very indignant at +having been, as they say, humbugged so long, and loud in their +complaints against their Embassy. I do not think, however, that the +delay has been the fault either of Colonel Claremont or of Mr. +Wodehouse. These gentlemen have done their best, but they were unable to +get the Prussian and French authorities to agree upon a day for the +exodus. On the one hand, to send to Versailles to receive an answer took +forty-eight hours; on the other, from the fact that England had not +recognized the Republic, General Trochu could not be approached +officially. Colonel Claremont happens to be a personal friend of his, +and it is, thanks to his exertions, coupled with those of Mr. Washburne, +that the matter has at length been satisfactorily arranged. I need +hardly observe that the Foreign-office has done its best to render the +question more complicated. It has sent orders to Mr. Wodehouse to +provide for the transport of British subjects, without sending funds, +and having told Lord Lyons to take the archives with him, it perpetually +refers to instructions contained in despatches which it well knows are +at Tours. + +Mr. Washburne remains. He has done his utmost to induce the Government +to agree to an armistice, and has clearly told them that they ought not +to sacrifice Paris without a prospect of a successful issue. He is in +despair at their decision, and anticipates the worst. In the interests +of humanity it is greatly to be regretted that Lord Lyons should have +received orders to quit Paris. The personal consideration in which he +was held, and the great influence which it gave him, would have been +invaluable during the negotiations of the last few days. + + +_November 8th._ + +I was once in love. The object of my affections had many amiable +qualities. I remember I thought her an angel; but when she was crossed, +she used to go up into her room and say that she would remain there +without eating until I yielded the point at issue between us. As I was +invariably right and she was invariably wrong, I could not do this; but, +pitying the weakness of her sex, and knowing its obstinacy, I usually +managed to arrange matters in a way which allowed her to emerge from her +retreat without any great sacrifice of _amour propre_. The Parisians +remind me of this sentimental episode of my existence; they have mounted +a high pedestal, and called upon the world to witness that no matter +what may be the danger to which they are exposed, they will not get off +it, unless they obtain what they want; that they will obtain it, they +find is most improbable, and they are anxiously looking around for some +one to help them down, without being obliged absolutely "to swallow +their own words." They had hoped that the armistice which was proposed +by the neutrals would in some way get them out of their difficulty; and, +as the siege still continues, they are exceedingly indignant with their +kind friends. "They have," say the papers, "loosened our mainspring of +sacrifice. We had fully determined to perish, rather than yield; if we +do not, it will be the fault of Russia, Austria, and England." Be the +cause what it may, the "mainspring of sacrifice" most assuredly is not +only loosened, but it has run down, and, unless some wonderful success +occurs shortly, it will never be wound up again. As long as it could be +supposed that cannon and musketry would only do their bloody work +outside the exterior forts, and that Paris might glory in a "heroic +attitude" without suffering real hardships or incurring real danger, the +note of defiance was loud and bold. As it is, the Government is obliged +to do its utmost to keep their courage up to the sticking point. These +foolish people really imagined that, like them, the world regarded their +city as a species of sacred Jerusalem, and that public opinion would +never allow the Prussians either to bombard it, or to expose the high +priests of civilization who inhabit it to the realities of war. It is +necessary to live here to understand the strength of this feeling. In +England, little attention is paid to the utterances of French +newspapers, but the Parisians, more profoundly ignorant of foreign +politics than the charity school boys of an English village, were under +the flattering delusion that we, in common with every other nation, +lived alone to merit their favourable opinion. They find now, to their +profound astonishment, that beyond a barren sympathy, founded upon a +common humanity, no one regards Paris as different to any other great +city, and that, if they choose to convert it into an intrenched camp for +their armies, they must meet the consequences. Either they must accept +the victor's terms of peace or they must fight the Prussians. The +reality of the situation is by degrees coming home to them. From the +general tone of the conversations I hear, I am inclined to think that, +in their hearts, they admit that Alsace, if not Lorraine, is +irretrievably lost. Words have a great influence over them, and they +find consolation for this loss of territory in the phrase that Alsace +will annex a portion of Germany, and not be annexed to Germany. It is +admitted also that sooner or later, an indemnity must be paid in money +to Prussia. The newspapers, who were the loudest in their praises of M. +Jules Favre's language at Ferrières, now complain that nothing is to be +gained by bombast, and that it is ridiculous of him to talk about +"France" proposing "conditions of peace" which must be unacceptable to +Prussia. The main grounds for continued resistance are the personal +ambition of the members of the Government, who well know that if they +sign an armistice, which is tantamount to peace, they will hereafter be +made scapegoats, and be told that the Parisians were balked of their +desire to perish to the last man; the mulish obstinacy of Trochu; and +the dread of the capital losing its supremacy over the Provinces. Of +course, there are some who wish to fight on to the bitter end. The +"Ultras" hope to found on a war _à outrance_ a democratic republic, and +dream of the successes of the First Revolution. The politicians hardly +know what they want. Their main idea is to keep up for their own +purposes that centralization which has so long been the bane of this +country. If they agree to terms before Paris has given France an example +of heroism, they fear that her supremacy will be compromised; if they +allow the insulation to continue, they fear that the Provinces will +accustom themselves to independent action; if a Constituent Assembly be +elected whilst free communication between Paris and the rest of France +is interrupted, they fear that this Assembly will consist of local +candidates rather than those, as has heretofore been the case in all +French Legislative Chambers, who are imposed upon the departments by a +central organization in the capital. + +The position of the Government is a singular one. They obtained last +Thursday a large majority on their plebiscite, because it was fully +understood that "oui" meant peace; indeed, on many bulletins, the words +"and peace" were added to the "oui." They have imprisoned the leaders of +those who revolted to the cry of "no armistice!" Their friends the +bourgeois trusted to them to put off the municipal elections until after +the war, and they rallied to their defence to the cry of "no Commune!" +In each arrondissement a mayor and two adjuncts have been elected, and +these mayors and adjuncts have only to meet together in order to assume +that right to interfere in public affairs which converts a municipality +into a commune. In Belleville the elected mayor is a prisoner, and his +two adjuncts, Flourens and Milliere, are in hiding. In the nineteenth +arrondissement M. Delescluze, by far the most able of the Ultras, is +mayor. Contrary to the wishes, consequently, of the voters of "oui," we +are to have no armistice, and we probably shall have a commune. The +Ultras are persecuted, but their programme is adopted. + +There appears to be a tacit truce between all parties within the city +until Trochu has made some attempt to carry out his famous plan. For the +last fortnight the Government has not published any news which it may +have received from the Provinces. M. Thiers has either made no report +upon their condition, or it has been concealed. M. Jules Favre, in his +despatch to the envoys abroad, enters into no details, and confines +himself to the simple announcement, that the armistice was not concluded +because Count Bismarck would not allow Paris to be revictualled during +the twenty-five days which it was to last. Our anxiety for news +respecting what is passing outside has to be satisfied with the +following words, which fell from the lips of M. Thiers: "I have seen the +Army of the Loire and the Prussian Guard; man to man I prefer the +former." The _Débats_ and some other journals contain extracts from the +English newspapers up to the 22nd ult. I observe that everything which +tells against France is suppressed, and what is published is headed with +a notice, that as the source is English the truth is questionable. Thus +does the press, while abusing the Government for keeping back +intelligence, fulfil its mission. + +The plan for the redistribution of the troops, and their change from one +corps to another, which was announced on Sunday in a decree signed +Trochu, has not yet been carried out. Its only effect has been as yet to +render confusion twice confounded. Its real object, I hear, was to place +General Ducrot in command of the left bank of the Seine, instead of +General Vinoy, because it is expected that the fighting will be on that +side of the river. So indignant is General Vinoy at being placed under +the orders of General Ducrot, that he threatens to give in his +resignation on the ground that by military law no officer can be called +to serve under a general who has capitulated, and who has not been tried +before a court-martial. The dispute will, I imagine, in some way or +other, be arranged, without its coming before the public. General +Vinoy's retirement would produce a bad effect on the army; for, both +with officers and men, he is far more popular than either Ducrot or +Trochu. He passes as a fighting general; they pass as writing generals. +As for Trochu, to write and to talk is with him a perfect mania. "I have +seen him on business," said a superior officer to me, "a dozen times, +but I never have been able to explain what I came for; he talked so +incessantly that I could not put in a word." + +I was out this morning along the Southern outposts, the forts were +firing intermittently. At Cachan there was a sharp interchange of shots +going on between the Prussian sentinels and Mobiles. It is a perfect +mystery to me how the Prussians have been allowed to establish +themselves at Clamart and at Chatillon, which are within range of the +guns of three forts. Our famous artillerists do not appear to have +prevented them from establishing batteries exactly where they are most +dangerous to us. General Trochu has not confided to me his celebrated +plan, but I am inclined to think, that whatever it may have been, he +will do well to put it aside, and to endeavour to dislodge the enemy in +Chatillon and the adjacent villages, before their batteries open fire. I +suggested this to an officer, and he replied that the troops, thanks to +the decree of Sunday, hardly knew who commanded them, or where they were +to be stationed--"On paper," he added, "I and my battalion are at La +Malmaison." As for the sortie, which is to revictual Paris, by forcing +the Prussian lines, it is simply absurd to talk of it. If Trochu +attempts it, the result must be disastrous, and _coûte qui coûte_, the +political exigences of the situation render it absolutely necessary that +at least apparent success must crown our next encounter with the enemy. +The next thing would be to hold our own, as long as the provisions last, +and trust to the chapter of accidents; but this is impossible in the +present temper of both soldiers and citizens. General Trochu has +insisted so loudly that, if not interfered with, he would not only keep +the enemy out of Paris, but raise the siege--that he must do something +to redeem his pledge. + +We have almost forgotten our troubles, in hearing that King William, "to +recompense his soldiers and reward their valour," has made his son and +his nephew Field Marshals. We wish to know whether, if his army takes +Paris, he will reward the men by declaring himself infallible, and +giving "our Fritz" a few million francs. With fear and trembling we ask +whether the success of the Bavarians will be recognized by their +monarch being allowed to inflict on us the operas of his friend Wagner. + +A new industry has sprung up in Paris. A manufactory has been +discovered, in which Prussian casques and sabres were being made. It was +at first thought that the owner was engaged in a dark conspiracy, but, +upon being arrested, he confessed that he was endeavouring to meet the +demand for trophies from the fields of battle. In one room of the house +of this ingenious speculator, a large number of forged letters were +found, from mothers, sisters, and brides, to their relations in the army +before Paris: these, he explained, were to be sold, warranted from the +pocket of a German corpse. + +Has Gambetta contracted with a London firm for a loan of 250 millions at +42? The financial world here is in a state of the greatest agitation +about a statement to this effect, which has been discovered in an +English newspaper. The Government officially declares that it knows +nothing about the matter. It is a curious sign of the universal belief +of any one in official utterances, that this denial is regarded as very +questionable evidence against the loan having been made. What puzzles us +is, that the Rente is at 53--why then was this new loan issued at 42? An +attempt has been made to oblige those persons left in charge of houses +occupied by foreigners here, to pay the tax upon absents. An energetic +protest, however, of Mr. Washburne, has saved Americans from this +extortion. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +_Wednesday, November 9th._ + +I bought a dozen newspapers this morning. Every one of them, with the +exception of the _Gaulois_, in more or less covert language, insists +upon peace upon any terms. Our "mainspring" not only has run down, but +is broken. The complaints, too, against the Government for concealing +all news it has received from the provinces, and for giving no details +respecting the negotiations with respect to the armistice, are most +outspoken. M. Edmond About, in the _Soir_ of last night, insists that we +ought to have agreed to the armistice, even without a revictualment; and +such appears to be the opinion of almost everyone. Poor M. Jules Favre, +who a few weeks ago was lauded to the skies for having so nobly +expressed the ideas of his countrymen, when he said that rather than +yield one foot of territory, one stone of a fortress, they would all +perish, is now abused for having compromised the situation, and made it +difficult to treat, by his mania for oratorical claptrap. In the +_Figaro_, Villemessant blunders through three columns over being again +disappointed in his expectations of embracing his wife, and plaintively +tells "William" that though he may not be anxious to see "his Augusta," +this is no reason why he, Villemessant, should not be absolutely wild to +see Madame. A more utter and complete collapse of all "heroism" I never +did witness. + +General Trochu has, with his usual intelligence, seized this moment to +issue a decree, mobilizing 400 men from each battalion of the National +Guard. First, volunteers; secondly, unmarried men, between 25 and 35 +years; thirdly, unmarried men, between 35 and 45; fourthly, married men +between 25 and 35; fifthly, married men, between 35 and 45, are +successively to be called upon to fill up the contingent. The Vinoy +affair has been settled by the appointment of the General to the command +of the Third Army. The following statistics of the annual consumption of +meat by Paris will give some idea of the difficulty of revictualling +it:--oxen, 156,680; bulls, 66,028; cows, 31,095; calves, 120,275; sheep, +916,388. Meat is now distributed every three days. I hear that on the +present scale of rationing there is enough for five more distributions. +We shall then fall back on horses, and our own salt provisions; the +former will perhaps last for a week, as for the latter it is impossible +to give any accurate estimate. We have, however, practically unlimited +supplies of flour, wine, and coffee; if consequently the Parisians are +ready to content themselves with what is absolutely necessary to support +existence, the process of starving us out will be a lengthy one. + + +_November 14th._ + +"Wanted, 10,000 Parisians ready to allow themselves to be killed, in +order that their fellow-citizens may pass down to posterity as heroes!" +The attempt to obtain volunteers having miserably failed, and fathers of +families having declined to risk their valuable lives whilst one single +bachelor remains out of reach of the Prussian guns, the Government has +now issued a decree calling to arms all bachelors between the age of 25 +and 35. If this measure had been taken two months ago it might have been +of some use, but it is absurd to suppose that soldiers can be improvised +in a few days. I must congratulate my friends here upon the astounding +ingenuity which they show in discovering pretexts to avoid military +service. It is as difficult to get them outside the inner ramparts as it +is to make an old fox break cover. In vain huntsman Trochu and his first +whip, Ducrot, blow their horns, and crack their whips; the wily reynard, +after putting his nose outside his retreat, heads back, and makes for +inaccessible fastnesses, with which long habit has made him familiar. +That General Trochu will be able to beat the Prussians no one supposes; +but if he can manage to get even 5,000 of the heroes who have for the +last two months been professing a wish to die for the honour of their +country under fire, he will have accomplished a most difficult feat. + +For the last few days the newspapers, one and all, have been filled with +details of the negotiations which were supposed to be going on at +Versailles. Russia, it was said, had forwarded an ultimatum to the King +of Prussia, threatening him with a declaration of war in case he +persisted in besieging Paris, or in annexing any portion of French +territory. Yesterday morning the _Journal Officiel_ contained an +announcement that the Government knew absolutely nothing of these +negotiations. The newspapers are, however, not disposed to allow their +hopes of peace to be destroyed in this manner, and they reply that "it +being notorious that no member of the Government can speak the truth, +this official denial proves conclusively the contrary of what it +states." It is indeed difficult to know who or what to believe; all I +know for certain is, that M. Jules Favre assured Mr. Washburne on +Saturday night that since M. Thiers had quitted Paris he had had no +communication with the outer world, and did not even know whether the +Tours delegation was still there. Men may lie for a certain time, and +yet be believed, but this "arm of war" has been so abused by our rulers, +that at present their most solemn asseverations meet with universal +incredulity--not, indeed, that the Parisians are cured of their mania +for crediting every tale which comes to them from any other +source--thus, for instance, every newspaper has contained the most +precise details from eye-witnesses of a conflict which took place two +nights ago before the battery of Hautes-Bruyères, in which our "braves +Mobiles" took between two and three thousand prisoners, and slew +hecatombs of the enemy. Now, I was both yesterday and the day before +yesterday at the Hautes-Bruyères, and I can certify myself that this +pretended battle never took place. + +It is impossible to predict what will occur during the next fortnight. +_Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas._ General Trochu has this +morning issued a lengthy address to the inhabitants of the city, +informing them that, had it not been for their riotous conduct on Oct. +31 the armistice would have been concluded; and that now all that +remains for them to do, is to "close their ranks and to elevate their +hearts." "If we triumph, we shall have given our country a great +example; if we succumb, we shall have left to Prussia an inheritance +which will replace the First Empire in the sanguinary annals of conquest +and violence; an inheritance of hatred and maledictions which will +eventually prove her ruin." The great question which occupies all minds +now is "the sortie." General Trochu and General Ducrot insist upon at +least making an attempt to pierce the Prussian lines. All the other +generals say that, as it cannot succeed, it is wrong to sacrifice life +to no good purpose. This is how the matter is regarded by officers and +soldiers. As for the National Guard, they distinctly say that they will +be no parties to any such act of folly. Even in the councils of the +Government there is a strong feeling against it; but General Trochu +declines to allow the question, which he says is a purely military one, +to be decided by the lawyers who are his colleagues. They, on their +side, complain that the General never quits the Louvre, has surrounded +himself with a number of clerical dandies as his aides-de-camp, whose +religious principles may be sound, but whose knowledge of war is nil; +and that if he wished to make a sortie, he should not have waited until +the Prussians had rendered its success impossible by completing their +lines of investment. It is said that the attempt will be made along the +post road to Orleans, it being now considered impossible, as was at +first intended, to open communications by the Havre railroad. The +general impression is either that the troops engaged in it will be +driven back under the forts in confusion, or that some 50,000 will be +allowed to get too far to return, and then will be netted like sparrows. +It is not, however, beyond the bounds of possibility that the Prussians +will not wait until our great administrator has completed his +preparations for attack, but will be beforehand with him, and open fire +upon the southern posts from their batteries, which many think would +effectually reduce to silence the guns of Vanves, Issy, and of the +advanced redoubts. These Prussian batteries are viewed with a mysterious +awe. We fire on them, we walk about within less than a mile of them, and +they maintain an ominous silence. On the heights of Chatillon it is said +at the advanced posts that there are 108 siege guns in position; some of +them we can actually distinguish without a glass, and yet not a shot +comes from them. Yesterday, the gates of the Bois de Boulogne were +opened, and a crowd of several thousand persons walked and drove round +the lake. Over their heads one of the bastions was throwing shells into +Montretout, but it seemed to occur to no one that Montretout might +return the compliment, and throw a few shells, not over their heads, but +into their midst. One of the most curious phases in this remarkable +siege is, that the women seem to consider the whole question a political +one, which in no way regards them--they neither urge the men to resist, +nor clamour for peace. _Tros Tyriusque_ seems much the same to them; a +few hundreds have dressed themselves up as vivandières, the others +appear to regret the rise in the price of provisions, but to trouble +their heads about nothing else. If they thought that the cession of +Alsace and Lorraine would reduce the price of butchers' meat, they would +in a sort of apathetic way be in favour of the cession; but they are so +utterly ignorant of everything except matters connected with their +toilettes and M. Paul de Kock's novels, that they confine themselves to +shrugging their shoulders and hoping for the best, and they support all +the privations to which they are exposed owing to the siege without +complaint and without enthusiasm. The word armistice being beyond the +range of their vocabulary, they call it "l'amnistie," and imagine that +the question is whether or not King William is ready to grant Paris an +amnesty. As Æneas and Dido took refuge in a cave to avoid a shower, so I +for the same reason found myself with a young lady this morning under a +porte cochère. Dido was a lively and intelligent young person, but I +discovered in the course of our chance conversation that she was under +the impression that the Russians as well as the Prussians were outside +Paris, and that both were waging war for the King of Spain. Sedan, I +also learnt, was in the neighbourhood of Berlin. + +The _Temps_ gives the following details of our provisions--Beef will +fail in a week, horse will then last a fortnight; salt meat a further +week; vegetables, dried fruits, flour, &c., about three weeks more. In +this calculation I think that the stock of flour is understated, and +that if we are contented to live on bread and wine we shall not be +starved out until the middle of January. The ration of fresh meat is now +reduced in almost all the arrondissements to thirty grammes a head. +There is no difficulty, however, in obtaining for money any quantity of +it in the restaurants. In the bouillons only one portion is served to +each customer. Cats have risen in the market--a good fat one now costs +twenty francs. Those that remain are exceedingly wild. This morning I +had a salmis of rats--it was excellent--something between frog and +rabbit. I breakfasted with the correspondents of two of your +contemporaries. One of them, after a certain amount of hesitation, +allowed me to help him to a leg of a rat; after eating it he was as +anxious as a terrier for more. The latter, however, scornfully refused +to share in the repast. As he got through his portion of salted horse, +which rejoiced in the name of beef, he regarded us with horror and +disgust. I remember when I was in Egypt that my feelings towards the +natives were of a somewhat similar nature when I saw them eating rat. +The older one grows the more tolerant one becomes. If ever I am again in +Africa I shall eat the national dish whenever I get a chance. During the +siege of Londonderry rats sold for 7s. each, and if this siege goes on +many weeks longer, the utmost which a person of moderate means will be +able to allow himself will be an occasional mouse. I was curious to see +whether the proprietor of the restaurant would boldly call rat, rat in +my bill. His heart failed him--it figures as a salmi of game. + + +_November 15th._ + +We have passed from the lowest depths of despair to the wildest +confidence. Yesterday afternoon a pigeon arrived covered with blood, +bearing on its tail a despatch from Gambetta, of the 11th, announcing +that the Prussians had been driven out of Orleans after two days' +fighting, that 1,000 prisoners, two cannon, and many munition waggons +had been taken, and that the pursuit was still continuing. The despatch +was read at the Mairies to large crowds, and in the _cafés_ by +enthusiasts, who got upon the tables. I was in a shop when a person came +in with it. Shopkeeper, assistants, and customers immediately performed +a war dance round a stove; one would have supposed that the war was over +and that the veracity of Gambetta is unimpeachable. But as though this +success were not enough in itself, all the newspapers this morning tell +us that "Chartres has also been retaken," that the army of Kératry has +effected a junction with that of the Loire, and that in the North +Bourbaki has forced the Prussians to raise the siege of Amiens. Everyone +is asking when "they" will be here. Edmond About, in the _Soir_, eats +dirt for having a few days ago suggested an armistice. + +At the Quartier-Général I do not think that very great importance is +attached to Gambetta's despatch, except as an evidence that the +provinces are not perfectly apathetic. It is considered that very +possibly the Prussians may have concentrated their whole available force +round Paris, in order to crush our grand sortie when it takes place. +General Trochu himself takes the most despondent view of the situation, +and bitterly complains of the "spirit" of the army, the Mobiles, and the +Parisians. This extraordinary commander imagines that he will infuse a +new courage in his troops by going about like a monk of La Trappe, +saying to every one, "Brother, we must die." + +Mr. Washburne received yesterday a despatch from his Government--the +first which has reached him since the commencement of the +siege--informing him that his conduct in remaining at Paris is approved +of. With the despatch there came English newspapers up to the 3rd. +Extracts from them will, I presume, be published to-morrow. I passed the +afternoon greedily devouring the news at the American Legation. It was a +curious sight--the Chancellerie was crowded with people engaged in the +same occupation. There were several French journalists, opening their +eyes very wide, under the impression that this would enable them to +understand English. A Secretary of Legation was sitting at a table +giving audiences to unnumbered ladies who wished to know how they could +leave Paris; or, if this was impossible, how they could draw on their +bankers in New York. Mr. Washburne walked about cheerily shaking +everyone by the hand, and telling them to make themselves at home. How +different American diplomatists are to the prim old women who represent +us abroad, with a staff of half-a-dozen dandies helping each other to do +nothing, who have been taught to regard all who are not of the craft as +their natural enemies. At the English Embassy Colonel Claremont and a +porter now represent the British nation. The former, in obedience to +orders from the Foreign Office, is only waiting for a reply from Count +Bismarck to his letter asking for a pass to leave us. Whether the +numerous English who remain here are then to look to Mr. Washburne or to +the porter for protection, I have been unable to discover. + +M. Felix Pyat has been let out of prison. He says that he rather prefers +being there than at liberty, for in his cell he can "forget that he is +in a town inhabited by cowards," and devote himself to the works of M. +Louis Blanc, which he calls the "Bibles of democracy." + +Although Trochu is neither a great general nor a great statesman, he is +a gentleman. I am therefore surprised that he allows obscene caricatures +of the Empress to be publicly sold in the streets and exhibited in the +kiosks. During the time that she occupied the throne in this most +scandal-loving town, no scandal was ever whispered against her. She was +fond, it is true, of dress, but she was a good mother and a good wife. +Now that she and her friends are in exile, "lives of the woman +Bonaparte" are hawked about, which in England would bring their authors +under Lord Campbell's statute. In one caricature she is represented +stark naked, with Prince Joinville sketching her. In another, called +"the Spanish cow," she is made a sort of female Centaur. In another she +is dancing the Can-can, and throwing her petticoats over her head, +before King William, who is drinking champagne, seated on a sofa, while +her husband is in a cage hung up to the wall. These scandalous +caricatures have not even the merit of being funny, they are a +reflection upon French chivalry, and on that of Trochu. What would he +say if the Government which succeeds him were to allow his own wife to +be insulted in this cowardly manner? + +Anything more dreary than the Boulevards now in the evening it is +difficult to imagine. Only one street lamp in three is lighted, and the +_cafés_, which close at 10.30, are put on half-allowance of gas. To mend +matters, everyone who likes is allowed to put up a shed on the side walk +to sell his goods, or to collect a crowd by playing a dirge on a fiddle. +The consequence is that the circulation is rendered almost impossible. I +suggested to a high authority that the police ought at least to +interfere to make these peripatetic musicians "move on," but he told me +that, were they to do so, they would be accused of being "Corsicans and +Reactionaries." These police are themselves most ludicrous objects; +anyone coming here would suppose that they are members of some new sect +of peripatetic philosophers; they walk about in pairs, arrayed in pea +jackets with large hoods; and when it is wet they have umbrellas. Their +business appears to be, never to interfere with the rights of their +fellow-citizens to do what they please, and, so helpless do they look, +that I believe if a child were to attack them, they would appeal to the +passers-by for protection. + +I see in an English paper of the 3rd that it is believed at Versailles +that we have only fresh meat for twelve days. We are not so badly off as +that. How many oxen and cows there still are I do not know; a few days +ago, however, I counted myself 1,500 in a large pen. The newspapers +calculate that at the commencement of the siege there were 100,000 +horses in Paris, and that there are now 70,000; 30,000 will be enough +for the army, consequently 40,000 can be eaten. The amount of meat on +each horse averages 500 lb., consequently we have twenty million pounds +of fresh horse-flesh, a quantity which will last us for more than three +months at the present rate of the meat consumption. These figures are, I +think, very much exaggerated. I should say that there are not more than +40,000 horses now in Paris. The _Petites Voitures_ (Cab) Company has +8,000, and offered to sell them to the Government a few days ago, but +that proposal was declined. As regards salt meat, the Government keep +secret the amount. It cannot, however, be very great, because it is only +derived from animals which have been killed since the siege commenced. +The stock of flour, we are told, is practically unlimited, and as no +attempt is made to prevent its waste in pasty and fancy cakes, the +authorities are acting apparently on this assumption. + +The health of Paris is far from satisfactory, and when the winter +weather regularly sets in there will be much sickness. No one is +absolutely starving, but many are without sufficient nourishment. The +Government gives orders for 10c. worth of bread to all who are in want, +and these orders are accepted as money by all the bakers. In each +arrondissement there are also what are called cantines économiques, +where a mess of soup made from vegetables and a small quantity of meat +can be bought for five centimes. Very little, however, has been done to +distribute warm clothing among the poor, and when it is considered that +above 100,000 persons have come into Paris from the neighbouring +villages, most of whom are dependent upon public or private charity, it +is evident that, even if there is no absolute want, there must be much +suffering. Count Bismarck was not far wrong when he said that, if the +siege be prolonged until our stock of provisions is exhausted, many +thousands in the succeeding weeks will die of starvation. I would +recommend those charitable persons who are anxious to come to the aid of +this unfortunate country to be ready to throw provisions into Paris as +soon as communications with England are reopened, rather than to +subscribe their money to ambulances. All things considered, the wounded +are well tended. In the hotel in which I am residing the Société +Internationale has established its headquarters. We have now 160 wounded +here, and beds are prepared for 400. The ambulance occupies two stories, +for which 500 francs a day are paid; and an arrangement has been made +with the administration of the hotel to feed each convalescent for 2.50 +francs per diem. As in all French institutions, there appear to me to be +far too many officials; the corridors are pervaded with young healthy +men, with the red cross on their arms, who are supposed to be making +themselves useful in some mysterious manner, but whose main object in +being here is, I imagine, to shirk military service. The ambulance which +is considered the best is the American. The wounded are under canvas, +the tents are not cold, and yet the ventilation is admirable. The +American surgeons are far more skilful in the treatment of gun-shot +wounds than their French colleagues. Instead of amputation they practise +resection of the bone. It is the dream of every French soldier, if he is +wounded, to be taken to this ambulance. They seem to be under the +impression that, even if their legs are shot off, the skill of the +Æsculapii of the United States will make them grow again. Be this as it +may, a person might be worse off than stretched on a bed with a slight +wound under the tents of the Far West. + +The French have a notion that, go where you may, to the top of a pyramid +or to the top of Mont Blanc, you are sure to meet an Englishman reading +a newspaper; in my experience of the world, the American girl is far +more inevitable than the Britisher; and, of course, under the Stars and +Stripes which wave over the American tents she is to be found, tending +the sick, and, when there is nothing more to be got for them, patiently +reading to them or playing at cards with them. I have a great weakness +for the American girl, she always puts her heart in what she is about. +When she flirts she does it conscientiously, and when she nurses a most +uninviting-looking Zouave, or Franc-tireur, she does it equally +conscientiously; besides, as a rule, she is pretty, a gift of nature +which I am very far from undervaluing. + + +_November 16th._ + +It is reported in "official circles" that a second pigeon has arrived +with intelligence from the French Consul at Bâle, that the Baden troops +have been defeated, and that some of them have been obliged to seek +refuge in Switzerland. The evident object of Trochu now is to get up the +courage of our warriors to the sticking point for the grand sortie which +is put off from day to day. The newspapers contain extracts from the +English journals which came in the day before yesterday. By a process, +in which we are adepts at believing everything which tells for us, and +regarding everything which tells against us as a fabrication of +perfidious Albion, we have consoled ourselves with the idea that "the +situation is far better than we supposed." As for Bazaine, we cannot +make up our minds whether we ought to call him a traitor or a hero. We +therefore say as little about him as possible. + +I have just come back from the southern outposts. The redoubts of Moulin +Saqui and Hautes Bruyères were firing heavily, and the Prussians were +replying from Chatillon. Their shrapnell, however, fell short, just +within our advanced line. From the sound of the guns, it was supposed +that they were only using field artillery. The sailors insist that the +enemy has been unable to place his siege-guns in position, and that our +fire knocks their earthworks to pieces. I am inclined to think that +behind these earthworks there are masked batteries, for surely the +Prussian Engineer Officers cannot be amusing themselves with making +earthworks for the mere pleasure of seeing them knocked to pieces. +Anyhow they are playing a deep game, for, as far as I can hear, they +have not fired a single siege-gun yet, either against our redoubts or +forts. + + +_November 19th._ + +Burke, in his work on the French Revolution, augured ill of the future +of a country the greater number of whose legislators were lawyers. What +would he have said of a Government composed almost exclusively of these +objects of his political distrust? When history recounts the follies of +the French Republic of 1870, I trust that it will not forget to mention +that all the members of the Government, with the exception of one; six +ministers; 13 under-secretaries of State; the Préfet of Police; 24 +prefets and commissaries sent into the provinces; and 36 other high +functionaries; belonged to the legal profession. The natural consequence +of this is that we cannot get out of "Nisi prius." Our rulers are unable +to take a large statesmanlike view of the situation. They live from hand +to mouth, and never rise above the expedients and temporizing policy of +advocates. They are perpetually engaged in appealing against the stern +logic of facts to some imaginary tribunal, from which they hope to gain +a verdict in favour of their clients. Like lawyers in England, they +entered public life to "get on." This is still the first object of each +one of them; and as they are deputies of Paris, they feel that, next to +themselves, they owe allegiance to their electors. To secure the +supremacy of Paris over the provinces, and of their own influence over +Paris, is the Alpha and Omega of their political creed. With an eye to +the future, each of them has his own journal; and when any decree is +issued which is not popular, the public is given to understand in these +semi-official organs, that every single member of the Government voted +against it, although it passed by a majority. + +It is somewhat strange that the military man who, by the force of +circumstances, is the President of this Devil's own Government is by +nature more of a lawyer than even if he had been bred up to the trade. +His colleagues own in despair that he is their master in strength of +lungs, and that when they split straws into two he splits them into +four. In vain they fall back on their pens and indite letters and +proclamations, their President out-letters and out-proclaims them. +Trochu is indeed a sort of military Ollivier. He earned his spurs as a +military critic, Ollivier as a civil critic. Both are clever, and +eminently respectable in their private relations, and both are verbose, +unpractical, and wanting in plain common sense. Ollivier had a plan, and +so has Trochu. Ollivier complained when his plan failed, that it was the +fault of every one except himself, and Trochu is already doing the same. +Both protested against the system of rule adopted by their predecessors, +and have followed in their steps. Both were advocates of publicity, and +both audaciously suppressed and distorted facts to suit their +convenience. Ollivier is probably now writing a book to prove that he +was the wisest of ministers. Trochu, as soon as the siege is over, will +write one to prove that he was the best of generals. Ollivier insisted +that he could found a Liberal Government upon an Imperial basis, and +miserably failed. Trochu declares that he, and he alone, can force the +Prussians to raise the siege of Paris. When his plan has failed, as fail +it in all probability will, he still, with that serene assurance which +is the attribute of mediocrity, will insist that it ought to have +succeeded. "_Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni._" Those who +knew him in Brittany tell me that long before he became a personage, "le +plan de Trochu" was a standing joke throughout that province. The +General, it appears, is fond of piquet; whenever he sat down to play he +said, "j'ai mon plan." When he got up after losing the game, as was +usually the case, he went away muttering, "Cependant, mon plan était +bon." He seemed to have this word "plan" on the brain, for no one who +ever played with him could perceive in his mode of handling the cards +the slightest trace of a plan. The mania was harmless as long as its +exhibition was confined to a game in which a few francs were to be won +or lost, but it becomes most serious in its consequences when the +destinies of a country are subordinated to it. At the commencement of +the siege, General Trochu announced that he not only had a "plan," but +that he had inscribed it in his will, which was deposited with his +notary. An ordinary man would have made use of the materials at his +command, and, without pledging himself to success, would have +endeavoured to give the provinces time to organize an army of succour by +harassing the Prussians, and thus preventing them from detaching troops +in all directions. Instead of this, with the exception of some two or +three harmless sorties, they have been allowed slowly to inclose us in a +net of circumvallations. Our provisions are each day growing more +scarce, and nothing is done except to heap up defensive works to prevent +the town being carried by an assault, which there is no probability that +the besiegers mean to attempt. Chatillon and Meudon were ill guarded, +but ditches were cut along the Avenue de l'Impératrice. The young +unmarried men in Paris were not incorporated until the 50th day of the +siege, but two or three times a week they were lectured on their duties +as citizens by their leader. If there is really to be a sortie, +everything is ready, but now the General hesitates--hints that he is not +seconded, that the soldiers will not fight, and almost seems to regret +at last his own theoretical presumption. "He trusted," said one of his +generals to me, "first to the neutrals, then to the provinces, and now +he is afraid to trust to himself." Next time a general is besieged in a +town I should recommend him not to announce that he has a plan which +must ensure victory, unless indeed it be a German town, where nothing +which an official can do is considered ridiculous. + +Benjamin Constant said of his countrymen that their heads could never +contain more than one idea at once. A few days ago we were full of our +victory at Orleans. Then came the question whether or not Bazaine was a +traitor. To-day we have forgotten Bazaine and Orleans. The marching +battalions of the National Guard are to have new coats, and we can talk +or think of nothing else. The effect as yet of these marching battalions +has been to disorganise the existing battalions. Every day some new +decree has been issued altering their mode of formation. Perhaps the new +coats will settle everything, and convert them into excellent soldiers. +Let us hope it. + +We are by no means satisfied with the news which has reached us through +the English papers up to the 3rd. Thus the _Liberté_, after giving +extracts from numbers of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, the _Daily News_, the +_Daily Telegraph_, the _Sun_, the _Times_, and the _Standard_, +accompanies them with the following reflections:--"We feel bound to +protest in favour of the English press against the assertions of those +who would judge the opinions of a great liberal nation by the wretched +specimens which are under our eyes. Heaven be praised. The civilized +world is not so degenerate that the ignoble conduct of Prussia fails to +elicit universal reprobation." We have had two more pigeons, but +Gambetta either cannot or will not let us know anything of importance. +These two messengers confirm the news of the "victory of Orleans," and +inform us that public opinion is daily pronouncing in favour of France, +and that the condition of affairs in the provinces is most satisfactory. +Such is the universal distrust felt now for any intelligence which +emanates from an official source, that if Gambetta were to send us in an +account of a new victory to-morrow, and if all his colleagues here were +to swear to its truth, we should be in a wild state of enthusiasm for a +few hours, and then disbelieve the whole story. + +Small-pox is on the increase. The deaths last week from this disease +amounted to 419; the general mortality to 1885--a number far above the +average. The medical men complain of the amount of raw spirits which is +drunk--particularly at the ramparts, and ascribe much of the ill health +to this cause. + +By the bye, the question of the treason of Bazaine turns with us upon +what your correspondent at Saarbruck meant by the word "stores," which +he says were discovered in Metz. If munitions of war, we say that +Bazaine was a hero; if food, that he was a traitor. + +If sieges were likely to occur frequently, the whole system of +ambulances, as against military hospitals, would have to be ventilated. +There are in Paris two hundred and forty-three ambulances, and when the +siege commenced, such was the anxiety to obtain a _blessé_, that when a +sortie took place, those who brought them in were offered bribes to take +them to some house over which the flag of Geneva waved. A man with a +broken leg or arm was worth thirty francs to his kind preservers. The +largest ambulance is the International. Its headquarters are at the +Grand Hotel. It seems to me over-manned, for the number of the healthy +who receive pay and rations from its funds exceeds the number of the +wounded. Many, too, of the former are young unmarried men, who ought to +be serving either in the ranks of the army, or at least of the Garde +Nationale. The following story I take from an organ of public opinion of +to-day's date:--A lady went to her Mairie to ask to be given a wounded +soldier to look after. She was offered a swarthy Zouave. "No," she said, +"I wish for a blonde, being a brunette myself"--nothing like a +contrast. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +_November 29th._ + +From morning to evening cannon were rolling and troops were marching +through the streets. Since Saturday night the gates of the town had been +rigidly closed to all civilians, and even those provided with passes +from headquarters were refused egress. It was known that the grand +effort which is to make or mar us was to be made the next morning, and +it was hoped that the Prussians would be taken unawares. The plan, in +its main details, was confided to me by half a dozen persons, and, +therefore, I very much question whether it is a secret to the enemy. +Most of those who take an interest in the war have, I presume, a map of +Paris. If they consult it, they will see that the Marne from the east, +and the Seine from the south, unite about a mile from the south-eastern +corner of the enceinte. Two miles before the junction of the two rivers +the Marne makes a loop to the south, in this way running parallel with +the Seine for about three miles. On the north of the Marne towards Paris +lies the wood of Vincennes, and beyond the loop there are the villages +of Joinville, Nogent, and Brie. The line is defended by the forts of +Vincennes and Nogent and the redoubt of La Faisanderie. To the south, +between the loop and the Seine, is the fort of Charenton; a little +farther on the village of Creteil; beyond it, just outside the loop, is +Montmesly, where the Prussians have heavy batteries. On the north side +of the loop is the village of Champigny, which is situated on a plateau +that extends from there to Brie. On the south of Paris, between the +Seine and Meudon, are first a line of forts, then a line of redoubts, +except where Chatillon cuts in close by the Fort of Vanves. Beyond this +line of redoubts is a plain, that slopes down towards the villages of +L'Hay, Chevilly, Thiais, and Choisy-le-Roi, which is situated on the +Seine about five miles from Paris. By Monday evening about 100,000 men +and 400 cannon were massed under General Ducrot in the Bois de Vincennes +and in the adjacent villages. About 15,000 men, under General Vinoy, +were behind the southern line of redoubts close by the village of +Villejuif. Troops were also placed near St. Denis and in the peninsula +of Genevilliers to distract the attention of the enemy. It was arranged +that early in the morning General Vinoy should push forward in the +direction of L'Hay and Choisy, and then, when the Prussian reserves had +been attracted to the south by this demonstration, Ducrot should throw +bridges over the Marne and endeavour to force his way through the lines +of investment by the old high road of Bâle. At one in the morning a +tremendous cannonade from all the forts and redoubts round Paris +commenced. It was so loud that I imagined that the Prussians were +attempting an assault, and I went off to the southern ramparts to see +what was happening. The sight there was a striking one. The heavy +booming of the great guns, the bright flash each time they fired, and +the shells with their lighted fusees rushing through the air, and +bursting over the Prussian lines, realised what the French call a "feu +d'enfer." At about three o'clock the firing slackened, and I went home, +but at four it recommenced. At six o'clock General Vinoy's troops +advanced in two columns, one against L'Hay, and the other against La +Gare aux Boeufs, a fortified enclosure, about a mile above Choisy-le-Roi. +The latter was speedily occupied, a body of sailors rushing into it, +and carrying all before them, the Prussians falling back on Choisy. At +L'Hay the attacking column met with a strenuous resistance. As soon as +it had passed the barricade at the entrance of the village, a heavy fire +was poured into it from the houses at both sides of the main street. A +hand-to-hand encounter then took place with the Prussian Guard, which +had been brought up as a reinforcement. While the fight was progressing +an order arrived from General Trochu to retreat. The same order was sent +to the Gare aux Boeufs, and by ten o'clock the troops to the south of +Paris had fallen back to the positions they occupied the previous +evening. General Vinoy, during the engagement, was with his staff on the +bridge which crosses the Seine near Charenton. A battalion of National +Guards were drawn up near him. A chance shell took off the legs of one +of these heroes, his comrades fled in dismay--they were rallied and +brought back with difficulty. A little later they were engaged in +cooking their food, when some tin pans fell against each other. Thinking +it was a bomb, they again scattered, and the General was obliged to ride +along the line shouting "Courage, courage; it is the soup, my children." +In the meantime a terrible mishap had occurred on the north of the +Marne. On Monday evening, General Trochu and General Ducrot slept at +Vincennes. The latter had issued an address, in which he informed his +troops that he meant either to conquer or die. During the night an +exchange of shots had taken place across the river between the French +and Prussian sharp-shooters. Towards morning the latter had withdrawn. +At break of day the troops were drawn up ready to cross the river as +soon as the engagement on the southern lines had diverted the attention +of the enemy. The bridges were there ready to be thrown across, when it +was discovered that the Marne had overflown its bed, and could not be +crossed. Whether it be true or not that the Prussians had cut a dam, or +whether, as sometimes occurs with literary generals, the pontoons were +too few in number, is not yet clear. Whatever the cause, the effect was +to render it impossible to carry out to-day the plan which was to take +General Ducrot and his troops down to Orleans, and at the present moment +he and they are still at Vincennes, waiting for the river to go down. At +twelve o'clock I managed to get through the gate of Vanves. Outside the +walls everything was quiet. Troops were massed in all sheltered places +to resist any attack which might be made from the plateau of Chatillon. +None of the officers seemed to know what had occurred. Some thought that +Choisy had been taken, others that Ducrot had got clear away. I was +walking along the outposts in advance of Vanves, when a cantankerous +officer, one of those beings overflowing with ill-regulated zeal, asked +me what I was doing. I showed my pass. My zealous friend insisted that I +had come in from the Prussian lines, and that I probably was a spy. I +said I had left Paris an hour ago. He replied that this was impossible, +as no civilian was allowed to pass through the gate. Things began to +look uncomfortable. The zealot talked of shooting me, as a simple and +expeditious mode of solving the question. To this I objected, and so at +length it was agreed that I should be marched off to the fort of Vanves. +We found the Commandant seated before his fort with a big stick in his +hand, like a farmer before his farm yard. In vain the zealot endeavoured +to excite his ire against me. The Commandant and I got into conversation +and became excellent friends. He, too, knew nothing of what had +occurred. He had been bombarding Chatillon, he said, and he supposed he +should soon receive orders to recommence. What seemed to surprise him +was that the Prussians during the whole night had not replied either +from Chatillon, Sèvres, or Meudon to the French guns. From Vanves I went +to Villejuif, where a temporary ambulance had been erected, and the +surgeons were busy with the wounded. As soon as their wounds were +dressed, they were taken in ambulance carts inside the town. The +officers and soldiers, who had not yet learnt that General Ducrot had +failed to cross the Marne, were in a very bad humour at having been +ordered to withdraw at the very moment when they were carrying +everything before them. They represented the Prussians as having fought +like devils, and declared that they appeared to take a fiendish pleasure +in killing even the wounded. Within the town the excitement to know what +had passed is intense. The Government has posted up a notice saying that +everything is happening as General Trochu wished it. Not a word is said +about Ducrot's failure. The _Liberté_, which gives a guarded account of +what really took place, has been torn to pieces on the Boulevards. I +have just been talking with an officer on the headquarters staff. He +tells me that Trochu is still outside, very much cast down, but +determined to make a desperate effort to retrieve matters to-morrow. + +We have received to-day some English newspapers, and you may imagine how +far behind the age we are from the fact that we learn for the first time +that Prince Gortschakoff has put his finger into the pie. Good heavens! +I have invested my savings in Turkish Five per cents., and it gives me a +cold shiver to think at what figure I shall find these Oriental +securities quoted on the Stock Exchange when I emerge from my enforced +seclusion and again find myself in communication with the outer +world.[1] + + +_December 2nd._ + +For the last three days the public within the walls of Paris has been +kept in profound ignorance of what has been passing outside. General +Trochu has once or twice each day published a despatch saying that +everything is happening as he anticipated, and the majority of those +who read these oracular utterances religiously believe in them as though +they had never been deceived. On the Boulevards there are crowds who +question any soldier who is seen passing. "Tout va bien" is the only +answer which they get; but they seem to be under the impression that the +siege is already over, and that the Prussian lines have been forced. +Along the road inside the ramparts, and at the gates, there are dense +masses listening to the cannon, and on every mound from which a distant +view of the smoke can be obtained men, women, and children are +congregated. I have managed to get every day into the horse-shoe at the +mouth of which the fighting was going on, and yesterday afternoon, when +there was a semi-suspension of arms to bury the dead, I went with the +ambulances on the debateable land between the two armies. The whole +horse-shoe is full of artillery. The bombs and shells from the forts and +batteries pass over the French, and explode within the Prussian lines. A +little behind, every house is filled with wounded, who are taken, as +soon as their wounds are dressed, inside the town. One or two batteries +occasionally open fire, and occasionally those of the Prussians respond. +Trochu and Ducrot ride about, and, as far as I can see, the latter +commands, while the former makes speeches. Yesterday afternoon we had +slightly gained ground, beyond however an occasional discharge from our +forts and batteries, there was no fighting. Before our lines a very +large number of Prussian dead were lying. There were burying parties out +on both sides, but they were getting on very slowly with their work, and +were perpetually fired on. At 4 A.M. this morning the Prussians made a +rush at our lines from Champigny to Brie, and the Mobiles and line, +taken by surprise, hastily fell back. One or two regiments of Mobiles +were literally charged by squadrons of gendarmerie, to force them back. +Reinforcements came up, and by nine o'clock the positions had been +regained--the Prussians being unable to withstand the fire of our forts, +redoubts, and siege-guns. The battle then went on till about three +o'clock, when it died out. Towards Villiers, I should say we had gained +about three-quarters of a mile, and at Champigny we had lost about a +third of the village. At about five o'clock I got back to my hotel, +which is the headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale. Until eleven +o'clock wounded were being brought in. It is quite full now. About 460 +French, and 30 Germans--almost all Saxons. Many died during the night. +In the room, next to mine, Franchetti, the commander of the Eclaireurs +of the Seine, is lying--a portion of his hip has been blown away by a +shell, and the doctor has just told me that he fears that he will not +recover, as the wound is too high up for an operation. In the room +beyond him is a young lieutenant of Mobiles, who has had his leg +amputated, and his right arm cut open to extract a portion of the bone, +and who still has a ball in his shoulder. Most of the soldiers in here +are wounded either in the leg or in the arm. There is a great dearth of +doctors, and many wounded who were brought here last night had to wait +until this morning before their turn came to be examined. The American +Ambulance and several others are also, I hear, full. I go in +occasionally to see the Germans, as I can talk their language, and it +cheers them to hear it. I see in the newspapers that wounded Bavarians +and Saxons are perpetually crying "Vive la France!" I can only say that +those here do nothing of the kind. They do not seem to be particularly +downcast at finding themselves in the hands of their enemies. They are +treated precisely as the French are, and they are grateful for this. + +It is said this evening that the troops will be withdrawn and return to +the Bois de Vincennes. Some say that we have left 20,000 men at Villiers +and Champigny; but I take it that our loss does not exceed 6,000 men. +The general idea seems to be, that to-morrow we are to try to get out in +another direction, either by Chatillon or Malmaison. A pigeon came in +this morning from Bourbaki, with a despatch dated Nov. 30, stating that +he is advancing, and among the soldiers this despatch has already become +an official notice that he is at Meaux. All I know for certain is that +the ambulances are ordered out for eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and +that I am now going to bed, so as to be ready to start with them. I hear +that there has been fighting both yesterday and to-day near Bondy; but +not being able to be in two places at once, I cannot tell what really +occurred. To my civilian judgment it appears that as our object was to +force the line of heights on the south-east of Paris, which constitute +the Prussian lines of investment in that direction, and as we have not +done so, we can hardly be said to be in a better position than we were +last Monday. At a heavy cost of life we have purchased the knowledge +that our new artillery is better than was expected, and that Line and +Mobiles will stand under fire with tolerable steadiness until their +officers are bowled over, when they break. The National Guards were not +engaged. General Trochu and General Pisani tried to get some of their +battalions over the Marne, but found it impossible. After a long speech +from Trochu, Pisani shouted, "Vive la France!" To this they responded; +but when he added, "Vive Trochu!" they remained silent, and their +commanders declared that this involved political considerations with +regard to which they and their men "make certain reservations." They +are, however, very proud of having been within two miles of a battle +field, and Trochu congratulates them, in an order of the day, upon +giving a "moral support" to the army. This is precisely what every one +is willing to do. Moral support will not, however, get the Prussians +away from Paris. + +Food is becoming more scarce every day. Yesterday all our sausages were +requisitioned. We have still got the cows to fall back on, but they are +kept to the last for the sake of their milk. They are fed on oats, as +hay is scarce. So you see the mother of a calf has many advantages over +its uncle. All the animals in the Zoological Gardens have been killed +except the monkeys; these are kept alive from a vague and Darwinian +notion that they are our relatives, or at least the relatives of some of +the members of the Government, to whom in the matter of beauty nature +has not been bountiful. In the cellar of the English Embassy there are +three sheep. Never did the rich man lust more after the poor man's ewe +lamb than I lust after these sheep. I go and look at them frequently, +much as a London Arab goes to have a smell at a cookshop. They console +me for the absence of my ambassador. Some one has discovered that an +excellent jelly can be made out of old bones, and we are called upon by +the mayors to give up all our bones, in order that they may be submitted +to the process. Mr. Powell is, I believe, a contractor in London. I do +not know him; but yesterday I dined with a friend who produced from a +tin some Australian mutton, which he had bought of Mr. Powell before the +commencement of the siege. Better I never tasted, and out of gratitude I +give the worthy Powell the benefit of a gratis advertisement. If we only +had a stock of his meat here, we could defy the Prussians. As it is, I +am very much afraid that in a very few weeks William will date his +telegrams to Augusta from the Tuileries. + + +_December 3rd._ + +I wrote to you in a great hurry last night in order to catch a balloon +which was to have gone this morning, but whose departure has been +deferred as the wind was not favourable. I am now able to give some more +accurate details respecting the affair of Friday, as I have had an +opportunity of talking with several of the officers who were on the +staffs of the different generals engaged. After the Prussians at 4 A.M. +had surprised the whole of the French line from Brie to Champigny, they +pushed forward a heavy column between, the latter place and the Marne, +thus outflanking their opponents. The column advanced about half-way up +the horse-shoe formed by the bend in the river, and would have got as +far as the bridges at Joinville, had not General Favé opened fire upon +it from a small redoubt which he had built in advance of Joinville, with +forty field guns which he rapidly placed in position. Reinforcements +were then brought up under General Blanchard, and the column was at +length forced back, fighting hard to Champigny. To-day most of the +troops in the horse-shoe crossed over the river, and are now either in +the wood of Vincennes or in other portions of the line between the forts +and the enceinte. General Trochu has returned to the Louvre, and General +Ducrot, I hear, yesterday evening expressed his regret that he had +published that foolish manifesto, in which he declared that if he did +not conquer he would die; for, not having done either, he felt the +awkwardness of re-entering the city. Both Ducrot and Trochu freely +exposed themselves; the latter received a slight wound in the back of +the head from a piece of a shell which struck him. All the officers were +obliged to keep well in advance of their soldiers in order to encourage +them. The brunt of the fighting fell to the Line; the Mobiles, as a +rule, only behaved tolerably well; the Vendeans, of whom much was +expected, badly. The only battalion of the National Guards engaged was +that from Belleville, and it very speedily fell back. I have always had +my doubts about the valour of the Parisians. I found it difficult to +believe in men who hunt for pretexts to avoid military service--who are +so very fond of marching behind drums and vivandières inside a town, and +who, in some way or other, manage either to avoid going out of it, or +when forced out, avoid all danger. + +The population is in profound ignorance of the real state of affairs +outside. It still believes that the Prussian lines have been forced, and +that the siege will be over in a few days. I presume that Trochu will +make a second sortie in force. Unless, however, his operations are +powerfully aided by the armies of the provinces, it is difficult to +believe that the result will be anything beyond a useless sacrifice of +life. On Friday, it is estimated that our loss amounted to 4,500 +wounded, and 600 killed. That of the Prussians must have been very +heavy, to judge from the number of dead bodies that were lying about in +the fields and woods. + +The ambulances were ordered out this morning, and at seven o'clock some +300 victims rendezvoused with the carriages on the Quai, near the Place +de la Concorde. After freezing there for about two hours, it was +suggested that a messenger should be sent to General Trochu, to ask him +whether we were really wanted. The reply was that no attack would be +made to-day, and consequently we went off home to thaw. If wars really +must be made, I do hope that we shall fall back upon the old system of +carrying on military operations in summer. When the thermometer is below +zero, I feel like Bob Acres--all my valour oozing out at my fingers' +ends. The doctors tell me that many slight wounds have gangrened owing +to the cold. When a battle lasts until evening the mass of the wounded +cannot be picked up until the next morning, and their sufferings during +the night must be terrible. I saw several poor fellows picked up who +appeared literally frozen. + +The _Journal Officiel_ of to-day contains a letter from Monseigneur +Bauer, protesting against the Prussians having shot at him when he went +forward with a flag of truce and a trompette. The fact is vouched for +by, among others, a journalist who remained during the night of Friday +outside the walls. I can easily believe it, for the Prussians are not a +chivalrous enemy. They are perpetually firing on ambulances: and, when +it suits their own purposes, raising the white flag. If, indeed, +one-tenth part of the stories which I hear of their treacheries be true, +they ought to be exterminated like wolves. This Monseigneur Bauer is a +character. He began life as a German Jew, and he is now a Frenchman and +a Christian Bishop. During the Empire he was chaplain to the court, and +confessor of the Empress. He is now chaplain of the Ambulances de la +Presse, and has under his orders 800 "Frères Chrétiens," who dress as +priests, but are not in holy orders. Both he and they display the +greatest courage. The Frères Chrétiens are the foremost in picking up +the wounded; going forward long before the firing is over. The Bishop +prances about on his horse, dressed in a soutane and long boots, the +Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour on his breast, a golden crucifix +hanging from his neck, and a huge episcopal ring on his finger, outside +his gloves. Sometimes he appears in a red cloak, which, I presume, is a +part of his sacerdotal gear. I am told, by those who know him, that +"Monseigneur" is a consummate humbug, but he is very popular with the +soldiers, as he talks to them in their own language, and there certainly +is no humbug about his pluck. He is as steady under fire as if he were +in a pulpit. He was by the side of Ducrot when the general's horse was +killed under him. + +The events of the past week prove that General Trochu's sole available +force for resisting the enemy consists of the Line and the Mobiles. As +for the population of Paris, they are more than useless. They eat up the +provisions; they are endowed with a mixture of obstinacy and conceit, +which will very probably enable them to endure considerable hardships +rather than surrender; fight, however, they will not, although I am +convinced that, to the end of their lives, they will boast of their +heroic valour, and in the legend which will pass muster as history of +the siege of Paris, our grandchildren will be taught that in 1870, when +the French troops were all prisoners of war, the citizens of the French +capital "covered themselves with honour," and for nearly three months +held their town against the furious onslaughts of the victorious German +armies. The poor soldiers and the Mobiles, who do all the real fighting, +will experience the eternal truth of Virgil's _Sic vos non vobis_. But +there is no use being angry at what will happen in one hundred years, +for what does it signify to any who are now alive either in Paris or out +of Paris? + + +_December 5th._ + +A proclamation has been issued by the Government, announcing that the +troops have retired across the Marne, as the enemy has had time to +collect such a force in front of Villiers and Champigny, that further +efforts in this direction would be sterile. "The loss of the enemy +during the glorious days of the 29th and 30th November, and December +2nd, has been so great that, struck down in its pride of power, it has +allowed an army which it attacked the day before, to cross a river under +its eyes, and in the light of day," continues this manifesto. Now, +considering that the crossing took place at Joinville, and that the +river at that point is under the fire of three forts and two redoubts, +it appears to me that General Trochu might as well take credit to +himself for crossing the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. I will +say for the Government of to-day, that in any attempt to beat its +predecessor in mendacity it had a hard task, but it has worked with a +will, and completely succeeded. The military attachés who are still +here, consider that the French loss during the three days cannot be less +than 10,000 in killed and wounded. It is very unlikely that the +Government will admit a loss of above 2,000 or 3,000. That of the +Prussians is, we are told, far larger than ours. Without accepting this +assertion as gospel, it must have been very heavy. A friend of mine +himself counted 500 dead bodies in one wood. We have a certain number of +prisoners. With respect to the wounded Germans in our hands, I find that +there are about 30 in my hotel, as against above 400 French. In the +American ambulance, out of 130 only two are Germans. Colonel Claremont, +who had put off his departure, witnessed the fight in the redoubt which +General Favé had built opposite Joinville. He was nearly killed several +times by bombs from La Faisanderie, which was behind him, bursting +short. + +The Parisians are somewhat taken aback at the victory resulting in a +retreat. They appear, however, to be as ignorant of the environs of +their own capital as they are of foreign countries, and they never +condescend to consult a map. While some of them shake their heads in +despair of success, the majority are under the impression that Villiers +and Champigny are far beyond the range of the guns of our forts, and +that as the ground near them is still occupied by our troops, something +which will lead to the speedy retreat of the Prussians has been done. We +are two millions, they say; we will all die rather than surrender: and +they appear to be under the impression that if they only say this often +enough, Paris never will be taken. The Ultra-Democrats in the clubs have +a new theory to account for their refusal to fight. "We are," observed +an orator, a few nights ago, "the children of Paris, she has need of us; +can we leave her at such a moment?" Some of these heroes, indeed, assert +that the best plan would be to allow the Prussians to enter and then +convert them to the doctrines of Republicanism. I think it was St. +Augustine who did not despair of the devil eventually turning over a new +leaf; in the same way I heard an ardent patriot express the hope of +being able to convert "William" himself to the creed of the Universal +Republic. At the club where these fraternal sentiments were expressed +there is a lady who sits on the platform. When anyone makes what she +considers a good speech she embraces him on both cheeks. She is by no +means ugly, and I had serious thoughts of making a few observations +myself in view of the reward. That bashfulness, however, which has been +my bane through life, prevented me. The lady occasionally speaks +herself, and is fond of giving her own experiences. "I was on my way to +this club," she said, "the other evening, when I observed a man +following me. 'What dost thou want?' I asked, sternly eyeing him. 'I +love you,' replied the vile aristocrat. 'I am the wife of a citizen,' I +answered, 'and the mother of the Gracchi.' The wretch sneaked away, +abashed to seek other prey. If he addresses himself to some princess or +duchess he will probably find a victim." The loudest applause greeted +this "experience," and several very unclean-looking patriots rushed +forward to embrace the mother of the Gracchi, in order to show her how +highly they appreciated her noble conduct. + +The newspapers are already beginning to dread that possibly some doubts +may be cast upon the heroism of everyone during the last week. The +_Figaro_ contains the following:--"No matter what certain +correspondents--better known than they suppose--may say, and although +they are preparing to infect foreign countries with their +correspondence, our Bretons did not run away on Thursday. It is true +that when they saw the Saxons emerging from their holes and shouting +hurrah, our Bretons were a little troubled by this abrupt and savage +joke, but"--then follows the statement of several of the heroes +themselves that they fought like lions. The fact is, as I have already +stated in my letter of yesterday, the Mobiles fought only tolerably +well, and some of their battalions rather the reverse of well. The Line, +for young troops, behaved very fairly; and the reckless courage of the +officers, both of the Line and Mobile, was above all praise. It is, +however, a military axiom that when an undue proportion of officers are +killed in a battle their troops have hung back. Good soldiers cannot be +made in two months, and it is absurd to expect that raw lads, who were +taken from the plough a few weeks ago, would fight as well as trained +and hardened warriors. This however, we are called upon, in defiance of +facts, to believe, because "the soil of France produces soldiers." + +It is difficult to guess what will happen now. The generals must be +aware that unless one of the armies of the provinces takes the Prussians +in the rear, a fresh sortie will only result in a fresh butchery; but +then, on the other hand, the Parisians will not be satisfied until all +the Line and the Mobiles outside the walls have been killed, in order +that it may be said that the resistance of Paris was heroic. If I were +Trochu, I should organize a sortie exclusively of National Guards, in +order to show these gentry what a very different thing real fighting is +to parading about the streets of the capital and wearing a uniform. + +The following is a list of the prices of "luxuries:"--Terrines of +chicken, 16f; of rabbit, 13f; a fowl, 26f; a rabbit, 18f; a turkey, 60f; +a goose, 45f; one cauliflower, 3f; one cabbage, 4f; dog is 2f. a lb.; a +cat skinned costs 5f.; a rat, 1f., if fat from the drains, 1f. 50c. +Almost all the animals in the Jardin d'Acclimatation have been eaten. +They have averaged about 7f. a lb. Kangaroo, however, has been sold for +12f. the lb. Yesterday I dined with the correspondent of a London paper. +He had managed to get a large piece of mufflon, an animal which is, I +believe, only found in Corsica. I can only describe it by saying that it +tasted of mufflon, and nothing else. Without being absolutely bad, I do +not think that I shall take up my residence in Corsica, in order +habitually to feed upon it. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 1: A balloon letter, dated November 30, giving, it is +presumed, an account of the military operations on that day, suffered so +much _in transitu_, that it is illegible.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +_December 6th._ + +I am by no means certain that I should be a hero at the Equator, but I +am fully convinced that I should be an abject coward at the North Pole. +Three mornings ago I stood for two hours by the Ambulances de la Presse, +and my teeth have not ceased to chatter ever since. I pity the +unfortunate fellows who had to keep watch all night on the plateau of +Villiers more than those who were put out of their misery the day +before. When it is warm weather, one views with a comparative +resignation the Prussian batteries, and one has a sort of fanatical +belief that the bombs will not burst within striking distance; when the +thermometer is below zero, one imagines that every cannon within four +miles is pointed at one's head. I do not know how it may be with others, +but on me cold has a most unheroic effect. My legs become as wilful as +those of Mrs. Dombey's titled relative, and it is only by the strongest +effort of mind over matter that I can prevent them carrying me beyond +the reach of cannon-balls, bullets, and shells. I have a horrible vision +of myself lying all night with a broken leg in a ditch, gradually +freezing. On a warm summer's day I do not think very much of the courage +of those who fight well; on a cold winter's day, however, any man who +does not run away and take shelter by a fire deserves well of his +country. + +We are by no means a very happy family. General Ducrot and General +Blanchard have "had words." The latter, in the course of the dispute, +said to the former, "If your sword were as long as your tongue, you +would be a wonderful warrior indeed." Ducrot and Trochu are the literary +Generals; Vinoy and Blanchard the fighting Generals. It is reported also +that General Favé is to be superseded, though why I cannot learn, as his +redoubt may be said to have saved the army from a greater disaster. +While, however, the military men differ among themselves, they are all +agreed in abusing the National Guards, whom they irreverently call "Les +Charcutiers"--the pork butchers. When La Gare aux Boeufs was carried by +Admiral Pothuan and his sailors, two battalions of these heroes followed +in the rear. The Admiral and the sailors were somewhat astonished to +find that in the order of the day hardly anything was said of those who +really did all the fighting, but that the "pork butchers" were lauded to +the skies. General Trochu on this wrote a letter to the Admiral, +informing him that it was necessary for political reasons to encourage +the National Guard. Whilst the battle was going on at Villiers and +Champigny, the marching battalions of the National Guard were drawn up +almost out of shot. An order came to form them into line. Their +commander, General Clément Thomas, replied that this would be +impossible, as they would imagine that they were about to be taken into +action. Notwithstanding this, General Trochu congratulates them upon the +"moral support" which they afforded him. It is not surprising that the +real soldiers should feel hurt at this system of humbug. They declare +that at the next sortie they will force the Parisians to fight by +putting them in front, and firing on them if they attempt to run away. +It must be remembered that these fighting battalions consist of young +unmarried men, and if Paris is to be defended, there is no reason why +they should not be exposed to danger. The inhabitants of this city seem +to consider themselves a sacred race; they clamour for sorties, vow to +die for their country, and then wish to do it by procuration. I am +utterly disgusted with the difference between their words and their +deeds. The Mobiles and the Line have as yet done all the righting, and +yet, to read the Paris newspapers, one would suppose that the National +Guards, who have kept well out of all danger, have "covered themselves +with glory." Since the siege commenced they have done nothing but +swagger about in uniforms, and go in turns on the ramparts. They have +learnt to knock a penny off a cork at a distance of ten yards, and they +have carried on a very successful campaign against the sparrows. + +A fresh order was issued yesterday, suppressing all passes until further +notice. I have a pass _en règle_ from General Vinoy; but even with this, +the last time I went out of the town I was turned back at two gates +before I got through at the third. A good deal of discussion has taken +place among the foreign correspondents respecting the fairness of going +out with an ambulance under guise of the Geneva flag. I see myself no +objection to it, provided the correspondent really does make himself +useful in picking up the wounded. In the Prussian camp a correspondent +has a recognised position; here it is different, and he must use all +legitimate means to obtain intelligence of what is passing. My pass, for +instance, does not describe me as a correspondent, but as an Englishman +accredited by the British Embassy. At the commencement of the siege I +begged Mr. Wodehouse to give me a letter of introduction to M. Jules +Ferry, one of the members of the Government. This I did not deliver, but +at General Vinoy's headquarters I showed it to prove that I was not a +Prussian spy, but that I was known by my natural guardian. An +aide-de-camp then gave me a pass, and, not knowing precisely what to +call me, described me as "accredited by the British Embassy." I move +about, therefore, as a mysterious being--perhaps an Ambassador, perhaps +an Ambassador's valet. A friend of mine, who is an authority with the +Ambulance de la Presse, and who owns a carriage, has promised to call +for me when next the ambulances are sent for; but, as I have already +said, all my energy oozes out of me when the thermometer is below zero; +and unless the next battle is fought on a warm day, I shall not witness +it. As a matter of fact, unless one is riding with the staff of the +general who commands, one cannot form an idea of what is going on by +hanging about, and it is a horrible sight to look with an opera-glass at +men and horses being massacred. When knights charged each other with +lances there was a certain chivalry in war; but there is nothing either +noble or inspiriting in watching a quantity of unfortunate Breton +peasants, who cannot even speak French, and an equal number of Berlin +grocers, who probably ask for nothing better than to be back in their +shops, destroying each other at a distance of two or three miles with +balls of lead and iron, many of them filled with explosive materials. I +confess that I pity the horses almost as much as the men. It seems a +monstrous thing that in order that the Alsacians should be forced into +becoming subjects of King William of Prussia, an omnibus horse, who has +honestly done his work in the streets of Paris, should be taken outside +the walls of the town to have his head blown off or to stump about on +three legs until he dies of cold and hunger. Horses have a way when they +are wounded of making desperate efforts to get up, and then letting +their heads fall with a bang on the soil which is very horrible to +witness. + +Everybody in authority and out of it seems to have a different opinion +as to when the siege will end. I cannot think that when a town with two +million inhabitants is reduced to such expedients as this is now, it can +hold out very long. The rations, consisting alternately of horse and +salt fish, are still distributed, but they are hardly sufficient to keep +body and soul together. Unless we make up our minds to kill our +artillery horses, we shall soon come to the end of our supply. The +rumour to-day is that the Prussians have evacuated Versailles, and that +Frederick Charles has been beaten in a battle on the Loire, but I cannot +say that I attach great credit to either story. No pigeon has arrived +for the last three days, owing, it is supposed, to the cold; and until +we know for certain what d'Aurelles de Paladine is doing, we are unable +to form an accurate opinion of the chances of the siege being raised. +All that can be said is that, left to ourselves, we shall not be able to +break through the lines of investment, and that when we have eaten up +all our food, we shall have to capitulate. + + +_December 7th._ + +When this war commenced the Parisians believed in the bulletins which +their own Government issued, because they thought it only natural that +their arms should be successful, and they disbelieved in any foreign +newspaper which ventured to contest their victories. At present they are +incredulous alike of everything that comes from friend and foe. +Nine-tenths of them are under the impression that Count Moltke, in +announcing the defeat of the Army of the Loire, is guilty of a +deliberate falsehood; the other tenth supposes that he has grossly +exaggerated a slight mishap, and that the occupation of Orleans only +proves that Orleans was not defended by a large body of troops. It takes +about three days for any information which is not in accordance with the +wishes of this extraordinary population to obtain credit, no matter what +amount of evidence there may be to prove its truth. If really the Army +of the Loire has been put _hors de combat_, sooner or later the fact +will be admitted; then, although we shall still pin our faith to Kératry +or Bourbaki, the disaster will no doubt tend to produce a certain +degree of discouragement, more particularly as it is coupled with the +retreat of Ducrot's forces from the south bank of the Marne. French +politicians will insist upon dressing up their facts in order to meet +the requirements of the moment, and they never seem to consider that so +soon as the real state of things comes out there must be an inevitable +reaction, which will be far more depressing than if the truth had been +fairly told at once. I hear that when Count Moltke's letter arrived, two +of the members of the Government of National Defence were inclined to +accept his offer to verify what had occurred on the Loire, but that +General Trochu stated that he intended to resist until the last, and +that consequently, whether Orleans had fallen, or not, was a matter of +no importance. If Trochu really thinks that a further resistance and a +further sacrifice of life will materially advance the interests of his +country, of course he is right to hold out; but if, disregarding facts, +he simply wishes to oblige the Prussians to continue the siege, for no +purpose except to prove his own tenacity, he cannot be regarded either +as a good patriot or a sensible man. When the vote on the Plebiscite was +taken, his majority consisted of "Ouis" which were given because it was +supposed that he was about to treat. Since then we have gone on from day +to day vaguely hoping that either the Neutral Powers or the armies of +the provinces would get us out of the mess in which we are, or, even if +these failed us, that by a sortie the town would be revictualled. At +present none believe in the intervention of the Neutrals; few in the +success of a sortie; but all still cling, as drowning men do to a straw, +to the armies of the provinces. To destroy this belief it will be +necessary for the Prussians to obtain a substantial advantage not only +at Orleans, but over the armies of Kératry and Bourbaki. When once we +find that we are entirely left to our own resources, and that it is +impossible for us to penetrate the lines of investment, I cannot help +thinking that we shall yield to the force of circumstances. At present +all the newspapers are for fighting on as long as we have a crust, +regardless of the consequences; but then, as a rule, a besieged town is +never so near surrendering as when it threatens to hang the first man +who speaks of surrender. The majority would even now take a practical +view of matters if they dared, but Trochu is their man, and Trochu, much +to their secret sorrow, refuses to hear of a capitulation. + +Some German officers who are prisoners on parole have been insulted in a +restaurant, and for their own safety it has been found necessary to +confine them in La Roquette. I am not surprised at this. French officers +are, of course, incapable of this contemptible conduct, and it must be +owned that the majority of the Parisians have not, under the trying +circumstances in which they find themselves, lost that courtesy which is +one of the peculiar attributes of the nation. But there is a scum, who +lived from hand to mouth during the Empire, and which infests the +restaurants and the public places. Some of them wear the uniform of the +National Guard; others have attached themselves to the ambulances; and +all take very good care not to risk their precious lives. I was +peaceably dining last night in a restaurant; a friend with whom I had +been talking English had left me, and I found myself alone with four of +these worthies, who were dining at a table near me. For my especial +benefit they informed each other that all strangers here were outlaws +from their own country, and that the Americans and Italians who have +established ambulances were in all probability Prussian spies. As I took +no notice of these startling generalities, one of them turned to me and +said, "You may look at me, sir, but I assert before you that Dr. Evans, +the ex-dentist of the Emperor, was a spy." I quietly remarked, that not +having the honour to know Dr. Evans, and being myself an Englishman, +whilst the Doctor is an American, I was not responsible for him. "You +are a Greek," observed another; "I heard you talk Greek just now." I +mildly suggested that his knowledge of foreign tongues was, perhaps, +somewhat limited. "Well, if you are not a Greek," he said, "I saw you +the other morning near the Ambulance of the Press, to which I belong, +and so you must be a spy." "If you are an Englishman," cried his friend, +"why do you not go back to your own country, and fight Russia?" I +replied that the idea was an excellent one, but that it might, perhaps, +be difficult to pass through the Prussian lines. "The English Ambassador +is a friend of mine, and he will give you a pass at my request," +answered the gentleman who had mistaken English for Greek. I thanked +him, and assured him that I should esteem it a favour if he would obtain +from his friend Lord Lyons this pass for me. He said he would do so, as +it would be well to rid Paris of such vermin as myself and my +countrymen. He has not yet, however, fulfilled his promise. Scenes such +as these are of frequent occurrence at restaurants; bully and coward are +generally synonymous terms; any scamp may insult a foreigner now with +perfect impunity, for if the foreigner replies he has only to denounce +him as a spy, when a crowd will assemble, and either set on him or bear +him off to prison. While, as I have already said, nothing can be more +courteous than the conduct of French officers, French gentlemen, and, +unless they are excited, the French poorer classes, nothing can be more +insolent than that of the third-class dandies who reserve their valour +for the interior of the town, or who, if ever they venture outside of +its fortifications, take care to skulk beneath the protection of the +cross of Geneva. + +The _Journal Officiel_ contains a decree breaking up the battalion of +Belleville. These warriors, says their own Commander, ran away in the +presence of the enemy, refused the next day to go to the front, and +commenced fighting with their neighbours from La Villette. M. Gustave +Flourens, who is the hero of these men of war, and who, although +exercising no official rank in the battalion, insisted upon their +accepting him as their chief, is to be brought before a Council of War. + +My next-door neighbour, Franchetti, died yesterday, and was buried +to-day. He was a fine, handsome young man, well off, happily married, +and, as the commander of the Eclaireurs of the Seine, has done good +service during the siege. As he was an Israelite, he was followed to the +grave by the Rothschilds and many other of his co-religionists. + + +_December 8th._ + +M. de Sarcey, in the _Temps_ of to-day, enters into a lengthy argument +to prove that the Parisians are heroic. "Heroism is positive and +negative," he says, "and we have, for the sake of our country, deprived +ourselves during several months of the power to make money, and during +this time we have existed without many of the comforts to which we are +accustomed." Now, I by no means wish to undervalue the sacrifices of the +Parisians, but heroism is not the word for them. So long as there are +enough provisions in the town to enable every one to live without +feeling the pangs of hunger, they have no opportunity to show negative +heroism. So long as the town is not assaulted, and they do not take part +in sorties, they cannot be said to be actively heroic. A blockade such +as the Prussians have instituted round Paris, is no doubt most +disagreeable to its inhabitants. In submitting to it, undoubtedly they +show their patriotism and their power of passive endurance. Heroism is, +however, something more than either patriotism or endurance--it is an +exceptional quality which is rarely found in this world. If the +Parisians possessed it, I should admire them; because they do not, no +one has a right to blame them. + +The newspapers have now proved to their own complete satisfaction that +Count Moltke's assertion respecting the defeat of the Army of the Loire +can only refer to its rearguard, and although no news from without has +been received for several days, they insist that the greater portion of +this army has effected its junction with that of Bourbaki. A French +journalist, even when he is not obliged to do so, generally invents his +facts, and then reasons upon them with wonderful ingenuity. I do not +know whether the Paris journals get to you through the Prussian lines; +if they do not, you have little idea how much excellent advice you lose. +One would think that just at present a Parisian would do well to keep +his breath to cool his own porridge; such, however, is not his opinion. +He thinks that he has a mission to guide and instruct the world, and +this mission he manfully fulfils in defiance of Prussians and Prussian +cannon. It is true that he knows rather less of foreign countries than +an intelligent Japanese Daimio may be supposed to know of Tipperary, but +by some curious law of nature, the less he knows of a subject the more +strongly does he feel impelled to write about it. I read a very clever +article this morning, pointing out that, if we are not on our guard, our +empire in India will come to an end by a Russian fleet attacking it from +the Caspian Sea; and when one thinks how very easy it would have been +for the author not to write about the Caspian Sea, one is at once +surprised and grateful to him for having called our attention to the +danger which menaces us in that quarter of the globe. + +M. Gustave Flourens has been arrested and is now in prison. The clubs of +the Ultras are very indignant at the Government having accused the +braves of Belleville of cowardice. They feel convinced that the "Jesuit" +Trochu must have introduced some _mouchards_ into the band of heroes, +who received orders to run away, in order to discredit the whole +battalion. I was in the "Club de la Délivrance" this evening. It holds +its sittings in the Salle Valentino--a species of Argyle Rooms in +normal times. I held up my hand in favour of a resolution to call upon +the Government to inscribe upon marble tablets the names of the National +Guards who have died in the defence of Paris. The resolution was carried +unanimously. No National Guard has, indeed, yet been good enough to die; +but of course this fact was regarded as irrelevant. The next resolution +was that the concubines of patriots should enjoy the same right to +rations as legitimate wives. As the Club prides itself upon the stern +severity of its morals, this resolution was not carried. An orator then +proposed that all strangers should be banished from France. He was so +exceedingly lengthy that I did not wait until the end of his speech; I +am, therefore, unable to say whether his proposal was carried. The Club +de la Délivrance is by far the most reputable public assembly in Paris. +Those who take part in its proceedings are intensely respectable, and as +intensely dull and prosy. The suppression of gas has been a heavy blow +to the clubs. The Parisians like gas as much as lazzaroni like sunshine. +The grandest bursts of patriotic eloquence find no response from an +audience who listen to them beneath half-a-dozen petroleum lamps. It is +somewhat singular, but it is not the less certain, that the effect of a +speech depends very much upon the amount of light in the room in which +it is delivered. I remember once I went down to assist a friend of mine +in an electioneering campaign in a small borough. His opponent was a +most worthy and estimable squire, who resided in the neighbourhood. It +was, of course, my business to prove that he was a despicable knave and +a drivelling idiot. This I was engaged in doing at a public meeting in +the town-hall. The Philippics of Demosthenes were milk and water in +comparison with my denunciations--when just at the critical moment--as I +was carrying conviction into the breasts of the stolid Britons who were +listening to me, the gas flickered and went out. Three candles were +brought in. I recommenced my thunder; but it was of no use. The candles +utterly destroyed its effect, and two days afterwards the squire became +an M.P., and still is a silent ornament of St. Stephen's. + +I trust that England never will be invaded. But if it is, we shall do +well to profit by the experience of what is occurring here. There must +be no English force, half citizen half soldier. All who take part in the +national defence must submit to the strict discipline of soldiers. A +vast amount of money has been laid out in equipping the National Guard. +Their pay alone amounts to above 20,000fr. per diem, and, as far as the +defence of Paris is concerned, they might as well have remained quietly +by their own firesides. There are, no doubt, brave men among them, but +as their battalions insist upon being regarded as citizens even when +under arms, they have no discipline, and are little better than an armed +mob. The following extract from an article in the last number of the +_Revue des Deux Mondes_ gives some interesting details respecting their +habits when on duty behind that most useless of all works of defence, +the line of the Paris fortifications:--"On the arrival of a battalion, +the chief of the post arranges the hours during which each man is to be +on active duty. After this, the men occupy themselves as they please. +Some play at interminable games of _bouchon_; others, notwithstanding +orders to the contrary, turn their attention to écarté and piquet; +others gossip over the news of the day with the artillerymen, who are +keeping guard by the side of their cannon. Some go away on leave, or +disappear without leave; they make excursions beyond the ramparts, or +shut themselves up in the billiard-room of some café. Many make during +the course of the day frequent visits to the innumerable canteens, which +succeed each other almost without interruption along the Rue des +Ramparts. Here old women have lit a few sticks under a pot, and sell, +for a penny the glass, a horrible brew called 'petit noir,' composed of +sugar, eau de vie, and the grains of coffee, boiled up together. Behind +there is a line of cook shops, the proprietors of which announce that +they have been commissioned to provide food. These speculators offer for +sale greasy soup, slices of horse, and every species of alcoholic drink. +Each company has, too, its cantinière, and round her cart there is +always a crowd. It seldom happens that more than one-half of the men of +the battalion are sober. Fortunately, the cold of the night air sobers +them. Between eight and nine in the evening there is a gathering in the +tent. A circle is formed in it round a single candle, and whilst the +flasks go round tale succeeds to song, and song to tale, until at length +all fall asleep, and are only interrupted in their slumbers until +morning by the corporal, who, once every hour, enters and calls out the +names of those who are to go on the watch. The abuse of strong drink +makes shameful ravages in our ranks, and is productive of serious +disorder. Few nights pass without false alarms, without shots foolishly +fired upon imaginary enemies, and without lamentable accidents. Every +night there are disputes, which often degenerate into fights, and then +in the morning, when explanations take place, these very explanations +are an excuse for recommencing drinking. Rules, indeed, are not wanting +to abate all this, but the misfortune is that they are never executed. +The indiscipline of the National Guard contrasts strangely with the +patriotism of their words. Most of the insubordination may be ascribed +to drunkenness, but the _mauvaise tenue_ which is so apparent in too +many battalions is due also to many other causes. The primary +organisation of the National Guard was ill-conceived and ill-executed, +and when the enrolments had been made, and the battalions formed, day +after day a fresh series of orders were promulgated, so diffuse, so +obscure, and so contradictory, that the officers, despairing to make +head or tail of them, gave up any attempt to enforce them." + +The attempt at the last hour to form marching battalions out of these +citizen soldiers, by obliging each sedentary battalion to furnish 150 +men, has not been a very successful one. The marching battalions, it is +true, have been formed, but they have not yet been engaged with the +enemy; and it certainly is the opinion of military men that it will be +advisable, for the credit of French arms, to "keep them in reserve" +during any future engagement which may take place. General Clément +Thomas has issued a series of general orders, from the tenor of which it +would appear that the system of substitutes has been largely practised +in these battalions. I have myself no doubt of the fact. The fault, +however, lies with the Government. When these battalions were formed, +the respective categories of unmarried and married men between 25 and +35, and between 35 and 45, were only to be drawn upon in case a +sufficient number of volunteers were not forthcoming. It became, +consequently, the interest of the men in these categories to encourage +volunteering, and this was done on a large and liberal scale. The +Government, if it wanted men, should have called to arms all between 25 +and 35, and have allowed no exemptions. These new levies should have +been subjected to the same discipline as the Line and the Mobiles. It +must now accept the consequences of not having ventured to take this +step. For all operations beyond the enceinte General Trochu's force +consists of the Line and the Mobiles. All that he can expect from the +Parisians is a "moral support." + + +_December 9th._ + +Nothing new. If the Government has received any news from without, it +carefully conceals it. A peasant, the newspapers say, has made his way +through the Prussian lines, and has brought the information that the +armies of the Loire and of Bourbaki are close to Fontainebleau. The cry +is still that we will resist to the last, and for the moment every one +seems to have forgotten that in a few weeks our provisions will all have +been consumed. If we wait to treat until our last crust has been eaten, +the pinch will come after the capitulation; for with the railroads and +the high roads broken up, and the surrounding country devastated, a +fortnight at least must elapse before supplies, in any quantity, can be +thrown into the town. + +I hear that the Prussian officers who were (says the _Journal Officiel_) +insulted in a café, have been exchanged. A friend of mine, an ex-French +diplomatist, was present when the scene occurred, and he tells me that +the officers, who were all young men, were, to say the least of it, +exceedingly indiscreet. Instead of eating their dinner quietly, they +indulged in a good deal of loud, and by no means wise conversation, and +their remarks were calculated to offend those Frenchmen who heard them. + + +_December 15th._ + +Still no news from the outer world. I trust that M. Jansen, who was +dispatched the other day in a balloon to witness the eclipse of the sun, +will be more fortunate in his endeavours to discover what is going on in +that luminary, than we are in ours to learn what is happening within +twenty miles of us. Search has been made to find the peasant who +announced that he had seen a French army at Corbeil, but this remarkable +agriculturist is not forthcoming. Persons at the outposts say that they +heard cannon in the direction of Fontainebleau, when they put their ears +to the ground, but none believe them. Four officers, who were taken +prisoners on the 12th of the month near Orleans, have been sent in, as +an exchange for the Prussian officers who were insulted at a restaurant, +but they are so stupid that it has been impossible to glean anything +from them except that their division was fighting when they were taken +prisoners. A dead, apathetic torpor has settled over the town. Even the +clubs are deserted. There are no groups of gossips in the streets. No +one clamours for a sortie, and no one either blames or praises Trochu. +The newspapers still every morning announce that victory is not far off. +But their influence is gone. The belief that the evil day cannot be far +off is gradually gaining ground, and those who are in a position to know +more accurately the precise state of affairs, take a still more hopeless +view of them than the masses. The programme of the Government seems to +be this--to make a sortie in a few days, then to fall back beneath the +forts; after this to hold out until the provisions are eaten up, and +then, after having made a final sortie, to capitulate. Trochu is +entirely in the hands of Ducrot, who, with the most enterprising of the +officers, insists that the military honour of the French arms demands +that there should be more fighting, even though success be not only +improbable but impossible. The other day, in a council of war, Trochu +began to speak of the armies of the provinces. "I do not care for your +armies of the provinces," replied Ducrot. Poor Trochu, like many weak +men, must rely upon some one. First it was the neutrals, then it was the +armies of the provinces, and now it is Ducrot. As for his famous plan, +that has entirely fallen through. It was based, I understand, upon some +impossible manoeuvres to the north of the Marne. The members of the +Government of National Defence meddle little with the direction of +affairs. M. Picard is openly in favour of treating at once. M. Jules +Favre is very downcast; he too wishes to treat, but he cannot bring +himself to consent to a cession of territory. Another member of the +Government was talking yesterday to a friend of mine. He seemed to fear +that when the people learn that the stock of provisions is drawing to a +close, there will be riots. The Government dares not tell them the +truth. Several members of the Government, I hear, intend to leave +shortly in balloons, and Trochu, as military Governor of Paris, will be +left to his own devices. He himself says that he never will sign a +capitulation, and it is suggested that when there is no more food, the +Prussians shall be allowed to enter without opposition, without any +terms having been previously agreed to. The Parisians are now contending +for their supremacy over the provinces, and they seem to think that if +they only hold out until famine obliges them to give in, that supremacy +will not hereafter be disputed. + +It is impossible to give precise data respecting the store of provisions +now in Paris, nor even were I able would it be fair to do so. As a +matter of private opinion, however, I do not think that it will be +possible to prolong the resistance beyond the first week in January at +the latest. Last Sunday there were incipient bread-riots. By one o'clock +all the bakers had closed their shops in the outer faubourg. There had +been a run upon them, because a decree had been issued in the morning +forbidding flour to be sold, and requisitioning all the biscuits in +stock. Government immediately placarded a declaration that bread was not +going to be requisitioned, and the explanation of the morning's decree +is that flour and not corn has run short, but that new steam-mills are +being erected to meet the difficulty. _La Vérité_, a newspaper usually +well informed, says that for some days past the flour which had been +stored in the town by M. Clément Duvernois has been exhausted, and that +we are now living on the corn and meal which was introduced at the last +moment from the neighbouring departments. It gives the following +calculation of our resources--flour three weeks, corn three months, salt +meat fifteen days, horse two months. The mistake of all these +calculations seems to be that they do not take into account the fact +that more bread or more corn will be eaten when they become the sole +means of providing for the population. Thus the daily return of flour +sold in Paris is about one-third above the average. The reason is +simple, and yet it seems to occur to no one. French people, more +particularly the poorer classes, can exist upon much less than +Englishmen; but the prospect for any one blessed with a good appetite is +by no means reassuring. In the Rue Blanche there is a butcher who sells +dogs, cats, and rats. He has many customers, but it is amusing to see +them sneak into the shop after carefully looking round to make sure that +none of their acquaintances are near. A prejudice has arisen against +rats, because the doctors say that their flesh is full of trichinæ. I +own for my part I have a guilty feeling when I eat dog, the friend of +man. I had a slice of a spaniel the other day, it was by no means bad, +something like lamb, but I felt like a cannibal. Epicures in dog flesh +tell me that poodle is by far the best, and recommend me to avoid bull +dog, which is coarse and tasteless. I really think that dogs have some +means of communicating with each other, and have discovered that their +old friends want to devour them. The humblest of street curs growls when +anyone looks at him. _Figaro_ has a story that a man was followed for a +mile by a party of dogs barking fiercely at his heels. He could not +understand to what their attentions were due, until he remembered that +he had eaten a rat for his breakfast. The friend of another journalist, +who ate a dog called Fox, says that whenever anyone calls out "Fox" he +feels an irresistible impulse which forces him to jump up. As every +Christmas a number of books are published containing stories about dogs +as remarkable as they are stale, I recommend to their authors these two +veracious tales. Their veracity is guaranteed by Parisian journalists. +Can better evidence be required? + +We are already discussing who will be sent to Germany. We suppose that +the army and the Mobiles, and perhaps the officers of the National +Guard will have to make the journey. One thing, I do hope that the +Prussians will convey across the Rhine all the Parisian journalists, and +keep them there until they are able to pass an elementary examination in +the literature, the politics, the geography, and the domestic economy of +Germany. A little foreign travel would do these blind leaders of the +blind a world of good, and on their return they would perhaps have +cleared their minds of their favourite delusion that civilization is +co-terminous with the frontiers of France. + +How M. Picard provides for the financial requirements of his colleagues +is a mystery. The cost of the siege amounts in hard cash to about +£20,000,000. To meet the daily draw on the exchequer no public loan has +been negotiated, and nothing is raised by taxation. The monthly +instalments which have been paid on the September loan cannot altogether +amount to very much, consequently the greater portion of this large sum +can only have been obtained by a loan from the bank and by _bons de +trésor_ (exchequer bills). What the proportion between the bank loan and +the _bons de trésor_ in circulation is I am unable to ascertain. M. +Picard, like all finance ministers, groans daily over the cost of the +prolongation of the siege, and it certainly appears a very doubtful +question whether France will really benefit by Paris living at its +expense for another month. + +Military matters remain _in statu quo_. The army is camped in the wood +of Vincennes. The forts occasionally fire. The Prussians seem to be of +opinion that our next sortie will be in the plain of Genevilliers, as +they are working hard on their fortifications along their lines between +St. Denis and St. Cloud, and they have replaced the levies of the +smaller States by what we call here "real" Prussians. Our engineer +officers consider that the Prussians have three lines of investment, the +first comparatively weak, the second composed of strategical lines, by +which a force of 40,000 men can be brought on any point within two +hours; the third consisting of redoubts, which would prevent artillery +getting by them. To invest a large town, say our officers, is not so +difficult a task as it would appear at first sight. Artillery can only +move along roads, and consequently all that is necessary is to occupy +the roads solidly. General Blanchard has been removed from his command, +and is to be employed in the Third Army under Vinoy. His dispute with +Ducrot arose from a remark which the latter made respecting officers who +did not remain with their men after a battle; and as Blanchard had been +in Paris the day before, he took this general stricture to himself. +Personalities of a very strong nature were exchanged between the two +warriors, and it was thought well that henceforward they should, as much +as possible, be kept apart. General Favé also, who commanded the redoubt +near Joinville, which arrested the advance of the Prussians on the +second battle of Villiers, has "had words." It appears that he declined +to obey an order which was forwarded to him, on the ground of its +absurdity, saying that he was responsible to his conscience. +Indiscipline has been the curse of the French army since the +commencement of the war, and it will continue to be so to the end. +During the siege there have been many individual traits of heroism, but +the armed force has been little better than a mob, and Trochu has not +had the moral courage to enforce his will on his generals. Ducrot says +that he is determined to take the war battalions of the National Guards +under fire at the next sortie, but whether he will succeed remains to be +seen. In these marching battalions there are undoubtedly many brave men, +but both officers and soldiers are inexperienced, and when they see men +falling before them, struck down by an invisible enemy, they lose all +presence of mind. + +I do not think, as far as regards the Parisians, Count Bismarck is right +in his opinion that the French will for many years to come attempt to +reverse the verdict of the present war. The Parisian bourgeois is fond +of saving money. As long as war meant a military promenade of the army +across the Rhine, followed by a triumphal entry into Paris, he was by no +means averse to it, for he considered that a French victory reflected +itself on him, and made him a hero in the eyes of the world. Now, +however, that he has discovered that there is a reverse to this picture, +and that it may very possibly mean ruin to himself, he will be very +cautious before he again risks the hazard of the die. Should the +disasters of France result in the emancipation of the provinces from the +rule of Paris, they will be a positive benefit to the nation. If the +thirty-eight million Frenchmen outside Paris are such fools as to allow +themselves to be ruled by the two million amiable, ignorant, bragging +humbugs who are within it, France will most deservedly cease to be a +power of Europe. If this country is to recover from the ruin in which it +is overwhelmed it is absolutely essential that Paris should cease to be +its political capital, and that the Parisians should not have a greater +share in moulding its future policy than they are numerically entitled +to. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +_December 18th._ + +Prisoners have before now endeavoured to while away their long hours of +captivity by watching spiders making their webs. I can understand this. +In the dreary monotony of this dreariest of sieges a spider would be an +event. But alas, the spider is outside, and we are the flies caught in +his toils. Never did time hang so heavily on human beings as it hangs on +us. Every day seems to have twice the usual number of hours. I have +ceased to wind up my watch for many a week. I got tired of looking at +it; and whether it is ten in the morning or two in the afternoon is much +the same to me; almost everyone has ceased to shave; they say that a +razor so near their throats would be too great a temptation. Some have +married to avoid active service, others to pass the time. "When I knew +that there was an army between my wife and myself," observed a cynic to +me yesterday, "I rejoiced, but even the society of my wife would be +better than this." There is a hideous old woman, like unto one of +Macbeth's witches, who makes my bed. I had a horrible feeling that some +day or other I should marry her, and I have been considerably relieved +by discovering that she has a husband and several olive branches. Here +is my day. In the morning the boots comes to call me. He announces the +number of deaths which have taken place in the hotel during the night. +If there are many he is pleased, as he considers it creditable to the +establishment. He then relieves his feelings by shaking his fist in the +direction of Versailles, and exit growling "Canaille de Bismarck." I get +up. I have breakfast--horse, _café au lait_--the _lait_ chalk and +water--the portion of horse about two square inches of the noble +quadruped. Then I buy a dozen newspapers, and after having read them, +discover that they contain nothing new. This brings me to about eleven +o'clock. Friends drop in, or I drop in on friends. We discuss how long +it is to last--if friends are French we agree that we are sublime. At +one o'clock get into the circular railroad, and go to one or other of +the city gates. After a discussion with the National Guards on duty, +pass through. Potter about for a couple of hours at the outposts; try +with glass to make out Prussians; look at bombs bursting; creep along +the trenches; and wade knee deep in mud through the fields. The +Prussians, who have grown of late malevolent even toward civilians, +occasionally send a ball far over one's head. They always fire too high. +French soldiers are generally cooking food. They are anxious for news, +and know nothing about what is going on. As a rule they relate the +episode of some _combat d'avantposte_ which took place the day before. +The episodes never vary. 5 P.M.--Get back home; talk to doctors about +interesting surgical operations; then drop in upon some official to +interview him about what is doing. Official usually first mysterious, +then communicative, not to say loquacious, and abuses most people except +himself. 7 P.M.--Dinner at a restaurant; conversation general; almost +everyone in uniform. Still the old subjects--How long will it last? Why +does not Gambetta write more clearly? How sublime we are; what a fool +everyone else is. Food scanty, but peculiar. At Voisins to-day the bill +of fare was ass, horse, and English wolf from the Zoological Garden. A +Scotchman informed me that this latter was a fox of his native land, +and patriotically gorged himself with it. I tried it, and not being a +Scotchman, found it horrible, and fell back upon the patient ass. After +dinner, potter on the Boulevards under the dispiriting gloom of +petroleum; go home and read a book. 12 P.M.--Bed. They nail up the +coffins in the room just over mine every night, and the tap, tap, tap, +as they drive in the nails, is the pleasing music which lulls me to +sleep. Now, I ask, after having endured this sort of thing day after day +for three months, can I be expected to admire Geist, Germany, or Mr. +Matthew Arnold? I sigh for a revolution, for a bombardment, for an +assault, for anything which would give us a day's excitement. + +I enclose you Gambetta's latest pigeon despatch. His style is so +grandiloquently vague that we can make neither head nor tail of it. We +cannot imagine what has become of Aurelles de Paladine and of the army +of Kératry. The optimists say that Gambetta means that Bourbaki and +Chanzy have surrounded Frederick Charles; the pessimists, that Frederick +Charles has got between them. The general feeling seems to be that the +provinces are doing more than was expected of them, but that they will +fail to succour us. Here some of the newspapers urge Trochu to make a +sortie, in order to prevent reinforcements being sent to Frederick +Charles, others deprecate it as a useless waste of life. General Clément +Thomas, who succeeded Tamisier about a month ago in the command of the +National Guards, seems to be the right man in the right place. He is +making great efforts to convert these citizens into soldiers, and stands +no nonsense. Not a day passes without some patriotic captain being tried +by court-martial for drunkenness or disobedience. If a battalion +misbehaves itself, it is immediately gibbeted in the order of the day. +The newspapers cry out against this. They say that Clément Thomas +forgets that the National Guards are his children, and that dirty linen +ought to be washed at home. "If this goes on, posterity," they complain, +"will say that we were little more than a mob of undisciplined +drunkards." I am afraid that Clément Thomas will not have time to carry +out his reforms; had they been commenced earlier, there is no reason why +Paris should not have had on foot 100,000 good troops. + +Mr. Herbert tells me that there are now above 1,000 persons on the +English fund, and that every week there are about 30 new applications. +Unknown and mysterious English emerge from holes and corners every day. +Mr. Herbert thinks that there cannot be less than 3,000 of them still in +Paris, almost all destitute. The French Government sold him a short time +ago 30,000 lbs. of rice, and this, with the chocolate and Liebig which +he has in hand will last him for about three weeks. If the siege goes on +longer it is difficult to know how all these poor people will live. +Funds are not absolutely wanting, but it is doubtful whether even with +money it will be possible to buy anything beyond bread, if that. Mr. +Herbert thinks that it would be most desirable to send, if possible, a +provision of portable food, such as Liebig's extract of meat, as near to +Paris as possible; so that, whenever the siege ceases, it may at once be +brought into the town, as otherwise it is very probable that many of +these English will die of starvation before food can reach them. It does +seem to me perfectly monstrous that for years we should have, in +addition to an Embassy, kept a Consul here, and that he should have been +allowed to go off on leave to some watering place at the very moment at +which his services were most required. When the Embassy left, a sort of +deputy-consul remained here; but with a perfect ingenuity of stupidity, +the Foreign-office officials ordered this gentleman to withdraw with Mr. +Wodehouse, the secretary. Heine said of his fellow-countrymen, "they are +born stupid, and a bureaucratic education makes them wicked." Had he +been an Englishman instead of a Prussian he would have said the same, +and with even more truth, of certain persons who, not for worlds would I +name, but who do not reside 100 miles from Downing-street. + + +_December 21st._ + +When the Fenians in the United States meditate a raid upon Canada, they +usually take very great care to allow their intentions to be known. Our +sorties are much like these Hibernian surprises. If the Prussians do not +know when we are about to attack, they cannot complain that it is our +fault. The "Après vous, Messieurs les Anglais," still forms the +chivalrous but somewhat naïf tactics of the Gauls. On Sunday, as a first +step to military operations, the gates of the city were closed to all +unprovided with passes. On Monday a grand council of generals and +admirals took place at the Palais Royal. Yesterday, and all last night, +drums were beating, trumpets were blowing, and troops were marching +through the streets. The war battalions of the National Guard, in their +new uniforms, spick and span, were greeted with shouts, to which they +replied by singing a song, the chorus of which is "Vive la guerre, +Piff-Paff," and which has replaced the "Marseillaise." As the ambulances +had been ordered to be ready to start at six in the morning, I presumed +that business would commence at an early hour, and I ordered myself to +be called at 5.30. I was called, and got out of my bed, but, alas for +noble resolutions! having done so, I got back again into it and remained +between the sheets quietly enjoying that sleep which is derived from the +possession of a good conscience, and a still better digestion, until the +clock struck nine. + +It was not until past eleven o'clock that I found myself on the outside +of the gate of La Villette, advancing, as Grouchy should have done at +Waterloo, in the direction of the sound of the cannon. From the gate a +straight road runs to Le Bourget, having the Fort of Aubervilliers on +the right, and St. Denis on the left. Between the fort and the gate +there were several hundred ambulance waggons, and above a thousand +"brancardiers," stamping their feet and blowing on their fingers to keep +themselves warm. In the fields on each side of the road there were +numerous regiments of Mobiles drawn up ready to advance if required. Le +Bourget, everyone said, had been taken in the morning, our artillery was +on ahead, and we were carrying everything before us, so towards Le +Bourget I advanced. About a mile from Le Bourget, there is a cross-road +running to St. Denis through Courneuve. Here I found the barricade which +had formed our most advanced post removed. Le Bourget seemed to be on +fire. Shells were falling into it from the Prussian batteries, and, as +well as I could make out, our forts were shelling it too. Our artillery +was on a slight rise to the right of Le Bourget, in advance of Drancy; +and in the fields between Drancy and this rise, heavy masses of troops +were drawn up in support. Officers assured me that Le Bourget was still +in our possession, and that if I felt inclined to go there, there was +nothing to prevent me. I confess I am not one of those persons who snuff +up the battle from afar, and feel an irresistible desire to rush into +the middle of it. To be knocked on the head by a shell, merely to +gratify one's curiosity, appears to me to be the utmost height of +absurdity. Those who put themselves between the hammer and the anvil, +come off generally second best, and I determined to defer my visit to +the interesting village before me until the question whether it was to +belong to Gaul or Teuton had been definitely decided. So I turned off to +the left and went to St. Denis. + +Here everybody was in the streets, asking everybody else for news. The +forts all round it were firing heavily. On the Place before the +Cathedral there was a great crowd of men, women, and children. The +sailors, who are quartered here in great numbers, said that they had +carried Le Bourget early in the morning, but that they had been obliged +to fall back, with the loss of about a third of their number. Most of +them had hatchets by their sides, and they attack a position much as if +they were boarding a ship. About 100 prisoners had been brought into the +town in the morning, as well as two Frères Chrétiens, who had been +wounded, and for whom the greatest sympathy was expressed. Little seemed +to be known of what was passing. "The Prussians will be here in an +hour," shouted one man; "The Prussians are being exterminated," shouted +another. "What is this?" cried the crowd, as Monseigneur Bauer, the +bishop _in partibus infidelium_ of some place or other, now came riding +along with his staff. He held up his two fingers, and turned his hand +right and left. His pastoral blessing was, however, but a half success. +The women crossed themselves, and the men muttered "farceur." The war +which is now raging has produced many oddities, but none to my mind +equal to this bishop. His great object is to see and be seen, and most +thoroughly does he succeed in his object. He is a short, stout man, +dressed in a cassock, a pair of jack-boots with large spurs, and a hat +such as you would only see at the opera. On his breast he wears a huge +star. Round his neck is a chain, with a great golden cross attached to +it; and on his fingers, over his gloves, he wears gorgeous rings. The +trappings of his horse are thickly sprinkled with Geneva crosses. By his +side rides a standard-bearer, bearing aloft a flag with a red cross. +Eight aides-de-camp, arrayed in a sort of purple and gold fancy uniform, +follow him, and the _cortége_ is closed by two grooms in unimpeachable +tops. In this guise, and followed by this état major, he is a +conspicuous figure upon a field of battle, and produces much the same +effect as the head of a circus riding into a town on a piebald horse, +surrounded by clowns and pets of the ballet. He was the confessor of the +Empress, and is now the aumônier of the Press; but why he wears +jack-boots, why he capers about on a fiery horse, why he has a staff of +aides-de-camp, and why he has two grooms, are things which no one seems +to know. He patronises generals and admirals, doctors and commissariat +officers, and they submit to be patronised by him. Half-priest, +half-buffoon, something of a Friar Tuck and something of a Louis XV. +abbé, he is a sort of privileged person, who by the mere force of +impudence has made his way in the world. Most English girls in their +teens fall in love with a curate and a cavalry officer. Monseigneur +Bauer, who combines in himself the unctuous curate and the dashing +dragoon, is adored by the fair sex in Paris. He knows how to adapt his +conversation to the most opposite kind of persons, and I should not be +surprised if he becomes a Cardinal before he dies. + +The arrival of Dr. Ricord was the next event. He was in a basket +pony-chaise, driving two ponies not much larger than rats. A pole about +twelve feet high, bearing the flag of the Geneva Cross, was stuck beside +him, and it was knocking against the telegraph wires which ran along the +street. The eminent surgeon was arrayed in a long coat buttoned up to +his chin and coming down to his feet. On his head was a kepi which was +far too large for him. He looked like one of those wooden figures of +Noah, when that patriarch with his family is lodged in a child's ark. +Having inspected the bishop and the doctor with respectful admiration, +and instituted a search for some bread and wine, I thought it was time +to see what was going on outside. On emerging from St. Denis everything +except the guns of the forts appeared quiet. I had not, however, gone +far in the direction of Le Bourget, which was still burning, when I was +stopped by a regiment marching towards St. Denis, some of the officers +of which told me that the village had been retaken by the Prussians--the +artillery, too, which I had left on the rise before Drancy, had +disappeared. At a farmyard close by Drancy I saw Ducrot and his staff. +The General had his hood drawn over his head, and both he and his +aide-de-camp looked so glum, that I thought it just as well not to +congratulate him upon the operations of the day. In and behind Drancy +there were a large number of troops, who I heard were to camp there +during the night. None seemed exactly to know what had happened. The +officers and soldiers were not in good spirits. On my return into Paris, +however, I found the following proclamation of the Government posted on +the walls:--"2 p.m.--The attack commenced this morning by a great +deployment from Mont Valérien to Nogent, the combat has commenced and +continues everywhere, with favourable chances for us.--Schmitz." The +people on the Boulevards seem to imagine that a great victory has been +gained. When one asks them where? They answer "everywhere." I can only +answer myself for what occurred at Le Bourget. I hear that Vinoy has +occupied Nogent, on the north of the Marne; the resistance he +encountered could not, however, have been very great, as only seven +wounded have been brought into this hotel, and only one to the American +ambulance. General Trochu announced this morning that 100 battalions of +the National Guards are outside the walls, and I shall be curious to +learn how they conduct themselves under fire. Far be it from me to say +that they will not fight like lions. If they do, however, it will +surprise most of the military men with whom I have spoken on the +subject. As yet all they have done has been to make frequent "pacts with +death," to perform unauthorised strategical movements to the rear +whenever they have been sent to the front, to consume much liquor, to +pillage houses, and--to put it poetically--toy with Amaryllis in the +trench, or with the tangles of Nearas' hair. Their General, Clément +Thomas, is doing his best to knock them into shape, but I am afraid that +it is too late. There are cases in which, in defiance of the proverb, it +is too late to mend. + +Officers in a position to know, assure me that no really serious sortie +will be made, but that after two or three days of the sham fights, such +as took place to-day, the troops will quietly return into Paris. The +object of General Trochu is, they say, to amuse the Parisians, and if he +can by hook or by crook get the National Guard under the mildest of +fires, to celebrate their heroism, in order that they may return the +compliment. I cannot, however, believe that no attempt will be made to +fight a battle; the troops are now massed from St. Denis to the Marne; +within two hours they can all be brought to any point along this line, +and I should imagine that either to-morrow or the next day, something +will be done in the direction of the Forest of Bondy. Trochu, it is +daily felt more strongly, even by calm temperate men, is not the right +man in the right place. He is a respectable literary man, utterly unfit +to cope with the situation. His great aim seems now to be to curry +favour with the Parisian population by praising in all his proclamations +the National Guards, and ascribing to them a courage of which as yet +they have given no proof. This, of course, injures him with the Line and +the Mobiles, who naturally object to their being called upon to do all +the fighting, whilst others are lauded for it. The officers all swear by +Vinoy, and hold the military capacity both of Trochu and Ducrot very +cheap. In the desperate strait to which Paris is reduced, something more +than a man estimable for his private virtues, and his literary +attainments is required. Trochu, as we are frequently told, gave up his +brougham in order to adopt his nephews. Richard III. killed his; but +these are domestic questions, only interesting to nephews, and it by no +means follows that Richard III. would not have been a better defender of +Paris than Trochu has proved himself to be. His political aspirations +and his military combinations are in perpetual conflict. He is ever +sacrificing the one to the other, and, consequently, he fails both as a +general and as a statesman. + +In order to form an opinion with regard to the condition of the poorer +classes, I went yesterday into some of the back slums in the +neighbourhood of the Boulevard de Clichy. The distress is terrible. +Women and children, half starved, were seated at their doorsteps, with +hardly clothes to cover them decently. They said that, as they had +neither firewood nor coke, they were warmer out-of-doors than in-doors. +Many of the National Guards, instead of bringing their money home to +their families, spent it in drink; and there are many families, composed +entirely of women and children, who, in this land of bureaucracy, are +apparently left to starve whilst it is decided to what category they +belong. The Citizen Mottu, the Ultra-Democratic Mayor, announced that in +his arrondissement all left-handed marriages are to be regarded as +valid, and the left-handed spouses of the National Guards are to receive +the allowance which is granted to the legitimate wives of these +warriors. But a new difficulty has arisen. Left-handed polygamy prevails +to a great extent among the Citizen Mottu's admirers. Is a lady who has +five husbands entitled to five rations, and is a lady who only owns the +fifth of a National Guard to have only one-fifth of a ration? These are +questions which the Citizen Mottu is now attempting to solve. As for the +future, he has solved the matrimonial question by declining to celebrate +marriages, because, he says, this bond is an insult upon those who +prefer to ignore it. As regards marriage, consequently--and that +alone--his arrondissement resembles the kingdom of heaven. I went to +see, yesterday, what was going on in the house of a friend of mine in +the Avenue de l'Impératrice, who has left Paris. The servant who was in +charge told me that up there they had been unable to obtain bread for +three days, and that the last time that he had presented his ration +ticket he had been given about half an inch of cheese. "How do you live, +then?" I asked. After looking mysteriously round to see that no one was +watching us, he took me down into the cellar, and pointed to some meat +in barrel. "It is half a horse," he said, in the tone of a man who is +showing some one the corpse of his murdered victim. "A neighbouring +coachman killed him, and we salted him down and divided it." Then he +opened a closet in which sat a huge cat. "I am fattening her up for +Christmas-day, we mean to serve her up surrounded with mice, like +sausages," he observed. Many Englishmen regard it as a religious duty to +eat turkey at Christmas, but fancy fulfilling this duty by devouring +cat. It is like an Arab in the desert, who cannot wash his hands when he +addresses his evening prayer, and makes shift with sand. This reminds me +that some antiquarian has discovered that in eating horse we are only +reverting to the habits of the ancient Gauls. Before the Christian +religion was introduced into the country, the Druids used to sacrifice +horses, which were afterwards eaten. Christianity put an end to these +sacrifices, and horse-flesh then went out of fashion. + +_La France_ thus speaks of the last despatch of Gambetta:--"At length we +have received official news from Tours. We read the despatch feverishly, +then we read it a second time with respect, with admiration, with +enthusiasm. We are asked our opinion respecting it. Before answering, we +feel an irresistible impulse to take off our hat and to cry 'Vive la +France.'" The _Electeur Libre_ is still more enraptured with the +situation. It particularly admires the petroleum lamp, so different, it +says, to those orgies of light, which under the tyrant, in the form of +gas, gave a fictitious vitality to Paris. The _Combat_ points out that +no fires have broken out since September 4--a coincidence which is +ascribed to the existence since that date of a Republican form of +government. I recommend this curious phenomenon to insurance companies. +The newspapers, one and all, are furious, because they hear that the +Prussians contest our two victories at Villiers. "How singular," +observes the _Figaro_, with plaintive morality, "is this rage, this +necessity for lying." It is notorious that, having gained two glorious +victories, we returned into Paris to repose on our laurels, and I must +beg the Prussians not to be so mean as to contest the fact. + + +_December 23rd._ + +Since Wednesday the troops--Line, Mobiles, and marching battalions of +the National Guard--have remained outside the enceinte. There has been a +certain amount of spade work at Drancy, but beyond this absolutely +nothing. The cold is very severe. This afternoon I was outside in the +direction of Le Bourget. The soldiers had lit large fires to warm +themselves. Some of them were lodged in empty houses, but most of them +had only their little _tentes d'abri_ to shelter them. The sentinels +were stamping their feet in the almost vain endeavour to keep their +blood in circulation. There have been numerous frost-bitten cases. When +it is considered that almost all of these troops might, without either +danger to the defence, or without compromising the offensive operations, +have been marched back into Paris, and quartered in the barracks which +have been erected along the outer line of Boulevards, it seems monstrous +cruelty to keep them freezing outside. The operations, however, on +Wednesday are regarded as very far short of a success. General Trochu +does not venture, in the state of public opinion, to bring the troops +back into Paris, and thus confess a failure. The ambulances are ordered +out to-morrow morning; but I cannot help thinking that the series of +operations which were with great beating of drums announced to have +commenced on Wednesday, will be allowed gradually to die out, without +anything further taking place. The National Guards are camped in the +neighbourhood of Bondy and Rosny. They have again, greatly to the +disgust of the Mobiles and Line, been congratulated in a general order +upon their valorous bearing. As a matter of fact, there was a panic +among these braves which nearly degenerated into a rout. Several +battalions turned tail, under the impression that the Prussians were +going to attack them. One battalion did not stop until it had found +shelter within the walls of the town. General Trochu's attempt, for +political ends, to force greatness upon these heroes, is losing him the +goodwill of the army. On Wednesday and Thursday several regiments of the +Line and of the Mobiles bitterly complained that they should always be +ordered to the front to protect not only Paris but the National Guards. +The marching battalions are composed of unmarried men between +twenty-five and thirty-five, and why they should not be called upon to +incur the same risks, and submit to the same discipline as the Mobiles, +it is difficult to understand. We may learn from the experience of this +siege that in war, armed citizens who decline to submit to the +discipline of soldiers are worse than useless. The lesson, however, has +not profited the Parisians. The following letter appears in the +_Combat_, signed by the "adjoint" of the 13th arrondissement. The +defence on the part of this municipal functionary of a marching +battalion, which, at the outposts, broke into a church, and there +parodied the celebration of the mass, is a gem in its way:-- + +"The marching companies of this battalion left Paris on the morning of +the 16th to go to the outposts at Issy. The departure was what all +departures of marching battalions must fatally be--copious and +multiplied libations between parting friends, paternal handshakings in +cabarets, patriotic and bacchic songs, loose and indecent choruses--in a +word, the picturesque exhibition of all that arsenal of gaiety and +courage which is the appanage of an ancient Gallic race. The old +troopers, who pretend to govern us by the sword, do not approve of this +joyous mode of regarding death; and all the writers whose pens are +dipped in the ink of reaction and Jesuitism are eager to discover any +eccentricity in which soldiers who are going under fire for the first +time permit themselves to indulge. The Intendance, with that +intelligence which characterises our military administrations, had put +off the departure of the battalion for several hours. What were the men +to do whilst they were kept waiting, except drink? This is what these +brave fellows did. Mars, tired of Venus, sung at the companionship of +Bacchus. If the God of Wine too well seconded the God of War, it is only +water drinkers who can complain; it is not for us, Republicans of the +past and of the future, to throw stones at good citizens in order to +conceal the misconduct of the old Bonapartist Administration which still +is charged with the care of our armies." + +General Blaise has been killed at Villa Evrard. The buildings, which go +by this name, were occupied on Wednesday by General Vinoy's troops. In +the night a number of Prussians, who had concealed themselves in the +cellars, emerged, and a hand-to-hand fight took place. Some of the +Prussians in the confusion got away, and some were killed. Several +French officers who ran away and rushed in a panic into the presence of +General Vinoy, who was at Fort Rosney, announcing that all was lost, are +to be tried by Court Martial. The troops when they heard this were very +indignant; but old Vinoy rode along the line, and told them that they +might think what they pleased, but that he would have no cowards serving +under him. Pity that he is not General-in-Chief. + +A curious new industry has sprung up in Paris. Letters supposed to be +found in the pockets of dead Germans are in great request. There are +letters from mothers, from sisters, and from the Gretchens who are, in +the popular mind, supposed to adore warriors. Unless every corpse has +half a dozen mothers, and was loved when in the flesh by a dozen +sweethearts, many of these letters must be fabricated. They vary in +their style very little. The German mothers give little domestic details +about the life at home, and express the greatest dread lest their sons +should fall victims to the valour of the Parisians, which is filling the +Fatherland with terror and admiration. The Gretchens are all +sentimental; they talk of their inner feelings like the heroines of +third-rate novels, send the object of their affections cigars and +stockings knitted by their own fair hands, and implore him to be +faithful, and not forget, in the toils of some French syren, poor +Gretchen. But what is more strange is that in the pocket of each corpse +a reply is found which he has forgotten to post. In this reply the +warrior tells a fearful tale of his own sufferings, and says that +victory is impossible, because the National Guards are such an +invincible band. + +The number of the wounded in my hotel has considerably diminished owing +to the deaths among them. For the Société Internationale to have made it +their central ambulance was a great mistake. Owing to the want of +ventilation the simplest operations are usually fatal. Four out of five +of those who have an arm or a leg amputated die of pyæmia. Now, as in +the American tents four out of five recover; and as French surgeons are +as skilful as American surgeons, the average mortality in the two +ambulances is a crucial proof of the advantage of the American tent +system. Under their tents there is perfect ventilation, and yet the air +is not cold. If their plan were universally adopted in hospitals, it is +probable that many lives which are now sacrificed to the gases which +are generated from operations, and which find no exit from buildings of +stone or brick, would be saved. "Our war," said an American surgeon to +me the other day, "taught us that a large number of cubic inches of air +is not enough for a sick man, but that the air must be perpetually +renewed by ventilation." + + +_December 24th._ + +The papers publish extracts from German newspapers which have been found +in the pockets of the prisoners who were taken on Wednesday. The news +from the provinces is not considered encouraging. Great stress is laid +upon a proclamation addressed by King William to his troops on December +6, in which it is considered that there is evidence that the Prussians +are getting tired of the war. We hear now, for the first time, that +Prussia has "denounced" the Luxemburg Treaty of '67, and forgetting that +the guarantee of neutrality with respect to these lotus-eaters was +collective, and not joint and several, we anxiously ask whether England +will not regard this as a _casus belli_. "As soon as Parliament +assembles," says _La Vérité_, "that great statesman Disraeli will turn +out Mr. Gladstone, and then our old ally will be restored to us." The +_Gaulois_ observes that "the English journalists residing at Paris keep +up the illusion that Paris must fall by sending to their journals false +news, which is reproduced in the organs of Prussia." "These +journalists," adds the _Gaulois_, "who are our guests, fail in those +duties which circumstances impose upon them." Every correspondent +residing abroad must be the guest, in a certain sense, of the country +from which he is writing; but that this position should oblige him to +square his facts to suit the wishes of his hosts appears to me a strange +theory. Had I been M. Jules Favre, I confess that I should have turned +out all foreign journalists at the commencement of the siege. He, +however, expressed a wish that they should remain in Paris, and his +fellow-citizens must not now complain that they decline to endorse the +legend which, very probably, will be handed down to future generations +of Frenchmen as the history of the siege of Paris. The Prussians will +not raise the siege for anything either French or English journalists +say. The Parisians themselves must perceive that the attempt to frighten +their enemies away by drum-beating and trumpet-blowing has signally +failed. Times have altered since Jericho. It is telling the Prussians +nothing new to inform them that the National Guard are poor troops. For +my part, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to learn some +morning that the German armies round Paris had met with the fate which +overwhelmed Sennacherib and his hosts. I should be delighted to be able +to hope that the town will not eventually be forced to capitulate; but I +cannot conceal from myself the truth that, if no succour comes from +without, it must eventually fall. I blame the French journalists for +perpetually drawing upon their imagination for their facts, and in their +boasts of what France will do, not keeping within the bounds of +probability; but I do not blame them for hoping against hope that their +armies will be successful. I am ready to admit that the Parisians have +shown a most stubborn tenacity, and that they have disappointed their +enemies in not cutting each other's throats; but this is no reason why I +should assert that they are sublime. After all, what is patriotism? The +idea entertained by each nation that it is braver and better and wiser +than the rest of the world. Does not every Englishman feel this to be +true of his own countrymen? It is consequently not absurd that Frenchmen +should think the same of themselves. The French are intensely +patriotic--country with them is no abstraction. They moan over its ruin +as though it were a human being, and far then be it from me to laugh at +them for doing so. When, however, I find persons dressing themselves up +in all the paraphernalia of war, visiting tombs and statues in order to +register with due solemnity that they intend to die rather than yield, +and when, after all this nonsense, these same persons decline to take +their share in the common danger on the score that they have a mother, +or a sister, or a wife, or a child, dependent upon them, and when month +after month they drum and strut up and down the Boulevards, I consider +that they are ridiculous, and I say so. When a man does a silly thing it +is his own fault--not that of the person who chronicles it. Was it wise, +for instance, of General Ducrot to announce a fortnight ago that he was +about to lead his soldiers against the enemy, and that he himself +intended either to conquer or die? Was it wise of General Trochu six +weeks ago to issue a proclamation pledging himself to force the +Prussians to raise the siege of Paris. The Prussians will have read +these manifestoes, and they will form their own estimate respecting +them. That I call them foolish does not "keep up illusions in Germany." +The other day the members of an Ultra club, in the midst of a discussion +respecting the existence of a divinity, determined to decide the +question by a general scrimmage. I think that these patriots might have +been better employed. It does not follow, however, that I do not regret +that they were not better employed. The siege of Paris is in the hands +of General Moltke, and the _Gaulois_ may depend upon it that this wary +strategist is not at all likely to give up the task by any number of +journalists informing him that he is certain to fail. + +I have got a cold, so I have not been out this morning. I hear that some +of the troops have come in from Aubervilliers, and several regiments +have marched by my windows. At Neuilly-sur-Marne and Bondy, it is said, +earthworks are being thrown up; and it is supposed that Chelles will, as +the Americans say, be the objective point of any movement which may take +place in that direction. The _Patrie_ has been suspended for three days +for alluding to military operations. It did more than allude, it +ventured to doubt the wisdom of our generals. As many other journals +have done the same I do not understand why the _Patrie_ should have been +singled out for vengeance. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +_December 25th._ + +Real Christmas weather--that is to say, the earth is as hard as a +brickbat, and the wind freezes one to the very marrow. To the rich man, +with a good coal fire in his grate, turkey, roast beef, plum pudding, +and mince pies on his table, and his family gorging themselves on the +solid eatables, a frost at Christmas is very pleasant. Poor people +cowering in their rags before the door of a union, cold, hungry, and +forlorn, or munching their dry bread in some cheerless garret, may not +perhaps so fully appreciate its advantages; but then we all know that +poor people never are contented, and seldom understand the fitness of +things. Here in Paris, the numbed soldiers out in the open fields, and +the women and children, who have no fires and hardly any food, bitterly +complain of the "seasonable" weather. With plenty of money, with warm +clothes, and a good house, a hard frost has its charms, without them it +is not quite so agreeable. For my part I confess that I never have seen +a paterfamilias with his coat tails raised, basking himself before his +fire, and prating about the delights of winter, and the healthy glow +which is caused by a sharp frost, without feeling an irresistible desire +to transplant him stark naked to the highest peak of Mont Blanc, in +order to teach by experience what winter means to thousands of his +fellow-creatures. We are not having a "merry Christmas," and we are not +likely to have a happy new year. Christmas is not here the great holiday +of the year, as it is in England. Still, everyone in ordinary times +tries to have a better dinner than usual, and usually where there are +children in a family some attempt is made to amuse them. Among the +bourgeoisie they are told to put their shoes in the grate on +Christmas-eve, and the next morning some present is found in them, which +is supposed to have been left during the night by the Infant Jesus. +Since the Empire introduced English ways here, plum-pudding and +mincepies have been eaten, and even Christmas-trees have flourished. +This year these festive shrubs, as an invention of the detested foe, +have been rigidly tabooed. Plum-puddings and mincepies, too, will appear +on few tables. In order to comfort the children, the girls are to be +given soup tickets to distribute to beggars, and the boys are to have +their choice between French and German wooden soldiers. The former will +be treasured up, the latter will be subjected to fearful tortures. Even +the midnight mass, which is usually celebrated on Christmas-eve, took +place in very few churches last night. We have, indeed, too much on our +hands to attend either to fasts or festivals, although in the opinion of +the _Univers_, the last sortie would have been far more successful had +it taken place on the 7th of the month, the anniversary of the +promulgation of the Immaculate Conception. Among fine people New +Year's-day is more of a fête than Christmas. Its approach is regarded +with dark misgivings by many, for every gentleman is expected to make a +call upon all the ladies of his acquaintance, and to leave them a box of +sugarplums. This is a heavy tax upon those who have more friends than +money--300fr. is not considered an extraordinary sum to spend upon these +bonbonnières. A friend of mine, indeed, assured me that he yearly spent +1000fr., but then he was a notorious liar, so very possibly he was not +telling the truth. "Thank Heaven," says the men, "at least we shall get +off the sugarplum tax this year." But the ladies are not to be done out +of their rights this way, and they throw out very strong hints that if +sugarplums are out of season, anything solid is very much in season. A +dandy who is known to have a stock of sausages, is overwhelmed with +compliments by his fair friends. A good leg of mutton would, I am sure, +win the heart of the proudest beauty, and by the gift of half-a-dozen +potatoes you might make a friend for life. The English here are making +feeble attempts to celebrate Christmas correctly. In an English +restaurant two turkeys had been treasured up for the important occasion, +but unfortunately a few days ago they anticipated their fate, and most +ill-naturedly insisted upon dying. One fortunate Briton has got ten +pounds of camel, and has invited about twenty of his countrymen to aid +him in devouring this singular substitute for turkey. Another gives +himself airs because he has some potted turkey, which is solemnly to be +consumed to-day spread on bread. I am myself going to dine with the +correspondent of one of your contemporaries. On the same floor as +himself lives a family who left Paris before the commencement of the +siege. Necessity knows no law; so the other day he opened their door +with a certain amount of gentle violence, and after a diligent search, +discovered in the larder two onions, some potatoes, and a ham. These, +with a fowl, which I believe has been procured honestly, are to +constitute our Christmas dinner. + +It is very strange what opposite opinions one hears about the condition +of the poor. Some persons say that there is no distress, others that it +cannot be greater. The fact is, the men were never better off, the women +and children never so badly off. Every man can have enough to eat and +too much to drink by dawdling about with a gun. As his home is cold and +cheerless, when he is not on duty he lives at a pothouse. He brings no +money to his wife and children, who consequently only just keep body and +soul together by going to the national cantines, where they get soup, +and to the Mairies, where they occasionally get an order for bread. +Almost all their clothes are in pawn, so how it is they do not +positively die of cold I cannot understand. As for fuel even the wealthy +find it difficult to procure it. The Government talks of cutting down +all the trees and of giving up all the clothes in pawn; but, with its +usual procrastination, it puts off both these measures from day to day. +This morning all the firewood was requisitioned. At a meeting of the +Mayors of Paris two days ago, it was stated that above 400,000 persons +are in receipt of parish relief. + +The troops outside Paris are gradually being brought back inside. A +trench has been dug almost continuously from Drancy to Aubervilliers, +and an attempt has been made to approach Le Bourget by flying sap. The +ground, is, however, so hard, that it is much like attempting to cut +through a rock. To my mind the whole thing is merely undertaken in order +to persuade the Parisians that something is being done. For the moment +they are satisfied. "The Prussians," they say, "have besieged us; we are +besieging the Prussians now." What they will say when they find that +even these operations are suspended, I do not know. The troops have +suffered terribly from the cold during these last few days. Twelve +degrees of frost "centigrade" is no joke. I was talking to some officers +of Zouaves who had been twenty hours at the outposts. They said that +during all this time they had not ventured to light a fire, and that +this morning their wine and bread were both frozen. In the tents there +are small stoves, but they give out little warmth. Even inside the +deserted houses it is almost as cold as outside. The windows and the +doors have been converted into firewood, and the wind whistles through +them. The ambulance waggons of the Press alone have brought in nearly +500 men frost-bitten, or taken suddenly ill. From the batteries at Bondy +and Avron there has been some sharp firing, the object of which has been +to oblige the Prussians to keep inside the Forest of Bondy, and to +disquiet them whenever they take to digging anywhere outside it. The +plain of Avron is a very important position as it commands the whole +country round. The end of Le Bourget, towards Paris appears entirely +deserted. An ambulance cart went up to a barricade this morning which +crosses the main street, when a Prussian sentinel emerged and ordered it +to go back immediately. Behind Le Bourget, a little to the right, is a +heavy Prussian battery at Le Blanc Mesnel which entirely commands it. +The Line and the Mobiles bitterly complain that they, and not the +marching battalions, are exposed to every danger. The soldiers, and +particularly those of the Mobiles, say that if they are to go on +fighting for Paris, the Parisians must take their fair share in the +battles. As for the marching battalions, they are, as soldiers, worth +absolutely nothing. The idea of their assaulting, with any prospect of +success, any positions held by artillery, is simply ludicrous. The +system of dividing an army into different categories, is subjected to a +different discipline, is fatal for any united offensive operations. It +is to be hoped that Trochu will at last perceive this, and limit his +efforts to keeping the Prussians out of Paris, and harassing them by +frequent and partial sorties. I hear that General Ducrot wanted to +attempt a second assault of Le Bourget, but this was overruled at a +council of war which was held on Thursday. + + +_December 26th._ + +The _Journal Officiel_ announces that military operations are over for +the present, owing to the cold, and that the army is to be brought +inside Paris, leaving outside only those necessary for the defence. This +is a wise measure, although somewhat tardily taken. The Parisians will +no doubt be very indignant; for if they do not like fighting themselves, +they insist that the Line and the Mobiles should have no repose. + +M. Felix Pyat gives the following account of Christmas in +England:--"Christmas is the great English fête--the Protestant +Carnival--an Anglo-Saxon gala--a gross, pagan, monstrous orgie--a Roman +feast, in which the vomitorium is not wanting. And the eaters of 'bif' +laugh at us for eating frogs! Singular nation! the most Biblical and the +most material of Europe--the best Christians and the greatest gluttons. +They cannot celebrate a religious fête without eating. On Holy Friday +they eat buns, and for this reason they call it Good Friday. Good, +indeed, for them, if not for God. They pronounce messe mass, and boudin +pudding. Their pudding is made of suet, sugar, currants, and tea. The +mess is boiled for fifteen days, sometimes for six months; then it is +considered delicious. No pudding, no Christmas. The repast is sacred, +and the English meditate over it for six months in advance--they are the +only people who put money in a savings'-bank for a dinner. Poor families +economise for months, and take a shilling to a publican every Saturday +of the year, in return for which on Christmas Day they gorge themselves, +and are sick for a week after. This is their religion--thus they adore +their God." M. Pyat goes on to describe the butchers' shops before +Christmas; one of them, he says, is kept by a butcher clergyman, and +over his door is a text. + +The _Gaulois_ gives an extract of a letter of mine from a German paper, +in which I venture to assert that the Parisians do not know that +Champigny is within the range of the guns of their forts, and +accompanies it with the following note:--"The journal which has fallen +into our hands has been torn, and consequently we are unable to give the +remainder of this letter. What we have given is sufficient to prove +that our Government is tolerating within our walls correspondents who +furnish the enemy with daily information. What they say is absurd, +perhaps, but it ought not to be allowed." Does the _Gaulois_ really +imagine that the German generals would have raised the siege in despair +had they not learnt that, as a rule, the Parisians do not study the map +of the environs of the city? + +Old Vinoy has issued an order of the day denouncing the conduct of the +soldiers and officers who ran away when the Prussians issued from the +cellars at Villa Evrard. It requires a great deal of courage just now to +praise the Line, and to find fault with the National Guard. But General +Vinoy is a thorough soldier, and stands no nonsense. If anything happens +to Trochu, and he assumes the command-in-chief, I suspect the waverers +of the National Guard will have to choose between fighting and taking +off their uniforms. The General is above seventy--a hale and hearty old +man; sticks to his profession, and utterly ignores politics. He has a +most unsurrendering face, but I do not think that he would either hold +out vain hopes to the Parisians, or flatter their vanity. He would tell +them the truth, and with perfect indifference as to the consequences. He +is a favourite both with the soldiers and the officers, and hardly +conceals his contempt for the military capacity of Trochu, or the +military qualities of Trochu's civic heroes. + + +_December 28th._ + +The proverbial obstinacy of the donkey has been introduced into our +systems, owing to the number of these long-eared quadrupeds which we +have eaten. We "don't care" for anything. We don't care if the armies of +the provinces have been beaten, we don't care if we have been forced to +suspend offensive operations, we don't care if the Prussians bombard us, +we don't care if eventually we have to capitulate. We have ceased to +reason or to calculate. We are in the don't-care mood. How long this +will last with so impulsive a people it is impossible to say. Our +stomachs have become omnivorous; they digest anything now; and even if +in the end they be invited to digest the leek, as we shall not be called +upon to eat this vegetable either to-morrow or the next day, we don't +care. The cold is terrible, and the absence of firewood causes great +suffering. The Government is cutting down trees as fast as possible, and +by the time it thaws there will be an abundance of fuel. In the meantime +it denounces in the _Official Journal_ the bands of marauders who issue +forth and cut down trees, park benches, and garden palings. I must say +that I don't blame them. When the thermometer is as low as it is now, +and when there is no fire in the grate, the sanctity of property as +regards fuel becomes a mere abstraction. Yesterday the Prussians +unmasked several batteries, and opened fire against the plateau of Avron +and the eastern forts. They fired above 3000 shells, but little damage +was done. We had only thirty-eight killed and wounded. One shell fell +into a house where eight people were dining and killed six of them. The +firing is going on to-day, but not so heavily. The newspapers seem to be +under the impression that we ought to rejoice greatly over this +cannonade. Some say that it proves that the Prussians have given up in +despair the idea of reducing us by famine; others that it is a clear +evidence that Prince Frederick Charles has been beaten by General +Chanzy. On Monday, Admiral La Roncière received a letter from a general +whose name could not be deciphered about an exchange of prisoners. In +this letter there was an allusion to a defeat which our troops in the +North had sustained. But this we consider a mere wile of our insidious +foe. + +The _Gaulois_ continues its crusade against the English Correspondents +in Paris. They are all, it says, animated by a hostile feeling towards +France. "We give them warning, and we hope that they will profit by it." +Now, we know pretty well what French journalists term a hostile feeling +towards their country. We were told at the commencement of the war that +the English press was sold to Prussia, because it declined to believe in +the Imperial bulletins of victories. That a correspondent should simply +tell the truth, without fear or favour, never enters into the mind of a +Gaul. For my part, I confess that my sympathies are with France; and I +am glad to hear, on so good authority, that these sympathies have not +biassed my recital of events. Notwithstanding the denunciations of the +_Gaulois_, I have not the remotest intention to describe the National +Guards as a force of any real value for offensive operations. If, as the +_Gaulois_ insists, they are more numerous and better armed than the +Prussians, and if the French artillery is superior to the Prussians, +they will be able to raise the siege; and then I will acknowledge that I +have been wrong in my estimate of them. As yet they have only blown +their own trumpets, as though this would cause the Prussian redoubts, +like the walls of Jericho, to fall down. I make no imputation on their +individual courage; but I say that this siege proves once more the truth +of the fact, that unless citizen soldiers consent to merge for a time +the citizen in the soldier, and to submit to discipline, as troops they +are worthless. The _Gaulois_ wishes to anticipate the historical romance +which will, perhaps, be handed down to future generations. Posterity +may, if it pleases, believe that the Parisians were Spartans, and that +they fought with desperate valour outside their walls. I, who happen to +see myself what goes on, know that all the fighting is done by the Line +and the Mobiles, and that the Parisians are not Spartans. They are +showing great tenacity, and suffering for the sake of the cause of their +country many hardships. That General Trochu should pander to their +vanity, by telling them that they are able to cope outside with the +Prussians, is his affair. I do not blame him. He best knows how to deal +with his fellow-countrymen. I am not, however, under the necessity of +following his example. + +The usual stalls which appear at this season of the year have been +erected on the Boulevards. They are filled with toys and New Year's +gifts. But a woolly sheep is a bitter mockery, and a "complete farmyard" +in green and blue wood only reminds one painfully of what one would +prefer to see in the flesh. The customers are few and far between. I was +looking to-day at a fine church in chalk, with real windows, price 6fr., +and was thinking that one must be a Mark Tapley to buy it, and walk home +with it under one's arm under present circumstances. Many of the +stallkeepers have in despair deserted the toy business, and gone in for +comforters, kepis, and list soles. + +Until the weather set in so bitterly cold, elderly sportsmen, who did +not care to stalk the human game outside, were to be seen from morning +to night pursuing the exciting sport of gudgeon-fishing along the banks +of the Seine. Each one was always surrounded by a crowd deeply +interested in the chase. Whenever a fish was hooked, there was as much +excitement as when a whale is harpooned in more northern latitudes. The +fisherman would play it for some five minutes, and then, in the midst of +the solemn silence of the lookers-on, the precious capture would be +landed. Once safe on the bank, the happy possessor would be patted on +the back, and there would be cries of "Bravo!" The times being out of +joint for fishing in the Seine, the disciples of Isaac Walton have +fallen back on the sewers. The _Paris Journal_ gives them the following +directions how to pursue their new game:--"Take a long, strong line, and +a large hook, bait with tallow, and gently agitate the rod. In a few +minutes a rat will come and smell the savoury morsel. It will be some +time before he decides to swallow it, for his nature is cunning. When +he does, leave him five minutes to meditate over it; then pull strongly +and steadily. He will make convulsive jumps; but be calm, and do not let +his excitement gain on you, draw him up, _et voilà votre dîner_." + + +_December 29th._ + +So we have withdrawn from the plateau of Avron. Our artillery, says the +_Journal Officiel_, could not cope with the Krupp cannons, and, +therefore, it was thought wise to withdraw them. The fire which the +Prussians have rained for the last two days upon this position has not +been very destructive of human life. It is calculated that every man +killed has cost the Prussians 24,000lbs. of iron. We are still +speculating upon the reasons which induced the Prussians at last to +become the assailants. That they wished to drive us from this plateau, +which overlooks many of their positions, is far too simple an +explanation to meet with favour. The _Vérité_ of this morning contains +an announcement that a Christmas Session of the House of Commons has +turned out Mr. Gladstone by a hostile vote, and that he has been +succeeded by a "War Minister." We are inclined to think that the +Prussians, being aware of this, have been attempting to terrify us, in +order that we may surrender before Sir Disraeli and Milord Pakington +come to our rescue. The Parisians, intelligent and clever as they are, +are absolutely wanting in plain common sense. I am convinced that if 500 +of them were boiled down, it would be impossible to extract from the +stew as much of this homely, but useful quality, as there is in the +skull of the dullest tallow-chandler's apprentice in London. + +The vital question of food is now rarely alluded to in the journals. The +Government is, however, called to task for not showing greater energy, +and the feeling against the unfortunate Trochu is growing stronger. He +is held responsible for everything--the frost, the dearth of food, the +ill-success of our sorties, and the defeats of the armies of succour. I +am sorry for him, for he is a well-meaning man, although unfitted for +such troubled waters. But to a great extent he has himself to thank for +what is occurring. He has risked his all upon the success of his plan, +and he has encouraged the notion that he could force the Prussians to +raise the siege. In the meantime no one broaches the question as to what +is to be done when our provisions fail. The members of the Government +still keep up the theory that a capitulation is an impossible +contingency. The nearer the fatal moment approaches the less anyone +speaks of it, just as a man, when he is growing old, avoids the subject +of death. Frenchmen have far more physical than civic courage. They +prefer to shut their eyes to what is unpleasant than to grapple with it. +How long our stores of flour will last it is difficult to say, but if +our rulers wait to treat until they are exhausted, they will perforce be +obliged to accept any terms; and, for no satisfactory object, they will +be the cause that many will starve before the town can be revictualled. +They call this, here, sublime. I call it folly. Its sublimity is beyond +me. As is the case with a sick man given over by the physicians, the +quacks are ready with their nostrums. The Ultra journals recommend that +the Government should be handed over to a commune. The Ultra clubs +demand that all generals and colonels should be cashiered, and others +elected in their place. One club has subscribed 1,600frs. for Greek +fire; another club suggests blowing up the Hôtel de Ville; another +sending a deputation clothed in white to offer the King of Prussia the +presidency of the Universal Republic; another--and this comes home to +me--passed a vote yesterday evening demanding the immediate arrest of +all English correspondents. + +I am looking forward with horrible misgivings to the moment when I shall +have no more money, so that perhaps I shall be thankful for being lodged +and fed at the public expense. My banker has withdrawn from Paris, and +his representative declines to look at my bill, although I offer ruinous +interest. As for friends, they are all in a like condition, for no one +expected the siege to last so long. At my hotel, need I observe that I +do not pay my bill, but in hotels the guests may ring in vain now for +food. I sleep on credit in a gorgeous bed, a pauper. The room is large. +I wish it were smaller, for the firewood comes from trees just cut down, +and it takes an hour to get the logs to light, and then they only +smoulder, and emit no heat. The thermometer in my grand room, with its +silken curtains, is usually at freezing point. Then my clothes--I am +seedy, very seedy. When I call upon a friend, the porter eyes me +distrustfully. In the streets the beggars never ask me for alms; on the +contrary, they eye me suspiciously when I approach them, as a possible +competitor. The other day I had some newspapers in my hand, an old +gentleman took one from me and paid me for it. I had read it, so I +pocketed the halfpence. My wardrobe is scanty, like the sage _omnia mea +mecum porto_. I had been absent from Paris before the siege, and I +returned with a small bag. It is difficult to find a tailor who will +work, and even if he did I could not send him my one suit to mend, for +what should I wear in the meantime? Decency forbids it. My pea jacket is +torn and threadbare, my trousers are frayed at the bottom, and of many +colours--like Joseph's coat. As for my linen, I will only say that the +washerwomen have struck work, as they have no fuel. I believe my shirt +was once white, but I am not sure. I invested a few weeks ago in a pair +of cheap boots. They are my torment. They have split in various places, +and I wear a pair of gaiters--purple, like those of a respectable +ecclesiastic, to cover the rents. I bought them on the Boulevard, and at +the same stall I bought a bright blue handkerchief which was going +cheap; this I wear round my neck. My upper man resembles that of a +dog-stealer, my lower man that of a bishop. My buttons are turning my +hair grey. When I had more than one change of raiment these appendages +remained in their places, now they drop off as though I were a moulting +fowl. I have to pin myself together elaborately, and whenever I want to +get anything out of my pocket I have cautiously to unpin myself, with +the dread of falling to pieces before my eyes. For my food, I allowance +myself, in order to eke out as long as possible my resources. I dine and +breakfast at a second-class restaurant. Cat, dog, rat, and horse are +very well as novelties, but taken habitually, they do not assimilate +with my inner man. Horse, doctors say, is heating; I only wish it would +heat me. I give this description of my existence, as it is that of many +others. Those who have means, and those who have none, unless these +means are in Paris, row in the same boat. + +The society at my second-class restaurant is varied. Many are regular +customers, and we all know each other. There are officers who come there +whenever they get leave from outside--hardy, well-set fellows, who take +matters philosophically and professionally. They make the most of their +holiday, and enjoy themselves without much thought of the morrow. Then +there are tradesmen who wear kepis, as they belong to the National +Guard. They are not in such good spirits. Their fortunes are ebbing +away, and in their hearts I think they would, although their cry is +still "no surrender," be glad if all were over. They talk in low tones, +and pocket a lump of the sugar which they are given with their coffee. +Occasionally an ex-dandy comes in. I see him look anxiously around to +make sure that no other dandy sees him in so unfashionable a resort. The +dandy keeps to himself, and eyes us haughtily, for we are too common +folk for the like of him. Traviatas, too, are not wanting in the +second-class restaurant. Sitting by me yesterday was a girl who in times +gone by I had often seen driving in a splendid carriage in the Bois. +Her silks and satins, her jewellery and her carriage, had vanished. +There are no more Russian Princes, no more Boyards, no more Milords to +minister to her extravagances. She was eating her horse as though she +had been "poor but honest" all her life; and as I watched her washing +the noble steed down with a pint of vin ordinaire, I realized the +alteration which this siege was effecting in the condition of all +classes. But the strangest _habitués_ of the restaurant are certain +stalwart, middle-aged men, who seem to consider that their function in +life is to grieve over their country, and to do nothing else for it. +They walk in as though they were the soldiers of Leonidas on the high +road to Thermopylæ--they sit down as though their stools were curule +chairs--they scowl at anyone who ventures to smile, as though he were +guilty of a crime--and they talk to each other in accents of gloomy +resolve. When anyone ventures to hint at a capitulation, they bound in +their seats, and cry, _On verra_. Sorrow does not seem to have disturbed +their appetites, and, as far as I can discover, they have managed to +escape all military duty. No human being can be so unhappy, however, as +they look. They remind me of the heir at the funeral of a rich relative. +Speaking of funerals reminds me that the newspapers propose that the +undertakers, like the butchers, should be tariffed. They are making too +good a thing out of the siege. They have raised their prices so +exorbitantly that the poor complain that it is becoming impossible for +them even to die. + +A letter found, or supposed to be found, in the pocket of a dead German +from his Gretchen is published to-day. "If you should happen to pillage +a jeweller's shop," says this practical young lady, "don't forget me, +but get me a pretty pair of earrings." The family of this warrior +appears to be inclined to look after the main chance; for the letter +goes on to say that his mother had knitted him a jacket, but having +done so, has worn it herself ever since instead of sending it to him. +Gretchen will never get her earrings, and the mother may wear her jacket +now without feeling that she is depriving her son of it, for the poor +fellow lies under three feet of soil near Le Bourget. + + +_December 30th._ + +I hear that a story respecting a council which was held a few days ago, +at which Trochu was requested to resign, is perfectly true. Picard and +Jules Favre said that if he did resign they should do so also, and the +discussion was closed by the General himself saying, "I feel myself +equal to the situation, and I shall remain." Yesterday evening there +were groups everywhere, discussing the withdrawal of the troops from +Avron. It was so bitterly cold, however, that they soon broke up. This +morning the newspapers, one and all, abuse Trochu. Somehow or other, +they say, he always fails in everything he undertakes. I hear from +military men that the feeling in the army is very strong against him. +While the bombardment was going on at Avron he exposed himself freely to +the fire, but instead of superintending the operations he attitudinized +and made speeches. General Ducrot, who was there, and between whom and +Trochu a certain coldness has sprung up, declared that he had always +been opposed to any attempt to retain this position. The behaviour of +Vinoy was that of a soldier. He was everywhere encouraging his men. What +I cannot understand is why, if Avron was to be held, it was not +fortified. It must have been known that the Prussians could, if they +pleased, bring a heavy concentric fire from large siege guns to bear +upon it. Casemates and strong earthworks might have been made--but +nothing was done. I was up there the other day, and I then asked an +engineer officer why due precautions were not being taken; but he only +shrugged his shoulders in reply. General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea, +says that all that the French, English, and Russians did there was +child's play in comparison with the Prussian artillery. From the size of +the unburst shells which have been picked up, their cannon must be +enormous. The question now is, whether the forts will be able to hold +out against them. The following account of what has taken place from the +_Vérité_ is by far the best which has been published:-- + +"Notwithstanding that the fire of the enemy slackened on the 26th, the +Prussians were not losing their time. Thanks to the hardness of the +soil, and to the fog, they had got their guns into position in all their +batteries from Villenomble to Montfermeil. The injury done to the park +of Drancy by the precision of the aim of our artillery at Fort Nogent +was repaired; cannon were brought to the trenches which the day before +we had occupied at Ville Evrart; and, as well as it was possible, twelve +new batteries, armed with cannon of long range, were unmasked. All +through the 28th the fire continued; shells fell thickly on our +batteries, and in the village of Rosny. The roof of the station was +knocked in, and several Mobiles were killed in the main street. The +evacuation of the church, which had been converted into an ambulance, +was thought advisable. All this, however, was nothing in comparison with +the fire which was poured in during the night. The plateau of Avron was +literally inundated with shells, many of them of far larger size than +had previously been fired. The range of the guns was too great, and it +was evident that the Prussians had rectified their aim. Their +projectiles no longer fell wide in the field; they almost all burst +close to the trenches. Two guns in battery No. 2 were struck; the same +thing soon occurred in battery No. 3. Every moment the wheels of some +ammunition waggon were struck, or one of the horses killed. Several men +were wounded in the trenches, which were so shallow as to afford little +protection. Two shells bursting at the same moment killed a naval +officer and three men at one of the guns. All who were so imprudent as +to venture to attempt to cross the plateau were struck down. It was a +sad and terrible spectacle to see these sailors coolly endeavouring to +point their guns, undisturbed by the rain of fire; while their officers, +who were encouraging them, were falling every moment, covering those +round them with their blood. The infantry and the Mobiles were, too, +without shelter; for the Krupp guns swept the portion of the plateau on +which they were drawn up within supporting distance. Most of them made +the best of it, and laughed when they heard the shells whistling above +their heads and bursting near them. Many, however, were so terrified, +that they fell back, and spread abroad in their rear disquieting +reports, which the terrified air of the narrators rendered still more +alarming. The National Guard were drawn up on the heights in advance of +the village of Rosny; a few shells reached their ranks. An officer and a +soldier of the 114th were slightly wounded; but they remained firm. +Every hour the Prussian cannonade became heavier. On our side our fire +slackened; then ceased entirely. An _estafette_ came with an order to +evacuate the plateau, and to save the artillery. No time was lost. +Fortunately, at this moment the enemy's fire also slackened; and the +preparations for a retreat were hurriedly made. The guns were taken from +their carriages, the baggage was laden on the carts, and the munition on +the waggons. The soldiers strapped on their knapsacks, struck their +tents, and harnessed the horses. All this was not accomplished without +difficulty, for it had to be done noiselessly and in the dark, for all +the fires had been put out. General Trochu, seated on a horse, issued +his directions, and every moment received information of what was taking +place. Notwithstanding the expostulations of his staff, the General +refused to withdraw from this exposed point. 'No, gentlemen,' he said, +'I shall not withdraw from here until the cannon are in safety.' At two +in the morning all was ready; the long train began to move; the cannon +of 7 and the mitrailleuses of Commandant Pothier took the lead. Then +followed the heavy naval guns, then the munition and baggage waggons; +the troops of the Line, the Marines, and the National Guard were ordered +to cover the retreat. It was no easy matter to descend from the plateau +to Rosny. The frost had made the road a literal ice-hill. The drivers +walked by the side of their animals, holding the reins and pulling them +up when they stumbled. Until four o'clock, however, everything went +well. The march slowly continued, and the Prussian batteries were +comparatively calm. Their shells fell still occasionally where our guns +had been. The noise of the wheels, however, and the absence of all +cannonade on our parts, at length awakened the suspicions of the enemy. +Their fire was now directed on the fort of Rosny, and the road from the +plateau leading to it. At this moment the line of guns and waggons was +passing through the village, and only carts with baggage were still on +the plateau. At first the shells fell wide; then they killed some +horses; some of the drivers were hit; a certain confusion took place. +That portion of our line of march which was in Rosny was in imminent +danger. Fortunately, our chiefs did not lose their heads. The guns whose +horses were untouched passed those which were obliged to stop. Some of +them took to the fields; the men pushed the wheels, and, thanks to their +efforts, our artillery was saved. As soon as the guns had been dragged +up the hill opposite the plateau, the horses started off at a gallop, +and did not stop until they were out of the range of the enemy's fire. +The guns were soon in safety at Vincennes and Montreuil. The troops held +good, the men lying down on their stomachs, the officers standing up and +smoking their cigars until the last waggon had passed. Day had broken +when they received orders to withdraw. The National Guard went back +into Paris, and the Line, after a short halt at Montreuil, camped in the +barracks of St. Maur. At eight o'clock, the evacuation of the plateau +was complete; but the Prussian shells still fell upon the deserted +houses and some of the gun-carriages which had been abandoned. The enemy +then turned their attention to the forts of Rosny and Noisy. It hailed +shot on these two forts, and had they not been solidly built they would +not have withstood it. The noise of this cannonade was so loud that it +could be heard in the centre of Paris. Around the Fort of Noisy the +projectiles sank into the frozen ground to a depth of two and a half +metres, and raised blocks of earth weighing 30lbs. Shells fell as far as +Romainville. In the Rue de Pantin a drummer had his head carried off; +his comrades buried him on the spot. In the court of Fort Noisy three +men, hearing the hissing of a shell, threw themselves on the ground. It +was a bad inspiration; the shell fell on the one in the middle, and +killed all three. These were the only casualties in the fort, and at ten +o'clock the enemy's batteries ceased firing on it. All their efforts +were then directed against the Fort of Rosny. The shells swept the open +court, broke in the roof of the barracks, and tore down the peach-trees +whose fruit is so dear to the Parisians. From eleven o'clock, it was +impossible to pass along the road to Montreuil in safety. In that +village, the few persons who are still left sought shelter in their +cellars. At three o'clock the sun came out, and I passed along the +strategical road to Noisy. I met several regiments--Zouaves, Infantry, +and Marines--coming from Noisy and Bondy. I could distinctly see the +enemy's batteries. Their centre is in Rancy, and the guns seem to be in +the houses. The destruction in Bondy commenced by the French artillery +has been completed by the Prussians. From three batteries in the park of +Rancy they have destroyed the wall of the cemetery, behind which one +battery was posted and an earthwork. What remained of the church has +been literally reduced to dust. Except sentinels hid in the interior of +the houses, all our troops had been withdrawn. Some few persons, out of +curiosity, had adjourned to the Grande Place; their curiosity nearly +cost them dear, and they had to creep away. At three o'clock the enemy's +fire had redoubled; some of our Mobiles, in relieving guard, were +killed; and from that hour no one ventured into the streets. 9 P.M. The +moon has risen, and shines brightly--the ground is covered with snow, +and it is almost like daylight. The Prussian positions can distinctly be +seen. The cannon cannot be distinguished, but all along the line between +Villenomble and Gagny tongues of fire appear, followed by long columns +of smoke. The fire on Rosny is increasing in violence; the village of +Noisy is being bombarded." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +PARIS, _January 1st, 1871._ + +Our forts still, like breakwaters before a coast, keep back the storm +which the Prussians are directing against us. I went out yesterday by +the Vincennes gate to see how matters were looking. In the Bois de +Vincennes there were troops of every description, and a large number of +guns. The usual scenes of camp life were going on, although, owing to +the cold, everyone seemed gloomy and depressed. I confess that if I were +called upon to camp out in this weather under a _tente d'abri_, and only +given some very smoky green wood to keep me warm, I should not be quite +so valorous as I should wish to be. Passing through the Bois, which is +rapidly becoming a treeless waste, I went forward in the direction of +Fontenay. As the Prussian bombs, however, were falling thickly into the +village, I executed a strategical movement to the left, and fell back by +a cross road into Montreuil. In this village several regiments were +installed. It is just behind Fort Rosny, and on the upper portion, +towards the fort, the Prussian shells fell. It is very singular what +little real danger there is to life and limb from a bombardment. Shells +make a hissing noise as they come through the air. Directly this warning +hiss is heard, down everyone throws himself on the ground. The shell +passes over and falls somewhere near, it sinks about two feet into the +hard ground, and then bursts, throwing up great clouds of earth, like a +small mine. The Prussians are unmasking fresh batteries every day, and +approaching nearer and nearer to the forts. Their fire now extends from +behind Le Bourget to the Marne, and at some points reaches to within a +mile of the ramparts. Bondy is little more than a heap of ruins. As for +the forts, we are told that, with the exception of their barracks having +been made untenable, no harm has been done. Standing behind and looking +at the shells falling into them, they certainly do not give one the idea +of places in which anyone would wish to be, unless he were obliged; and +they seemed yesterday to be replying but feebly to the fire of the +enemy. I suppose that the Prussians know their own business, and that +they really intend wholly to destroy Fort Rosny. Before you get this +letter the duel between earth and iron will be decided, so it is useless +my speculating on the result. If Rosny or Nogent fall, there will be +nothing to protect Belleville from a bombardment. Many military sages +imagine that this bombardment is only a prelude to an attack upon Mont +Valérien. About 3,500 metres from that fort there is a very awkward +plateau called La Bergerie. It is somewhat higher than the hill on which +Valérien stands. The Prussians are known to have guns on it in position, +and as Valérien is of granite, if bombarded, the value of granite as a +material for fortifications will be tested. + +Since the Prussians have opened fire, there have been numerous councils +of war, and still more numerous proclamations. General Trochu has issued +an appeal to the city to be calm, and not to believe that differences of +opinion exist among the members of the Government. General Clément +Thomas has issued an address to the National Guards, telling them that +the country is going to demand great sacrifices of them. In fact, after +the manner of the Gauls, everybody is addressing everybody. _Toujours +des proclamations et rien que cela_, say the people, who are at last +getting tired of this nonsense. Yesterday there was a great council of +all the generals and commanders. General Trochu, it is said, was in +favour of an attempt to pierce the Prussian lines; the majority being in +favour of a number of small sorties. What will happen no one seems to +know, and I doubt even if our rulers have themselves any very definite +notion. The Ultra journals clamour for a sortie _en masse_, which of +course would result in a stampede _en masse_. One and all the newspapers +either abuse Trochu, or damn him with faint praise. It is so very much a +matter of chance whether a man goes down to posterity as a sage or a +fool, that it is by no means easy to form an opinion as to what will be +the verdict of history on Trochu. If he simply wished to keep the +Prussians out of Paris, and to keep order inside until the provisions +were exhausted, he has succeeded. If he wished to force them to raise +the siege he has failed. His military critics complain that, admitting +he could not do the latter, he ought, by frequent sorties, to have +endeavoured to prevent them sending troops to their covering armies. One +thing is certain, that all his sorties have failed not only in the +result, but in the conception. As a consequence of this, the French +soldiers, who more than any other troops in the world require, in order +to fight well, to have faith in their leader, have lost all confidence +in him. + +We have had no pigeon for the last eighteen days, and the anxiety to +obtain news from without is very strong. A few days ago a messenger was +reported to have got through the Prussian lines with news of a French +victory. The next day a Saxon officer was said, with his last breath, to +have confided to his doctor that Frederick Charles had been defeated. +Yesterday Jules Favre told the mayor that there was a report that +Chanzy had gained a victory. Everything now depends upon what Chanzy is +doing, and, for all we know, he may have ceased to exist for the last +week. + +A census which has just been made of the population within the lines, +makes the number, exclusive of the Line, Mobiles, and sailors, +2,000,500. No attempt has yet been made to ration the bread, but it is +to be mixed with oats and rice. The mayor of this quarter says that in +this arrondissement--the richest in Paris--he is certain that there is +food for two months. Should very good news come from the provinces, and +it appear that by holding out for two months more the necessity for a +capitulation would be avoided, I think that we should hold on until the +end of February, if we have to eat the soles of our boots. If bad news +comes, we shall not take to this food; but we shall give in when +everything except bread fails, and we shall then consider that our +honour is saved if nothing else is. M. Louis Blanc to-day publishes a +letter to Victor Hugo, in which he tells the Parisians that if they do +capitulate they will gain nothing by it, for the Prussians will neither +allow them to quit Paris, nor, if the war continues, allow food to enter +it. + +As yet there are no signs of a real outbreak; and if a successful one +does occur, it will be owing to the weakness of the Government, which +has ample means to repress it. The Parisian press is always adjuring the +working men not to cut either each others' or their neighbours' throats, +and congratulating them on their noble conduct in not having done so. +This sort of praise seems to me little better than an insult. I see no +reason why the working men should be considered to be less patriotic +than others. That they are not satisfied with Trochu, and that they +entertain different political and social opinions to those of the +bourgeoisie, is very possible. Opinions, however, are free, and they +have shown as yet that they are willing to subordinate the expression +of theirs to the exigencies of the national defence. I go a good deal +among them, and while many of them wish for a general system of +rationing, because they think that it will make the provisions last +longer, they have no desire to pillage or to provoke a conflict with the +Government. I regard them myself, in every quality which makes a good +citizen, as infinitely superior to the journalists who lecture them, and +who would do far better to shoulder a musket and to fall into the ranks, +than to waste paper in reviling the Prussians and bragging of their own +heroism. As soldiers, the fault of the working men is that they will not +submit to discipline; but this is more the fault of the Government than +of them. As citizens, no one can complain of them. To talk with one of +them after reading the leading article of a newspaper is a relief. A +French journalist robes himself in his toga, gets upon a pedestal, and +talks unmeaning, unpractical claptrap. A French workman is, perhaps, too +much inclined to regard every one except himself, and some particular +idol which he has set up, as a fool; but he is by no means wanting in +the power to take a plain practical view, both of his own interests, and +those of his country. Since the commencement of the siege, forty-nine +new journals have appeared. Many of them have already ceased to exist, +but counting old and new newspapers, there must at least be sixty +published every day. How they manage to find paper is to me a mystery. +Some of them are printed upon sheets intended for books, others upon +sheets which are so thick that I imagine they were designed to wrap up +sugar and other groceries. Those which were the strongest in favour of +the Empire, are now the strongest in favour of the Republic. Editors and +writers whose dream it was a few months ago to obtain an invitation at +the Tuileries or to the Palais Royal, or to merit by the basest of +flatteries the Legion of Honour, now have become perfect Catos, and +denounce courts and courtiers, Bonapartists and Orleanists. War they +regard as the most wicked of crimes, and they appear entirely to have +forgotten that they welcomed with shouts of ecstacy in July last the +commencement of the triumphal march to Berlin. + + +_January 2nd._ + +Yesterday evening, notwithstanding the cold, there were groups on the +Boulevards shouting "_à bas Trochu_." It is understood that henceforward +no military operation is to take place before it has been discussed by a +Council of War, consisting of generals and admirals. As the moment +approaches when we shall, unless relieved, be obliged to capitulate, +everyone is attempting to shift from himself all responsibility. This is +the consequence of the scapegoat system which has so long prevailed in +France. Addresses are published from the commanders outside +congratulating the National Guard who have been under their orders. The +_Vérité_, in alluding to them, asks the following questions:--"Why are +battalions which are accused by General Thomas, their direct superior, +of chronic drunkenness, thus placed upon a pinnacle by real military +men? Why do distinguished generals, unless forced by circumstances, +declare the mere act of passing four or five cold nights in the trenches +heroic? Why is so great a publicity given to such contradictory orders +of the day?" + +The _Journal Officiel_ contains a long address to the Parisians. Beyond +the statement that no news had been received since the 14th ult., this +document contains nothing but empty words. Between the lines one may, +perhaps, read a desire to bring before the population the terrible +realities of the situation. + +The deaths for the last week amount to 3,280, an increase on the +previous week of 552. I am told that these bills of mortality do not +include those who die in the public hospitals. Small-pox is on the +increase--454 as against 388 the previous week. + +Nothing new outside. The bombardment of the eastern forts still +continues. It is, however, becoming more intermittent. Every now and +then it almost ceases, then it breaks out with fresh fury. The Prussians +are supposed to be at work at Chatillon. If they have heavy guns there, +it will go hard with the Fort of Vanves. The rations are becoming in +some of the arrondissements smaller by degrees and beautifully less. In +the 18th (Montmartre) the inhabitants only receive two sous worth of +horse-flesh per diem. The rations are different in each arrondissement, +as the Mayor of each tries to get hold of all he can, and some are more +successful than others. These differences cause great dissatisfaction. +The feeling to-day seems to be that if Trochu wishes to avoid riots, he +must make a sortie very shortly. + +The _Gaulois_ says:-- + +"How sad has been our New Year's-day! Among ourselves we may own it, +although we have bravely supported it, like men of sense, determined to +hold good against bad fortune, and to laugh in the face of misery. It is +hard not to have had the baby brought to our bedside in the morning; not +to have seen him clap his hands with pleasure on receiving some toy; not +to have pressed the hands of those we love best, and not to have +embraced them and been able to say--'The year which has passed has had +its joys and its sorrows, sun and shadow--but what matters it? We have +shared them together. The year which is commencing cannot bring with it +any sorrows that by remaining united we shall not be able to support?' +Most of us breakfasted this morning--the New Year's breakfast, usually +so gay--alone and solitary; a few smoky logs our only companions. There +are sorrows which no philosophy can console. On other days one may +forget them, but on New Year's-day our isolation comes home to us, and, +do what we may, we are sad and silent. Where are they now? What are they +doing now? is the thought which rises in every breast. The father's +thoughts are with his children; he dimly sees before him their rosy +faces, and their mother who is dressing them. How weary, too, must the +long days be for her, separated from her husband. Last year she had +taught the baby to repeat a fable, and she brought him all trembling to +recite it to the father. She, too, trembles like a child. She follows +him with her looks, she whispers to him a word when he hesitates, but so +low that he reads it on her lips, and the father hears nothing. Poor +man! Sorry indeed he would have been to have had it supposed that he had +perceived the mother's trick. He was himself trembling, too, lest the +child should not know his lesson. What a disappointment it would have +been to the mother! For a fortnight before she had taken baby every +night on her knees and said, 'Now begin your fable.' She had taught it +him verse by verse with the patience of an angel, and she had encouraged +him to learn it with many a sugarplum. 'He is beginning to know his +fable,' she said a hundred times to her husband. 'Really,' he answered, +with an air of doubt. The honest fellow was as interested in it as his +wife, and he only appeared to doubt it in order to make her triumph +greater. He knew that baby would know the fable on New Year's morn. You +Prussian beggars, you Prussian scoundrels, you bandits, and you Vandals, +you have taken everything from us; you have ruined us; you are starving +us; you are bombarding us; and we have a right to hate you with a royal +hatred. Well, perhaps one day we might have forgiven you your rapine and +your murders; our towns that you have sacked; your heavy yokes; your +infamous treasons. The French race is so light of heart, so kindly, that +we might perhaps in time have forgotten our resentments. What we never +shall forget will be this New Year's Day, which we have been forced to +pass without news from our families. You at least have had letters from +your Gretchens, astounding letters, very likely, in which the melancholy +blends with blue eyes, make a wonderful literary salad, composed of +sour-krout, Berlin wool, forget-me-nots, pillage, bombardment, pure +love, and transcendental philosophy. But you like all this just as you +like jam with your mutton. You have what pleases you. Your ugly faces +receive kisses by the post. But you kill our pigeons, you intercept our +letters, you shoot at our balloons with your absurd _fusils de rempart_, +and you burst out into a heavy German grin when you get hold of one of +our bags, which are carrying to those we love our vows, our hopes, our +remembrance, our regrets, and our hearts. It is a merry farce, is it +not? Ah, if ever we can render you half the sufferings which we are +enduring, you will see _des grises_. Perhaps you don't know what the +word means, and, like one of Gavarni's children, you will say, 'What! +_des grises?_' You will, I trust, one of these days learn what is the +signification of the term at your own cost. One of your absurd +pretensions is to be the only people in the world who understand how to +love, or who care for domestic ties. You will see, by the hatred which +we shall ever bear to you, that we too know how to love--our time will +come some day, be assured. This January 1 of the year 1871 inaugurates a +terrible era of bloody revenge. Poor philosophers of universal peace, +you see now the value of your grand phrases and of your humanitarian +dreams! Vainly you imagined that the world was entering into a period of +everlasting peace and progress. A wonderful progress, indeed, has 1870 +brought us! You never calculated on the existence of these Huns. We are +back again now in the midst of all the miseries of the 13th and 14th +centuries. The memory of to-day will be written on the hearts of our +children. 'It was the year,' they will say, 'when we received no +presents, when we did not kiss our father, because of the Prussians. +They shall pay for it!' Let us hope that the payment will commence this +very day. But if we are still to be vanquished, we will leave to our +children the memory of our wrongs, and the care to avenge them." + +The following article is from the _Vérité_:-- + +"What troubles would not have been spared to our unhappy country if only +it had been told the truth. If only anyone had been courageous enough to +tell us what were our resources when Grammont made his famous +declaration from the tribune, the war would not have taken place. On the +4th of September, many members of the new Government were under no +delusions, but as it was necessary to say that we were strong, in order +to be popular, they did not hesitate to proclaim that the Republic would +save France. To-day the situation has not changed. On the faith of the +assertions of their rulers, the population of Paris imagines that +ultimate victory is certain, and that our provisions can never be +exhausted. They have no idea that if we are not succoured we must +eventually succumb. What a surprise--and perhaps what a catastrophe--it +will be when they learn that there is no more bread, and no chance of +victory. The people will complain that they have been deceived, and they +will be right. They will shout 'treason,' and seek for vengeance. Will +they be entirely in the wrong? If the Government defends itself, what +future awaits us! If it does not defend itself, through what scenes +shall we pass before falling into the hands of the Prussians! The +Republic, like the Empire, has made mendacity the great system of +government. The Press has chosen to follow the same course. Great +efforts are being made to destroy the reciprocal sentiments of union and +confidence, to which we owe it that Paris still resists, after 100 days +of siege. The enemy, despairing to deliver over Paris to Germany, as it +had solemnly promised, on Christmas, adds now the bombardment of our +advanced posts and our forts to the other means of intimidation by which +it has endeavoured to enervate the defence. Use is being made, before +public opinion, of the deceptions which an extraordinary winter and +infinite sufferings and fatigues are causing us. It is said, indeed, +that the members of the Government are divided in their views respecting +the great interests the direction of which has been confided to them. +The army has suffered great trials, and it required a short repose, +which the enemy endeavours to dispute by a bombardment more violent than +any troops were ever exposed to. The army is preparing for action with +the aid of the National Guards, and all together we shall do our duty. I +declare that there are no differences in the councils of the Government, +and that we are all closely united in the presence of the agonies and +the perils of the country, and in the thought and the hope of its +deliverance." + +_La Patrie_, of Jan. 2, says:-- + +"Perhaps Bourbaki has gone to meet General von Werder. If he is +victorious, the road to Paris by the valley of the Seine will be open to +him, or the road to Southern Germany by Besançon and Belfort, and the +bridge of Bâle, the neutrality of which we are not obliged to respect +any more than that of Belgium, since Europe has allowed Bismarck to +violate that of Luxemburg. Ah! if Bourbaki were a Tortensen, a Wrangel, +or a Turenne--perhaps he is--what a grand campaign we might have in a +few weeks on the Danube, the Lech, and the Saar." + +The _Liberté_, of Jan. 2, says:-- + +"A great manifestation is being organised against the Government. The +object is to substitute in its place the college of Mayors of Paris and +their adjuncts. The manifestation, if it occurs, will not get further +than the Boulevards. General Trochu is in no fear from Mayor Mothe, but +he must understand that the moment for action has arrived. His +proclamation has only imperfectly replied to the apprehensions of Paris. +A capitulation, the very idea of which the Government recoils from, and +which would only become possible when cold, hunger, and a bombardment +have made further resistance impossible, besieges the minds of all, and +presses all the hearts which beat for a resistance _à outrance_ in a +vice of steel. Trochu should reply to these agonies no longer by +proclamations, but by acts." + + +_January 4th._ + +It is said, I know not with what truth, that there always are, on an +average, 5000 families who are in destitute circumstances, because their +chiefs never would play out their trumps at whist until it became too +late to use them effectively. If Trochu really was under the impression +that he had trumps in his hand good enough to enable him to win the game +he is playing against the Prussians, he has kept them back so long that +they are worthless. If he could not break through the Prussian lines a +month ago, _à fortiori_, he will not be able to do so now. They are +stronger, and he is weaker; for the inaction of the last few weeks, and +the surrender of Avron, would have been enough to damp the ardour of far +more veteran troops than those which he has under his command. The +outcry against this excellent but vain man grows stronger every day, and +sorry, indeed, must he be that he "rushed in where others feared to +tread." "Action, speedy action," shout the newspapers, much as the +Americans did before Bull's Run, or as M. Felix Pyat always calls it, +Run Bull. The generals well know that if they yield to the cry, there +will most assuredly be a French edition of that battle. In fact, the +situation may be summed up in a very few words. The generals have no +faith in their troops, and the troops have no faith in their generals. +Go outside the walls and talk to the officers and the soldiers who are +doing the real fighting, and who pass the day dodging shells, and the +night freezing in their tents. They tell you that they are prepared to +do their duty, but that they are doubtful of ultimate success. Come +inside, and talk to some hero who has never yet got beyond the ramparts, +Cato at Utica is a joke to him, Palafox at Saragossa a whining coward. +Since the forts have been bombarded, he has persuaded himself that he is +eating, drinking, and sleeping under the fire of the enemy. "Human +nature is a rum 'un," said Mr. Richard Swiveller; and most assuredly +this is true of French nature. That real civil courage and spirit of +self-sacrifice which the Parisians have shown, in submitting to hardship +and ruin rather than consent to the dismemberment of their country, they +regard as no title to respect. Nothing which does not strike the +imagination has any value in their eyes. A uniform does not make a +soldier; and although they have all arrayed themselves in uniform, they +are far worse soldiers than the peasantry who have been enrolled in the +Mobiles. To tell them this, however, would make them highly indignant. +Military glory is their passion, and it is an unfortunate one. To admire +the pomp and pride of glorious war no more makes a warrior than to +admire poetry makes a poet. The Parisian is not a coward; but his +individuality is so strongly developed that he objects to that +individuality being destroyed by some stray shot. To die with thousands +looking on is one thing; to die obscurely is another. French courage is +not the same as that of the many branches of the great Saxon family. A +Saxon has a dogged stubbornness which gives him an every-day and +every-hour courage. That of the Frenchman is more dependent upon +external circumstances. He must have confidence in his leader, he must +have been encouraged by success, and he must be treated with severity +tempered with judicious flattery. Give him a sword, and let him prance +about on a horse like a circus rider, and, provided there are a +sufficient number of spectators, he will do wonders, but he will not +consent to perish obscurely for the sake of anything or anyone. Trochu +has utterly failed in exciting enthusiasm in those under his command; he +issues many proclamations, but they fail to strike the right chord. +Instead of keeping up discipline by judicious severity, he endeavours to +do so by lecturing like a schoolmaster. And then, since the commencement +of the siege he has been unsuccessful in all his offensive movements. I +am not a military man, but although I can understand the reasons against +a sortie _en masse_, it does appear to me strange that the Prussians are +not more frequently disquieted by attacks which at least would oblige +them to make many a weary march round the outer circle, and would +prevent them from detaching troops for service elsewhere. + +Not an hour passes without some new rumour respecting the armies of the +Provinces being put in circulation. A letter in which General Chanzy is +said to be playing with Frederick Charles as a cat plays with a mouse, +and which is attributed to Mr. Odo Russell, English Under-Secretary of +State, and Correspondent of the _Times_, has been read by some one, and +this morning all the newspapers are jubilant over it. A copy of the +_Moniteur de Versailles_ of the 1st has found its way in; there is +nothing in it about Frederick Charles, but this we consider evidence +that he has sustained a defeat. Then somebody has found a bottle in the +Seine with a letter in it; this letter alludes to a great French +victory. Mr. Washburne has the English papers up to the 22nd, but he +keeps grim guard over them, and allows no one to have a glimpse of them; +since our worthy friend Otto von Bismarck sent in to him an extract from +a letter of mine, in which I alluded to the contents of some of them +which had reached us. He passes his existence, however, staving off +insidious questions. His very looks are commented on. "We saw him +to-day," says an evening paper I have just bought; "he smiled! Good +sign! Our victory must have been overwhelming if John Bull is obliged to +confess it." Another newspaper asks him whether, considering the +circumstances, he does not consider it a duty to violate his promise to +Count Bismarck, and to hand over his newspapers to the Government. In +this way, thinks this tempter, the debt which America owes to France for +aiding her during her revolution will be repaid. "We gave you Lafayette +and Rochambeau, in return we only ask for one copy of an English paper." +The anxiety for news is weighing heavier on the population than the +absence of provisions or the cold. Every day, and all day, there are +crowds standing upon the elevated points in the city, peering through +glasses, in the wild hope of witnessing the advent of Chanzy, who is +apparently expected to prick in with Faidherbe by his side, each upon a +gorgeously caparisoned steed, like the heroes in the romances of the +late Mr. G.P.R. James. Many pretend to distinguish, above the noise of +the cannon of our forts and the Prussian batteries, the echoes of +distant artillery, and rush off to announce to their friends that the +army of succour has fallen on the besiegers from the rear. In the +meantime the bombardment of the forts and villages to the east of the +city is continuing, and with that passion for system in everything which +distinguishes the Germans, it is being methodized. A fixed number of +shells are fired off every minute, and at certain hours in the day there +are long pauses. What is happening in the forts is, of course, kept very +secret. The official bulletins say that no damage in them has yet been +done. As for the villages round them, they are, I presume, shelled +merely in order to make them untenable. + +The Government appears now as anxious to find others to share +responsibility with it as heretofore it has been averse to any division +of power. The Mayors of the city are to meet with their deputies once a +week at the Hôtel de Ville to express their opinions respecting +municipal matters, and once a week at the Ministry of the Interior to +discuss the political situation. As there are twenty mayors and forty +adjuncts, they, when together, are almost numerous enough to form a +species of Parliament. The all important food question remains _in statu +quo_. It is, however, beginning to be hinted in semi-official organs, +that perhaps the bread will have to be rationed; I may be wrong, but I +am inclined to think that the population will not submit to this. +Government makes no statement with respect to the amount of corn in +store. Some say that there is not enough for two weeks, others that +there is enough for two months' consumption; M. Dorien assured a friend +of mine yesterday that, to the best of his belief, there is enough to +carry us into March. Landlords and tenants are as much at loggerheads +here as they are in Ireland; the Government has issued three decrees to +regulate the question. By the first is suspended all judicial +proceedings on the part of landlords for their rent; by the second, it +granted a delay of three months to all persons unable to pay the October +term; by the third, it required all those who wished to profit by the +second to make a declaration of inability to pay before a magistrate. +To-day a fourth decree has been issued, again suspending the October +term, and making the three previous decrees applicable to the January +term, but giving to landlords a right to dispute the truth of the +allegation of poverty on the part of their tenants; the question is a +very serious one, for on the payment of rent depends directly or +indirectly the means of livelihood of half the nation. Thus the +landlords say that if the tenants do not pay them they cannot pay the +interest of the mortgages on their properties. If this interest be not +paid, however, the shareholders of the Crédit Foncier and other great +mortgage banks get nothing. Paris, under the fostering care of the +Emperor, had become, next to St. Petersburgh, the dearest capital in +Europe. Its property was artificial, and was dependent upon a long chain +of connecting links remaining unbroken. In the industrial quarters money +was made by the manufacture of _Articles de Paris_, and for these, as +soon as the communications are reopened, there will be the same market +as heretofore. As a city of pleasure, however, its prosperity must +depend, like a huge watering-place, upon its being able to attract +strangers. If they do not return, a reduction in prices will take place, +which will ruin most of the shopkeepers, proprietors of houses, and +hotel keepers; but this, although unpleasant to individuals, would be to +the advantage of the world at large. Extravagance in Paris makes +extravagance the fashion everywhere; under the Empire, to spend money +was the readiest road to social distinction. The old _bourgeoisie_ still +retained the careful habits of the days of Louis Philippe, and made +fortunes by cheeseparing. Imperial Paris was far above this. Families +were obliged to spend 20 per cent, of their incomes in order to lodge +themselves; shops in favoured quarters were let for fabulous prices, and +charged fabulous prices for their wares. _Cocodettes_ of the Court, +_cocottes_ of the Bois, wives of speculators, shoddy squaws from New +York, Calmues recently imported from their native steppes, doubtful +Italian Princesses, gushing Polish Countesses, and foolish Englishwomen, +merrily raced along the road to ruin. Good taste was lost in tinsel and +glitter; what a thing cost was the only standard of its beauty. Great +gingerbread palaces were everywhere run up, and let even before they +were out of the builder's hands. It was deemed fashionable to drive +about in a carriage with four horses, with perhaps a black man to drive, +and an Arab sitting on the box by his side. Dresses by milliners in +vogue gave a ready currency to their wearers. The Raphael of his trade +gave himself all the airs of a distinguished artist; he received his +clients with vulgar condescension, and they--no matter what their +rank--submitted to his insolence in the hope that he would enable them +to outshine their rivals. Ambassadors' wives and Court ladies used to go +to take tea with the fellow, and dispute the honour of filling his cup +or putting sugar into it. I once went into his shop--a sort of +drawing-room hung round with dresses; I found him lolling on a chair, +his legs crossed before the fire. Around him were a bevy of women, some +pretty, some ugly, listening to his observations with the rapt attention +of the disciples of a sage. He called them up before him like school +girls, and after inspecting them, praised or blamed their dresses. One, +a pretty young girl, found favour in his eyes, and he told her that he +must dream and meditate several days over her, in order to find the +inspiration to make a gown worthy of her. "Why do you wear these ugly +gloves?" he said to another, "never let me see you in gloves of that +colour again." She was a very grand lady, but she slipped off her +gloves, and put them in her pocket with a guilty look. When there was +going to be a ball at Court, ladies used to go down on their knees to +him to make them beautiful. For some time he declined to dress any +longer the wife of a great Imperial dignitary who had not been +sufficiently humble towards him; she came to him in tears, but he was +obdurate, and he only consented at last to make a gown for her on +condition that she would put it on for the first time in his shop. The +Empress, who dealt with him, sent to tell him that if he did not abate +his prices she would leave him. "You cannot," he replied, and in fact +she could not, for she stood by him to the last. A morning dress by this +artist, worth in reality about 4l., cost 30l.; an evening dress, tawdry +with flounces, ribbons, and bad lace could not be had under 70. There +are about thirty shops in Paris where, as at this man-milliner's, the +goods are not better than elsewhere, but where they cost about ten +times their value. They are patronised by fools with more money than +wits, and chiefly by foreign fools. The proprietor of one of these +establishments was complaining to me the other day of what he was losing +by the siege; I told him that I sympathised with him about as much as I +should with a Greek brigand, bewailing a falling off of wealthy +strangers in the district where he was in the habit of carrying on his +commercial operations. Whenever the communications are again open to +Paris, and English return to it, I would give them this piece of +advice--never deal where _ici on parle Anglais_ is written up; it means +_ici on vole les Anglais_. The only tradesmen in Paris who are making a +good thing out of their country's misfortunes are the liquor sellers and +the grocers; their stores seem inexhaustible, but they are sold at +famine prices. "I who speak to you, I owe myself to my country. There is +no sacrifice I would not make rather than capitulate to those Huns, +those Vandals," said a grocer to me, with a most sand-the-sugar face, +this morning, as he pocketed about ten times the value of a +trifle--candles, in fact, which have risen twenty-five per cent. in the +last two days--and folding his arms, scowled from under his kepi into +futurity, with stern but vacuous resolution. + + +_January 6th._ + +I have just returned from Point-du-Jour, where I went with Mr. Frank +Lawley in order to see myself what truth there was in the announcement +that we were being bombarded. Point-du-Jour is the point where the Seine +issues from Paris. The circular railroad passes over the river here on a +high brick viaduct, which makes a species of fortification. The hills +outside the city form a sort of amphitheatre, in which are situated the +towns of Sèvres and Meudon. To the right of the river is Mont Valérien +and the batteries in the Bois de Boulogne; to the left the Fort of +Issy. The noise of the cannonade was very loud; but very little could be +seen, owing to the sun shining on the hills outside. Speculators, +however, with telescopes, were offering to show the Prussian +artillerymen for one sou--one of them offered to let me see a general +for two sous. When I got within about half a mile of the ramparts I +began to hear the whistling of the shells. Here the sightseers were not +so numerous. Whenever a shell was heard, there was a rush behind walls +and houses. Some people threw themselves down, others seemed to imagine +that the smallest tree would protect them, and congregated behind the +thinnest saplings. Boys were running about picking up pieces of shells, +and offering them for sale. Women were standing at their doors, and +peeping their heads out: "Brigands, bandits, they dare to bombard us; +wait till to-morrow, we will make them rue it." This, and expressions of +a similar nature, was the tone of the small talk. My own impression is, +that the Prussians were firing at the ramparts, and that, as often +occurs, their projectiles overshot the mark. I did not see anyone either +killed or wounded, and it seems to me that the most astonishing thing in +a bombardment is the little damage it does to life and limb. I saw a bit +of iron cut away a branch from one of the trees, and one shell I saw +burst on the road by the river. In 15 minutes we counted 11 shells +whizzing through the air, over our heads, which fell I presume somewhere +behind us. The newspaper which I have just bought, I see, says that two +shells have fallen close by the Invalides, and that they have been +coming in pretty thickly all along the zone near the southern ramparts. +This may or may not be the case. Like Herodotus in Egypt, I make a +distinction between what I am told and what I see, and only guarantee +the authenticity of the latter. The only house which as far as I could +perceive had been struck was a small one. A chimney-stack had been +knocked over; an old lady who inhabited it pointed this out to me. She +seemed to be under the impression that this was the result of design, +and plaintively asked me what she had done to "William" and to Bismarck +that they should knock over her chimney. On the ramparts no damage +seemed to have been done. The National Guard on duty were in the +casemates. The noise, however, was tremendous. Issy, Valérien, the guns +of the bastions and those of the cannon-boats were firing as hard as +they could, and the Prussian batteries were returning their fire with a +will. After the sun went down the dark hills opposite were lit up with +the flashes of light which issued every second from the batteries. + +The Government has issued a proclamation; in it is announced that we are +to be relieved by the Army of the North. Another proclamation has been +posted, purporting to proceed from the "delegates of the twenty +arrondissements," calling upon the population to turn out Trochu. It has +attracted little notice. Several mayors, too, it is reported, have +threatened to resign unless more energetic counsels prevail in high +places. Frenchmen, however, as one of their statesmen said, cannot grasp +two ideas at a time, and for to-day at least the bombardment is the +all-absorbing idea. Whether Frederick Charles has been really defeated I +do not know, but we are all assured that he has been. Paris journals +state that he has been wounded, and that 45,000 of his army have +surrendered. It is asserted, too, that the prisoners who were taken +yesterday admit that one of their armies has had a very serious reverse. +The bombardment of the forts still continues, and it has extended to the +southern ones. With respect to its effect, I will say nothing, lest I be +accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. _La Vérité_ of yesterday +already calls upon the Government to open and either suppress or +expurgate the letters of English correspondents. + +The vin ordinaire is giving out. It has already risen nearly 60 per +cent. in price. This is a very serious thing for the poor, who not only +drink it, but warm it and make with bread a soup out of it. Yesterday, I +had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two +elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I +do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can +get beef or mutton. Many of the restaurants are closed owing to want of +fuel. They are recommended to use lamps; but although French cooks can +do wonders with very poor materials, when they are called upon to cook +an elephant with a spirit lamp the thing is almost beyond their +ingenuity. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other +parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb. It is a good +deal warmer to-day, and has been thawing in the sun; if the cold and the +siege had continued much longer, the Prussians would have found us all +in bed. It is a far easier thing to cut down a tree than to make it +burn. Proverbs are not always true; and I have found to my bitter +experience of late that the proverb that "there is no smoke without a +fire" is untrue. The Tupper who made it never tried to burn green wood. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +_January 7th._ + +The attempt of the "Ultras" to force Trochu to resign has been a +failure. On Friday bands issuing from the outer Faubourgs marched +through the streets shouting "No capitulation!" A manifesto was posted +on the walls, signed by the delegates of the 20 arrondissements, calling +on the people to rise. At the weekly meeting of the Mayors M. +Delescluze, the Mayor of the 19th arrondissement, proposed that Trochu +and Le Flô should be called upon to resign, and that a supreme council +should be established in which the "civil element should not be +subordinated to the military element." M. Gustave Flourens published a +letter from his prison suggesting that the people should choose as their +leader a young energetic Democrat--that is to say himself. M. Felix +Pyat, on the other hand, explained that generals are tyrants, and that +the best thing would be to carry on the operations of the siege without +one. The "bombardment" is, however, still the absorbing question of the +day; and all these incipient attempts at revolution have failed. Trochu +issued a proclamation, in which he said, "The Governor of Paris will +never capitulate." M. Delescluze has resigned, and several arrests have +been made. The Government, however, owes its triumph, not so much to its +own inherent merits, as to the demerits of those who wished to supplant +it. Everyone complains of Trochu's strange inaction, and distrusts his +colleagues, who seem to be playing fast-and-loose with the Commune, and +to be anxious by a little gentle violence to be restored to private +life. The cry still is, "We will not capitulate!" and the nearer the +moment approaches that the provisions must fail, the louder is it +shouted. Notwithstanding the bitter experience which the Parisians have +had of the vanity of mere words to conjure disaster, they still seem to +suppose that if they only cry out loud enough that the Prussians cannot, +will not, shall not, enter Paris, their men of war will be convinced +that the task is beyond their powers, and go home in despair. We are +like a tribe of Africans beating tom-toms and howling in order to avert +a threatening storm. Yesterday a great council of war was held, at which +not only the generals of division and admirals, but even generals of +brigade, were present. Although it is a military dictum that "councils +of war never fight," I think that in a few days we shall have a sortie, +as that anonymous general "public opinion" insists upon it. + +We are still without news from the provinces. The _Gazette Officiale_ +to-day publishes an extract from a German paper which hardly seems to +bear out the assertion of the Government that the Army of the North is +advancing to our succour. As evidence that our affairs are looking up in +the provinces _La France_ contains the following: "A foreigner who knows +exactly the situation of our departments said yesterday, 'These damned +French, in spite of their asinine qualities, are getting the better of +the Prussians.'" We are forced to live to-day upon this crumb of comfort +which has fallen from the lips of a great unknown. Hope is the last +feeling which dies out in the human breast, and rightly or wrongly nine +persons out of ten believe that Chanzy will shortly force the Prussians +to raise the siege. The bombardment is supposed to mask their having +been obliged to send heavy reinforcements to Frederick Charles, who +regularly every morning is either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. + +It is almost needless to say that the newspapers are filled with +wondrous tales respecting the bombardment; with denunciations against +the Prussians for their sacrilege in venturing upon it; and with +congratulations to the population on their heroism in supporting it. The +number of persons who have been all but hit by shells is enormous. I +went to the left bank of the Seine in order to see myself the state of +affairs. At Point-du-Jour there is a hot corner sparsely inhabited. The +Prussians are evidently here firing at the viaduct which crosses the +river. From there I followed the ramparts as close as I could as far as +Montrouge. I heard of many shells which had fallen, but except at +Point-du-Jour I did not myself either see any fall, or hear any whiz +through the air. I then went to the Observatory, where according to the +_Soir_ the shells were falling very freely. A citizen who was sweeping +before the gate told me that he knew nothing about them. In the Rue +d'Enfer, just behind, there was a house which had been struck during the +night, and close by there was a cantinière, on her way to be buried, who +had been killed by one. At the garden of the Luxembourg and at the +artesian well near the Invalides I heard of shells, but could not find +out where they had struck. As far as I can make out, the Prussians aim +at the bastions, and occasionally, but rarely, at some public building. +Probably about 50 shells have been sent with malice prepense inside the +town. Just behind a bastion it is a little dangerous; but in Grenelle, +Vaugirard, and Montrouge, the risk to each individual is not so great as +it would be to go over a crowded crossing in London. In these quarters I +saw a few people moving away with their goods and chattels; but the +population generally seemed rather pleased than otherwise with what was +going on. Except close in by the ramparts, there was no excitement. +Almost the whole of the portion of the town on the left bank of the +Seine is now under fire; but even should it be seriously bombarded, I +doubt if the effect will be at all commensurate with the expense of +powder and projectiles. When shells fall over a very large area, the +odds against each separate person being hit by them are so large that no +one thinks that--happen what may to others--he will be wounded. + + +_January 11th._ + +The spy mania, which raged with such intensity at the commencement of +the siege, has again broken out. Every day persons are arrested because +they are supposed, by lighted candles and other mysterious devices, to +be in communication with the enemy. Sergeant Hoff, who used to kill his +couple of brace of Germans every day, and who disappeared after +Champigny, it is now said was a spy; and instead of mourning over his +wife, who had been slain by the Prussians, kept a mistress in splendour, +like a fine gentleman. Foreigners are looked upon suspiciously in the +streets. Very black looks are cast upon the Americans who have +established and kept up the best ambulance there is in Paris at their +own cost. Even the French ambulances are suspected, since some of their +members, during a suspension of arms, broke bread with the Prussians; +for it is held that any one who does not hate a German must be in the +pay of Bismarck. But this is not all: the newspapers hint that there are +spies at headquarters. General Schmitz has a valet who has a wife, and +this wife is a German. What more clear than that General Schmitz +confides what passes at councils of war to his valet--generals usually +do; that the valet confides it to his wife, who, in some mysterious +manner, confides it to Bismarck. Then General Trochu has an +aide-de-camp, a Prince Bibesco. He is a Wallachian, and a son of an +ex-Hospodar--I never yet heard of a Wallachian who was not more or less. +Can a doubt exist in the mind of any reasonable being that this young +gentleman, a harmless lad, who had passed the greater part of his +existence dancing cotillons at Paris, is in direct communication with +the Prussians outside? A day or two ago two National Guards were +exchanging their strategical views in a café, when they observed a +stranger write down something. He was immediately arrested, as he +evidently intended to transmit the opinions of these two military sages +to General Moltke. I was myself down at Montrouge yesterday, when I was +requested by two National Guards to accompany them to the nearest +commissary. I asked why, and was told that a woman had heard me speak +German. I replied that I was English. "Zat ve saal soon zee," said one +of my captors. "I spek Anglish like an Anglishman, address to me the +vord in Anglish." I replied that the gentleman spoke English with so +perfect an accent that I thought he must be a fellow-countryman. The +worthy fellow was disarmed by the compliment, and told a crowd which had +collected round us to do prompt justice on the spy, that I not only was +an Englishman, but _un Cockné_; that is to say, he explained, an +inhabitant of London. He shook me by the hand; his friend shook me by +the hand; and several ladies and gentlemen also shook me by the hand; +and then we parted. Yesterday evening on the Boulevards there were +groups discussing "the traitors." Some said that General Schmitz had +been arrested; others that he ought to be arrested. A patriot observed +to me that all foreigners in Paris ought, as a precautionary measure, to +be extirpated. "Parbleu," I replied, and you may depend upon it I rolled +my eyes and shrugged my shoulders in true Gallic fashion. This morning +General Trochu has published a proclamation, denouncing all attacks upon +his staff, and making himself responsible for its members. It is an +honest, manly protest, and by far the best document which this prolific +writer has issued for some time. Another complaint is made against the +generals who damp the popular enthusiasm by throwing doubts upon +ultimate victory. In fact, we have got to such a condition that a +military man dares not venture to express his real opinion upon military +matters for fear of being denounced. We are, indeed, still in a most +unsurrendering mood. I was talking to-day to a banker--a friend who +would do anything for me except cash my bill. In business he is a +clear-headed, sensible man. I asked him what would occur if our +provisions gave out before the armies of the provinces arrived to our +succour. He replied that the Government would announce the fact, and +call upon all able-bodied men to make a dash at the Prussian lines; that +300,000 at least would respond to that call, and would either be killed +or force their way out. This will give you an idea of the present tone +of the population. Nine men out of ten believe that we have enough +provisions to last at least until the end of February. The only official +utterance respecting the provisions is contained in a paragraph in the +_Journal Officiel_ to-day, in which we are informed that there are +15,000 oxen and 40,000 sheep in Bordeaux waiting for marching orders to +Paris. This is much like telling a starving man in the Strand that figs +are plentiful in Palestine, and only waiting to be picked. + +The bombardment has diminished in intensity. The Government has put the +Prussian prisoners in the ambulances on the left bank of the Seine. It +appears to me that it would have been wiser to have moved the ambulances +to the right bank. By day few shells fall into the town beyond the +immediate vicinity of the ramparts. At night they are more plentiful, +and seem to be aimed promiscuously. I suppose about ten people are hit +every twenty-four hours. Now as above fifty people die every day in +Paris of bronchitis, there is far more danger from the latter than from +the batteries of the disciples of Geist outside. It is not worse to die +by a bomb than of a cold. Indeed I am by no means sure that of two evils +the latter is not the least; yet a person being suddenly struck down in +the streets of a capital by a piece of iron from a cannon will always +produce a more startling effect upon the mind than a rise in the bills +of mortality from natural causes. Those who are out of the reach of the +Prussian guns are becoming accustomed to the bombardment. "You naughty +child," I heard a woman who was walking before me say to her daughter, +"if you do not behave better I will not take you to see the +bombardment." "It is better than a vaudeville," said a girl near me on +the Trocadero, and she clapped her hands. A man at Point-du-Jour showed +me two great holes which had been made in his garden the night before by +two bombs close by his front door. He, his wife, and his children seemed +to be rather proud of them. I asked him why he did not move into the +interior of the town, and he said that he could not afford it. In a +German paper which recently found its way in, it was stated that the +bombardment of Paris would commence when the psychological moment had +arrived. We are intensely indignant at this term; we consider it so +cold-blooded. It is like a doctor standing by a man on the rack, and +feeling his pulse to see how many more turns of the screw he can bear. +All the forts outside are still holding their own against the Prussian +batteries. Issy has had as yet the greatest amount of attention paid to +it by the besiegers. There is a battery at Meudon which seems never to +tire of throwing shells into it. It is said, however, that the enemy is +endeavouring to establish breaching guns at a closer range, in order to +make his balls strike the ground and then bound into the fort--a mode of +firing which was very successful at Strasburg. + +The sensation news of to-day is that Faidherbe has driven Manteuffel +across the Belgian frontier, and that Frederick Charles, who always +seems to come to life after being killed, has been recalled from Orleans +to Paris. The funds rose to-day one per cent. upon these rumours. Our +chief confidence, however, just now is in Bourbaki; we think that he has +joined Garibaldi, and that these two will force the Prussians to raise +the siege by throwing themselves on their communications. I only hope +they may. + +Mr. Washburne has not been allowed to send out his weekly bag. I +presume, however, that this embargo will not be kept up. The Government +has not yet announced its intention with respect to M. Jules Favre +proceeding to London to represent France in the conferences on the +Eastern Question. Most of the newspapers seem to be of opinion that +until the Republic has been officially recognised, it is not consistent +with her dignity to take part in any European Conference. The +diplomatists, who have been a little thrown in the background of late, +by wars and generals, must be delighted to find their old friend, the +"Eastern Question," cropping up. The settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein +question was a heavy blow to them; but for many a year they will have an +opportunity to prose and protocol over Turkey. An Austrian wit--indeed +the only wit that Austria ever produced--used to say that Englishmen +could only talk about the weather, and that if by some dispensation of +Providence there ever should be no such thing as weather, the whole +English nation would become dumb. What the weather is to Englishmen the +Eastern Question is to diplomatists. For their sakes, let us hope that +it never will be satisfactorily settled. Diplomatists, like many other +apparently useless beings, must live. + + +_January 15th._ + +Yesterday we were made comparatively happy by a report that the Prussian +funds had fallen 3 per cent. at Berlin. To-day we are told that Bourbaki +has gained a great victory, raised the siege of Belfort, and is about +to enter Germany. German newspapers up to the 7th have been seized at +the advanced posts, but whatever in them tells against us we put down to +a general conspiracy on the part of Europe to deceive us. It is somewhat +curious to watch the transmutations of the names of English statesmen +after they have passed through a German and a French translation. Thus +the latest news from London is that Mr. Hackington is made Irish +Secretary, and that Mr. Floresko is Minister of Commerce. + +The diplomatists and consuls still at Paris have sent a collective note +to Count Bismarck, complaining that the notice of the bombardment was +not given, and asking him to afford them the means to place the persons +and the property of their respective countrymen out of danger. The +minnows sign with the whales. Mr. Washburne's name is inserted between +that of the representative of Monaco and that of the Chargé d'Affaires +of Honduras. + +The bombardment still continues. The cannon now make one continuous +noise. Each particular discharge cannot be distinguished. The shells +fall on the left bank to a distance of about a mile from the ramparts. A +return of the _Official Journal_ gives 138 wounded and 51 killed up to +the 13th. Among the killed are 18 children and 12 women; among the +wounded, 21 children and 45 women. Waggons and hand-carts packed with +household goods are streaming in from the left to the right bank. In the +bombarded quarters many shops are closed. Some householders have made a +sort of casemate reaching to the first story of their houses; others +sleep in their cellars. The streets are, however, full of people, even +in the most exposed districts; and all the heights from which a view is +to be had of the Prussian batteries are crowded with sightseers. Every +now and then one comes across some house through which a shell has +passed. The public buildings have, as yet, suffered very slightly. The +dome of the Panthéon, which we presume is used as a mark for the aim of +the Prussian artillerymen, has been hit once. The shell has made a round +hole in the roof, and it burst inside the church. In the Jardin des +Plantes all the glass of the conservatories has been shattered by the +concussion of the air, and the orchids and other tropical plants are +dying. Although war and its horrors are thus brought home to our very +doors, it is even still difficult to realise that great events are +passing around us which history will celebrate in its most solemn and +dignified style. Distance in battles lends grandeur to the view. Had the +charge of Balaclava taken place on Clapham Common, or had our gallant +swordsmen replaced the donkeys on Hampstead Heath, even Tennyson would +have been unable to poetise their exploits. When one sees stuck up in an +omnibus-office that omnibuses "will have to make a circuit from _cause +de bombardement_;" when shells burst in restaurants and maim the +waiters; when the trenches are in tea-gardens; and when one is invited +for a sou to look through a telescope at the enemy firing off their +guns, there is a homely domestic air about the whole thing which is +quite inconsistent with "the pomp and pride of glorious war." + +On Friday night there was an abortive sortie at Clamart. Some of the +newspapers say that the troops engaged in it were kept too long waiting, +and that they warmed their feet by stamping, and made so much noise that +the Prussians caught wind of the gathering. Be this as it may, as soon +as they got into Clamart they were received with volleys of musketry, +and withdrew. I am told that the marching battalions of the National +Guard, now in the trenches, are doing their work better than was +expected. The generals in command are satisfied with them, but whether +they will be of any great use for offensive operations, is a question +yet to be solved. The clubs still keep up their outcry for "La Commune," +which they imagine will prove a panacea for every evil. In the club of +the Rue Arras last night, a speaker went a step still further, and +demanded "the establishment of anarchy as the ruling power." Trochu is +still either attacked, or feebly defended, in the newspapers. The French +are so accustomed to the State doing everything for them, that their +ruler is made responsible for everything which goes wrong. The demand +for a sortie _en masse_ is not so strong. Every one is anxious not to +surrender, and no one precisely knows how a surrender is to be avoided. +Successes on paper have so long done duty for successes in the field, +that no one, even yet, can believe that this paper currency has been so +depreciated that bankruptcy must ensue. Is it possible, each man asks, +that 500,000 armed Frenchmen will have to surrender to half the number +of Germans? And as they reply that it is impossible, they come to the +conclusion that treason must be at work, and look round for the traitor. +Trochu, who is as honest and upright as a man as he is incompetent as a +general, will probably share the fate of the "Man of Sedan" and the "Man +of Metz," as they are called. "He is a Laocoon," says M. Felix Pyat in +his newspaper, with some confusion of metaphor, "who will strangle the +Republic." + +We hear now that Government is undertaking an inquiry to discover +precisely how long our stock of provisions will last. Matters are +managed so carelessly, that I doubt whether the Minister of Commerce +himself knows to within ten days the precise date when we shall be +starved out. The rations of meat now amount to 1-27th of a pound per +diem for each adult. At the fashionable restaurants the supply is +unlimited, and the price as unlimited. Two cutlets of donkey cost 18 +francs, and everything else in the way of animal food is in proportion. +The real vital question, however, is how long the bread will last. In +some arrondissements the supply fails after 8 o'clock in the morning; +at others, each resident receives 1 lb. upon production of a _carte de +subsistance_. The distribution has been thrown into disorder by the +people from the bombarded quarters flocking into the central ones, and +wanting to be fed. The bread itself is poor stuff. Only one kind is +allowed to be manufactured; it is dark in colour, heavy, pasty, and +gritty. There is as little corn in it as there is malt in London beer +when barley is dear. The misery among the poorer classes is every day on +the increase. Most of the men manage to get on with their 1fr. 50c. a +day. In the morning they go to exercise, and afterwards loll about until +night in cafés and pothouses, making up with liquids for the absence of +solids. As for doing regular work, they scoff at the idea. Master +tailors and others tell me that it is almost impossible to get hands to +do the few orders which are now given. They are warmly clad in uniforms +by the State, and except those belonging to the marching battalions +really doing duty outside, I do not pity them. With the women and +children the case is different. The latter, owing to bad nourishment and +exposure, are dying off like rotten sheep; the former have but just +enough food to keep body and soul together, and to obtain even this they +have to stand for hours before the doors of the butchers and bakers, +waiting for their turn to be served. And yet they make no complaints, +but patiently suffer, buoyed up, poor people, by the conviction that by +so doing they will prevent the Prussians from entering the town. If one +of them ventures to hint at a capitulation, she is set on by her +neighbours. Self-assertion, however, carries the day. Jules and Jaques +will hereafter quaff many a petit verre to their own heroism; and many a +story will they inflict upon their long-suffering friends redounding to +their own special glory. Their wives will be told that they ought to be +proud to have such men for husbands. But Jules and Jacques are in +reality but arrant humbugs. Whilst they boozed, their wives starved; +whilst they were warmly clad, their wives were in rags; whilst they were +drinking confusion to their enemies in some snug room, their wives were +freezing at the baker's door for their ration of bread. In Paris the +women--I speak of those of the poorer classes--are of more sterling +stuff than the men. They suffer far more, and they repine much less. I +admire the crowd of silent, patient women, huddling together for warmth +every morning, as they wait until their pittance is doled out to them, +far more than the martial heroes who foot it behind a drum and a trumpet +to crown a statue, to visit a tomb, and to take their turn on the +ramparts; or the heroes of the pen, who day after day, from some cosy +office, issue a manifesto announcing that victory is certain, because +they have made a pact with death. + + +_January 16th._ + +If I am to believe the Paris papers, the Fort of Issy is gradually +extinguishing the guns of the Prussian batteries which bear on it. If I +am to believe my eyes, the Fort of Issy is not replying at all to these +said guns; and if I am to believe competent military authorities, in +about eighteen days from now at the latest the Fort of Issy will cease +to be a fort. The batteries at Meudon appeared to-day to be of opinion +that its guns were effectually silenced; shells fell thick and fast on +the bastions at Point-du-Jour; and so well aimed were they, that between +the bastions a looker-on was in comparative safety. The noise, however, +of the duel between the bastions and the batteries was so deafening, +that it was literally impossible for two persons to hear each other +speak at a few feet distance; the shells, too, which were passing to the +right and left, seemed to give the whole air a tremulous motion. At the +bastions the artillerymen were working their guns, but the National +Guards on duty were under cover. The houses, on both sides of the +Seine, within the city, for about half a mile from the viaduct are +deserted; not above a dozen of them, I should imagine, are still +inhabited. Outside, in the villages of Vanvres and Issy, several fires +have broken out, but they have been promptly extinguished, and there has +been no general conflagration. The most dangerous spot in this direction +is a road which runs behind the Forts of Vanvres and Montrouge; as +troops are frequently marching along it the Prussians direct their guns +from Clamart and Chatillon on it. In the trenches the danger is not +great, and there are but few casualties; the shells pass over them. If +anyone, however, exposes himself, a ball about the size of an egg, from +a _canon de rampart_, whizzes by him, as a gentle reminder to keep under +cover. The area of the bombardment is slightly extending, and will, I +presume, very soon reach the right bank. More people are killed in the +daytime than at night, because they will stand in groups, +notwithstanding every warning, and stare at any house which has been +damaged. + +The bill of mortality for the week ending January 13th, gives an +increase on the previous week of 302; the number of deaths registered is +3982. This is at the rate of above twenty per cent. per annum, and it +must be remembered that in this return those who die in the public +hospitals, or of the direct effect of the war, are not included. +Small-pox is about stationary, bronchitis and pneumonia largely on the +increase. + +Bourbaki, we are told to-day, is at Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of +Baden. The latest German papers announce that Mézières has fallen, and +it seems to occur to no one that Gambetta's last pigeon despatch +informed us that the siege of this place had been raised. _La Liberté_ +thus sums up the situation:--"Nancy menaced; Belfort freed; Baden +invaded; Hamburg about to be bombarded. This is the reply of France to +the bombardment of Paris. The hour has arrived; the Prussians brought +to bay, hope to find refuge in Paris. This is their last hope; their +last resource." + +In order to encourage us to put up with our short commons, we are now +perpetually being told that the Government has in reserve vast stores of +potted meats, cheese, butter, and other luxuries, of which we have +almost forgotten the very taste; and that when things come to the worst +we shall turn the corner, and enter into a period of universal +abundance. These stores seem to me much like the mirage which lures on +the traveller of the desert, and which perpetually recedes as he +advances. But the great difficulty of the moment is to procure fuel. I +am ready, as some one said, to eat the soles of my boots for the sake of +my country; but then they must be cooked. All the mills are on the +Marne, and cannot be approached. Steam mills have been put up, but they +work slowly; and whatever may be the amount of corn yet in store, it is +almost impossible to grind enough of it to meet the daily requirements. + +A good deal of discussion is going on as to the time which it will take +to revictual Paris; it is thought that it can be done in seven days, but +I do not myself see how it is to be done in anything like this time. One +of the principal English bankers here has, I understand, sent an agent +by balloon to buy boats of small draught in England, in order to bring +provisions up the Seine. As a speculation, I should imagine that the +best plan would be to amass them on the Belgian or Luxemburg frontier. +About two-thirds of the population will be without means to buy food, +even if the food were at their doors. Trade and industry will not revive +for some time; they will consequently be entirely dependent upon the +State for their means of subsistence. Even if work is offered to them, +many of them not be able at once to reassume their habits of daily +industry; the Bohemian life which they have led for the last four +months, and which they are still leading, is against it. A siege is so +abnormal a condition of things, that the State has been obliged to pay +them for doing practically nothing, as otherwise they would have fallen +into the hands of the anarchists; but this pottering about from day to +day with a gun, doing nothing except play at billiards and drink, has +been very demoralising, and it will be long before its effect ceases to +be felt. + +The newspapers are somewhat irreverent over the diplomatic protest +against the bombardment. They say that while Paris is deserted by the +Great European Powers, it is a source of pleasure to think that the +Principality of Monaco and the Republics of San Marino and Honduras +still stand by her. They suggest that M. Jules Favre should go to +Andorre to endeavour to induce that republic also to reason with the +Prussians upon the bombardment. I am told that the "proud young porter," +who now the sheep is dead, represents alone the Majesty of England at +the British Embassy is indignant at not having been invited to add his +signature to the protest. He considers--and justly I think--that he is a +far more important personage than the Plenipotentiary of his Highness of +Monaco; a despot who exercises sway over about 20 acres of orange trees, +60 houses, and two roulette tables. The diplomatists are not, however, +alone in their protest. Everybody has protested, and is still +protesting. If it is a necessity of war to throw shells into a densely +populated town like this; it is--to say the least--a barbarous +necessity; but it seems to me that it is but waste of time and paper to +register protests against it; and if it be thought desirable to do so, +it would be far more reasonable to protest against human beings--women +and children--being exposed to its effects, than to indite plaintive +elegies about the possibility of the Venus de Milo being damaged, or the +orchids in the hot-houses being killed. I know that, for my part, I +would rather that every statue and every plant in the world were smashed +to atoms by shells, than that I were. This, in an æsthetical point of +view, is selfish; but it is none the less true. _Chacun pour soi._ The +Panthéon was struck yesterday. What desecration! everyone cries; and I +am very sorry for the Panthéon, but very glad that it was the Panthéon, +and not me. The world at large very likely would lose more by the +destruction of the Panthéon than of any particular individual; but each +particular individual prefers his own humble self to all the edifices +that architects have raised on the face of the globe. + +I have been endeavouring to discover, whether in the councils of our +rulers, the question as to what is to be done in the possible +contingency of a capitulation becoming necessary, has been raised. As +far as I can hear, the contingency is not yet officially recognised as +within the realms of possibility, and it has never been alluded to. +General Trochu has officially announced "that the Governor of Paris will +never capitulate." His colleagues have periodically said much the same +thing. The most practical of them, M. Ernest Picard, has, I believe, +once or twice endeavoured to lead up to the subject, but he has failed +in the attempt. Newspaper articles and Government proclamations tell the +population every day that they only have to persevere in order +ultimately to triumph. If the end must come, it is difficult to see how +it will come. I have asked many intelligent persons what they think will +happen, but no one seems to have a very distinct notion respecting it. +Some think the Government will issue some day a notice to say that there +are only provisions for a week longer; and that at the end of this time +the gates of the city will be opened, and the Prussians told that, if +they insist upon entering, there will be nothing to prevent them. Others +think that the Government will resign their power into the hands of the +mayors, as the direct representatives of Paris. Trochu rides about a +good deal outside, and says to the soldiers, "Courage, my children, the +moment is coming." But to what moment he alludes no one is aware. No +word is more abused in the French language than "sublime." To call a +folly a sublime folly is considered a justification of any species of +absurdity. We call this refusal to anticipate a contingency which +certainly is possible, if not probable, sublime. We are proud of it, and +sleep on in our fool's paradise as though it were to last for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +_January 17th._ + +The papers publish reports of the meetings of the clubs. The following +is from the _Débats_ of to-day:-- + +"At the extremity of the Rue Faubourg St. Antoine is a dark passage, and +in a room which opens into this passage is the Club de la Revendication. +The audience is small, and consists mainly of women, who come there to +keep warm. The club is peaceable--hardly revolutionary--for Rome is Rome +no more, and the Faubourg St. Antoine, formerly so turbulent, has +resigned in favour of Belleville and La Villette. Yesterday evening the +Club de la Revendication was occupied, as usual, in discussing the +misery of the situation, and the necessity of electing a Commune. An +orator, whose patriotic enthusiasm attained almost to frenzy, declared +that as for himself he scorned hams and sausages in plenty, and that he +preferred to live on the air of liberty. (The women sigh.) Another +speaker is of opinion that if there were a Commune there would also be +hams and sausages in plenty. We still pay, he says, the budget of the +clergy, as though Bonaparte were still on the throne, instead of having +rationed the large appetites and forced every one to live on 1fr. 50c. a +day. In order to make his meaning clear the orator uses the following +comparison. Suppose, he says, that I am a peasant, and that I have +fattened a chicken. (Excitement.) Were I obliged to give the wings to +the clergy, the legs to the military, and the carcass to civil +functionaries, there would be nothing of my chicken left for me. Well, +this is our case. We fatten chickens; others eat them. It would be far +wiser for us to keep them for ourselves. (Yes, yes.) A Pole, the Citizen +Strassnowski, undertakes to defend the Government. He obtains a hearing, +but not without difficulty. You complain that the Government, he says, +has not cast more cannon. Where were the artillerymen? (Ourselves.) But +three months ago you were citizens, you were not soldiers. In making you +march and counter-march in the streets and on the ramparts you have been +converted into soldiers. The Government was right therefore to wait. +(Murmurs.) The orator is not angry with the German nation; he is angry +only with the potentates who force the people to kill each other; and he +hopes that the day will come when the European nations will shake hands +over the Pyrenées, the Alps, the Balkan, and the mountains of Carpathia. +(Feeble applause and murmurs.) A citizen begs the audience to have +patience with the Citizen Strassnowski, who is a worthy man and a +volunteer; but the citizen then reproaches the worthy man for having +attempted to defend a Government whose incapacity is a matter of +notoriety. Come now, Citizen Strassnowski, he says, what has the +Government done to merit your praise? It has armed us and exercised us; +but why? To deliver us over with our guns and our cannons to the +Prussians after we have all caught cold on the ramparts. Has it tried to +utilise us? No, it has passively looked on whilst the Prussians +surrounded Paris with a triple circle of citadels. We are told every day +that the armies of the provinces will deliver us. We do not see them. We +are not even secure in Paris. Every kind of story is afloat. Yesterday +it was reported that General Schmitz had betrayed us; to-day it is an +actress who has arrested a spy whose cook was on intimate terms with a +cook of the member of the Government. Why these reports? Because the +Government has no moral support, and no one feels confidence in it. In +the meantime the food gets less and less, and this morning at eight +o'clock all the bakers in this arrondissement had closed their shops. +(True, true; we waited five hours at the closed doors.) When we get the +bread, it is more like plaster than bread. In the third arrondissement, +on the other hand, it is good and plentiful. So much for the organising +spirit of the Government. We have to wait hours for bread, hours for +wood, and hours for meat; and frequently we do not get either bread, +meat, or wood. Things cannot last long like this, my worthy +Strassnowski. The speaker concludes by urging the people to take the +direction of their affairs into their own hands. (Cries of "Vive la +Commune.") The President urges his hearers to subscribe towards a +society, the object of which is civic instruction. The club breaks up, +the President is applauded." + +Here is another description of a club meeting from the same journal:-- + +"The laurels of Belleville prevented La Villette from sleeping. La +Villette, therefore, determined to have, like her rival, a central +democratic and social club, and yesterday she inaugurated in the Salle +Marseillaise an opposition to the "Club Favié." In some respects the +Marseillaise club is even more democratic than her parent. The Salle is +a sort of barn, and the _sans culottes_ themselves, notwithstanding +their horror of all luxury, hardly found its comforts sufficient for +them. The Club Favié, with its paintings on the walls and its lustres, +has a most aristocratic air in comparison with this new hall of +democracy. To judge by its first séance, the Club Marseillaise promises +well. Last night enough treasons were unveiled to make the fortune of +most other clubs for a week at least. From the commencement of the war +we have been in the meshes of a vast network of treason; and these +meshes can only be broken through by the Commune and the Republic. The +conspiracy was hatched long ago between the Emperors and the Kings, and +the other enemies of the people. The war had been arranged amongst them, +and it is an error to suppose that we were beaten at Rhichshofen or +Sedan. "No," cried an orator, with conviction, "we have never been +defeated; but we have been betrayed." ("True." Applause. "We are still +betrayed.") The men of the Hôtel de Ville imitate Bonaparte, and, like +him, they have an understanding with the Prussians, to enslave the +people, after having betrayed the country. To whom then must we turn to +save the country? To the Legitimists? To the Orleanists?" (No, no.) The +orator does not hesitate to avow that he would turn to them if they +could save France. (Impossible.) Yes, it is impossible for them. The +orator admits it; and all the more because Legitimists and Orleanists +are enrolled in the conspiracy against the nation. The people can be the +only saviours of the people, by the establishment of the commune; and +this is why the men of the Hôtel de Ville and the Reactionists are +opposed to its establishment. A second speaker abandons the question of +the Commune and of the conspiracy, in order to call attention to the +resignation of Citizen Delescluze, late mayor of the nineteenth +arrondissement. While this orator thinks that it would be unjust to +accuse the patriot Delescluze of treason, he ought not the less to be +blamed for having abandoned a post to which he had been called by his +fellow citizens. The people elected him, and he had no right to put his +resignation in the hands of the men of the Hôtel de Ville in the +critical circumstances in which we find ourselves--at a moment when the +tide of misery is mounting--when the mayors have a great mission to +fulfil. What has been the consequence of this act of weakness? The men +of the Hôtel de Ville have named a commission to administer the +nineteenth arrondissement exactly as was done under Bonaparte. This is +what we citizens of Belleville have gained by the desertion of +Delescluze. (Applause.) A citizen pushes his way to the tribune to +justify the mayor. He admits that at first sight it is difficult to +approve of a magistrate who has been elected by the people resigning his +office at the very moment when the people have the greatest need of him, +but--and again we get into the dark mystery of the conspiracy--if he +gave in his resignation, it was because he would not be an accomplice of +treason. In a meeting presided over by Jules Favre, what do you suppose +the mayors were asked to do? (Here the orator pauses a moment to take +breath. The curiosity of the audience is intense.) They were asked to +take part in the capitulation. (Violent murmurs--Infamous.) Well +yes--Delescluze would have nothing to do with this infamy, and he +withdrew. Besides, there was another reason. In the division of the +succour afforded to necessitous citizens the nineteenth arrondissement +was only supposed to have 4000 indigent persons, whilst in reality the +number is 50,000, and by this means it was hoped that the popularity of +this pure Republican would suffer, and perhaps riots break out which +would be put down--(the divulgation of this plot against the mayor of +the nineteenth arrondissement is received in different ways. A person +near us observes--"All the same, he ought not to have resigned.") This +incident over, the discussion goes back to the treasons of the Hôtel de +Ville. It is well known, says a speaker, that a sortie had been +determined on in a Council composed of four generals, presided over by +Trochu, and that the next morning the Prussians were informed of it. Who +told them, who betrayed us. Was it Schmitz, or another general. (A +voice: "It was the man who eats pheasants." Indignation.) In any case, +Trochu is responsible, even if he was not the traitor himself. ("Yes, +yes; it was Trochu!") Another citizen, not personally known to the +audience, but who announces that he lives in the Rue Chasson, says that +he has received by accident a confidential communication which, perhaps, +may throw some light on the affair. This citizen has some friends who +are the friends of Ledru Rollin and of the citizen Tibaldi; and one of +these friends heard a friend say that either Ledru Rollin or Tibaldi had +heard Trochu say that it was impossible to save Paris; but that he would +have 30,000 men killed, and then capitulate. (Murmurs of indignation.) +The citizen of the Rue Chasson has received a second confidential +communication, which corroborates the first. He has been told by one of +his neighbours that everything is ready for a capitulation, and he +thinks that he will soon be enabled to communicate something still more +important on this subject; but in the meanwhile he entreats the +energetic citizens of Belleville--(indignation "This is not +Belleville")--pardon, of La Villette and of the other Republican +faubourgs, to keep their eyes on the Government. They must have no +confidence in the _quartiers_ inside the town. The Rue Chasson, in which +he lives, is utterly demoralised. La Villette, with Belleville and +Montmartre, must save Paris. (Applause.) Another citizen says that he +has of late frequently heard the odious word capitulation. How can it be +otherwise? Everything is being done to make it necessary. We, the +National Guard, who receive 1fr. 50c. a-day, are called the indigent. +What do the robbers and the beggars who thus insult us do? They indulge +in orgies in the fashionable restaurants. The Zoological Gardens have +been shut. Why? Because the elephants, the tigers, and other rare +animals have been sold in order to enable wretches who laugh at the +public misery to gorge themselves. What can we, the indigent, as they +call us, do with 30 sous, when a few potatoes cost 30fr., and a piece of +celery 2fr. And they talk now of capitulating, because they have grown +rich on the war. Every one knows that it was made in order that +speculators should make fortunes. As long as they had goods to sell at +ten times their value they were for resistance to the death. Now that +they have nothing more to sell, they talk of capitulating. Ah! when one +thinks of these scandals one is almost inclined to blow one's brains +out. (Laughter and applause.) A fourth citizen takes up the same theme +with the same energy and conviction. He knows, he says, a restaurant +which is frequented by bank clerks, and where last week there were eaten +two cows and a calf, whilst the ambulance opposite was without fresh +meat. (Violent murmurs.) This is a part of the system, of Trochu and his +colleagues. They starve us and they betray us. Trochu, it is true, has +said that he would not capitulate, but we know what that means. When we +are worn out and demoralised he will demand a fresh plebiscite on the +question of a capitulation, and then he will say that the people, and +not he, capitulated. ("True, he is a Jesuit.") We must make an end of +these speculators and traitors. ("Yes, yes, it is time,") We must have +the Commune. We have not more than eighteen days of provisions, and we +want fifteen of them, to revictual. If the Commune is not proclaimed in +three days we are lost ("True. La Commune! La Commune!") The orator +explains how the Commune will save Paris. It will establish domiciliary +visits not only among the shopkeepers, but among private persons who +have stores of provisions. Besides, he adds, when all the dogs are eaten +we will eat the traitors. (Laughter and applause.) The Commune will +organise at the same time a sortie _en masse_, the success of which is +infallible. From statistics furnished by Gambetta it results that at +this moment there are not above 75,000 Prussians round Paris. And shall +our army of 500,000 men remain stationary before this handful of +Germans? Absurd. The Commune will burst through this pretended circle of +iron. It will put an end to treason. It will place two commissaries by +the side of each general. (The evening before, at the club in the Rue +Blanche, one commissary with a revolver had been proposed. At the +Marseillaise two were thought requisite. This evening, probably at the +Club Favié, in order to beat La Villette, three will be the number. The +position of a general of the Commune will not be an easy one.) These +commissaries, continues the orator, will watch all the movements of the +general. At the first sign he gives of yielding, they will blow his +brains out. Inexorably placed between victory and death, he will choose +the former. (General approbation.) The hour is getting late, but before +concluding the sitting, the President announces that the moment is +approaching when Republicans must stand shoulder to shoulder. Patriots +are invited to give in their names and addresses, in order to be found +when they are wanted. This proposal is adopted by acclamation. A certain +number of citizens register their names, and then the meeting breaks up +with a shout of "Vive la Commune de Paris!" + + +_January 19th._ + +All yesterday artillery was rolling and troops were marching through +Paris on their way to the Porte de Neuilly. The soldiers of the line +were worn and ragged; the marching battalions of the National Guards, +spick and span in their new uniforms. All seemed in good spirits, the +soldiers, after the wont of their countrymen, were making jokes with +each other, and with everyone else--the National Guards were singing +songs. In some instances they were accompanied by their wives and +sweethearts, who carried their muskets or clung to their arms. Most of +them looked strong, well-built men, and I have no doubt that in three or +four months, under a good general, they would make excellent soldiers. +In the Champs Elysées, there were large crowds to see them pass. +"Pauvres garçons," I heard many girls say, "who knows how many will +return!" And it was indeed a sad sight, these honest bourgeois, who +ought to be in their shops or at their counters, ill-drilled, unused to +war, marching forth with stout hearts, but with little hope of success, +to do battle for their native city, against the iron legions which are +beleaguering it. They went along the Avenue de la Grande Armée, crossed +the bridge of Neuilly over the Seine, and bivouacked for the night in +what is called the "Peninsula of Genevilliers." This peninsula is formed +by a loop in the Seine. Maps of the environs of Paris must be plentiful +in London, and a glance at one will make the topography of to-day's +proceedings far clearer than any description. The opening of the loop is +hilly, and the hills run along the St. Cloud side of the loop as far as +Mont Valérien, and on the other side as far as Rueil. About half a mile +from Mont Valérien following the river is St. Cloud; and between St. +Cloud and the Park of the same name is Montretout, a redoubt which was +commenced by the French, but which, since the siege began, has been held +by the Prussians. The enemy's line extends across the loop from +Montretout through Garches to La Malmaison. The latter lies just below +Rueil, which is a species of neutral village. The troops passed the +night in the upper part of the loop. In numbers they were about 90,000, +as far as I can ascertain, and they had with them a formidable field +artillery. The object of the sortie was a vague idea to push forward, if +possible, to Versailles. Most of the generals were opposed to it, and +thought that it would be wiser to make frequent sudden attacks on the +enemy's lines; but General Public Opinion insisted upon a grand +operation; and this anonymous but all powerful General, as usual, +carried the day. The plan appears to have been this: one half the army +was under General Vinoy, the other half under General Ducrot. The former +was to attack Montretout and Garches, the latter was to push forward +through Rueil and La Malmaison, carry the heights of La Jonchère, and +then unite with Vinoy at Garches. General Trochu, from an observatory in +Mont Valérien, commanded the whole movement. At 7 o'clock troops were +pushed forward against Montretout. This redoubt was held by about 200 +Poles from Posen; and they made so determined a resistance that the +place was not taken until 9.30. No guns were found in the redoubt. At +the same time General Bellemare, who commands one of Vinoy's divisions, +advanced on Garches, and occupied the wood and park of Buzenval, driving +in the Prussian outposts. Here several battalions of the National Guards +were engaged. Although their further advance was arrested by a stone +wall, from behind which the Prussians fired, they maintained themselves +in the wood and the park. The Prussians now opened a heavy fire along +the line. At Montretout it was impossible to get a single gun into +position. This went on until a little after three o'clock. By this time +reinforcements had come up from Versailles, and were pushed forward +against the centre of the French line. At the same time shells fell upon +the reserves, which consisted of National Guards, and which were drawn +up upon the incline of the heights looking towards Paris. They were +young troops, and for young troops nothing is so trying as being shelled +without being allowed to move. They broke and fell back. Their +companions who were in advance, and who held the crest of the heights, +saw themselves deserted, and at the same time saw the attacking column +coming forward, and they too fell back. The centre of the position was +thus lost. A hurried consultation was held, and Montretout and Buzenval +were evacuated. As night closed the French troops were falling back to +their bivouacs of the previous night, and the Prussians were recrossing +the trench which formed their advanced posts in the morning. The day was +misty, the mud was so deep that walking was difficult, and I could not +follow very clearly the movements of the troops from the house in which +I had ensconced myself. What became of General Ducrot no one seemed to +know. I have since learnt that he advanced with little resistance +through Rueil and La Malmaison, and that he then fought during the day +at La Jonchère, detaching a body of troops towards the Park of Buzenval. +He appears, however, to have failed in taking La Celle St. Cloud, and +from thence flanking La Bergerie, and marching on Garches. Everything is +consequently very much where it was this morning before the engagement +took place. It has been the old story. The Prussians did not defend +their first line, but fell back on their fixed batteries, there keeping +up a heavy fire until reinforcements had had time to be brought up. More +troops are ordered out for to-morrow; so I presume that the battle is to +be renewed. If it ends in a defeat, the consequences will be serious, +for the artillery can only be brought back to Paris by one bridge. The +wounded are numerous. In the American ambulance, which is close by in +the Champs Elysées, there are about seventy. In the Grand Hotel they are +arriving every moment. The National Guard at Buzenval behaved very +fairly under fire. Many of them had not been above a few days in +uniform. Their officers were in many cases as inexperienced as the men. +During the fight entire companies were wandering about looking for their +battalions, and men for their companies. As citizen soldiers they did +their best, and individually they were made of good stuff; but the moral +is--do not employ citizen soldiers for offensive operations. When I +returned into the town at about 5 o'clock this afternoon, the peninsula +of Gennevilliers resembled the course at Epsom on a wet Derby Day. To my +civilian eyes, cavalry, artillery, and infantry, seemed to be in +inextricable confusion. + +This morning the bread was rationed all over the city. No one is to have +more than 300 grammes per diem; children only 150. I recommend anyone +who has lived too high to try this regime for a week. It will do him +good. No costermonger's donkey is so overloaded as the stomachs of most +rich people. The Government on December 12 solemnly announced that the +bread never would be rationed. This measure, therefore, looks to me very +much like the beginning of the end. A perquisition is also being made in +search of provisions in the apartments of all those who have quitted +Paris. Another sign of the end. But it is impossible to know on how +little a Frenchman can live until the question has been tested. I went +yesterday into the house of a friend of mine, in the Avenue de +l'Impératrice, which is left in charge of a servant, and found three +families, driven out of their homes by the bombardment, installed in +it--one family, consisting of a father, a mother, and three children, +were boiling a piece of horse meat, about four inches square, in a +bucket full of water. This exceedingly thin soup was to last them for +three days. The day before they had each had a carrot. The bread is +scarce because the supply ceases before the demand in most quarters, so +that those who come last get none. My friend's servant was giving a +dinner to the English coachman. The sole dish was a cat with mice round +it. I tasted one of the latter, crunching the bones as if it had been a +lark. I can recommend mice, when nothing more substantial is to be +obtained. + +I hear that a pigeon has arrived this evening. Its despatch has not yet +been published. The "traitor-mania" still rages. Last night at the +Belleville Club an orator announced an awful discovery--the bread was +being poisoned by traitors. The Correspondent of one of your +contemporaries, having heard that he had been accused of being a +Prussian spy, went to-day to the Prefect of the Police. This august +being told him that he did not suspect him, and then showed him a file +of papers duly docketed relating to each London paper which is +represented here. For my part, although I have not failed to blame what +I thought blameable, and although I have not gone into ecstacies over +the bombastic nonsense which is the legacy of the vile despotism to +which the French were foolish enough to submit for twenty years, and +which has vitiated the national character, I have endeavoured in my +correspondence to be, as far as was consistent with truth, "to all their +virtues very kind, to all their faults a little blind." + + +_January 20th._ + +This morning several fresh regiments of National Guards were ordered to +march out to the Peninsula of Gennevilliers. I accompanied one of them; +but when we got into Neuilly a counter-order came, and they were marched +back. Every house in Neuilly and Courbevoie was full of troops, and +regiments were camping out in the fields, where they had passed the +night without tents. Many of the men had been so tired that they had +thrown themselves down in the mud, which was almost knee-deep, and thus +fallen asleep with their muskets by their sides. Bitter were the +complaints of the commissariat. Bread and _eau de vie_ were at a high +premium. Many of the men had thrown away their knapsacks, with their +loaves strapped to them, during the action, and these were now the +property of the Prussians. It is impossible to imagine a more forlorn +and dreary scene. Some of the regiments--chiefly those which had not +been in the action--kept well together; but there were a vast number of +stragglers wandering about looking for their battalions and their +companies. At about twelve o'clock it became known that the troops were +to re-enter Paris, and that the battle was not to be renewed; and at +about one the march through the gate of Neuilly commenced, colours +flying and music playing, as though a victory had been won. I remained +there some time watching the crowd that had congregated at each side of +the road. Most of the lookers on appeared to be in a condition of blank +despair. They had believed so fully that the grand sortie must end in a +grand victory, that they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw +their heroes returning into Paris, instead of being already at +Versailles. There were many women anxiously scanning the lines of +soldiers as they passed by, and asking every moment whether some +relative had been killed. As I came home down the Champs Elysées it was +full of knots of three and four soldiers, who seemed to consider that it +was a waste of time and energy to keep up with their regiments. + +In the evening papers the despatch announcing the defeat of Chanzy has +been published, and a request from Trochu to General Schmitz to apply at +once for an armistice of two days to bury the dead. "The fog," he adds, +"is very dense," and certainly this fog appears to have got into the +worthy man's brain. Almost all the wounded have already been picked up +by the French and the Prussian ambulances. Nearly all the dead are in +what are now the Prussian lines, and will no doubt be buried by them. In +the afternoon, as a suspension of arms for two hours was agreed to, our +ambulances pushed forward, and brought back a few wounded, but not many. +Most of those who had fallen in the Prussian lines had already been +moved, their officers said, to St. Germain and St. Cloud, where they +would be cared for. At three P.M. Jules Favre summoned the Mayors to a +consultation, and General Trochu also came in to the Ministry of Foreign +Affairs for half an hour, and then returned to Valérien. The feeling +against him is very strong. It is said that he has offered to resign; +and I think it very probable that he will be the Jonah thrown out to +the whale. But will this sacrifice save the ship? All the Generals are +roundly abused. Indeed, in France there is no medium between the Capitol +and the Tarpeian Rock. A man who is not a victor must be a traitor. That +undisciplined National Guards fresh from their shops, should be unable +to carry by assault batteries held by German troops, is a thing which +never can be admitted. If they fail to do this, it is the fault of their +leaders. Among those who were killed yesterday is M. Regnault, the +painter who obtained at the last salon, the gold medal for his picture +of "Salome." He went into action with a card on his breast, on which he +had written his name and the address of the young lady to whom he was +engaged to be married. When the brancardiers picked him up, he had just +strength to point to this address. Before they could carry him there he +was dead. But the most painful scene during the battle was the sight of +a French soldier who fell by French balls. He was a private in the 119th +Battalion, and refused to advance. His commander remonstrated. The +private shot him. General Bellemare, who was near, ordered the man to be +killed at once. A file was drawn up and fired on him; he fell, and was +supposed to be dead. Some brancardiers soon afterwards passing by, and +thinking that he had been wounded in the battle, placed him on a +stretcher. It was then discovered that he was still alive. A soldier +went up to him to finish him off, but his gun missed fire. He was then +handed another, when he blew out the wretched man's brains. From all I +can learn from the people connected with the different ambulances, our +loss yesterday does not amount to above 2000 killed and wounded. Most of +the newspapers estimate it far higher. At Buzenval, where the only +really sharp fighting took place, an officer who was in command tells me +that there were about 300 killed. For the sake of humanity, it is to be +hoped that we shall have no more of these blind sorties. The French get +through the first Prussian lines; they are then arrested by the fire of +the batteries from the second line; reinforcements are brought up by the +enemy; and the well-known movement to the rear commences. "Our losses," +say the official reports the next morning, "are great; those of the +enemy enormous. Our troops fought with distinguished valour, but----" + + +_January 21st._ + +It was so wet last night that there were but few groups of people on the +Boulevards. At the clubs Trochu was universally denounced. Almost every +one is now in despair. Of what use, they say, are the victories of +Bourbaki; he cannot be here in time. We had pinned our faith on Chanzy, +and the news of his defeat, coupled with our own, has almost +extinguished every ray of hope in the breasts even of the most hopeful. +The Government, it is thought, is preparing the public mind for a +capitulation. _La Liberté_, until now its strongest supporter, bitterly +complains that it should publish the truth! Chandordy's despatch went +first to Jules Favre. He stood over the man who was deciphering it. When +he read the opening sentence, "Un grand malheur," he refused to read +more, and sent it undeciphered to Trochu. When it reached the Governor, +no one on his staff could decipher it, so it had to be returned to the +Foreign-office. The moment for the quacks is at hand. A "General" offers +to raise the siege if he be given 50,000 men. A magician offers a shell +which will destroy the Prussians root and branch. M. Felix Pyat, in his +organ, observes that Sparta never was taken, and that the Spartans used +to eat in common. He proposes, therefore, as a means to free Paris, that +a series of public suppers should be inaugurated. I can only say that I +hope that they may be, for I certainly shall attend. Even Spartan broth +would be acceptable. The bread is all but uneatable. If you put it in +water, straw and bits of hay float about. A man, who ought to know, +solemnly assured me this morning that we had only food for six days; but +then men who ought to know are precisely those who know nothing. I do +not think that we are so badly off as this; but the end is a question no +longer of months, but of days, and very soon it will be of hours. Those +who desire a speedy capitulation are called _les capitulards_, and they +are in a majority of nine to one. There are still many who clamour for a +grand sortie, but most of those who do so, are persons who, by no +possibility, can themselves share in the operation. The street orators +are still at poor Jonah Trochu, and their hearers seem to agree with +them. These sages, however, do not explain who is to replace him. Some +of the members of the Government, I hear, suggest an admiral; but what +admiral would accept this _damnosa hæreditas_? Among the generals, each +has his partisans, and each seems to be of opinion that he himself is a +mighty man of war, and all the others fools. Both Vinoy and Ducrot +declined to attend the Council of War which sat before the late sortie. +They were generals of division, they said, and they would obey orders, +but they would accept no further responsibilities. Ducrot, who was the +_fidus Achates_ of Trochu, is no longer in his good graces. The _Réveil_ +of this afternoon, which is usually well-informed on all matters which +concern our Mayors, gives the following account of the meeting of +yesterday: "At three o'clock the meeting took place in the presence of +all the members of the Government. M. Trochu declared formally that he +would fight no more. M. Favre said that the Government was +'disappearing.' M. Favre proposed that the Government should give up its +power to the Mayors. The Mayors refused. The discussion was very +violent. Several propositions, one more absurd than another, were +brought forward by some of the members of the Government. They were not +discussed. As usual, the meeting broke up without any result." The best +man they have is Vinoy; he is honest, disinterested, and determined. It +is to be hoped that if Trochu resigns, he will take his place. + + +_January 22nd._ + +So poor Jonah has gone over, and been swallowed up by the whale. He +still remains the head of the civil government, but it only is as a +figure-head. He is an upright man; but as a military chief he has proved +himself a complete failure. He was a man of plans, and never could alter +the details of these plans to suit a change of circumstances. What his +grand plan was, by which Paris was to be saved, no one now, I presume, +ever will know. The plans of his sorties were always elaborately drawn +up; each divisional commander was told in the minutest details what he +was to do. Unfortunately, General Moltke usually interfered with the +proper development of these details--a proceeding which always surprised +poor Trochu--and in the account the next day of his operations, he would +dwell upon the fact as a reason for his want of success. That batteries +should be opened upon his troops, and that reinforcements should be +brought up against them, were trifles--probable as they might seem to +most persons--which filled him with an indignant astonishment. At the +last sortie Ducrot excuses himself for being late at La Malmaison +because he found the road by which he had been ordered to advance +occupied by a long line of artillery, also there by Trochu's orders. +General Vinoy, who has replaced him, is a hale old soldier about seventy +years old. He has risen from the ranks, and in the Crimea was a very +intimate friend of Lord Clyde. When the latter came, a few years before +his death, to Paris, the English Ambassador had prepared a grand +breakfast for him, and had gone to the station to meet him. On the +platform was also Vinoy, who also had prepared breakfast for his old +comrade in arms; and this breakfast, very much to the disgust of the +diplomatist, Lord Clyde accepted. General Vinoy has to-day issued a +proclamation to the troops, which in its plain, simple, modest language +contrasts very favourably with the inflated bombast in which his +predecessor was so great an adept. + +The newspapers are already commencing to prove to their own satisfaction +that the battle of last Thursday was not a defeat, but an "incomplete +victory." As for the National Guard, one would suppose that every one of +them had been in the action, and that they were only prevented from +carrying everything before them by the timidity of their generals. The +wonderful feats which many of these heroes have told me they performed +would lead one to suppose that Napoleon's old Guard was but a flock of +sheep in comparison with them. I cannot help thinking that by a certain +indistinctness of recollection they attribute to themselves every +exploit, not only that they saw, but that their fertile imaginations +have ever dreamt to be possible. In all this nonsense they are supported +by the newspapers, who think more of their circulation than of truth. To +read the accounts of this battle one would suppose that neither the Line +nor the Mobiles had been in it. A caricature now very popular represents +a lion in the uniform of a National Guard held back by two donkeys in +the uniforms of generals, and vainly endeavouring to rush upon a crowd +of terrified Germans. As a matter of fact--about 5,000 National Guards +were in the thick of it--the men behaved tolerably well, and many of the +officers very well. The great majority of the marching battalions which +were in the peninsula "did not give," to use the French phrase; and some +of them, notwithstanding the efforts of their officers, were unable to +remain steady as soon as the Prussian bombs reached them. This _sic vos +non vobis_ which, is meted out to the Mobiles and the Line makes me +indignant. As for the sailors, they are splendid fellows--and how we +always manage to beat them afloat increases my admiration of the British +tars. They are kept under the strictest discipline by their captains +and admirals, one of whom once said to me when I asked him whether his +men fraternized with the soldiers, "If I saw one of them associating +with such _canaille_, I would put him under arrest for twenty-four +hours." In the forts they are perfectly cool under the heaviest fire, +and both at Le Bourget and at Chatillon they fought like heroes. "Ten +thousand of them," observed a general to me the other day, "are worth +more than the whole National Guards." + +The bombardment still continues. Bombs fall into the southern part of +the town; but habit in this world is everything, and no one troubles +himself much about them. At night the Trocadero has become a fashionable +lounge for the _cocottes_, who still honour us with their presence. The +line of the Prussian batteries and the flash of their guns can be seen. +The hissing, too, of the bombs can be heard, when the _cocottes_ crouch +by their swains in affected dread. It is like Cremorne, with its ladies +and its fireworks. Since yesterday morning, too, St. Denis has been +bombarded. Most of its inhabitants have taken refuge in Paris, but it +will be a pity if the cathedral, with the tombs of all the old French +Kings, is damaged. St. Denis is itself a species of fort. Its guns are +not, a friend tells me who has just come from there, replying with +vigour. The Prussians are firing on it from six separate batteries, and +it is feared that it will fall. Our attention to-day has been diverted +from the Prussians outside by a little domestic quarrel at home, and we +have been shooting each other, as though the Prussian missiles were not +enough for our warlike stomachs, and death were not raging around our +prison. + +Between twelve and one this morning a band of armed patriots appeared +before the prison of Mazas, and demanded the release of Flourens and the +political prisoners who were shut up there. The director, instead of +keeping the gate shut, allowed a deputation to enter. As soon as the +gate was opened, not only the deputation, but the patriots rushed in, +and bore off Flourens and his friends in triumph. With the Mayor at +their head, they then went to the Mairie of the 20th Arrondissement, and +pillaged it of all the rations and bread and wine which they found +stored up there. Then they separated, having passed a resolution to go +at twelve o'clock to the Hôtel de Ville, to assist their "brothers" in +turning out the Government. I got myself to the Place of the Hôtel de +Ville at about two o'clock. There were then about 5000 persons there. +The gates were shut. Inside the rails before them were a few officers; +and soldiers could be seen at all the windows. Some few of the 5000 were +armed, but most of them were unarmed. Close in by the Hôtel de Ville +there seemed to be some sort of military order in the positions occupied +by the rioters. I took up my stand at the corner of the Rue de Rivoli. +Every moment the crowd increased. It was composed partly of sightseers, +for on Sunday every one is out of doors; partly of sympathisers. These +sympathisers were not, as on October 31, working men, but mainly what +Count Bismarck would call the populace. Their political creed may be +summed up by the word "loot;" their personal appearance by the word +"hangdog." I found myself in the midst of a group of hangdogs, who were +abusing everyone and everything. On one side of me was a lady of +expansive figure, whose breath showed that she had partaken lately of +ardent spirits, and whose conversation showed that if she was a "matron +of Cornelia's mien," her morals were better than her conversation. "The +people are slaves," she perpetually yelled, "they will no longer submit +to traitors; I say it to you, I, the mother of four children." The +maternal vantage ground which she assumed evidently gave her opinions +weight, for her neighbours replied, "Oui, elle a raison, la mère." A +lean, bilious-looking fellow, who looked as though through life he had +not done an honest day's work, and whose personal charms were not +heightened by a grizzled beard and a cap of cat-skin, close by the +matron, was bawling out, "The Hôtel de Ville belongs to us, I am a +taxpayer;" whilst a youth about fifteen years old, hard by, explained in +a shrill treble the military errors which Trochu and the generals had +committed. At a little after three o'clock, a fresh band, all armed, +with a drum, beating the charge, appeared, and as they neared the chief +entrance of the Hôtel de Ville, just one shot, and then a number of +shots were fired. Everybody who had a gun then shot it off with an eager +but general idea of doing something, as he fled, like a Parthian bowman. +The stampede soon became general; numbers of persons threw themselves on +the ground. I saw the mother of four children sprawling in the mire, and +the bilious taxpayer fall over her, and then I followed the youthful +strategist into an open door. Inside were about twenty people. The door +was shut to, and for about twenty minutes we heard muskets going off. +Then, as the fight seemed over, the door was opened and we emerged. The +Place had been evacuated by the mob, and was held by the troops. Fresh +regiments were marching on it along the quay and the Rue de Rivoli. +Wounded people were lying about or crawling towards the houses. Soon +some _brancardiers_ arrived and picked up the wounded. One boy I saw +evidently dying--the blood was streaming out of two wounds. The windows +of the Hôtel de Ville were broken, and the façade bore traces of balls, +as did some of the houses round the Place. I remained until dusk. Even +when I left the streets were full of citizens. Each man who had rolled +in the mire, and whose clothes showed traces of it, was the centre of a +group of sympathisers and non-sympathisers, to whom he was explaining +how the Breton brigands had fired on him, a poor innocent lamb, who had +done no harm. The non-sympathisers, however, were in the majority, and +"served him right" seemed to be the general verdict on those who had +been shot, or who had spoilt their clothes. Every now and then some +window would slam or a cart would rumble by, when there would be a +general scamper for a few yards. After dinner I again returned to the +Hôtel de Ville. The crowd had dispersed, and the Place was militarily +occupied; so we may suppose that this little domestic episode is over. + + +_January 23rd, morning._ + +The clubs are closed, and the _Réveil_ and the _Combat_ suppressed. +Numbers of people are coming in from St. Denis, where the bombardment is +getting very hot. Bombs last night fell in one of the islands on the +Seine; so the flood is mounting, and our dry ground is every day +diminishing. I see in an extract from a German paper, that it has been +telegraphed to England that the village of Issy has been entirely +destroyed by the Prussian fire. This is not the case. I was there the +other day, and the village is still there. It is not precisely the spot +where one would wish one's property to be situated, but most of the +houses are, as yet, intact. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +_January 27th._ + +I write this, as I hear that the last balloon is to start to-night. How +lucky for the English public that, just when the siege of Paris ceases, +the conscript fathers of the nation will furnish them with reading at +their breakfast tables. The light, airy wit of Professor Fawcett, and +the pleasant fancy of Mr. Newdegate, will be served up for them with +their hot rolls every morning instead of the bulletins of Count +Moltke--lucky public! + +Most of us here are much like heirs at a rich man's funeral. We have +long faces, we sigh and we groan, but we are not quite so unhappy as we +look. The _Journal Officiel_ of this morning announces that Paris will +not be occupied, and that the National Guard will not go to Germany. +This is, we say, very different from a capitulation--it is a political +incident; in a few days I expect to hear it called a victory. The editor +of the _Liberté_--why is this gentleman still alive? for the last three +months he has been making pacts with death--explains that Paris never +would have and never will capitulate, but that an armistice is a very +different sort of thing. Last night, notwithstanding the cold which has +again set in, the Boulevard was blocked up with groups of patriots and +wiseacres discussing the state of things, and explaining what Paris +would agree to and what she would not agree to. Occasionally some +"pure"--a "pure" is an Ultra--threw out that the Parisians themselves +were only reaping what they had sown; but the pure, I need hardly say, +was soon silenced, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Paris has +been sublime and heroic, but that if she has been neither, it has been +the fault of the traitors to whom she has confided her destinies. Some +said that the admirals had stated that they would blow up their forts +rather than surrender them; but if the worthies who vouched for this had +been informed by the admirals of their intentions, I can only say that +these honest tars had chosen strange confidants. + +Paris, as I have already said more than once, has been fighting as much +for her own supremacy over the provinces as for victory over the +Prussians. The news--whether true or false I know not--that Gambetta, +who is regarded as the representative of Paris, has been replaced by a +sort of Council of Regency, and that this Council of Regency is +treating, has filled everyone here with indignation. Far better, +everyone seems to think, that Alsace should be lost to France, than that +France should be lost to Paris. The victories of Prussia have been +bitter to Frenchmen, because they had each of them individually assumed +a vicarious glory in the victories of the First Empire; but the real +patriotism of the Parisians does not extend farther than the walls of +their own town. If the result of this war is to cause France to +undertake the conduct of its own affairs, and not to allow the +population of Paris and the journalists of Paris to ride roughshod over +her, the country will have gained more than she has lost by her defeats, +no matter what may be the indemnity she be called upon to pay. The +martial spirit of the National Guard has of course been lauded to the +skies by those newspapers which depend for their circulation on these +braves. The question what they have done may, however, be reduced to +figures. They number above 300,000. According to their own statements +they have been fighting for nearly five months, and I venture to say +that during the whole campaign they have not lost 500 men. They have +occasionally done duty in the trenches, but this duty has been a very +brief one, and they have had very long intervals of repose. I do not +question that in the National Guard there are many brave men, but one +can only judge of the fighting qualities of an army by comparison, and +if the losses of the National Guard be statistically compared with those +of the Line, of the Mobiles, and of the sailors, it will be shown +that--to use an Americanism--their record is a bad one. The soldiers and +the sailors have fought, and the women have suffered during the siege. +The male population of Paris has done little more than bluster and drink +and brag. + +To-day there is no firing, and I suppose that the last shell has fallen +into Paris. I went out yesterday to St. Denis. Along the road there were +a few people coming into Paris with their beds and tables in hand-carts. +In the town the bombardment, although not so heavy as it had been, was +far too heavy to be pleasant. Most of the people still remaining have +established themselves in their cellars, and every moment one came +against some chimney emerging from the soil. Some were still on the +ground-floor of their houses, and had heaped up mattresses against their +windows. The inhabitants occasionally ran from one house to another, +like rabbits in a warren from hole to hole. All the doors were open, and +whenever one heard the premonitory whistle which announced the arrival +of one of the messengers of our psychological friends outside, one had +to dodge into some door. I did not see any one hit. The houses were a +good deal knocked about; the cathedral, it was said, had been hit, but +as shells were falling in the Place before it, I reserved investigations +for a more quiet moment. Some of the garrison told me that the forts had +been "scratched," but as to how far this scratching process had been +carried I cannot say from personal observation, as I thought I might be +scratched myself if I pushed my reconnaissance farther. I am not a +military man, and do not profess to know anything about bombs +technically, but it seems to me, considering that it is their object to +burst, and considering the number of scientific persons who have devoted +their time to make them burst, it is very strange how very few do burst. +I am told that one reason for this is the following:--when they lose the +velocity of the impelling force they turn over in the air, and as the +percussion cap is on the lighter end, the heavier one strikes the +ground. Many of these, too, which have fallen in the town, and which +have burst, have done no mischief, because the lead in which they are +enveloped has kept the pieces together. The danger, indeed, to life and +limb of a bombardment is very slight. I would at any time prefer to be +for 24 hours in the most exposed portion of a bombarded town, than walk +24 times across Oxford Street in the middle of the day. A bomb is a joke +in comparison with those great heavy wagons which are hurled at +pedestrians by their drivers in the streets of London. + + +_January 28th._ + +The Government has not yet made up its mind to bell the cat, and to let +us know the terms of the armistice or capitulation, whichever it is to +be called. We hear that it is expected that trains will run to England +on Tuesday or Wednesday, and by the first train I for one shall +endeavour to get out of this prison. It will be such a relief to find +oneself once more among people who have glimpses of common sense, who +are not all in uniform, and who did not insist so very strongly on their +sublime attitude. Yesterday evening there were a series of open-air +clubs held on the Boulevards and other public places. The orators were +in most instances women or aged men. These Joans of Arc and ancient +Pistols talked very loudly of making a revolution in order to prevent +the capitulation; and it seemed to me that among their hearers, +precisely those who whilst they had an opportunity to fight thought it +wise not to do so, were most vociferous in their applause. The language +of the National Guard is indeed most warlike. Several hundred of their +officers have indulged in the cheap patriotism of signing a declaration +that they wish to die rather than yield. This morning many battalions of +the National Guard are under arms, and are hanging about in the streets +with their arms stacked before them. Many of the men, however, have not +answered to the rappel, and are remaining at home, as a mode of +protesting against what is passing. General Vinoy has a body of troops +ready to act, and as he is a man of energy I do not anticipate serious +disturbances for the moment. As for the soldiers and the Mobiles, they +are wandering about in twos and threes without arms, and do not affect +to conceal that they are heartily glad that all is over. Poor fellows, +their torn and tattered uniforms contrast with the spick and span +military gear of the National Guard. They have had during the siege hard +work, and they have done good duty, with but little thanks for it. The +newspapers are one and all down on the Government. It is of course held +to be their fault that the lines of the besiegers have not been forced. +General Trochu is not a military genius, and his colleagues have not +proved themselves better administrators than half a dozen lawyers who +have got themselves elected to a legislative assembly by the gift of the +gab were likely to be; but still this system of sacrificing the leaders +whenever any disaster takes place, and accusing them of treachery and +incompetence, is one of the worst features in the French character. If +it continues, eventually every man of rank will be dubbed by his own +countrymen either a knave or a fool. + + +_January 31st._ + +_Finita la Comedia._ Let fall the curtain. The siege of Paris is over; +the last balloon has carried our letters through the clouds; the last +shot has been fired. The Prussians are in the forts, and the Prussian +armies are only not in the streets because they prefer to keep watch and +guard outside the vanquished city. What will be the verdict of history +on the defence? Who knows! On the one hand the Parisians have kept a +powerful army at bay far longer than was anticipated; on the other hand, +every sortie that they have made has been unsuccessful--every attempt to +arrest the approach of the besiegers has failed. Passively and inertly +they have allowed their store of provisions to grow less and less, until +they have been forced to capitulate, without their defences having been +stormed, or the cannon silenced. The General complains of his soldiers, +the soldiers complain of their General; and on both sides there is cause +of complaint. Trochu is not a Todleben. His best friends describe him as +a sort of military Hamlet, wise of speech, but weak and hesitating in +action--making plans, and then criticising them instead of accomplishing +them. As a commander, his task was a difficult one; when the siege +commenced he had no army; when the army was formed, it was encompassed +by earthworks and redoubts so strong that even better soldiers would +have failed to carry them. As a statesman, he never was the master of +the situation. He followed rather than led public opinion, and +subordinated everything to the dread of displeasing any section of a +population, which, to be ruled--even in quiet times--must be ruled with +a rod of iron. Success is the criterion of ability in this country, and +poor Trochu is as politically dead as though he never had lived. His +enemies call him a traitor; his friends defend him from the charge by +saying that he is only a vain fool. + +As regards the armed force, the sailors have behaved so well that I +wonder at the ease with which our own tars have always beaten them. They +have been kept under a rigid discipline by their naval commanders. The +line, composed of depôt battalions, and of the regiments which Vinoy +brought back from Mézières, without being equal to old seasoned troops, +have fought creditably. Their great defect has been an absence of strict +discipline. The Mobiles, raw peasants fresh from their homes, have shown +themselves brave in action, and have supported the hardship of lengthy +outpost duty without a murmur. Unfortunately they elected their own +officers, and this weakened their efficiency for offensive purposes. +When the siege commenced, every citizen indiscriminately assumed the +uniform of the National Guard. Each battalion of this motley force +elected its officers, and both men and officers united in despising +discipline as a restraint to natural valour. The National Guard mounted +guard occasionally on the ramparts, and the rest of their time they +passed in parading the streets, drinking in the pothouses, and +discussing the conduct of their military superiors. General Trochu soon +discovered that this force was, for all purposes of war, absolutely +useless. He called for volunteers, and he anticipated that 100,000 men +would answer to the appeal; not 10,000 did so. He then ordered a +marching company to be formed from each battalion. Complaints +innumerable arose. Instead of a generous emulation to fight, each man +sought for an excuse to avoid it. This man had a mother, that man a +daughter; one had weak lungs, and another weak legs. At length, by dint +of pressure and coaxing, the marching battalions were formed. Farewell +suppers were offered them by their comrades. They were given new coats, +new trousers, and new saucepans to strap on their haversacks. They have +done some duty in the trenches, but they were always kept away from +serious fighting, and only gave a "moral support" to those engaged in +the conflict, until the fiasco in the Isthmus of Gennevilliers a +fortnight ago. Then, near the walls of Buzanval, the few companies which +were in action fought fairly if not successfully, whilst in another part +of the field of battle, those who formed the reserves broke and fled as +soon as the Prussian bombs fell into their ranks. The entire National +Guard, sedentary and marching battalions, has not, I imagine, lost 500 +men during its four months' campaign. This can hardly be called fighting +to the death _pro aris et focis_, and sublimity is hardly the word to +apply to these warriors. If the 300 at Thermopylæ had, after exhausting +their food, surrendered to the Persian armies, after the loss of less +than one per cent. of their number--say of three men, they might have +been very worthy fellows, but history would not have embalmed their act. +Politically, with the exception of the riot on October 31, the +Government of National Defence has met with no opposition since +September last. There are several reasons for this. Among the +bourgeoisie there was little of either love or confidence felt in Trochu +and his colleagues, but they represented the cause of order, and were +indeed the only barrier against absolute anarchy. Among the poorer +classes everyone who liked was clothed, was fed, and was paid by +Government for doing nothing, and consequently many who otherwise would +have been ready to join in a revolt, thought it well not to disturb a +state of things so eminently to their satisfaction. Among the Ultras, +there was a very strong distaste to face the fire either of Prussians or +of Frenchmen. They had, too, no leaders worthy of the name, and many of +them were determined not to justify Count Bismarck's taunt that the +"populace" would aid him by exciting civil discord. The Government of +September, consequently, is still the Government of to-day, although its +chief has shown himself a poor general, and its members, one and all, +have shown themselves wretched administrators. In unblushing mendacity +they have equalled, if not surpassed, their immediate predecessor, the +virtuous Palikao. The only two of them who would have had a chance of +figuring in England, even as vestrymen, are M. Jules Favre and M. Ernest +Picard. The former has all the brilliancy and all the faults of an able +lawyer--the latter, although a lawyer, is not without a certain modicum +of that plain practical common sense, which we are apt to regard as +peculiarly an English characteristic. + +The sufferings caused by the dearth of provisions and of fuel have +fallen almost exclusively on the women and children. Among the +well-to-do classes, there has been an absence of many of those luxuries +which habit had made almost necessaries, but this is all. The men of the +poorer classes, as a rule, preferred to idle away their time on the 1fr. +50c. which they received from the Government, rather than gain 4 or 5fr. +a day by working at their trades; consequently if they drank more and +ate less than was good for them, they have had only themselves to thank +for it. Their wives and children have been very miserable. Scantily +clad, ill fed, without fuel, they have been obliged to pass half the day +before the bakers' doors, waiting for their pittance of bread. The +mortality and the suffering have been very great among them, and yet, it +must be said to their credit, they have neither repined nor complained. + +Business has, of course, been at a standstill since last September. At +the Bourse the transactions have been of the most trifling description, +much to the disgust of the many thousands who live here by peddling +gains and doubtful speculations in this temple of filthy lucre. By a +series of decrees payment of rent and of bills of exchange has been +deferred from month to month. Most of the wholesale exporting houses +have been absolutely closed. In the retail shops nothing has been sold +except by the grocers, who must have made large profits. Whether the +city has a recuperative power strong enough to enable it to recover +from this period of stagnation, and to pay its taxation, which +henceforward will be enormous, has yet to be seen. The world is the +market for _articles de Paris_, but then to preserve this market, the +prices of these articles must be low. Foreigners, too, will not come +here if the cost of living is too exorbitant, and yet I do not see how +it is to be otherwise. The talk of the people now is, that they mean to +become serious--no longer to pander to the extravagances of strangers, +and no longer to encourage their presence amongst them. If they carry +out these intentions, I am afraid that, however their morals may be +improved, their material interests will suffer. Gambling tables may not +be an advantage to Europe, but without them Homburg and Baden would go +to the wall. Paris is a city of pleasure--a cosmopolitan city; it has +made its profit out of the follies and the vices of the world. Its +prices are too high, its houses are too large, its promenades and its +public places have cost too much for it to be able to pay its way as the +sober, decent capital of a moderate-sized country, where there are few +great fortunes. If the Parisians decide to become poor and respectable, +they are to be congratulated upon the resolve, but the present notion +seems to be that they are to become rich and respectable--a thing more +difficult. Paris--the Paris of the Empire and of Haussmann--is a house +of cards. Its prosperity was a forced and artificial one. The war and +the siege have knocked down the cards, and it is doubtful whether they +will ever serve to build a new house. + +As regards public opinion, I cannot see that it has changed one iota for +the better since the fall of the Empire, or that common sense has made +any headway. There are of course sensible men in Paris, but either they +hold their tongues, or their voices are lost in the chorus of blatant +nonsense, which is dinned into the public ears. _Mutatis mutandis_ the +newspapers, with some few exceptions, are much what they were when they +worshipped Cæsar, chronicled the doings of the _demi-monde_, clamoured +for the Rhine, and invented Imperial victories. Their ignorance +respecting everything beyond the frontiers of France is such, that a +charity-schoolboy in England or Germany would be deservedly whipped for +it. _La Liberté_ has, I am told, the largest circulation at present. +Every day since the commencement of the siege I have invested two sous +in this journal, and I may say, without exaggeration, that never +once--except one evening when it was burnt on the boulevard for +inadvertently telling the truth--have I been able to discover in its +columns one single line of common sense. Its facts are sensational--its +articles gross appeals to popular folly, popular ignorance, and popular +vanity. Every petty skirmish of the National Guard has been magnified +into a stupendous victory; every battalion which visited a tomb, crowned +a statue, or signed some manifesto pre-eminent in its absurdity, has +been lauded in language which would have been exaggerated if applied to +the veterans of the first Napoleon. The editor is, I believe, the author +of the "pact with death," which has been so deservedly ridiculed in the +German newspapers. The orators of the clubs have not been wiser than the +journalists. At the Ultra gatherings, a man who says that he is a +republican is regarded as the possessor of every virtue. The remedy for +all the ills of France has been held to be, to copy exactly what was +done during the First Revolution. "Citizens, we must have a _Commune_, +and then we shall drive the Prussians out of France," was always +received with a round of sympathetic applause, although I have never yet +found two persons to agree in their explanation of what is meant by the +word "_Commune_." At the Moderate clubs, the speeches generally +consisted of ignorant abuse of Germany, attempts to disprove +well-established facts, and extravagant self-laudation. I have attended +many clubs--Ultra and Moderate--and I never heard a speaker at one of +them who would have been tolerated for five minutes by an ordinary +English political meeting. + +The best minister whom the Parisians have, is M. Dorian. He is a +manufacturer, and as hard-headed and practical as a Scotsman. Thanks to +his energy and business qualities, cannon have been cast, old muskets +converted into breechloaders, and ammunition fabricated. He has had +endless difficulties to overcome, and has overcome them. The French are +entirely without what New Englanders call shiftiness. As long as all the +wheels of an administration work well, the administrative coach moves +on, but let the smallest wheel of the machine get out of order, and +everything stands still. To move on again takes a month's discussion and +a hundred despatches. A redoubt which the Americans during their civil +war would have thrown up in a night has taken the Parisians weeks to +make. Their advanced batteries usually were without traverses, because +they were too idle to form them. Although in modern sieges the spade +ought to play as important a part as the cannon, they seem to have +considered it beneath their dignity to dig--500 navvies would have done +more for the defence of the town than 500,000 National Guards did do. At +the commencement of October, ridiculous barricades were made far inside +the ramparts, and although the generals have complained ever since that +they impeded the movements of their troops, they have never been +removed. + +I like the Parisians and I like the French. They have much of the old +Latin _urbanitas_, many kindly qualities, and most of the minor virtues +which do duty as the small change of social intercourse. But for the +sake of France, I am glad that Paris has lost its _prestige_, for its +rule has been a blight and a curse to the entire country; and for the +sake of Europe, I am glad that France has lost her military prestige, +for this prestige has been the cause of most of the wars of Europe +during the last 150 years. It is impossible so to adapt the equilibrium +of power, that every great European Power shall be co-equal in strength. +The balance tips now to the side of Germany. That country has attained +the unity after which she has so long sighed, and I do not think she +will embroil the continent in wars, waged for conquest, for an "idea," +or for the dynastic interests of her princes. The Germans are a brave +race, but not a war-loving race. Much, therefore, as I regret that +French provinces should against the will of their inhabitants become +German, and strongly as I sympathise with my poor friends here in the +overthrow of all their illusions, I console myself with the thought that +the result of the present war will be to consolidate peace. France will +no doubt look wistfully after her lost possessions, and talk loudly of +her intention to re-conquer them. But the difficulty of the task will +prevent the attempt. Until now, to the majority of Frenchmen, a war +meant a successful military promenade, a plentiful distribution of +decorations, and an inscription on some triumphal arch. Germany was to +them the Germany of Jena and Austerlitz. Their surprise at seeing the +Prussians victors at the doors of Paris, is much that which the +Americans would feel if a war with the Sioux Indians were to bring these +savages to the suburbs of New York. The French have now learnt that they +are not invincible, and that if war may mean victory, it may also mean +defeat, invasion, and ruin. When, therefore, they have paid the bill for +their _à Berlin_ folly, they will think twice before they open a fresh +account with fortune. + +I would recommend sightseers to defer their visit to Paris for the +present, as during the armistice it will not be a very pleasant +residence for foreigners. I doubt whether the elections will go off, and +the decisions of the National Assembly be known without disturbances. +The vainest of the vain, irritable to madness by their disasters, the +Parisians are in no humour to welcome strangers. The world has held +aloof whilst the "capital of civilisation" has been bombarded by the +"hordes of Attila," and there is consequently, just now, no very +friendly feeling towards the world. + +Of news, there is very little. We are in a state of physical and moral +collapse. The groups of patriots which invested the Boulevards on the +first announcement of the capitulation have disappeared; and the +gatherings of National Guards, who announced their intention to die +rather than submit, have discontinued their sittings, owing it, as they +said, to their country to live for her. No one hardly now affects to +conceal his joy that all is over. Every citizen with whom one speaks, +tells you that it will be the lasting shame of Paris that with its +numerous army it not only failed to force the Prussians to raise the +siege, but also allowed them whenever they pleased to detach corps +d'armée against the French generals in the provinces. This, of course, +is the fault of the Government of Trochu and of the Republic, and having +thus washed his hands of everything that has occurred, the citizen goes +on his way rejoicing. The Mobiles make no secret of their delight at the +thought of getting back to their homes. Whatever the Parisians may think +of them, they do not think much of the Parisians. The army, and more +particularly the officers, are very indignant at the terms of the +armistice. They bitterly say that they would far rather have preferred +to have been made prisoners of war at once, and they feel that they are +in pawn in Paris, a pledge that peace will be made. M. Jules Ferry was +treated so coldly the other day by General Vinoy's staff, when he went +upon some business to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, that +he asked the cause, and was told in plain terms that he and his +colleagues had trifled with the honour of the army. The armistice was, +as you are aware, concluded by M. Jules Favre in person. It was then +thought necessary to send a General to confer with Count Moltke on +matters of detail. General Trochu seized upon this occasion to assert +himself, and requested to be allowed to send a General of his choice, +saying that his book which he published in 1867 must be so well known at +the German headquarters, that probably his envoy would meet with +peculiar respect. To this General Vinoy acceded, but Count Moltke +refused to treat with Trochu's General, who was drunk, and the chief of +General Vinoy's staff had to be substituted. General Ducrot is still +here. He resigned his command, not as is generally supposed, because the +Prussians insisted upon it in consequence of his evasion from Sedan, but +because General Vinoy on assuming the command of the army gave him a +very strong hint to do so. "I did not"' observed Vinoy, "think your +position sufficiently _en règle_ to serve under _you_, and so----" + +The question of the revictualling is the most important one of the +moment. The railroad kings, who had an interview with Count Bismarck at +Versailles, seem to be under the impression that this exceedingly +wide-awake statesman intends to throw impediments in the way of Paris +getting provisions from England, in order that the Germans may turn an +honest penny by supplying the requirements of the town. He has thrown +out hints that he himself can revictual us for a short time, if it +really be a question of life and death. Even when the lines are opened +to traffic and passengers, the journey to England, _viâ_ Amiens, Rouen, +and Dieppe will be a tedious one. The Seine, we learn, has been rendered +impassable by the boats which have been sunk in it. + +We have as yet had no news from outside. The English here find the want +of a consul more than ever. The Foreign Office has sent in an acting +commission to Mr. Blount, a gentleman who may be an excellent banker, +but knows nothing of consular business, notwithstanding his courtesy. As +whenever any negotiation is to take place at a foreign court a Special +Envoy is sent, and, as it now appears, whenever a Consul is particularly +wanted in a town a Special Consul is appointed, would it not be as well +at once to suppress the large staff of permanent ambassadors, ministers, +and consuls who eat their heads off at a heavy cost to the country. I +should be curious to know how many years it would take to reduce the +intelligence of an ordinary banker's clerk to the level of a Foreign +Office bureaucrat. How the long-suffering English public can continue to +support the incompetency and the supercilious contempt with which these +gentry treat their employers is to me a mystery. Bureaucrats are bad +enough in all conscience, but a nest of fine gentleman bureaucrats is a +public curse, when thousands are subjected to their whims, their +ignorance, and their airs. + +The Republic is in very bad odour just now. It has failed to save +France, and it is rendered responsible for this failure. Were the Comte +de Paris a man of any mark, he would probably be made King. As it is, +there is a strong feeling in favour of his family, and more particularly +in favour of the Duc d'Aumale. Some talk of him as President of the +Republic, others suggest that he should be elected King. The +Bonapartists are very busy, but as regards Paris there is no chance +either for the Emperor or the Empress Regent. As for Henri V., he is, in +sporting phraseology, a dark horse. Among politicians, the general +opinion is that a moderate Republic will be tried for a short time, and +that then we shall gravitate into a Constitutional Monarchy. + +Little heed is taken of the elections which are so close at hand. No one +seems to care who is elected. As it is not known whether the National +Assembly will simply register the terms of peace proposed by Germany, +and then dissolve itself, or whether it will constitute itself into an +_Assemblée Constituante_, and decide upon the future form of government, +there is no Very great desire among politicians to be elected to it. +Several Electoral Committees have been formed, each of which puts +forward its own list--that which sits under the Presidency of M. +Dufaure, an Orleanist, at the Grand Hotel, is the most important of +them. Its list is intended to include the most practical men of all +parties; the rallying cry is to be France, and in theory its chiefs are +supposed to be moderate Republicans. + +The ceremony of the giving up of the forts has passed over very quietly. +The Prussians entered them without noise or parade. At St. Denis, the +mayor of which said that no Prussian would be safe in it, friends and +foes, I am told by a person who has just returned, have fraternised, and +are pledging each other in every species of liquor. The ramparts are +being dismantled of their guns; the National Guard no longer does duty +on them, and crowds assemble and stare vaguely into the country outside. +During the whole siege Paris has not been so dismal and so dreary as it +is now. There is no longer the excitement of the contest, and yet we are +prisoners. The only consolation is that a few weeks will put an end to +this state of things. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +_February 1st._ + +The Government of National Defence has almost disappeared from notice. +It has become a Committee to preside over public order. The world may +calumniate us, they said in a proclamation the other day. It would be +impossible, replied the newspapers. Trochu and Gambetta, once the idols +of the Parisians, are now the best abused men in France. Trochu (a +friend of his told me to-day) deserted by all, makes speeches in the +bosom of his family. No more speeches, no more lawyers; is the cry of +the journals. And then they spin out phrases of exaggerated Spartanism +by the yard, and suggest some lawyer as the rising hope of the country. + +The cannon have been taken from the ramparts. The soldiers--Line and +Mobile--wander about unarmed, with their hands in their pockets, staring +at the shop-windows. They are very undemonstrative, and more like +peaceful villagers than rough troopers. They pass most of their time +losing their way and trying to find it again; and the Mobiles are +longing to get back to their homes. It appears now that there was an +error in the statistics published by the Government respecting the stock +of grain in hand. Two accounts, which were one and the same, were added +together. The bread is getting less like bread every day. Besides peas, +rice, and hay, starch is now ground up with it. In the eighth +arrondissement yesterday, there were no rations. The Northern Company do +not expect a provision train from Dieppe before Friday, and do not think +they will be able to carry passengers before Saturday. We are in want of +fuel as much as of food. A very good thing is to be made by any +speculator who can manage to send us coal or charcoal. + +More than 23,000 persons have applied for permits to quit Paris, on the +ground that they are provincial candidates for the Assembly. Of course +this is a mere pretext. A commission, as acting British Consul, has been +sent to Mr. Blount, a banker. Will some M.P. move that the Estimates be +reduced by the salary of the Consul, who seems to consider Paris _in +partibus infidelium_? + +The only outsider who has penetrated through the double cordon of +Prussians and French, is your Correspondent at the Headquarters of the +Crown Prince of Saxony. He startled us quite as much as Friday did +Robinson Crusoe. He was enthusiastically welcomed, for he had English +newspapers in one pocket, and some slices of ham in the other. + + +VERSAILLES, _February 6th._ + +I am not intoxicated, but I feel so heavy from having imbibed during the +last twenty-four hours more milk than I did during the first six months +which I passed in this planet, that I have some difficulty in collecting +my thoughts in order to write a letter. Yesterday I arrived here in +order to breathe for a moment the air of freedom. In vain my hospitable +friends, who have put me up, have offered me wine to drink, and this and +that delicacy to eat--I have stuck to eggs, butter, and milk. Pats of +butter I have bolted with a greasy greediness which would have done +honour to Pickwick's fat boy; and quarts of milk I have drunk with the +eagerness of a calf long separated from its maternal parent. + +Although during the last few months I have seen but two or three numbers +of English papers, I make no doubt that so many good, bad, and +indifferent descriptions of every corner and every alley in this town +have appeared in print, that Londoners are by this time as well +acquainted with it as they are with Richmond or Clapham. Versailles +must, indeed, be a household word--not to say a household nuisance--in +England. It has been a dull, stupid place, haunted by its ancient +grandeurs; with too large a palace, too large streets, and too large +houses, for many a year; and while the presence of a Prussian army and a +Prussian Emperor may render it more interesting, they fail to make it +more lively. Of the English correspondents, some have gone into Paris in +quest of "phases" and impressions; many, however, still remain here, +battening upon the fat of the land, in the midst of kings and princes, +counts and Freiherrs. I myself have seldom got beyond a distant view of +such grand beings. What I know even of the nobility of my native land, +is derived from perusing the accounts of their journeys in the +fashionable newspapers, and from the whispered confidences of their +third cousins. To find myself in familiar intercourse with people who +habitually hobnob at Royal tables, and who invite Royal Highnesses to +drop in promiscuously and smoke a cigar, almost turns my head. To-morrow +I shall return to Paris, because I feel, were I to remain long in such +grand company, I should become proud and haughty; and, perhaps, give +myself airs when restored to the society of my relatives, who are honest +but humble. There is at present no difficulty in leaving Paris. A pass +is given at the Prefecture to all who ask for one, and it is an "open +sesame" to the Prussian lines. I came by way of Issy, dragged along by +an aged Rosinante, so weak from low living that I was obliged to get out +and walk the greater part of the way, as he positively declined to draw +me and the chaise. + +This beast I have only been allowed to bring out of Paris after having +given my word of honour that I would bring him back, in order, if +necessary, to be slain and eaten, though I very much doubt whether a +tolerably hungry rat would find meat enough on his bones for a dinner. + +I have been this morning sitting with a friend who, under the promise of +the strictest secrecy, has given me an account of the condition of +affairs here. I trust, therefore, that no one will mention anything that +may be found in this letter, directly or indirectly relating to the +Prussians. The old King, it appears, is by no means happy as an Emperor. +He was only persuaded to accept this title for the sake of his son, "Our +Fritz," and he goes about much like some English squire of long descent, +who has been induced to allow himself to be converted into a bran new +peer, over-persuaded by his ambitious progeny. William is one of that +numerous class of persons endowed with more heart than brains. Putting +aside, or regarding rather as the delusion of a diseased brain, his +notion that he is an instrument of Heaven, and that he is born to rule +over Prussian souls by right divine, the old man is by no means a bad +specimen of a good-natured, well-meaning, narrow-minded soldier of the +S.U.S.C. type; and between Bismarck and Moltke he has of late had by no +means an easy time. These two worthies, instead of being, as we imagined +in Paris, the best of friends, abominate each other. During the siege +Moltke would not allow Bismarck to have a seat at any council of war; +and in order to return the compliment, Bismarck has not allowed Moltke +to take any part in the negotiations respecting the armistice, except on +the points which were exclusively military. Bismarck tells the French +that had it not been for him, Paris would have been utterly destroyed, +while Moltke grumbles because it has not been destroyed; an achievement +which this talented captain somewhat singularly imagines would fittingly +crown his military career. But this is not the only domestic jar which +destroys the harmony of the happy German family at Versailles. In +Prussia it has been the habit, from time immemorial, for the heir to the +throne to coquet with the Liberals, and to be supposed to entertain +progressive opinions. The Crown Prince pursues this hereditary policy of +his family. He has surrounded himself with intelligent men, hostile to +the present state of things, and who understand that in the present age +110 country can be great and powerful, where all who are not country +gentlemen, chamberlains, or officers, are excluded from all share in its +government. Bismarck, on the other hand, is the representative, or +rather the business man, of the squirearchy and of the Vons--much in the +same way as Mr. Disraeli is of the Conservatives in England; and, like +the latter, he despises his own friends, and scoffs at the prejudices, a +pretended belief in which has served them as a stepping-stone to power. +The consequence of this divergency of opinion is, that Bismarck and "Our +Fritz" are very nearly what schoolboys call "cuts," and consequently +when the old King dies, Bismarck's power will die with him, unless he is +wise enough to withdraw beforehand from public life. "Our Fritz," I +hear, has done his best to prevent the Prussian batteries from doing any +serious damage to Paris, and has not concealed from his friends that he +considers that the bombardment was, in the words of Fouché, worse than a +crime--an error. + +I find many of the Prussian officers improved by success. Those with +whom I have come in personal contact have been remarkably civil and +polite, but I confess that--speaking of course generally--the sight of +these mechanical instruments of war, brought to the highest state of +perfection in the trade of butchery, lording it in France, is to me most +offensive. I abhor everything which they admire. They are proud of +walking about in uniform with a knife by their side. I prefer the man +without the uniform and without the knife. They despise all who are +engaged in commercial pursuits. I regard merchants and traders as the +best citizens of a free country. They imagine that the man whose +ancestors have from generation to generation obscurely vegetated upon +some dozen acres, is the superior of the man who has made himself great +without the adventitious aid of birth; I do not. When Jules Favre met +Bismarck over here the other day, the latter spoke of Bourbaki as a +traitor, because he had been untrue to his oath to Napoleon. "And was +his country to count for nothing?" answered Favre. "In Germany king and +country are one and the same," replied Bismarck. This is the abominable +creed which is inculcated by the military squires who now hold the +destinies of France and of Germany in their hands; and on this +detestable heresy they dream of building up a new code of political +ethics in Europe. Liberalism and common sense are spreading even in the +army; but take a Tory squire, a Groom of the Chamber, and a +Life-guardsman, boil them down, and you will obtain the ordinary type of +the Prussian officer. For my part, I look with grim satisfaction to the +future. The unity of Germany has been brought about by the union of +Prussian Feudalists and German Radicals. The object is now attained, and +I sincerely hope that the former will find themselves in the position of +cats who have drawn the chestnuts out of the fire for others to eat. If +"Our Fritz," still following in the steps of his ancestors, throws off +his Liberalism with his Crown Princedom, his throne will not be a bed of +roses; it is fortunate, therefore, for him, that he is a man of good +sense. I am greatly mistaken if the Germans will long submit to the +horde of squires, of princes, of officers, and of court flunkeys, who +together, at present, form the ruling class. Among the politicians here +there is a strong feeling of dislike to the establishment of a Republic +in France. If they could have their own way they would re-establish the +Empire. But those who imagine that this is possible understand very +little of the French character. The Napoleonic legend was the result of +an epoch of military glory; the capitulation of Sedan not only scotched +it, but killed it. A Frenchman still believes in the military +superiority of his race over every other race, as firmly as he believes +in his own existence. If a French army is defeated, it is owing to the +treachery or the incapacity of the commander. If a battle be lost, the +General must pay the penalty for it; for his soldiers are invincible. It +is Napoleon, according to the received theory, who has succumbed in the +present war; not the French nation. If Napoleon be restored to power, +the nation will accept the responsibility which they now lay to his +door. The pride and vanity of every Frenchman are consequently the +strongest securities against an Imperial Restoration. Were I a betting +man, I would bet twenty to one against the Bonapartes; even against a +Republic lasting for two years; and I would take five to one against the +Comte de Paris becoming King of the French, and three to one against the +Duc d'Aumale being elected President of the Republic. This would be my +"book" upon the political French Derby. + +The Prussians are making diligent use of the armistice to complete their +engineering work round Paris, and they appear to consider it possible +that they may yet have trouble with the city. If this be their opinion I +can only say that they are badly served by their spies. The resistance +_à outrance_ men in Paris, who never did anything but talk, will very +possibly still threaten to continue the struggle; but they will not +fight themselves, and most assuredly they will not find others to fight +for them. If the preliminaries of peace be signed at Bordeaux, Paris +will not protest; if they are rejected, Paris will not expose itself to +certain destruction by any attempt at further resistance, but will +capitulate, not as the capital of France, but as a besieged French town. +General Vinoy is absolute master of the situation; he is a calm, +sensible man, and will listen to no nonsense either from the "patriots," +or his predecessors, or from Gambetta. From the tone of the decree of +the latter of the 3rd instant, he seems to be under the impression that +he is still the idol of the Parisians. Never did a man labour under so +complete a delusion. Before by a lucky speech he was pitchforked into +the Corps Législatif, he was a briefless lawyer, who used to talk very +loudly and with vast emphasis at the Café de Madrid. He is now regarded +as a pothouse politician, who ought never to have been allowed to get +beyond the pothouse. + +The Germans appear to be carrying on the war upon the same principles of +international law which formed many thousand years ago the rule of +conquest among the Israelites. They are spoiling the Egyptians with a +vengeance. Even in this town, under the very eyes of the King, there is +one street--the Boulevard de la Reine--in which almost every house is +absolutely gutted. This, I hear, was done by the Bavarians. The German +army may have many excellent qualities, but chivalry is not among them. +War with them is a business. When a nation is conquered, there is no +sentimental pity for it, but as much is to be made out of it as +possible. Like the elephants, which can crush a tree or pick up a +needle, they conquer a province and they pick a pocket. As soon as a +German is quartered in a room he sends for a box and some straw; +carefully and methodically packs up the clock on the mantelpiece, and +all the stray ornaments which he can lay his hands on; and then, with a +tear glistening in his eye for his absent family, directs them either to +his mother, his wife, or his lady-love. In vain the proprietor protests; +the philosophical warrior utters the most noble sentiments respecting +the horrors of war; ponderously explains that the French do not +sufficiently appreciate the blessings of peace; and that he is one of +the humble instruments whose mission it is to make these blessings clear +to them. Then he rings the bell, and in a mild and gentle voice, orders +his box of loot to be carried off by his military servant. Ben Butler +and his New Englanders in New Orleans might have profitably taken +lessons from these all-devouring locusts. Nothing escapes them. They +have long rods which they thrust into the ground to see whether anything +of value has been buried in the gardens. Sometimes they confiscate a +house, and then re-sell it to the proprietor. Sometimes they cart off +the furniture. Pianos they are very fond of. When they see one, they +first sit down and play a few sentimental ditties, then they go away, +requisition a cart, and minstrel and instrument disappear together. They +are a singular mixture of bravery and meanness. No one can deny that +they possess the former quality, but they are courageous without one +spark of heroism. After fighting all day, they will rifle the corpses of +their fallen foes of every article they can lay their hands on, and will +return to their camp equally happy because they have won a great victory +for Fatherland, and stolen a watch from one of the enemies of +Fatherland. They have got now into such a habit of appropriating other +people's property, that I confess I tremble when one of them fixes his +cold glassy eye upon me. I see that he is meditating some new +philosophical doctrine, which, some way or other, will transfer what is +in my pocket into his. His mind, however, fortunately, works but slowly, +and I am far away from him before he has elaborated to his own +satisfaction a system of confiscation applicable to my watch or +purse.[2] + + +PARIS, _February 7th_. + +Rosinante has brought me back with much wheezing from Versailles to +Paris; and with me he brought General Duff, U.S.A., and a leg of mutton. +At the gate of Versailles we were stopped by the sentinels, who told us +that no meat could be allowed to leave the town. I protested; but in +vain. Mild blue-eyed Teutons with porcelain pipes in their mouths bore +off my mutton. The General protested too, but the protest of the citizen +of the Free Republic fared like mine. I followed my mutton into the +guard-house, where I found a youthful officer, who looked so pleasant +that I determined to appeal to the heart which beat beneath his uniform. +I attacked the heart on its weak side. I explained to him that it was +the fate of all to love. The warrior assented, and heaved a great sigh +to his absent Gretchen. I pursued my advantage, and passed from +generalities to particulars. "My lady love," I said, "is in Paris. Long +have I sighed in vain. I am taking her now a leg of mutton. On this leg +hang all my hopes of bliss. If I present myself to her with this token +of my affection, she may yield to my suit. Oh, full-of-feeling, +loved-of-beauteous-women, German warrior, can you refuse me?" He "gazed +on the joint that caused his shame; gazed and looked, then looked +again." The battle was won; the vanquished victor stalked forth, +forgetting the soldier in the man, and gave order that the General, the +Englishman, and the leg of mutton should be allowed to go forth in +peace. Rosinante toiled along towards Paris; we passed through St. +Cloud, now a heap of ruins, and we arrived at the Bridge of Neuilly. +Here our passes were examined by a German official, who was explaining +every moment to a French crowd in his native language that they could +not be allowed to pass into Paris without permits. The crowd was mainly +made up of women, who were carrying in bags, pocket handkerchiefs, and +baskets of loaves, eggs, and butter to their beleaguered friends. "Is it +not too bad of him that he will pretend not to understand French?" said +an old lady to me. "He looks like a fiend," said another lady, looking +up at the good-natured face of the stolid military gaoler. The contrast +between the shrieking, gesticulating, excited French, and the calm, +cool, indifferent air of the German, was a curious one. It was typical +of that between the two races. Having reached Paris, I consigned poor +old long Rosinante to his fate--the knackers, and, with my leg of mutton +under my arm, walked down the Boulevard. I was mobbed, positively +mobbed. "Sir," said one man, "allow me to smell it." With my usual +generosity I did so. How I reached my hotel with my precious burthen in +safety is a perfect mystery. N.B. The mutton was for a friend of mine; +Gretchen was a pious fraud; all being fair in love and war. + +In the quarter in which I live I find that the rations have neither been +increased nor diminished. They still remain at 3-5ths lb. of bread, and +1-25th lb. of meat per diem. In some other districts a little beef has +been distributed. Some flour has come in from Orleans, and it is +expected that in the course of a few days the bread will cease to be +made of the peas, potatoes, and oats which we now eat. In the +restaurants, beef--real beef--is to be obtained for little more than +three times its normal price. Fish, too, in considerable quantities has +been introduced by some enterprising speculator. The two delegates, +also, of the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund have arrived with provisions, &c. +This evening they are to telegraph to London for more. These gentlemen +are somewhat at sea with respect to what is wanted, and by what means it +is to be distributed. One of them did me the honour to consult me this +afternoon on these two points. With respect to the first, I recommended +him to take the advice of Mr. Herbert--to whose energy it is due that +during the siege above one thousand English have not been starved--and +of the Archbishop of Paris, who is a man of sterling benevolence, with a +minimum of sectarianism. With respect to the latter, I recommended +Liebig, milk, and bacon. The great point appears to me to be that the +relief should be bestowed on the right persons. The women and children +have been the greatest sufferers of late. The mortality is still very +great among them; not because they are absolutely without food, for the +rations are distributed to all; but because they are in want of +something more strengthening than the rations. Coal is wanted here as +much as food. The poorer classes are without the means of cooking +whatever meat they may obtain, and it is almost impossible for them, on +account of the same reason, to make soup. If I might venture a +suggestion to the charitable in England, it would be to send over a +supply of fuel. + +I had some conversation with a gentleman connected with the Government +this evening respecting the political situation. He tells me that Arago, +Pelletan, and Garnier Pagès were delighted to leave Paris, and that it +was only the absolute necessity of their being as soon as possible at +Bordeaux, that induced General Vinoy to consent to their departure. As +for Gambetta, he says, it is not probable that he has now many adherents +in the provinces; and it is certain that he has very few here. When a +patient is given up by the faculty a quack is called in; if the quack +effects a cure he is lauded to the skies; if he fails, he is regarded as +a _charlatan_, and this is now the case with M. Gambetta. My informant +is of opinion that a large number of Ultra-Radicals will be elected in +Paris; this will be because the Moderates are split up into small +cliques, and each clique insists upon its own candidates being +supported, whereas the _Internationale_ commands 60,000 votes, which +will all be cast for the list adopted by the heads of that society, and +because the National Guard are averse to all real work, and hope that +the Ultras will force the National Assembly to continue to pay them the +1f. 50c. which they now receive, for an indefinite period. Gambetta, in +his desire to exclude from political power a numerous category of his +fellow-citizens, has many imitators here. Some of the journals insist +that not only the Bonapartists, but also the Legitimists and the +Orleanists should be disfranchised. They consider that as a preliminary +step to electing a National Assembly to decide whether a Republic is +henceforward to be the form of government of the country, it is +desirable, as well as just, to oblige all candidates to swear that it +shall be. The fact is, the French, no matter what their opinions may be, +seem to have no idea of political questions being decided by a majority; +or of a minority submitting to the fiat of this majority. Each citizen +belongs to a party; to the creed of this party, either through +conviction or personal motives, he adheres, and regards every one who +ventures to entertain other views as a scoundrel, an idiot, or a +traitor. I confess that I have always regarded a Republican form of +government as the best, wherever it is possible. But in France it is not +possible. The people are not sufficiently educated, and have not +sufficient common sense for it. Were I a Frenchman a Republic would be +my dream of the future; for the present I should be in favour of a +Constitutional Monarchy. A Republic would soon result in anarchy or in +despotism; and without any great love for Kings of any kind, I prefer a +Constitutional Monarch to either Anarchy or a Cæsar. One must take a +practical view of things in this world, and not sacrifice what is good +by a vain attempt to attain at once what is better. + +Will the Prussians enter Paris? is the question which I have been asked +by every Frenchman to whom I have mentioned that I have been at +Versailles. This question overshadows every other; and I am fully +convinced that this vain, silly population would rather that King +William should double the indemnity which he demands from France than +march with his troops down the Rue Rivoli. The fact that they have been +conquered is not so bitter to the Parisians as the idea of that fact +being brought home to them by the presence of their conquerors even for +half-an-hour within the walls of the sacred city. I have no very great +sympathy with the desire of the Prussians to march through Paris; and I +have no great sympathy with the horror which is felt by the Parisians at +their intention to do so. The Prussian flag waves over the forts, and +consequently to all intents and purposes Paris has capitulated. A +triumphal march along the main streets will not mend matters, nor mar +matters. "Attila, without, stands before vanquished Paris, as the +Cimbrian slave did before Marius. The sword drops from his hand; awed by +the majesty of the past, he flees and dares not strike," is the way in +which a newspaper I have just bought deals with the question. It is +precisely this sort of nonsense which makes the Prussians determined +that the Parisians shall drink the cup of humiliation to its last dregs. + +I was told at Versailles that St. Cloud had been set on fire on the +morning after the last sortie, and that although many houses were still +burning when the armistice was signed, none had subsequently been either +pillaged or burnt. This act of vandalism has greatly incensed the +French, and I understand that the King of Prussia himself regrets it, +and throws the blame of it on one of his generals, who acted without +orders. A lady who was to-day at St. Cloud tells me that she found +Germans eating in every room of her house. Both officers and men were +very civil to her. They told her that she might take away anything that +belonged to her, and helped to carry to her carriage some valuable +china; which, by good luck, had not been smashed. With respect to the +charge of looting private property, which is brought by the French +against their invaders, no unprejudiced person can, after looking into +the evidence, doubt that whilst in the German Army there are many +officers, and even privates, who have done their best to prevent +pillage, many articles of value have disappeared from houses which have +been occupied by the German troops, and much wanton damage has been +committed in them. I assert the fact, without raising the question +whether or not these are the necessary consequences of war. It is absurd +for the Germans to pretend that the French Francs-tireurs are the +culprits and not they. Francs-tireurs were never in the Boulevard de la +Reine at Versailles, and yet the houses in this street have been gutted +of everything available. + +I venture to repeat a question which I have already frequently +asked--Where is the gentleman who enjoys an annual salary as British +Consul at Paris? Why was he absent during the siege? Why is he absent +now? Why is a banker, who has other matters to attend to, discharging +his duties? I am a taxpayer and an elector; if "my member" does not +obtain a reply to these queries from the official representative of the +Foreign Office in the House of Commons, I give him fair notice that he +will shake me by the hand, ask after my health, and affect a deep +interest in my reply, in vain at the next general election; he will not +have my vote. + +The _Electeur Libre_, the journal of M. Picard, has put forth a species +of political programme, or rather a political defence of the wing of the +Government of National Defence to which that gentleman belongs. For a +French politician to praise himself in his own organ, and to say under +the editorial "we" that he intends to vote for himself, and that he has +the greatest confidence in his own wisdom, is regarded here as nothing +but natural. + + +PARIS, _February 9th._ + +"We have been conquered in the field, but we have gained a moral +victory." What this phrase means I have not the remotest idea; but as it +consoles those who utter it, they are quite right to do so. For the last +two days long lines of cannon have issued from the city gates, and have +been, without noise or parade, handed over to the Prussians at Issy and +Sevran. Few are aware of what has taken place, or know that their +surrender had been agreed to by M. Jules Favre. Representations having +been made to Count Bismarck that 10,000 armed soldiers were insufficient +for the maintenance of the peace of the capital, by an additional secret +clause added to the armistice the number has been increased to 25,000. +The greatest ill-feeling exists between the Army and the National Guards +in the most populous quarters. A general quartered in one of the outer +faubourgs went yesterday to General Vinoy, and told him that if he and +his men were to be subjected to insults whenever they showed themselves +in the streets, he could not continue to be responsible for either his +or their conduct. Most persons of sense appear to consider that the +armistice was an error, and that the wiser policy would have been to +have surrendered without conditions. M. Jules Favre is blamed for not +having profited by the occasion, to disarm the National Guards. Many of +their battalions, as long as they have arms, and receive pay for doing +nothing, will be a standing danger to order. The sailors have been paid +off; and the fears that were entertained of their getting drunk and +uproarious have not been confirmed. They are peaceably and sentimentally +spending their money with the "black-eyed Susans" of their affections. +The principal journalists are formally agitating the plan of a combined +movement to urge the population to protest against the Prussian +triumphal march through the city, by absence from the streets through +which the invading army is to defile. Several are, however, opposed to +any action, as they fear that their advice will not be followed. +Curiosity is one of the strongest passions of the Parisians, and it will +be almost impossible for them to keep away from the "sight." Even in +Coventry one Peeping Tom was found, and here there are many Peeping +Toms. Mr. Moore and Colonel Stuart Wortley, the delegates of the London +Relief Fund, have handed over 5,000l. of provisions to the Mayors to be +distributed. They could scarcely have found worse agents. The Mayors +have proved themselves thoroughly inefficient administrators, and most +of them are noisy, unpractical humbugs. Colonel Stuart Wortley and Mr. +Moore are very anxious to find means to approach what are called here +_les pauvres honteux_; that is to say, persons who are in want of +assistance, but who are ashamed to ask for it. From what they told me +yesterday evening, they are going to obtain two or three names of +well-known charitable persons in each arrondissement, and ask them to +make the distribution of the rest of their provisions in store here, and +of those which are expected shortly to arrive. Many families from the +villages in the neighbourhood of Paris have been driven within its walls +by the invaders, and are utterly destitute. In the opinion of these +gentlemen they are fitting objects for charity. The fact is, the +difficulty is not so much to find people in want of relief, but to find +relief for the thousands who require it. Ten, twenty, or thirty thousand +pounds are a mere drop in the ocean, so wide spread is the distress. "I +have committed many sins," said a Bishop of the Church of England, "but +when I appear before my Maker, and say that I never gave to one single +beggar in the streets they will be forgiven." There are many persons in +England who, like this prelate, are afraid to give to beggars, lest +their charity should be ill applied. No money, no food, no clothes, and +no fuel, if distributed with ordinary discretion, can be misapplied at +present in Paris. The French complain that all they ever get from +England is good advice and sterile sympathy. Now is the moment for us to +prove to them that, if we were not prepared to go to war in order to +protect them from the consequences of their own folly, we pity them in +their distress; and that our pity means something more than words and +phrases which feed no one, clothe no one, and warm no one. + +The Prussian authorities appear to be deliberately setting to work to +render the armistice as unpleasant to the Parisians as possible, in +order to force them to consent to no matter what terms of peace in order +to get rid of them; and I must congratulate them upon the success of +their efforts. They refuse now to accept passes signed by the Prefect of +the Police, and only recognise those bearing the name of General Valdan, +the chief of the Staff. To-morrow very likely they will require some +fresh signature. Whenever a French railroad company advertises the +departure of a train at a particular hour, comes an order from the +Prussians to alter that hour. Every Frenchman who quits Paris is +subjected to a hundred small, teasing vexations from these military +bureaucrats, and made to feel at every step he takes that he is a +prisoner on leave of absence, and only breathes the air of his native +land by the goodwill of his conquerors. The English public must not +forget that direct postal communications between Paris and foreign +countries are not re-established. Letters from and to England must be +addressed to some agent at Versailles or elsewhere, and from thence +re-addressed to Paris. As in a day or two trains will run pretty +regularly between Paris and London, had our diplomatic wiseacres been +worth in pence what they cost us in pounds, by this time they would have +made some arrangement to ensure a daily mailbag to England leaving +Paris. + +News was received yesterday that Gambetta had resigned, and it has been +published this morning in the _Journal Officiel_. A witness of the +Council at which it was agreed to send the three old women of the +Government to Bordeaux to replace him, tells me that everybody kissed +and hugged everybody for half an hour. The old women were ordered to +arrest Gambetta if he attempted resistance. It was much like telling a +street-sweeper to arrest a stalwart Guardsman. "Do not be rash," cried +Trochu. "We will not," replied the old women; "we will remain in one of +the suburbs of Bordeaux, until we learn that we can enter it with +safety." This reply removed from the minds of their friends any fear +that they would incur unnecessary risks in carrying out their mission. + +Provisions are arriving pretty freely. All fear of absolute famine has +disappeared. To-day the bread is far better than any we have had of +late. Some sheep and oxen were seen yesterday in the streets. + +The walls are covered with the professions of faith of citizens who +aspire to the honour of a seat in the National Assembly. We have the +candidate averse to public affairs, but yielding to the request of a +large number of supporters; the candidate who feels within himself the +power to save the country, and comes forward to do so; the candidate who +is young and vigorous, although as yet untried; the candidate who is +old and wise, but still vigorous; the man of business candidate; the man +of leisure candidate, who will devote his days and nights to the service +of the country; then there is the military candidate, whose name, he +modestly flatters himself, has been heard above the din of battle, and +typifies armed France. I recommend to would-be M.P.'s at home, the plan +of M. Maronini. He has as yet done nothing to entitle him to the +suffrages of the electors beyond making printing presses, which are +excellent and very cheap; so he heads his posters with a likeness of +himself. Why an elector should vote for a man because he has an ugly +face, I am not aware; but the Citizen Maronini seems to be under the +impression that, from a fellow-feeling at least, all ugly men will do +so; and perhaps he is right. Another candidate commences his address: +"_Citoyens, je suis le representant du_ go ahead." In the clubs last +night everyone was talking, and no one was listening. Even the Citizen +Sans, with his eternal scarlet shawl girt round his waist, could not +obtain a hearing. The Citizen Beaurepaire in vain shouted that, if +elected, he would rather hew off his own arm than sign away Alsace and +Lorraine. This noble figure of rhetoric, which has never been uttered by +a club orator during the siege without eliciting shouts of applause, was +received with jeers. The absurdity of the proceedings at this electoral +gathering is, that a candidate considers himself insulted if any elector +ventures to ask him a question. The president, too, loses his temper +half a dozen times every hour, and shakes his fist, screams and jabbers, +like an irate chimpanzee, at the audience. If the preliminary electoral +meetings are ridiculous, the system of voting, on the other hand, is +perfect in comparison with ours. Paris to-day in the midst of a general +election is by far more orderly than any English rotten village on the +polling-day. Three days ago each elector received at his own house a +card, telling him where he was to vote. Those who were entitled to the +suffrage, and by accident did not get one of these cards, went the next +day to their respective mairies to obtain one. I have just come from one +of the rooms in which the votes are taken. I say rooms; for the +Parisians do not follow our silly example, and build up sheds at the +cost of the candidate. At one end of this room was a long table. A box +was in the middle of it, and behind the box sat an employé. To his right +sat another. The elector went up to this latter, gave in his electoral +card, and wrote his name; he then handed to the central employé his list +of names, folded up. This the employé put into the box. About thirty +National Guards were on duty in or about the room. The box will remain +on the table until to-night, and the National Guards during this time +will not lose sight of it; they will then carry it to the Hôtel de +Ville, where it, and all other voting boxes, will be publicly opened, +the votes counted up, and the result, as soon as it is ascertained, +announced. How very un-English, some Briton will observe. I can only say +that I regret it is un-English. Our elections are a disgrace to our +civilisation, and to that common-sense of which we are for ever boasting +that we possess so large a share. Last year I was in New York during a +general election; this year I am in Paris during one; and both New York +and Paris are far ahead of us in their mode of registering the votes of +electors. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 2: Several complaints having been received from Germans +respecting these charges against the German armies, the following +extract from an Article--quoted by the _Pall Mall Gazette_--in his new +paper _Im Neuen Reich_, by the well-known German author, Herr Gustav +Freytag, will prove that they are not unfounded:--"Officers and +soldiers," he says, "have been living for months under the bronze +clocks, marble tables, damask hangings, artistic furniture, +oil-paintings, and costly engravings of Parisian industry. The +musketeers of Posen and Silesia broke up the velvet sofas to make soft +beds, destroyed the richly inlaid tables, and took the books out of the +book-cases for fuel in the cold winter evenings.... It was lamentable to +see the beautiful picture of a celebrated painter smeared over by our +soldiers with coal dust, a Hebe with her arms knocked off, a priceless +Buddhist manuscript lying torn in the chimney grate.... Then people +began to think it would be a good thing to obtain such beautiful and +tasteful articles for one's friends. A system of 'salvage' was thus +introduced, which it is said even eminent and distinguished men in the +army winked at. Soldiers bargained for them with the Jews and hucksters +who swarm at Versailles; officers thought of the adornment of their own +houses; and such things as could be easily packed, such as engravings +and oil-paintings, were in danger of being cut out of their frames and +rolled up for home consumption." Herr Freytag then points out that these +articles are private property, and that the officers and soldiers had no +right to appropriate them to their own use. "We are proud and happy," he +concludes, addressing them, "at your warlike deeds; behave worthily and +honourably also as men. Come back to us from this terrible war with pure +consciences and clean hands."] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +CALAIS, _February 10th._ + +At 4 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday I took my departure from Paris, leaving, +much with the feelings of Daniel when he emerged from the lions' den, +its inhabitants wending their way to the electoral "urns;" the many +revolving in their minds how France and Paris were to manage to pay the +little bill which their creditor outside is making up against them; the +few--the very few--still determined to die rather than yield, sitting in +the cafés on the boulevard, which is to be, I presume, their "last +ditch." Many correspondents, "special," "our own," and "occasional," had +arrived, and were girding up their loins for the benefit of the British +public. Baron Rothschild had been kind enough to give me a pass which +enabled me to take the Amiens train at the goods station within the +walls of the city, instead of driving, as those less fortunate were +obliged to do, to Gonesse. My pass had been signed by the proper +authorities, and the proper authorities, for reasons best known to +themselves--I presume because they had elections on the brain--had +dubbed me "Member of the House of Commons, rendering himself to England +to assist at the conferences of the Parliament." I have serious thoughts +of tendering this document to the doorkeeper of the august sanctuary of +the collective wisdom of my country, to discover whether he will +recognise its validity. + +The train was drawn up before a shed in the midst of an ocean of mud. It +consisted of one passenger carriage, and of about half a mile of empty +bullock vans. The former was already filled; so, as a bullock, I +embarked--I may add, as an ill-used bullock; for I had no straw to sit +on. At St. Denis, a Prussian official inspected our passes, and at +Gonesse about 200 passengers struggled into the bullock vans. We reached +Creil, a distance of thirty miles, at 11.30. I and my fellow-bullocks +here made a rush at the buffet. But it was closed. So we had to return +to our vans, very hungry, very thirsty, very sulky, and very wet; for it +was raining hard. In this pleasant condition we remained until 9 o'clock +on Thursday; occasionally slowly progressing for a few miles; then +making a halt of an hour or two. Why? No one--not even the guard--could +tell. All he knew was, that the Prussians had hung out a signal ordering +us, their slaves, to halt, and therefore halt we must. We did the forty +miles between Creil and Breteuil in ten hours. There, in a small inn, we +found some eggs and bread, which we devoured like a flight of famished +locusts. It was very cold, and several of us sought shelter in a room at +the station, where there was a fire. In the middle of this room there +were two chairs, on one of them sat a Prussian soldier, on the other +reposed his legs. He was a big red-haired fellow, and evidently in some +corner of his Fatherland passed as a man of wit and humour. He was good +enough to explain to us, with a pleasant smile, that in his eyes we were +a very contemptible sort of people, and that if we did not consent to +all the terms of peace which were proposed by "the Bismarck," he and his +fellow warriors would burn our houses over our heads, and in many other +ways make things generally uncomfortable to us. "Ah! speak to me of +Manteuffel," he occasionally said: and as no one did speak to him of +Manteuffel, he did so himself, and narrated to us many tales of the +wondrous skill and intelligence of that eminent general. As he called, +after the manner of his nation, a _batterie_ a _paderie_, and otherwise +Germanized the French language, much of his interesting conversation was +unintelligible. + +We had been at Breteuil about an hour when a Prussian train came puffing +up. I managed to induce an official to allow me to get into the luggage +van; and thus, having started from Paris as a bullock, I reached Amiens +at twelve o'clock as a carpet-bag. The Amiens station, a very large one +covered in with glass, was crowded with Prussian soldiers; and for one +hour I stood there the witness of and sufferer from unmitigated +ruffianism. The French were knocked about, and pushed about. Never were +negro slaves treated with more contempt and brutality than they were by +their conquerors. I could not stand on any spot for two minutes without +being gruffly ordered to stand on another by some officer. Twice two +soldiers raised their muskets with a general notion of staving in my +skull "pour passer le temps." Frenchmen, whatever may be their faults, +are always extremely courteous in all their relations with each other, +and with strangers. In their wildest moments of excitement they are +civil. They may poison you, or run a hook through you; but they will do +it, as Isaac Walton did with the worm, "as though they loved" you. They +were perfectly cowed with the rough bullying of their masters. It is +most astonishing--considering how good-natured Germans are when at home, +that they should make themselves so offensive in France, even during a +truce. At one o'clock I left this orgie of German terrorism in a train, +and from thence to Calais all was straight sailing. At Abbeville we +passed from the Prussian into the French lines. Calais we reached at +seven p.m., and right glad was I to eat a Calais supper and to sleep in +a Calais bed. + + +THE END. + + + + +BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + +_Now published_, + +NEW COPYRIGHT EDITIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AND POEMS. + + +_Shakespeare's Plays and Poems._ + +EDITED BY + +CHARLES AND MARY COWDEN CLARKE + +In Four Volumes, Demy Octavo, price £1 11s. 6d. + +ALSO, + +_The Same Text._ + +In One Volume, Royal Octavo, price 12s. + +LONDON: BICKERS & SON, 1 LEICESTER SQUARE. + +The PUBLISHERS have much pleasure in announcing the publication of the +above Editions of Shakespeare's Plays and Poems. Mrs Cowden Clarke's +Edition of Shakespeare, recently published by Messrs Appleton & Co. of +New York, has been made the basis of Mr and Mrs Cowden Clarke's joint +labours. The original Edition, produced after long and careful +preparation, has met with great and deserved success in America. As the +present issue, in addition to the careful revision of Mrs Cowden Clarke, +has had the benefit of the labours of Mr Charles Cowden Clarke, one of +the most zealous and successful illustrators of the great Dramatist now +living, they believe they are presenting Editions of Shakespeare's Works +distinguished by an amount of mature judgment in collating the earlier +copies which will vindicate their claim to the rank of STANDARD +EDITIONS. + +In projecting Editions of Shakespeare without note or comment, the +PUBLISHERS believe that they will be acceptable to the general public +who desire to become acquainted with the writings of the author, free +from the distraction which a multiplicity of notes is so apt to produce, +and to those also who prefer being their own interpreters of the meaning +of the passages which appear obscure. + +As the value of these Editions will lie in the discrimination exercised +in the selection of the text by the Editors, it will be conceded that +the life-long devotion of Mr and Mrs Cowden Clarke to the study of +Shakespeare, their thorough knowledge of the various readings, and their +ability to adopt in all cases the reading which appears to be in keeping +with the style and general treatment of his subject by the author, form +a guarantee that the Editions will present, as nearly as possible, a +pure text. + +Both Editions will include reprints from the American Edition, of Mrs +Cowden Clarke's valuable Introductory Essay, Glossary, &c., carefully +revised and amplified. 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Reprinted + from the Daily News. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; } + + + + div.trans-note {border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; + margin: 3em 15%; padding: 1em; text-align: center;} + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .right {text-align: right;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: none;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: 0.25em; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris, by +Henry Labouchère + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris + +Author: Henry Labouchère + +Release Date: September 13, 2006 [EBook #19263] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIARY OF THE BESIEGED *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Blenkinship, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>DIARY</h1> + +<h4><span class="smcap">OF</span></h4> + +<h1>THE BESIEGED RESIDENT</h1> + +<h1>IN PARIS.</h1> + + + + +<p class="center"><small>REPRINTED FROM "THE DAILY NEWS,"<br /> + +WITH<br /> + +SEVERAL NEW LETTERS AND PREFACE.</small></p> + + + + +<p class="center"><small>IN ONE VOLUME.</small></p> + + + + +<p class="center"><small>Second Edition, Revised.</small></p> + + + + +<p class="center"><small>LONDON:<br /> HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,<br /> 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. +1871.</small></p> + +<p class="center"><small><i>The Right of Translation is Reserved</i>.</small></p> + +<p class="center"><small>LONDON:<br /> BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.</small></p> + +<div class="trans-note"> + Transcriber's note: In this book there are inconsistencies in accentation and +Capitalisation; these have been left as in the original. This book contains two chapters labeled XVII. + </div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>The publishers of these letters have requested me to write a preface. In +vain I have told them, that if prefaces have not gone out of date, the +sooner they do, the better it will be for the public; in vain I have +despairingly suggested that there must be something which would serve +their purpose, kept in type at their printers, commencing, "At the +request of—perhaps too partial—friends, I have been induced, against +my own judgment, to publish, &c., &c., &c.;" they say that they have +advertised the book with a preface, and a preface from me they must and +will have. Unfortunately I have, from my earliest childhood, religiously +skipped all introductions, prefaces, and other such obstructions, so +that I really do not precisely know how one ought to be written; I can +only, therefore, say that—</p> + +<p>These letters are published for the very excellent reason that a +confiding publisher has offered me a sum of money for them, which I was +not such a fool as to refuse. They were written in Paris to the <i>Daily +News</i> during the siege. I was residing there when the war broke out; +after a short absence, I returned just before the capitulation of +Sedan—intending only to remain one night. The situation, however, was +so interesting that I stayed on from day to day, until I found the +German armies drawing their lines of investment round the city. Had I +supposed that I should have been their prisoner for nearly five months, +I confess I should have made an effort to escape, but I shared the +general illusion that—one way or the other—the siege would not last a +month.</p> + +<p>Although I forwarded my letters by balloon, or sent them by messengers +who promised to "run the blockade," I had no notion, until the armistice +restored us to communications with the outer world, that one in twenty +had reached its destination. This mode of writing, as Dr. William +Russell wittily observed to me the other day at Versailles, was much +like smoking in the dark—and it must be my excuse for any inaccuracies +or repetitions.</p> + +<p>Many of my letters have been lost <i>en route</i>—some of them, which +reached the <i>Daily News</i> Office too late for insertion, are now +published for the first time. The reader will perceive that I pretend to +no technical knowledge of military matters; I have only sought to convey +a general notion of how the warlike operations round Paris appeared to a +civilian spectator, and to give a fair and impartial account of the +inner life of Paris, during its isolation from the rest of Europe. My +bias—if I had any—was in favour of the Parisians, and I should have +been heartily glad had they been successful in their resistance. There +is, however, no getting over facts, and I could not long close my eyes +to the most palpable fact—however I might wish it otherwise—that their +leaders were men of little energy and small resource, and that they +themselves seemed rather to depend for deliverance upon extraneous +succour, than upon their own exertions. The women and the children +undoubtedly suffered great hardships, which they bore with praiseworthy +resignation. The sailors, the soldiers of the line, and levies of +peasants which formed the Mobiles, fought with decent courage. But the +male population of Paris, although they boasted greatly of their +"sublimity," their "endurance," and their "valour," hardly appeared to +me to come up to their own estimation of themselves, while many of them +seemed to consider that heroism was a necessary consequence of the +enunciation of advanced political opinions. My object in writing was to +present a practical rather than a sentimental view of events, and to +recount things as they were, not as I wished them to be, or as the +Parisians, with perhaps excusable patriotism, wished them to appear.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: 10em;">For the sake of my publishers, I trust that the book will find favour +with the public. For the last three hours I have been correcting the +proofs of my prose, and it struck me that letters written to be +inserted in separate numbers of a daily paper, when published in a +collected form, are somewhat heavy reading. I feel, indeed, just at +present, much like a person who has obtained money under false +pretences, but whose remorse is not sufficiently strong to induce him to +return it.</p> + + + + + +<h2>DIARY</h2> +<h4>OF THE</h4> +<h2>BESIEGED RESIDENT IN PARIS.</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>September 18th.</i></p> + +<p>No one walking on the Champs Elysées or on the Boulevards to-day would +suppose that 300,000 Prussians are within a few miles of the city, and +intend to besiege it. Happy, said Laurence Sterne, in his "Sentimental +Journey," the nation which can once a week forget its cares. The French +have not changed since then. To-day is a fête day, and as a fête day it +must be kept. Every one seems to have forgotten the existence of the +Prussians. The Cafés are crowded by a gay crowd. On the Boulevard, +Monsieur and Madame walk quietly along with their children. In the +Champs Elysées honest mechanics and bourgeois are basking in the sun, +and nurserymaids are flirting with soldiers. There is even a lull in the +universal drilling. The regiments of Nationaux and Mobiles carry large +branches of trees stuck into the ends of their muskets. Round the statue +of Strasburg there is the usual crowd, and speculators are driving a +brisk trade in portraits of General Uhrich. "Here, citizens," cries one, +"is the portrait of the heroic defender of Strasburg, only one sou—it +cost me two—I only wish that I were rich enough to give it away." +"Listen, citizens," cries another, "whilst I declaim the poem of a lady +who has escaped from Strasburg. To those who, after hearing it, may wish +to read it to their families, I will give it as a favour for two sous." +I only saw one disturbance. As I passed by the Rond Point, a very tall +woman was mobbed, because it was thought that she might be a Uhlan in +disguise. But it was regarded more as a joke than anything serious. So +bent on being happy was every one that I really believe that a Uhlan in +the midst of them would not have disturbed their equanimity. "Come what +may, to-day we will be merry," seemed to be the feeling; "let us leave +care to the morrow, and make the most of what may be our last fête day."</p> + +<p>Mr. Malet, the English secretary, who returned yesterday from Meaux, had +no small difficulty in getting through the Prussian lines. He started on +Thursday evening for Creil in a train with a French officer. When they +got to Creil, they knocked up the Mayor, and begged him to procure them +a horse. He gave them an order for the only one in the town. Its +proprietor was in bed, and when they knocked at his door his wife cried +out from the window, "My husband is a coward and won't open." A voice +from within was heard saying, "I go out at night for no one." So they +laid hands on the horse and harnessed it to a gig. All night long they +drove in what they supposed was the direction of the Prussian outposts, +trumpeting occasionally like elephants in a jungle. In the morning they +found themselves in a desert, not a living soul to be seen, so they +turned back towards Paris, got close in to the forts, and started in +another direction. Occasionally they discerned a distant Uhlan, who rode +off when he saw them. On Friday night they slept among the +Francs-tireurs, and on the following morning they pushed forward again +with an escort. Soon they saw a Prussian outpost, and after waving for +some time a white flag, an officer came forward. After a parley Mr. +Malet and his friend were allowed to pass. At three o'clock they arrived +at Meaux. Count Bismarck was just driving into the town; he at once +recognised Mr. Malet, whom he had known in Germany, and begged him to +call upon him at nine o'clock. From Mr. Malet I know nothing more. I +tried to "interview" him with respect to his conversation with Count +Bismarck, but it takes two to make a bargain, and in this bargain he +declined to be the number two. About half an hour afterwards, however, I +met a foreign diplomatist of my acquaintance who had just come from the +British Embassy. He had heard Mr. Malet's story, which, of course, had +been communicated to the Corps Diplomatique, and being slightly +demoralised, without well thinking what he was doing, he confided it to +my sympathising ear.</p> + +<p>Mr. Malet, at nine o'clock, found Count Bismarck seated before a table +with wine and cigars. He was in high spirits and very sociable. This I +can well believe, for I used to know him, and, to give the devil his +due, he is one of the few Prussians of a sociable disposition. The +interview lasted for more than two hours. Count Bismarck told Mr. Malet +that the Prussians meant to have Metz and Strasburg, and should remain +in France until they were obtained. The Prussians did not intend to +dismantle them, but to make them stronger than they at present are. "The +French," he said, "will hate us with an undying hate, and we must take +care to render this hate powerless." As for Paris, the German armies +would surround it, and with their several corps d'armée, and their +70,000 cavalry, would isolate it from the rest of the world, and leave +its inhabitants to "seethe in their own milk." If the Parisians +continued after this to hold out, Paris would be bombarded, and, if +necessary, burned. My own impression is that Count Bismarck was not such +a fool as to say precisely what he intended to do, and that he will +attack at once; but the event will prove. He added that Germany was not +in want of money, and therefore did not ask for a heavy pecuniary +indemnity. Speaking of the French, Count Bismarck observed that there +were 200,000 men round Metz, and he believed that Bazaine would have to +capitulate within a week. He rendered full justice to the courage with +which the army under Bazaine had fought, but he did not seem to have a +very high opinion of the French army of Sedan. He questioned Mr. Malet +about the state of Paris, and did not seem gratified to hear that there +had been no tumults. The declaration of the Republic and its peaceful +recognition by Paris and the whole of France appeared by no means to +please him. He admitted that if it proved to be a moderate and virtuous +Government, it might prove a source of danger to the monarchical +principle in Germany.</p> + +<p>I do trust that Englishmen will well weigh these utterances. Surely they +will at last be of opinion that the English Government should use all +its moral influence to prevent a city containing nearly two million +inhabitants being burnt to the ground in order that one million +Frenchmen should against their will be converted into Germans. It is our +policy to make an effort to prevent the dismemberment of France, but the +question is not now so much one of policy as of common humanity. No one +asks England to go to war for France; all that is asked is that she +should recognise the <i>de facto</i> Government of the country, and should +urge Prussia to make peace on terms which a French nation can honourably +accept.</p> + +<p>General Vinoy, out reconnoitering with 15,000 men, came to-day upon a +Prussian force of 40,000 near Vincennes. After an artillery combat, he +withdrew within the lines of the forts. There have been unimportant +skirmishes with the enemy at several points. The American, the Belgian, +the Swiss, and the Danish Ministers are still here. Mr. Wodehouse has +remained to look after our interests. All the secretaries were anxious +to stay. I should be glad to know why Mr. Falconer Atlee, the British +Consul at Paris, is not like other consuls, at his post. He withdrew to +Dieppe about three weeks ago. His place is here. Neither a consul, nor a +soldier, should leave his post as soon as it becomes dangerous.</p> + +<p>Victor Hugo has published an address to the nation. You may judge of its +essentially practical spirit by the following specimen:—"Rouen, draw +thy sword! Lille, take up thy musket! Bordeaux, take up thy gun! +Marseilles, sing thy song and be terrible!" I suspect Marseilles may +sing her song a long time before the effect of her vocal efforts will in +any way prevent the Prussians from carrying out their plans. "A child," +say the evening papers, "deposited her doll this afternoon in the arms +of the statue of Strasburg. All who saw the youthful patriot perform +this touching act were deeply affected."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 19th</i>.</p> + +<p>I don't know whether my letter of yesterday went off or not. As my +messenger to the post-office could get no authentic intelligence about +what was passing, I went there myself. Everybody was in military +uniform, everybody was shrugging his shoulders, and everybody was in the +condition of a London policeman were he to see himself marched off to +the station by a street-sweeper. That the Prussian should have taken the +Emperor prisoner, and have vanquished the French armies, had, of course, +astonished these worthy bureaucrats, but that they should have ventured +to interfere with postmen had perfectly dumbfounded them. "Put your +letter in that box," said a venerable employé on a high stool. "Will it +ever be taken out?" I asked. "Qui sait?" he replied. "Shall you send off +a train to-morrow morning?" I asked. There was a chorus of "Qui sait?" +and the heads disappeared still further with the respective shoulders to +which they belonged. "What do you think of a man on horseback?" I +suggested. An indignant "Impossible" was the answer. "Why not?" I asked. +The look of contempt with which the clerks gazed on me was expressive. +It meant, "Do you really imagine that a functionary—a postman—is going +to forward your letters in an irregular manner?" At this moment a sort +of young French Jefferson Brick came in. Evidently he was a Republican +recently set in authority. To him I turned. "Citizen, I want my letter +to go to London. It is a press letter. These bureaucrats say that they +dare not send it by a horse express; I appeal to you, as I am sure you +are a man of expedients." "These people," he replied, scowling at the +clerks, "are demoralised. They are the ancient valets of a corrupt +Court; give me your letter; if possible it shall go, 'foi de citoyen.'" +I handed my letter to Jefferson, but whether it is on its way to +England, or still in his patriotic hands, I do not know. As I passed out +through the courtyard I saw postmen seated on the boxes of carts, with +no horses before them. It was their hour to carry out the letters, and +thus mechanically they fulfilled their duty. English Government +officials have before now been jeered at as men of routine, but the most +ancient clerk in Somerset House is a man of wild impulse and boundless +expedient compared with the average of functionaries great and small +here. The want of "shiftiness" is a national characteristic. The French +are like a flock of sheep without shepherds or sheep-dogs. Soldiers and +civilians have no idea of anything except doing what they are ordered to +do by some functionary. Let one wheel in an administration get out of +order, and everything goes wrong. After my visit to the post-office I +went to the central telegraph office, and sent you a telegram. The clerk +was very surly at first, but he said that he thought a press telegram +would pass the wires. When I paid him he became friendly. My own +impression is that my twelve francs, whoever they may benefit, will not +benefit the British public.</p> + +<p>From the telegraph-office I directed my steps to a club where I was +engaged to dine. I found half-a-dozen whist tables in full swing. The +conversation about the war soon, however, became general. "This is our +situation," said, as he dealt a hand, a knowing old man of the world, a +sort of French James Clay: "generally if one has no trumps in one's +hand, one has at least some good court cards in the other suits; we've +got neither trumps nor court cards." "Et le General Trochu?" some one +suggested. "My opinion of General Trochu," said a General, who was +sitting reading a newspaper, "is that he is a man of theory, but +unpractical. I know him well; he has utterly failed to organise the +forces which he has under his command." The general opinion about Trochu +seemed to be that he is a kind of M'Clellan. "Will the Garde Nationale +fight?" some one asked. A Garde National replied, "Of course there are +brave men amongst us, but the mass will give in rather than see Paris +destroyed. They have their families and their shops." "And the Mobiles?" +"The Mobiles are the stuff out of which soldiers are made, but they are +still peasants, and not soldiers yet." On the whole, I found the tone in +"fashionable circles" desponding. "Can any one tell me where Jules Favre +has gone?" I asked. Nobody could, though everybody seemed to think that +he had gone to the Prussian headquarters. After playing a few rubbers, I +went home to bed at about one o'clock. The streets were absolutely +deserted. All the cafés were shut.</p> + +<p>Nothing in the papers this morning. In the <i>Figaro</i> an article from that +old humbug Villemessant. He calls upon his fellow-citizens in Paris to +resist to the death.</p> + +<p>"One thing Frenchmen never forgive," he says,—"cowardice."</p> + +<p>The <i>Gaulois</i> contains the most news. It represents the Prussians to be +all round Paris. At Versailles they have converted the Palais into a +barrack. Their camp fires were seen last night in the forest of Bondy. +Uhlans have made their appearance at St. Cloud. "Fritz" has taken up his +quarters at Ferrières, the château of Baron Rothschild. "William"—we +are very familiar when we speak of the Prussian Royal family—is still +at Meaux. "No thunderbolt," adds the correspondent, "has yet fallen on +him." The Prussian outposts are at the distance of three kilometres from +St. Denis. Near Vitry shots have been heard. In the environs of +Vincennes there has been fighting. It appears General Ambert was +arrested yesterday. He was reviewing some regiments of Nationaux, and +when they cried, "Vive la République" he told them that the Republic did +not exist. The men immediately surrounded him, and carried him to the +Ministry of the Interior, where I presume he still is. The <i>Rappel</i> +finds faults with Jules Favre's circular. Its tone, it says, is too +humble. The <i>Rappel</i> gives a list of "valets of Bonaparte, <i>ce coquin +sinistre</i>," who still occupy official positions, and demands that they +shall at once be relieved from their functions. The <i>Rappel</i> also +informs its readers that letters have been discovered (where?) proving +that Queen Victoria had promised before the war to do her best to aid +Germany.</p> + +<p>Butler of a friend of mine, whose house is close by the fortifications, +and who has left it in his charge, has just been to see me. The house is +a "poste" of the National Guard. Butler says the men do not sleep on the +ramparts, but in the neighbouring houses. They are changed every +twenty-four hours. He had rather a hard time of it last night with a +company from the Faubourg St. Antoine. As a rule, however, he says they +are decent, orderly men. They complain very much that their business is +going to rack and ruin; when they are away from their shops, they say, +impecunious patriots come in to purchase goods of their wives, and +promise to call another day to pay for them. On Saturday night the +butler reports 300 National Guards were drawn up before his master's +house, and twenty-five volunteers were demanded for a service of danger. +After some time the twenty-five stepped forward, but having heard for +what they were wanted, eighteen declined to go.</p> + +<p>A British coachman just turned up offers to carry letters through—seems +a sharp plucky fellow. I shall employ him as soon as the Post-office is +definitely closed. British coachman does not think much of the citizen +soldiers in Paris. "Lor' bless you, sir, I'd rather have 10,000 +Englishmen than the lot of them. In my stable I make my men obey me, but +these chaps they don't seem to care what their officers says to them. I +seed them drill this morning; a pretty green lot they was. Why, sir, +giving them fellow Chassepots is much like giving watches to naked +savages."</p> + +<p>The Breton Mobiles are making pilgrimages to the churches. I hope it may +do them good. I hear the curés of Paris have divided the ramparts +between them, and are on the fortifications—bravo! curés. By-the-bye, +that fire-eater, Paul de Cassagnac, has not followed the example of his +brother Imperial journalists. He enlisted as a Zouave, fought well, and +was taken prisoner at Sedan. He is now employed by his captors in making +bread. I hope his bread will be better than his articles.</p> + + +<p class="right">1.30 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>.</p> + +<p>Been sitting with a friend who commands a company of National Guards. +The company is now outside the fortifications. Friend tells me that the +men in his company are mostly small shopkeepers. At first it was +difficult to get them to come to drill, but within the last few days +they have been drilling hard, and he is convinced that they will fight +well. Friend tells me that a large number of National Guards have run +away from Paris, and that those who remain are very indignant with them. +He requests me to beg my countrymen, if they see a sturdy Monsieur +swelling it down Regent Street, to kick him, as he ought to be defending +his country. I fulfil his request with the greatest pleasure and endorse +it. I have just seen a Prussian spy taken to prison. I was seated before +a café on the Boulevard des Capucines. Suddenly there was a shout of "un +Prussien;" every one rushed towards the Place de l'Opéra, and from the +Boulevard Haussmann came a crowd with a soldier, dressed as an +artilleryman, on a horse. He was preceded and followed by about one +hundred Mobiles. By his side rode a woman. No one touched them. Whether +he and his "lady friend" were Germans I do not know; but they certainly +looked Germans, and extremely uncomfortable.</p> + + +<p class="right">3 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>.</p> + +<p>Been to Embassy. Messenger Johnson arrived this morning at 12 o'clock. +He had driven to Rouen. At each post station he was arrested. He drove +up to the Embassy, followed by a howling mob. As he wore an unknown +uniform they took him for a Prussian. Messenger Johnson, being an old +soldier, was belligerently inclined. "The first man who approaches," &c. +The porter of the Embassy, however, dragged him inside, and explained to +the mob who he was. He had great difficulty in calming them. One man +sensibly observed that in these times no one should drive through Paris +in a foreign uniform, as the mass of the people knew nothing of Queen's +messengers and their uniforms. Messenger Johnson having by this time got +within the Embassy gates, the mob turned on his postilion and led him +off. What his fate has been no one has had time to ask.</p> + +<p>When I went upstairs I found Wodehouse sitting like patience on a stool, +with a number of Britons round him, who wanted to get off out of Paris. +Wodehouse very justly told them that Lord Lyons had given them due +notice to leave, and that they had chosen at their own risk to remain. +The Britons seemed to imagine that their Embassy was bound to find them +a road by which they might safely withdraw from the town. One very +important Briton was most indignant—"I am a man of wealth and position. +I am not accustomed to be treated in this manner. What is the use of +you, sir, if you cannot ensure my safe passage to England? If I am +killed the world shall ring with it. I shall myself make a formal +complaint to Lord Granville," said this incoherent and pompous donkey. +Exit man of position fuming; enter unprotected female. Of course she was +a widow, of course she had lost half-a-dozen sons, of course she kept +lodgings, and of course she wanted her "hambassader" generally to take +her under his wing. I left Wodehouse explaining to her that if she went +out of Paris even with a pass, she might or might not be shot according +to circumstances. I will say for him that I should not be as patient as +he is, were I worried and badgered by the hour by a crowd of shrieking +women and silly men.</p> + + +<p class="right">4 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>.</p> + +<p>Fighting is going on all round Paris. There are crowds on the Boulevard; +every one is asking his neighbour for news. I went to one of the Mairies +to hear the bulletins read. The street was almost impassable. At last I +got near enough to hear an official read out a despatch—nothing +important. The commanders at Montrouge and Vincennes announce that the +Prussians are being driven back. "Et Clamart?" some one cries. "A bas +les alarmistes," is the reply. Every one is despondent. Soldiers have +come back from Meudon demoralised. We have lost a position, it is +whispered. I find a friend, upon whose testimony I can rely, who was +near Meudon until twelve o'clock. He tells me that the troops of the +line behaved badly. They threw away their muskets without firing a shot, +and there was a regular <i>sauve qui peut</i>. The Mobiles, on the other +hand, fought splendidly, and were holding the position when he left. I +am writing this in a café. It is full of Gardes Nationaux. They are +saying that if the troops of the line are not trustworthy, resistance is +hopeless. A Garde National gives the following explanation of the +demoralisation of the army. He says that the Imperial Government only +troubled itself about the corps d'élite; that the object in the line +regiments was to get substitutes as cheaply as possible; consequently, +they are filled with men physically and morally the scum of the nation. +Semaphore telegraphs have been put up on all the high public buildings. +There are also semaphores on the forts. I see that one opposite me is +exchanging signals. The crowd watch them as though by looking they would +discover what they mean. "A first success," says a National next to me, +"was absolutely necessary for us, in order to give us confidence." "But +this success we do not seem likely to have," says another. The attempt +to burn down the forests seems only partially to have succeeded. The +Prussians appear to be using them, and the French to the last carrying +on war without scouts.</p> + + +<p class="right">6 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>Evening papers just out. Not a word about Clamart. The <i>Liberté</i> says +the Minister of the Interior refers journalists to General Trochu, who +claims the right to suppress what he pleases. When will French +Governments understand that it is far more productive of demoralisation +to allow no official news to be published than to publish the worst? +Rochefort has been appointed President of a Committee of Barricades, to +organise a second line of defence within the ramparts.</p> + + +<p class="right">7 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>.</p> + +<p>The cannon can be distinctly heard. The reports come from different +quarters. Jules Favre, I hear from a sure source, is at the Prussian +headquarters.</p> + + +<p class="right">7.30 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>.</p> + +<p>I live <i>au quatrième</i> with a balcony before my room. I can see the +flashes of cannon in the direction of Vincennes. There appears to be a +great fire somewhere.</p> + + +<p class="right">12 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>.</p> + +<p>Have driven to the Barrière de l'Enfer. Nothing there. On the Champ de +Mars I found troops returned from Clamart. They complain that they never +saw their officers during the engagement, that there were no scouts in +the Bois de Clamart, and that the Prussians succeeded by their old game +of sticking to the cover. At first they fell back—the French troops +pressed on, when they were exposed to a concentric fire. From the Champs +Elysées I drove to the Buttes de Montmartre. Thousands of people +clustered everywhere except where they were kept off by the Nationaux, +who were guarding the batteries. The northern sky was bright from the +reflection of a conflagration—as the forest of St. Germain was burning. +It was almost light. We could see every shot and shell fired from the +forts round St. Denis. At ten o'clock I got back to the Boulevard des +Italiens. Every café was closed. It appears that at about nine o'clock +the Café Riche was full of Gardes Mobiles, officers, and <i>lorettes</i>. +They made so much noise that the public outside became indignant, and +insisted on their giving up their orgie. The National Guard joined in +this protest, and an order was sent at once to close every café. Before +the Maison Dorée I saw a few <i>viveurs</i>, gazing at its closed windows as +though the end of the world had come. This café has been opened day and +night for the last twenty years. From my balcony I can no longer hear +the cannon; the sky, however, is even brighter from the conflagration +than it was.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 20th.</i></p> + +<p>The firing has recommenced. We can hear it distinctly. General Ambert +has been cashiered. <i>Figaro</i> announces that Villemessant has returned. +We are given a dozen paragraphs about this humbug of humbugs, his +uniform, &c., &c. I do not think that he will be either killed or +wounded. The latest telegram from the outer world announces that "Sir +Campbell"—médecin Anglais—has arrived at Dieppe with despatches to the +Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Marine.</p> + + +<p class="right">11 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></p> + +<p>Paris very quiet and very despondent. Few soldiers about. The Line is +reviled, the Mobile extolled. From all accounts the latter seem to have +behaved well—a little excited at first, but full of pluck. Let the +siege only last a week and they will be capital soldiers, and then we +shall no longer be called upon, to believe the assertions of military +men, that it takes years of drill and idling in a barrack to make a +soldier.</p> + +<p>My own impression always has been that Malet brought back a written +answer from Bismarck offering to see Jules Favre. Can it be that, after +all, the Parisians, at the mere sound of cannon, are going to cave in, +and give up Alsace and Lorraine? If they do, I give them up. If my +friends in Belleville descend into the streets to prevent this ignominy, +I descend with them.</p> + + +<p class="right">4 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>I got, about an hour ago, some way on the road to Charenton, when I was +turned back, and a couple of soldiers took possession of me, and did not +leave me until I was within the city gate. I could see no traces of any +Prussians or of any fighting. Two English correspondents got as far as +St. Denis this morning. After having been arrested half-a-dozen times +and then released, they were impressed, and obliged to carry stones to +make a barricade. They saw no Prussians. I hear that a general of +artillery was arrested last night by his men. There is a report, also, +that the Government mean to decimate the cowards who ran away yesterday, +<i>pour encourager les autres</i>. The guns of the Prussians which they have +posted on the heights they took yesterday it is said will carry as far +as the Arc de Triomphe.</p> + +<p>There have been two deputations to the Hôtel de Ville to interview the +Government with respect to the armistice. One consisted of about 100 +officers of the National Guard, most of them from the Faubourgs of St. +Antoine and the Temple. They were of course accompanied by a large +crowd. Having been admitted into the Salle du Trône, they were received +by the Mayor of Paris and M. Jules Ferry. The reply of the latter is not +very clear. He certainly said that no shameful peace should be +concluded; but whether, as some assert, he assured the officers that no +portion of French soil should be ceded is not equally certain. Shortly +after this deputation had left, another arrived from the Republican +clubs. It is stated that M. Jules Ferry's answer was considered +satisfactory. The walls have been placarded with a proclamation of +Trochu to the armed force. He tells them that some regiments behaved +badly at Clamart; but the assertion that they had no cartridges is +false. He recommends all citizens to arrest soldiers who are drunk or +who propagate false news, and threatens them with the vigorous +application of the Articles of War. Another proclamation from Kératry +warns every one against treating soldiers or selling them liquor when +they already have had too much. I went to dine this evening in an +estaminet in the Faubourg St. Antoine. It was full of men of the +people, and from the tone of their observations I am certain that if M. +Jules Favre concludes an armistice involving any cession of territory, +there will be a rising at once. The cafés are closed now at 10 o'clock. +At about 11 I walked home. One would have supposed oneself in some dull +great provincial town at 3 in the morning. Everything was closed. No +one, except here and there a citizen on his way home, or a patrol of the +National Guard, was to be seen.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 21st.</i></p> + +<p>I suppose that you in England know a good deal more of what is passing +at the Prussian headquarters than we do here. M. Jules Favre's departure +was kept so close a secret, that it did not ooze out until yesterday. +The "ultras" in the Government were, I understand on good authority, +opposed to it, but M. Jules Favre was supported by Picard, Gambetta, and +Kératry, who, as everything is comparative, represent the moderate +section of our rulers. We are as belligerent and cheery to-day as we +were despondent on Monday evening. When any disaster occurs it takes a +Frenchman about twenty-four hours to accustom himself to it. During this +time he is capable of any act of folly or despair. Then follows the +reaction, and he becomes again a brave man. When it was heard that the +heights at Meudon had been taken, we immediately entered into a phase of +despair. It is over now, and we crow as lustily as ever. We shall have +another phase of despondency when the first fort is taken, and another +when the first shells fall into the town; but if we get through them, I +really have hopes that Paris will not disgrace herself. Nothing of any +importance appears to have taken place at the front yesterday. The +commanders of several forts sent to Trochu to say that they have fired +on the Prussians, and that there have been small outpost engagements. +During the day the bridges of St. Cloud, Sèvres, and Billancourt were +blown up. I attempted this morning to obtain a pass from General Trochu. +Announcing myself as a "Journaliste Anglais," I got, after some +difficulty, into a room in which several of his staff were seated. But +there my progress was stopped. I was told that aides-de-camp had been +fired on, and that General Trochu had himself been arrested, and had +been within an inch of being shot because he had had the impudence to +say that he was the Governor of Paris. I suggested that he might take me +with him the next time he went out, and pointed out that correspondents +rode with the Prussian staffs, but it was of no use. From Trochu I went +to make a few calls. I found every one engaged in measuring the distance +from the Prussian batteries to his particular house. One friend I found +seated in a cellar with a quantity of mattresses over it, to make it +bomb-proof. He emerged from his subterraneous Patmos to talk to me, +ordered his servant to pile on a few more mattresses, and then +retreated. Anything so dull as existence here it is difficult to +imagine. Before the day is out one gets sick and tired of the one single +topic of conversation. We are like the people at Cremorne waiting for +the fireworks to begin; and I really do believe that if this continues +much longer, the most cowardly will welcome the bombs as a relief from +the oppressive ennui. Few regiments are seen now during the day marching +through the streets—they are most of them either on the ramparts or +outside them. From 8 to 9 in the morning there is a military movement, +as regiments come and go, on and off duty. In the courtyard of the +Louvre several regiments of Mobiles are kept under arms all night, ready +to march to any point which may be seriously attacked. A good many +troops went at an early hour this morning in the direction of St. Cloud.</p> + +<p>The weather is beautiful—a lovely autumn morning. They say that +Rochefort and his friends are busily employed at Grenelle.</p> + +<p class="right">1.30 <i>o'clock</i>.</p> + +<p>The cannonade has been audible for the last half-hour. It is getting +every moment louder. The people are saying that Mont Valérien <i>donne</i>. I +am going up to the Avenue de l'Impératrice, where I shall be able to see +what is going on.</p> + +<p class="right">2.30 <i>o'clock</i>.</p> + +<p>Come back; heavy firing—but I could not make out whether it came from +Mont Valérien. Jules Favre has returned. They say the Prussians will +only treat in Paris. Just seen an American who tried to get with a +letter to General Sheridan. He got into the Prussian lines, but could +not reach headquarters. On his return he was nearly murdered by the +Mobiles; passed last night in a cell with two drunkards, and has just +been let out, as all his papers were found <i>en règle</i>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 22nd.</i></p> + +<p>I sent off a letter yesterday in a balloon; whether it reaches its +destination, or is somewhere in the clouds, you will know before I do. +The difficulties of getting through the lines are very great, and will +become greater every day. The Post-office says that it tries to send +letters through, but I understand that the authorities have little hope +of succeeding. Just now I saw drawn up in the courtyard of the Grand +Hotel a travelling carriage, with hampers of provisions, luggage, and an +English flag flying. Into it stepped four Britons. Their passports were +viséd, they said, by their Embassy, and they were starting for England +<i>viâ</i> Rouen. Neither French nor Prussians would, they were convinced, +stop them. I did not even confide a letter to their hands, as they are +certain, even if they get through the French outposts, to be arrested by +the Prussians and turned back. Yesterday on the return of Jules Favre he +announced that the King of Prussia required as a condition of Peace the +cession of Alsace and Lorraine, and as the condition of an armistice +immediate possession of Metz, Strasburg, and Mont Valérien. The +Government immediately met, and a proclamation was at once posted on the +walls signed by all the members. After stating it had been reported that +the Government was inclined to abandon the policy to which it owed its +existence, it goes on in the following words:—"Our policy is this. +Neither an inch of our territory nor a stone of our fortresses. The +Government will maintain this until the end."</p> + +<p>Yesterday afternoon we "manifested" against peace. We "manifest" by +going, if we are in the National Guard, with bouquets at the ends of our +muskets to deposit a crown of <i>immortelles</i> before the statue of +Strasburg. If we are unarmed, we walk behind a drum to the statue and +sing the "Marseillaise." At the statue there is generally some orator on +a stool holding forth. We occasionally applaud him, but we never listen +to him. After this we go to the Place before the Hôtel de Ville, and we +shout "Point de Paix." We then march down the Boulevards, and we go home +satisfied that we have deserved well of our country. As yesterday was +the anniversary of the proclamation of the First Republic, we were in a +very manifesting mood. M. Gambetta issued proclamations every half hour, +calling upon us, in more or less flowery language, to die for our +country. M. Arago, the Mayor, followed suit, heading his manifestoes +with the old, rallying cry, "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité." I suppose +the French are so constituted that they really cannot exist without +processions, bouquets to statues, and grand phrases. Notwithstanding all +this humbug, a large portion of them mean, I am sure, to fight it out. +They have taken it into their heads that Paris can be successfully +defended, and if it is not, they are determined that it shall not be +their fault. It is intended, I understand, to keep well beneath the +cover of the forts, not to risk engagements more than is +necessary—gradually to convert the splendid raw material of the Mobiles +into good soldiers, by accustoming them to be under fire, and then, if +things go well, to fall on one or other of the Prussian armies. It is +hoped, too, that the Prussian communications will be menaced. Such is +the plan, and every one pretends to believe that it will succeed; +whether they are right or wrong time will show.</p> + +<p>The Government, an ex-diplomatist, who has been talking to several of +its members this morning, tells me, is a "unit." There was a party ready +to accept the dismantling of Metz and Strasburg, but as this concession +will not disarm the Prussians, they have rallied to the "not a stone of +one fortress" declaration.</p> + +<p>Of course I cannot be expected to give aid and comfort to our besiegers +by telling them, if they seize this letter, what is being done inside to +keep them out. But this I think it will do them no harm to know. The +National Guard man the ramparts. In the angles of the bastions there are +Mobiles. At points close by the ramparts there are reserves of Mobiles +and National Guards, ready at a moment's notice both by day and night to +reinforce them. In the centre of the town there are reserves under arms. +Outside the gates, between the forts and the ramparts, troops are massed +with artillery, and the forts are well garrisoned. A gentleman who has +lately been under a cloud, as he was the inventor of the Orsini bombs, +has several thousand men at work on infernal machines. This magician +assures me that within a week he will destroy the German armies as +completely as were the Assyrians who besieged Samaria under Sennacherib. +He is an enthusiast, but an excellent chemist, and I really have hopes +that he will before long astonish our friends outside. He promises me +that I shall witness his experiments in German corpore vili; and though +I have in mind a quotation about being hoisted with one's own petard, I +shall certainly keep him to his word. On the whole the King of Prussia, +to use Mr. Lincoln's phrase, will find it a big job to take Paris if the +Parisians keep to their present mood. Mr. Washburne told me yesterday +that he does not think he shall leave. There is to be a consultation of +the Corps Diplomatique to-morrow, under the presidency of the Nuncio, +to settle joint action. I admire the common sense of Mr. Washburne. He +called two days ago upon the Government to express his sympathy with +them. Not being a man of forms and red tape, instead of going to the +Foreign-office, he went to the Hôtel de Ville, found a Council sitting, +shook hands all round, and then withdrew. I have serious thoughts of +taking up my quarters at the English Embassy. It belongs to me as one of +the nation, and I see no reason why I should not turn my property to +some account.</p> + +<p>Yesterday's papers contained an official announcement that a company of +mutual assurance against the consequences of the bombardment has been +formed. Paris is divided into three zones, and according to the danger +proprietors of houses situated in each of them are to be admitted into +the company on payment of one, two, or three per cent. It comforts me, +comparatively, to find that I am in the one per cent. zone, and, unless +my funds give way, I shall remain there.</p> + +<p>Spies are being arrested every half hour. Many mistakes are made from +over zeal, but there is no doubt that a good many Germans are in the +town disguised in French uniforms. The newspapers ask what becomes of +them all, and suggest that they should be publicly shot. It is beautiful +weather, and as I sit writing this at my open window I have great +difficulty in believing that we are cut off from the rest of the world +by a number of victorious armies, who mean to burn or starve us out. M. +John Lemoinne in the <i>Journal des Débats</i> this morning has a very +sensible article upon the position of the Government. He says that +between the first and the second of these two ultimatums there is a vast +difference, and he exhorts the Government to stand by the first, but not +to refuse peace if it can be obtained by the dismantling of Metz and +Strasburg. The <i>Temps</i> of this evening takes the same view of the +proclamation. The ultra Republican journals, on the other hand, support +the policy of the Government. M. Felix Pyat, in his organ, <i>Le Combat</i>, +urges war to the death, and proposes that we should at once have Spartan +banquets, at which rich and poor should fare alike. A proposal has been +made to start a national subscription for a musket of honour to be given +to the man who shoots the King of Prussia. There are already 2,000 +subscribers of one sou each to the testimonial. The latest proclamation +I have seen on the walls is one from the Mayor of Paris, informing the +public that the coachmen of Paris are not to be ill-treated by their +fares because they are not on the ramparts. As the coachmen of Paris are +usually excessively insolent, I shall not be sorry to hear that they +have at length met with their deserts. A coachman who was driving me +yesterday told me in the strictest confidence that he was a man who +never meddled in politics, and, consequently, it was a matter of +absolute indifference to him whether Napoleon or a "General Prussien" +lived in the Tuileries; and this, I suspect, is the view that many here +take, if they only dared say it.</p> + +<p>It is amusing to observe how every one has entered into the conspiracy +to persuade the world that the French nation never desired war—to hear +them, one would suppose that the Rhine had never been called the +national frontier of France, and that the war had been entered into by +Badinguet, as they style the late Emperor, against the wishes of the +army, the peasantry, and the bourgeoisie. Poor old Badinguet has enough +to answer for already, but even sensible Frenchmen have persuaded +themselves that he, and he alone, is responsible for the war. He is +absolutely loathed here. I sometimes suggest to some Gaul that he may +possibly be back again some day; the Gaul immediately rolls his eyes, +clenches his fists, and swears that if ever Badinguet returns to Paris +he (the Gaul) will himself shoot him.</p> + +<p>An American, who took an active part in the Confederate defence of +Richmond, has just been in to see me. He does not believe that the town +will hold out long, and scoffs at the mode in which it is being +defended. I reserve my opinion until I have seen it under fire. +Certainly they "do protest too much." The papers contain lists of +citizens who have sworn to die rather than surrender. The bourgeois, +when he goes off to the ramparts, embraces his wife in public, and +assumes a martial strut as though he were a very Curtius on the way to +the pit. Jules is perpetually hugging Jacques, and talking about the +altar of his country on which he means to mount. I verily believe that +the people walking on the Boulevards, and the assistants of the shops +who deal out their wares, in uniform, are under the impression that they +are heroes already, perilling life and limb for their country. Every +girl who trips along thinks that she is a Maid of Saragossa. It is +almost impossible for an Englishman to realise the intense delight which +a Frenchman has in donning a uniform, strutting about with a martial +swagger, and listening to a distant cannonade. As yet the only real +hardships we have suffered have been that our fish is a little stale, +and that we are put on short allowance of milk. The National Guards on +the ramparts, I hear, grumble very much at having to spend the night in +the open air. The only men I think I can answer for are the working men +of the outer faubourgs and a portion of the Provincial Gardes Mobiles. +They do mean to fight. Some of the battalions of the National Guards +will fight too, but I should be afraid to trust the greater portion of +them, even behind earthworks. "Remember," says the <i>Figaro</i> to them +to-day, "that you have wives and children; do not be too venturesome." +This advice, I think, was hardly needed. As for the regular troops, they +are not to be trusted, and I am not sorry to think that there are 10,000 +sailors in the forts to man the guns.</p> + +<p>We have been manifesting again to-day. I was in hopes that this nonsense +was over. On the Place de la Concorde there was a crowd all the +afternoon, applauding orators, and companies of National Guards were +bringing bouquets to the statue of Strasburg. At the Hôtel de Ville a +deputation of officers of the National Guards came to urge the +Government to put off the elections. After a short parley this was +promised. Another demonstration took place to urge the Government not to +make peace, to accept as their colleagues some "friends of the people," +and to promise not to re-establish in any form a police force. An +evasive answer was given to these demonstrators. It seems to me that the +Government, in its endeavours to prevent a collision between the +moderates and the ultras, yield invariably to the latter. What is really +wanted is a man of energy and determined will. I doubt if Trochu has +either.</p> + +<p>The bold Britons who tried to run the blockade have returned. They +managed to get over the bridge of Neuilly, but were arrested a few yards +beyond it and brought back to General Ducrot. One of them was taken in +with the passports of the five. "I cannot understand you English," the +General said; "if you want to get shot we will shoot you ourselves to +save you trouble." After some parley, General Ducrot gave them a pass to +go through the French lines, but then he withdrew it, and said he must +consult General Trochu. When the spokesman emerged, he found his friends +being led off by a fresh batch of patriots for having no passports, but +they at length got safely back to the Grand Hotel. Their leader, who is +an intelligent man in his way, gives a very discouraging account of what +he saw outside. The Mobiles were lying about on the roads, and everyone +appeared to be doing much what he pleased. This afternoon I went up to +the Trocadero to look at the heights on which they say that there are +already Prussian guns. They appear most uncomfortably near. Those who +had telescopes declared that they could see both guns and Prussians. We +were always told until within a few days that Mont Valérien would +protect all that side of Paris. How can the engineers have made such a +mistake?</p> + +<p>This evening I went to call upon one of the chiefs of '48, and had an +interesting conversation with him. He says that many think that he and +his friends ought to be in the Government, and that eventually they all +will be; he added "the Reds are determined to fight, and so long as the +Government does not make a humiliating peace they will support it." I +tried to get out what he considered a humiliating peace, but he rather +fenced with the question. He tells me that at the Folies Bergères, the +headquarters of the ultras, great dissatisfaction is felt with the +Committees of the "Clubs" for having gone yesterday to the Hôtel de +Ville, and endeavoured to force the Government to declare that it would +not treat with the Prussians whilst they were on French soil, and to +allow them to establish a "Commune" as an <i>imperium in imperio</i>. "The +army of the Loire," said my friend, "will soon fall on the rear of the +Prussians; we have only to hold out for a few weeks, and this, depend +upon it, we shall do." Now, to the best of my belief, the army of the +Loire only exists on paper, but here was a sensible man talking of it as +though it consisted of some 200,000 seasoned troops; and what is more +strange, he is by no means singular in his belief. A fortnight ago it +was the army of Lyons, now it is the army of the Loire. How reasonable +men can allow themselves to put their faith in these men of buckram, I +cannot imagine.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 23rd.</i></p> + +<p>Firing has been going on since three o'clock this morning. The +newspapers contain accounts more or less veracious respecting fights +outside the forts, in which great numbers of Prussians have been killed. +M. Jules Favre publishes an account of his interview with Count Bismarck +in the <i>Journal Officiel</i>. M. Villemessant in the <i>Figaro</i> informs the +world that he has left his wife outside, and would willingly allow one +of his veins to be opened in exchange for a letter from her. We are +still engaged in our old occupation—vowing to die for our country. I +hear that there has been serious fighting in the neighbourhood of St. +Denis. This morning I saw another of the '48 Republicans—he seemed +inclined to upset the Government more on the ground that they are +incapable than because he differs with them in politics. I give this +letter to a friend who will get it into the balloon, and go off to the +Trocadero, to see how things are getting on.</p> + +<p>The Solferino Tower on the Buttes Montmartre has been pulled down. No +one is to be allowed to hoist the Geneva flag unless the house contains +at least six beds for wounded. We have now a bread as well as a meat +maximum.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 24th.</i></p> + +<p>We are as despondent to-day as we were jubilant yesterday. The success +at the front seems to have dwindled down to an insignificant artillery +combat. The <i>Electeur Libre</i> gives the following account of it. On the +previous evening 8,000 Prussians had taken the redoubt of <i>Villejuif</i>. +At one in the morning some regiments advanced from there towards Vitry, +and occupied the mill of Saqui, while on the left about 5,000 +established themselves on the plateau of Hautes-Bruyères. The division +of General Maud'huy re-took these positions. At five o'clock in the +morning the Prussians tried to occupy them a second time, but failed, +and at half-past seven o'clock they fell back. At nine they attacked +again, when a column of our troops, issuing from the Porte d'Italie, +arrived. The fray went on until ten o'clock, when the Prussians +retreated towards Sceaux. This tallies to a great extent with what I was +told by an officer this morning who had taken part in the engagement.</p> + +<p>The <i>Gazette Officielle</i> contains a decree cashiering M. Devienne, +President of the Cour de Cassation, and sending him to be judged by his +own court, for having been the intermediary between Badinguet and his +mistress, Marguerite Bellanger. Two letters are published which seem to +leave no doubt that this worthy judge acted as the go-between of the two +lovers.</p> + +<p>Mr. George Sanders, whilom United States Consul in London, and one of +the leaders of the ex-Confederacy, is here; he is preparing plans for a +system of rifle pits and zigzags outside the fortifications, at the +request of General Trochu. Mr. Sanders, who took an active part in the +defence of Richmond, declares that Paris is impregnable, if it be only +well defended. He complains, however, that the French will not use the +spade.</p> + + +<p class="right">4 <i>o'clock</i> <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>We have been in a state of wild enthusiasm all this afternoon. At about +1 o'clock it was rumoured that 20,000 Prussians and 40 cannon had been +taken. There had been a heavy firing, it was said, this morning, and a +Prussian force had approached near the forts of Ivry and Bicêtre. +General Vinoy had issued forth from Vincennes, and, getting behind them, +had forced them under the guns of the forts, where they were taken +prisoners. The Boulevards immediately were crowded; here a person +announcing that he had a despatch from the front, here another vowing he +had been there himself. Wherever a drum was heard there was a cry of +"Here come the prisoners!" Tired of this, at about 4 o'clock I drove to +Montrouge. It is a sort of Parisian Southwark. I found all the +inhabitants lining the streets, waiting, too, for news. A regiment +marched in, and there was a cry that it had come from the front; then +artillery filed by out of the city gate. I tried myself to pass, and had +got half-way through before I was stopped, then I was turned back. The +prisoners here, close by the scene of action, had dwindled down to +5,000. Imagine Southwark, with every man armed in it, and a battle going +on at Greenwich, and you will have an idea of the excitement of +Montrouge.</p> + + +<p class="right">6 <i>o'clock</i> <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>The Boulevards almost impassable; the streets before the Mairies +absolutely impassable; no official confirmation of the victory. Everyone +who is not inventing news is waiting for it. A proclamation has been +issued by General Trochu conceived in a very sensible spirit, telling +the National Guard that the moment is ill chosen for pacific +demonstrations, with crowns and bouquets. I hear that some of the +soldiers who ran away at Clamart have been shot.</p> + +<p>Some of the papers discovered in the Tuileries are published. There is a +letter from Jecker to Conti, in which he says that De Morny had promised +him to get the Mexican Government to pay his claims on condition of +receiving 30 per cent. of profits. A letter signed Persigny complains +that an <i>employé</i> in the Cabinet Noir is in want, and ought to be given +money to prevent his letting out secrets. A letter from the Queen of +Holland tells Napoleon that if he does not interfere in Germany his own +dynasty will suffer. A note of the Emperor, without date, says, "If +France boldly places itself on the terrain of the nationalities, it is +necessary to prove that the Belgian nationality does not exist. The +Cabinet of Berlin seeming ready to enter into negotiations, it would be +well to negotiate a secret <i>acte</i>, which would pledge both parties. This +act would have the double advantage of compromising Prussia and of being +for her a pledge of the sincerity of the Emperor." The note then goes on +to say that it is necessary to dissipate the apprehensions of Prussia. +"An <i>acte</i> is wanted," it continues; "and one which would consist of a +regulation of the ulterior fate of Belgium in concert with Prussia +would, by proving at Berlin that the Emperor desires the extension which +is necessary to France since the events which have taken place in +Germany, be at least a relative certainty that the Prussian Government +would not object to our aggrandisement towards the North."</p> + +<p>I drove this morning through the fighting faubourgs with a member of the +Barricade Committee. Barricades are being erected everywhere, and they +are even stronger than the outer fortifications. There are, too, some +agreeable little chemical surprises for the Prussians if ever they get +into the town. In reply to some suggestions which I made, my friend +said, "Leave these people to form their own plans. They understand +street fighting better than any one in the world." At La Villette, +Crenelle, and other faubourgs inhabited by the blouses, there is no lack +of patriotism, and they will blow themselves and their homes up rather +than yield.</p> + +<p>The bold Britons started again in their Derby turn-out yesterday. +Nothing has been heard of them since. We do not know whether they have +been imprisoned or what has become of them. I have already entrusted my +letters to balloons, boatmen, peasants, and Americans, but I do not know +whether they have reached you or not. The last balloon was pursued by a +Prussian one, the newspapers say!</p> + +<p>Yesterday the Nuncio called together all the diplomatists still here, +and they determined to try to communicate with Bismarck. They seem to +imagine that a twenty-four hours' notice will be given before a +bombardment commences, when they will have time to get out. I send this +letter by a Government balloon. I shall send a copy to-morrow by a +private balloon, if it really does start as announced.</p> + +<p>The <i>Gazette Officielle</i> "unites with many citizens in asking Louis +Blanc to go to England, to obtain the sympathies of the English nation +for the Republic." This is all very well, but how is he to get there?</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 25th.</i></p> + +<p>No news of any importance from the front. It is a fête day, but there +are few holiday makers. The presence of the Prussians at the gates, and +the sound of the cannon, have at last sobered this frivolous people. +Frenchmen, indeed, cannot live without exaggeration, and for the last +twenty-four hours they have taken to walking about as if they were +guests at their own funerals. It is hardly in their line to play the +<i>justum et tenacem</i> of Horace. Always acting, they are now acting the +part of Spartans. It is somewhat amusing to see the stern gloom on the +face of patriots one meets, who were singing and shouting a few days +ago—more particularly as it is by no means difficult to distinguish +beneath this outward gloom a certain keen relish, founded upon the +feeling that the part is well played. One thing, however, is certain, +order has at length been evolved from disorder. Except in the morning, +hardly any armed men are to be seen in the streets, and even in the +central Boulevards, except when there is a report of some success or +during an hour in the evening, there are no crowds. In the fighting +faubourgs there is a real genuine determination to fight it out to the +last. The men there have arms, and they have not cared to put on +uniforms. Men, women, and children are all of one mind in the quarters +of the working men. I have been much struck with the difference between +one of these poor fellows who is prepared to die for the honour of his +country, between his quiet, calm demeanour, and the absurd airs, and +noisy brawls, and the dapper uniforms of the young fellows one meets +with in the fashionable quarters. It is the difference between reality +and sham, bravery and bombast.</p> + +<p>The newspapers are beginning to complain of the number of Chevaliers of +the Red Cross, who are daily becoming more numerous. Strong men, they +say, should not enrol themselves in a corps of non-combatants. It is +said, also, that at Clamart these chevaliers declined to go under fire +and pick up the wounded, and that the ambulances themselves made a +strategic movement to the rear at the commencement of the combat. The +flag of the Convention of Geneva is on far too many houses. From my +window I can count fifteen houses with this flag floating over them.</p> + +<p>We have most wonderful stories about the Prussians, which, although they +are generally credited, I take leave to doubt. Villagers who have +slipped through the lines, and who play the part of the intelligent +contraband of the American Civil War, are our informants. They represent +the Prussian army without food, almost without clothing, bitterly +repenting their advance into France, demoralised by the conviction that +few of their number will be again in their homes. We are treated every +day, too, to the details of deeds of heroism on the part of Mobiles and +Nationaux, which would make Achilles himself jealous. There is, we are +told, a wonderful artilleryman in the fort before St. Denis, the +perfection of whose aim carries death and destruction into the Prussian +ranks.</p> + +<p>I am not sorry to learn that the sale of the ultra papers is not large. +M. Blanqui's office was yesterday broken into by some National Guards, +who made it clear to this worthy that he had ill chosen his moment to +attack the Government. I have not myself the slightest dread of a +general pillage. The majority of the working men no doubt entertain +extreme Socialist ideas, but any one of them who declined to make any +distinction between his property and that of his richer neighbours would +be very roughly handled. So long as the Government sticks to its policy +of no surrender, it will be supported by the faubourgs; if, however, it +attempts to capitulate upon humiliating terms, it will be ejected from +the Hôtel de Ville. A sharp bombardment may, perhaps, make a change in +public opinion, but I can only speak of the opinion of to-day. The +Government declares that it can never run short of ammunition; but it +seems to me that we cannot fire off powder and projectiles eternally, +and that one of these mornings we shall be told that we must capitulate, +as there is no more ammunition. Americans who are here, complain very +much of the Parisians for not using the spade more than they do. +Earthworks, which played so large a part in the defence both of +Sebastopol and Richmond, are unknown at Paris. Barricades made of paving +stones in the streets, and forts of solid masonry outside, are +considered the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of defensive works. For one man who will +go to work to shovel earth, you may find a thousand who will shoulder a +musket. "Paris may be able to defend itself," the Americans say, "but it +is not defending itself after what our generals would consider the most +approved method." We have no intelligence of what is passing in France +beyond our lines. We presume that a great army is forming beyond the +Loire; but yesterday a friend of mine, who received this assurance from +M. Gambetta, could not discover that he had any reason to believe it, +except the hope that it was true.</p> + +<p>It is a somewhat singular thing that Rochefort, who was regarded even by +his friends as a vain, mad-brained demagogue, has proved himself one of +the most sensible and practical members of the Government. He has +entirely subordinated his own particular views to the exigencies of the +defence of the capital; and it is owing to his good sense that the +ultras have not indulged in any revolutionary excesses.</p> + +<p>I have already endeavoured to forward to you, by land, water, and air, +copies of the Tuileries papers which have been published. That poor old +pantaloon, Villemessant, the proprietor and editor of the <i>Figaro</i>, who +is somewhat roughly handled by them, attempts to defend himself in his +paper this morning, but utterly fails to do so. His interested +connection with the Imperial Government is proved without the shadow of +a doubt, and I trust that it will also prove the death of his newspaper, +which has long been a disgrace to the press of France. I went to look +after the proprietor of another paper yesterday, as he had promised me +that, come what may, he would get his own and my letters through the +Prussian lines. My friend, I found, had taken himself off to safe +quarters before the last road was closed. For my part I despise any +Parisian who has not remained here to defend his native city, whether he +be Imperialist or Republican, noble or merchant.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening (Sunday).</i></p> + +<p>They could stand it no longer; the afternoon was too fine. Stern +patriotism unbent, and tragic severity of demeanour was forgotten. The +Champs Elysées and the Avenue de la Grande Armée were full of people. +Monsieur shone by his absence; he was at the ramparts, or was supposed +to be there; but his wife, his children, his <i>bonne</i>, and his kitchen +wench issued forth, oblivious alike of dull care and of bombarding +Prussians, to enjoy themselves after their wont by gossiping and lolling +in the sun. The Strasburg fetish had its usual crowd of admirers. Every +bench in the Champs Elysées was occupied. Guitars twanged, organs were +ground, merry-go-rounds were in full swing, and had it not been that +here and there some regiment was drilling, one would have supposed +oneself in some country fair. There were but few men; no fine toilets, +no private carriages. It was a sort of Greenwich-park. At the Arc de +Triomphe was a crowd trying to discover what was going on upon the +heights above Argenteuil. Some declared they saw Prussians, while others +with opera glasses declared that the supposed Prussians were only trees. +In the Avenue de l'Impératrice was a large crowd gazing upon the Fort +of Mont Valérien. This fort, because I presume it is the strongest for +defence, is the favourite of the Parisians. They love it as a sailor +loves his ship. "If I were near enough," said a girl near me, "I would +kiss it." "Let me carry your kiss to it," replied a Mobile, and the pair +embraced, amid the cheers of the people round them. At Auteuil there +were <i>fiacres</i> full of sightseers, come to watch the Prussian batteries +at Meudon, which could be distinctly seen. Occasionally, too, there came +a puff of smoke from one of the gunboats.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 26th.</i></p> + +<p>Do the Prussians really mean to starve us out? The Government gave out a +fortnight ago that there was food then within the city for two months' +consumption for a population of two millions. It is calculated that, +including the Mobiles, there are not above 1,500,000 mouths at present +to feed, so that with proper care the supplies may be made to last for +three months. Prices are, however, already rising. We have a bread and a +meat maximum, but to force a butcher to sell you a cutlet at the tariff +price, one has to go with a corporal's guard, which cannot always be +procured. The <i>Gazette Officielle</i> contains a decree regulating the sale +of horse-flesh. I presume if the siege lasts long enough, dogs, rats, +and cats will be tariffed. I have got 1000 francs with me. It is +impossible to draw upon England; consequently, I see a moment coming +when, unless rats are reasonable, I shall not be able to afford myself +the luxury of one oftener than once a week. When I am at the end of my +1000 francs, I shall become an advocate for Felix Pyat's public tables, +at which, as far as I understand his plan, those who have money pay, and +those who have not, eat.</p> + +<p>Yesterday was a quiet day. The forts occasionally fired to "sound the +enemy's lines," but that was all. But how is it all to end? In a given +time the Parisians will eat themselves out and fire themselves out. The +credulity of the public is as great as ever. We are told that "France is +rising, and that in a few weeks three armies will throw themselves on +the Prussians, who are already utterly disorganised." In vain I ask, +"But what if these three armies do not make their appearance?" I am +regarded as an idiot for venturing to discredit a notorious fact. If I +dared, I would venture to suggest to some of my warlike friends that a +town which simply defends itself by shutting its gates, firing into +space, and waiting for apocryphal armies, is not acting a very heroic +part.</p> + +<p>M.F. Pyat announces in the <i>Combat</i> that the musket of honour which is +to be given to the man who shoots the King of Prussia is to have +inscribed upon it the word "Peacemaker." We have taken it into our heads +that the German army, Count Bismarck, the Crown Prince, and all the +Generals of the Corps d'Armée are in favour of peace, and the only +obstacle to its being at once concluded lies in the obstinacy of the +Monarch, whom we usually term "that mystic drunkard."</p> + +<p>The <i>Rappel</i> contains the report of a meeting which was held last night +of all the Republican Committees. Resolutions were adopted blaming the +Government for putting off the municipal elections. The adjournment, +however, of these elections is, I am convinced, regarded as a salutary +measure by a majority even of the ultras.</p> + +<p>I dropped into the English Embassy this morning to see what was doing +there. Mr. Wodehouse, I understand, intends to leave before the +bombardment commences. He is a civilian, and cannot be blamed for this +precautionary measure. I cannot, however, but suppose that the military +attaché, who is a colonel in the army, will remain. There is a notion +among the members of the Corps Diplomatique that the Prussians before +they bombard the town will summon it to surrender. But it seems to me +very doubtful whether they will do so. Indeed, I for one shall not +believe in a general bombardment before I see it. To starve us out seems +to me their safest game. Were they to fire on the town, the public +opinion of the civilised world would pronounce against them.</p> + +<p>The Mobiles, who receive 1 franc 50 centimes a day, complain that they +are unable to support themselves on this pittance. The conduct of these +peasants is above all praise. Physically and morally they are greatly +the superiors of the ordinary run of Parisians. They are quiet, orderly, +and, as a rule, even devout. Yesterday I went into the Madeleine, where +some service was going on. It was full of Mobiles listening to the +prayers of the priest. The Breton regiments are accompanied by their +priests, who bless them before they go on duty. If the Parisians were +not so thoroughly conceited, one might hope that the presence of these +villagers would have a beneficial effect upon them, and show them that +the Frenchmen out of Paris are worth more than those within it. The +generation of Parisians which has arrived at manhood during the +existence of the Empire is, perhaps, the most contemptible that the +world has ever seen. If one of these worthies is rich enough, his dream +has been to keep a mistress in splendour; if this has been above his +means, he has attempted to hang on to some wealthy <i>vaurien</i>. The number +of persons without available means who somehow managed to live on the +fat of the land without ever doing a single day's honest work had become +enormous. Most of them have, on some pretext or other, sneaked out of +Paris. One sees now very few ribbons of the Legion of Honour, +notwithstanding the reckless profusion with which this order was +lavished. The Emperor's flock, marked with the red streak, have +disappeared.</p> + +<p>We have received news through a carrier pigeon that one of the postal +balloons has reached Tours. I trust that it will have carried my letter +to you. I intend henceforward to confide my letter to the post every +second day, and as I have got a copying machine, to send copy by any +messenger who is attempting to run the blockade. We are told that +balloons are to leave every evening; but as the same announcement +informs us that they will not only take letters but officials appointed +to functions in the provinces, I am afraid that there is almost too much +promised to render it likely that the programme will be carried out.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Afternoon.</i></p> + +<p>I have just made an attempt to see what is going on between the forts +and the ramparts, which has been a failure. I had obtained an order to +circulate for the necessities of the defence from a member of the +Government, and with this in my pocket I presented myself at several of +the gates. In vain I showed my pass, in vain I insisted upon the serious +consequences to Paris in general, and to the officer whom I was +addressing in particular, if I were not allowed to fulfil my circulating +mission. I had to give it up at last, and to content myself with +circulating inside the ramparts. On them, however, I managed to get, +thanks to a tradesman with whom I had often dealt, who was in command. I +was told that a member of the Government, his name no one seemed to +know, had addressed the "poste" yesterday, and urged the men to resist +until one or other of the armies which were forming in the provinces +could arrive and crush the enemy. Everything appeared, where I was, +ready for an attack. The sentinels were posted at short intervals, the +artillerymen were lying about near their guns, and in the Rue des +Remparts there were several hundred National Guards. They seemed to be +taking things easily, complained that the nights were a little chilly +and that business at home was at a standstill. In the course of my walk +I saw a great many barricades in process of formation. Eventually, I +presume, we shall have a second line of defences within the outer walls. +This second line has already been divided, like the ramparts, into nine +sections, each with a separate commander. I met at least a dozen +<i>soi-disant</i> Prussian spies being conducted to prison. Each of them was +surrounded by twelve men, with bayonets fixed. Coming home I saw nine +French soldiers with placards bearing the inscription, "Miserable +cowards." Of course, the usual crowd accompanied them. I heard that they +were on their way to be shot.</p> + +<p>The newspapers of this afternoon make a good deal of noise about the +exploits of the gunboat in the bend of the Seine between Point du Jour +and Boulogne. They claim that its gun has dismounted the Prussian +batteries on the terrace of Meudon, and that it successfully engaged +several field batteries which fired upon it from the Park of St. Cloud. +This may or may not be true. We are also called upon to believe that +five shots from Fort Ivry destroyed the Prussian batteries at Choisy le +Roi.</p> + +<p>The latest proclamation issued is one from General Trochu, in which he +says that it was the fault of no one that the redoubts which were in +course of construction when the Prussians arrived before the town were +not finished, and that they were abandoned for strategical reasons.</p> + +<p>The latest Ultra paper publishes the account of a meeting which was +remarkable, it observes, for the "excellent spirit which animated it, +and the serious character of the speeches which were delivered at it." +This is one of these serious orations—"The Citizen Arthur de Fonvielle +recommends all citizens to exercise the greatest vigilance as regards +the manœuvres of the police, and more especially those of the Préfet of +the Police. This Ministry has passed from the hands of a Corsican into +those of one of the assassins of the Mexican Republic." I derive +considerable amusement from the perusal of the articles which are daily +published reviling the world in general for not coming to the aid of +Paris. I translate the opening paragraphs of one of them which I have +just read:—"In the midst of events which are overwhelming us, there is +something still more melancholy than our defeat: it is our isolation. +For a month the world has looked on with an impassibility, mingled with +shame and cynicism, at the ruin of a capital which possesses the most +exquisite gifts of sociability, the principal jewel of Europe, and the +eternal ornament of civilisation." Nothing like having a good opinion of +oneself.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening.</i></p> + +<p>I hear of some one going to try to-morrow to get through the lines, so I +give him a copy of this letter. My last letter went off—or rather did +not go off—by a private balloon. The speculator rushed in, just as I +expected him to be off, and said, "Celestine has burst." To my horror I +discovered that he was speaking of the balloon. He then added, +"Ernestine remains to us," and to Ernestine I confided my letter. I have +not seen the speculator since; it may be that Ernestine has burst too.</p> + +<p>The latest <i>canard</i> is that 10,000 Prussians are in a wood near +Villejuif, where they have been driven by the French. As they in the +most cowardly manner decline to come out of it, the wily Parisian braves +are rubbing the outer circle of trees over with petroleum, as a +preparatory step to burn them out. This veracious tale is believed by +two-thirds of Paris.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 27th,</i> 8 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></p> + +<p>I have sent you numerous letters, but I am not aware whether you have +received them. As very probably they are now either in the clouds or in +the moon, I write a short resume of what has passed since we have been +cut off from the outer world, as I believe that I have a very good +chance this morning to communicate with you.</p> + +<p>When the town was first invested the greatest disorder existed. For a +few days officers, even generals, were shot at by regiments outside the +fortifications; the National Guards performed their service on the +ramparts very reluctantly, and, when possible, shirked it. The Mobiles +were little better than an armed mob of peasants. The troops of the line +were utterly demoralised. The streets were filled with troopers +staggering about half drunk, and groups of armed Mobiles wandering in +ignorance of the whereabouts of their quarters and of their regiments. +The Government was divided into two parties—one supported by the +Moderates, and anxious to make peace on reasonable terms; the other +supported by the Ultras, and determined to continue the contest at all +hazards. The Ministers were almost in despair at finding the utter +disorder in which everything had been left by their predecessors. Little +by little this condition of things has mended for the better. Since the +failure of the mission of M. Jules Favre, and the exorbitant demands +which were then put forward by Count Bismarck, both Moderates and Ultras +have supported the men who are in power. It is felt by all that if Paris +is to be defended with any prospect of success, there must be absolute +union among its defenders. The Deputies of Paris are not thought, +perhaps, to be endowed with any very great administrative ability, but +Mr. Lincoln's proverb respecting the difficulty of a person changing his +horse whilst he is crossing a stream is acted on, and so long as they +neither commit any signal act of folly, nor attempt to treat with +Prussia either for peace or a capitulation, I think that no effort will +be made to oust them. They are, I believe, doing their best to organise +the defence of this city, and if they waste a little time in altering +the names of the streets, and publishing manifestoes couched in grand +and bombastic phrases, it must be remembered that they have to govern +Frenchmen who are fond of this species of nonsense. With respect to the +military situation, the soldiers of all sorts are kept well together, +and appear to be under the command of their officers. The National +Guard, although it still grumbles a little, does its duty on the +ramparts. The soldiers of the line are kept outside the town. The +Mobiles have passed many hours in drill during the last ten days; they +are orderly and well conducted, and if not soldiers already, are a far +more formidable force than they were at the commencement of the siege. +Whether they will ever become available for operations in the open field +is, perhaps, questionable, for their regiments would probably be thrown +into confusion if called upon to act together. Within the line of the +forts, however, there is no reason to suppose that they will not fight +well. The forts are manned by sailors, who are excellent artillerists, +and the guns are formidable ones. On the Seine there is a flotilla of +gunboats. The city has food and ammunition for two months. Paris, +therefore, ought to be able to hold out for these two months. She has +her own population, a large portion of which consists of the working +men, who have never been backward in fighting. The provinces have been +drained of their best blood, which has been brought up to the capital. +All that remains of the French army is here. At the lowest average the +armed force in Paris amounts to 450,000 men, and there are about 500,000 +more from which this force can recruit itself. If, then, the capital +does not hold out for two months, she will deserve the contempt of the +world—if she does hold out for this period, she will at least have +saved her honour, and, to a certain extent, the military reputation of +France.</p> + +<p>The newspapers are still pursuing the very questionable policy of +exaggerating every little affair of the outposts into a victory, and +assuring those who read their lucubrations that powerful armies are on +the march to raise the siege. The only real military event of any +consequence which has taken place has resulted in a Prussian success. +The French were driven back from some half-finished redoubts at +Chatillon, and the Prussians now occupy the heights between Sèvres and +Meudon, from whence, if they establish batteries, they will be able to +shell a portion of the town. In the second affair which took place, +absurd stories have been repeated respecting the advantages gained by +the French; but they are, to say the least, extremely apocryphal, and +even were they true they are of small importance. For the last few days +the forts have fired upon any Prussian troops that either were or were +supposed to be within shot; and the gunboats have attempted to prevent +the erection of batteries on the Sèvres-Meudon plateau. In point of +fact, the siege has not really commenced; and until it is seen how this +vast population bears its hardships, how the forts resist the guns which +may be brought to bear upon them, and how the armed force conducts +itself under fire, it is impossible to speculate upon results.</p> + +<p>Considering the utter stagnation in trade, the number of working men out +of employment, and the irritation caused by defeat, it must be admitted +that the Parisians of all classes are behaving themselves well. The rich +residents have fled, and left to their poorer neighbours the task of +defending their native city. There have been no tumults or disorders, +except those caused by the foolish mania of supposing every one who is +not known must necessarily be a spy. Political manifestations have taken +place before the Hôtel de Ville, but the conciliatory policy adopted by +the Government has prevented their degenerating into excesses. Public +opinion, too, has pronounced against them. From what I have heard and +observed, I am inclined to think that the majority of the bourgeoisie +are in favour of a capitulation, but that they do not venture to say so; +and that the majority of the working men are opposed to peace on any +terms. They do not precisely know themselves what would be the result of +holding out, but they vaguely trust to time, and to the chapter of +accidents. In the middle and upper classes there are also many who take +the same view of the situation. "Let us," they say, "hold out for two +months, and the condition of things will in all probability be altered, +and if so, as we cannot be worse off, any change must be to our +advantage."</p> + +<p>Shut up with the Parisians in Paris, I cannot help feeling a good deal +of sympathy for them, notwithstanding their childish vanity, their +mendacity, and their frivolity. I sincerely trust, therefore, if they do +seriously resist their besiegers, that the assurances of the Government +that there are ample supplies of food and of ammunition, are not part of +the system of official lying which was pursued by their predecessors; +and I hope that the grandiloquent boasts and brave words that one hears +from morning to night will be followed by brave deeds.</p> + +<p>This morning Messenger Johnson was sent off with despatches to England +from the British Embassy. He was provided with a safe-conduct, signed by +General Trochu, and a letter to the Commandant of the Fort of Vanves, +enjoining him to forward Mr. Johnson under a flag of truce to the +Prussian lines. At half-past nine Messenger Johnson, arrayed in a pair +of high boots with clanking spurs, the belongings, I presume, of a +Queen's messenger, stepped into his carriage, with that "I should like +to see any one touch me" air which is the badge of his tribe. His +coachman being already drunk, he was accompanied by a second man, who +undertook to drive until Jehu had got over the effect of his potations. +I myself have always regarded Queen's messengers as superior beings, to +be addressed with awe, and whose progress no one would venture to +arrest. Such, however, was not the opinion of the National Guards who +were on duty at the gate through which Messenger Johnson sought to leave +this beleagured town. In vain Messenger Johnson showed his pass; in vain +he stated that he was a free-born Briton and a Queen's messenger. These +suspicious patriots ignored the pass, and scoffed at the <i>Civis +Romanus</i>. In fact, I tremble as I write it, several of them said they +felt somewhat inclined to shoot any Briton, and more particularly a +Queen's Messenger, whilst others proposed to prod Messenger Johnson with +their bayonets in his tenderest parts. Exit under these circumstances +was impossible. For some time Messenger Johnson sat calm, dignified, and +imperturbable in the midst of this uproar, and then made a strategical +retreat to the Ministry of War. He was there given an officer to +accompany him; he again set forth, and this time he was more fortunate, +for he got through the gate, and vanished from our horizon. I called at +the Embassy this afternoon, and found our representative, Mr. +Wodehouse, confident that Messenger Johnson would arrive at his +destination. Mr. Wodehouse when I left him was engaged in pacifying a +lunatic, who had forced his way into the Embassy, and who insisted that +he was the British Ambassador. I was surprised to learn that there are +still at least 3000 of our countrymen and women in Paris. Most of them +are in a state of absolute destitution, some because they have no means, +others because they are unable to draw upon the funds in England. Mr. +Herbert has established a species of soup kitchen, so they will not +starve until we all do. Mr. Wallace, the heir of Lord Hertford, who had +already given the munificent donation of 12,000l. to the Ambulance fund, +has also provided funds for their most pressing wants.</p> + +<p>In to-day's <i>Journal des Débats</i> M. John Lemoinne points out to his +readers that M. Bismarck, in his remarks to M. Jules Favre, expressed +the opinion of Germany, and that the expression of his views respecting +the necessity of Germany annexing Alsace and Lorraine is not necessarily +an insult to France. The war, says M. Lemoinne, never was a war of +monarchs, but a war of nations. France as well as the Emperor is +responsible for it. It must continue to be, he continues, a war <i>à +outrance</i> between two races. The terms of peace proposed by M. Bismarck +cannot be accepted by France. The moderate tone and dignified melancholy +of this article contrast favourably with that of almost all the leaders +in the other papers, and more particularly in those of the +ultra-Republican press. In <i>La France</i>, a moderate and well-conducted +journal, I find the following remarks:—"Paris is the capital of France +and of the world. Paris besieged is a beautiful, a surprising spectacle. +The sky is blue, the atmosphere is pure, this is a happy augury, fifteen +days of patience on the part of the Parisians, fifteen days to arm in +the provinces, and the German army will be irreparably compromised. It +will then be unable to cut its way out of the circle of fire which will +surround it." When journals of the standing of <i>La France</i> deal in this +sort of nonsense it is not surprising that the ex-Imperialist organs, +which are endeavouring to curry favour with the mob, are still more +absurd. The <i>Figaro</i> concludes two columns of bombast with the following +flight:—"But thou, O country, never diest. Bled in all thy veins by the +butchers of the North, thy divine head mutilated by the heels of brutes, +the Christ of nations, for two months nailed on the cross, never hast +thou appeared so great and so beautiful, Thou neededst this martyrdom, O +our mother, to know how we love thee. In order that Paris, in which +there is a genius which has given her the empire of the world, should +fall into the hands of the barbarians, there must cease to be a God in +heaven. As God she exists, and as God she is immortal. Paris will never +surrender." When it is remembered that this ignorant, vain, foolish +population has for nearly twenty years been fed with this sort of stuff, +it is not surprising that even to this hour it cannot realise the fact +that Paris is in any danger of being captured. The ultra-Republican +press is becoming every day more virulent. M. Blanqui, in his organ, <i>La +Patrie en Danger</i>, after praising the act of a person of the name of +Malet, who last February shot an officer who refused to shout "Vive la +République," thus continues:—"I was reminded of this when the other day +I saw defile on the boulevards a regiment of rustic peasants. I raised +my hat to salute these soldiers of liberty, but there was no response +from them. Malet would have raised the kepi of one of the captains with +a bullet, and he would have done well. Let us be without pity. Vive +Marat! We will do justice ourselves...." The ultra-Republicans, of the +stamp of M. Blanqui and M. Felix Pyat, seem to be under the impression +that it is far more important to establish a Republican form of +Government in France than to resist the Prussians. In the meetings which +they hold every evening they clamour for the election at once of a +municipality, because they hope to become themselves members of it, and +then to absorb all the power which is now wielded by the Provisional +Government. Beyond discrediting themselves by these attempts to disturb +the harmony within the walls, which is of such vital importance at the +present moment, I do not think that they will do much. I have talked to +many working men, and whatever may be their political opinions, they are +far too sensible to play the game of the Prussians by weakening the +existing Government. After the Prussians perhaps the deluge; but as long +as they are before Paris, and the Provisional Government does not +capitulate, I do not dread any political disorders. What we may come to, +are bread riots. There is already an immense deal of misery, and, as the +siege continues and provisions rise in price, it will of course +increase.</p> + +<p>I was talking this morning to a gentleman who used at one time to play a +very important part in public life, who is well acquainted with most of +the members of the Government, and who is a man of calm judgment. I was +anxious to obtain his opinion upon the situation, and this is a <i>résumé</i> +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. As for the +fortresses, they have not been taken, and yet they have not arrested the +Prussian advance on Paris; consequently their destruction would not +seriously weaken the defences of the country." I asked whether Paris +would now consent to these terms. "No," he said, "if the Government +offered them there would be a revolution. Paris, rightly or wrongly, +believes that she will be able to hold out for two months, and that +during this time there will be a <i>levée en masse</i>." "And do you share +this opinion?" I asked. "I am not of a very sanguine character" he +replied; "but I really am now inclined to believe that the Prussians +will never enter Paris unless they starve us into a surrender." "Then," +I said, "I suppose they will starve us out." "I am an old man," he said, +"and I always remember Philip's saying, 'Time and I are two,' In two +months many things may happen. Winter is coming on. The Prussian army is +composed of men engaged in business at home and anxious to return; the +North does not love the South, and divisions may arise. The King of +Prussia is an old man, and he may die. Without absolutely counting upon +a French army raising the siege, there are <i>levées</i> forming in Lyons and +elsewhere, and the Germans will find their communications seriously +menaced. Russia, too, and Austria may interfere, so I think that we are +wise to resist as long as we can." "But if you have to capitulate, what +will happen?" I asked. "If we do capitulate, our disaster will be +complete," he answered. "I do not anticipate disorders; the population +of Paris is an intelligent one, it wishes the Government to resist as +long as it can, but not to prolong an impossible situation. Paris must +do her part in defending the country, she can do no more." "Well," I +said, "supposing that the Prussians were to withdraw, and peace were to +be concluded on reasonable terms, what do you think would take place?" +"Gambetta, Jules Favre, and the majority of the Parisian Deputies would +call a Constituent Assembly as soon as possible, and resign power into +its hands. They are moderate Republicans, but between a Red Republic and +a Constitutional Monarchy they would prefer the latter. As practical +men, from what I know of them, I am inclined to think that they would be +in favour of the Orleanist family—either the Comte de Paris or the Duc +d'Aumale." "And would the majority of the Constituent Assembly go with +them?" I asked. "I think it would" he replied. "The Orleanist family +would mean peace. Of late years Frenchmen have cared very little for +military glory; their dream has been to save money. One advantage of our +disasters is that it has limited the number of pretenders to the Throne, +for after the capitulation of Sedan, neither the army nor the peasants +will support a Bonaparte. There will be two parties—the +ultra-Republicans, and the advocates of a Constitutional Monarchy under +a Prince of the House of Orleans. Unless the friends of the Orleans +Princes commit some great fault, they are masters of the situation."</p> + +<p>I went down this morning to the Halles Centrales. There was very little +going on. <i>Bonnes</i> were coming to market, but most of the booths were +untenanted, and the price of vegetables, eggs, and butter was +exorbitant. "Why do you complain of me?" said a dealer to a +customer—"is it my fault? Curse Badinguet and that wretch of a +Bismarck; they choose to fight, so you must pay double for these +carrots" The butchers yesterday published an appeal against the maximum; +they said that the cost of animals is so great that they positively are +losing upon every joint which they sell. A new proclamation of the Mayor +has just been issued, announcing that 500 oxen and 4,000 sheep will +daily be slaughtered and sold to the butchers at a price to enable them +to gain 20 per cent, by retailing meat at the official tariff. I find +that, come what may, we have coffee and sugar enough to last many +months, so that provided the bread does not fail, we shall take some +time to starve out.</p> + +<p>This afternoon a dense column of smoke was seen rising in the air in the +direction of La Villette, and it gradually covered the town with a dark +cloud. The pessimists among the Boulevard quidnuncs insisted that the +town had been set on fire by the Prussians; the optimists were convinced +that the 10,000, who for some reason or other are supposed to be in a +wood, patiently waiting to be roasted, were being burnt. It turns out +that some petroleum in the Buttes de Chaumont caught fire. After burning +about two hours, the fire was put out by heaping dirt on it.</p> + +<p>The Prussians still occupy the plateau of Meudon, and despatches from +the forts say that troops are supposed to be concentrating between +Meudon and Sèvres. We have come to the conclusion that as the Prussians +do not fire upon Grenello and Auteuil, they have neither Krupp nor siege +guns. I trust this may prove true. News has been received from Tours; it +was brought by an officer who ran the blockade. We are much elated to +learn that the result of M. Jules Favre's interview has been posted up +throughout France. We believe that the effect of this measure "will be +equal to an army." The Post Office informs the public that a regular +system of balloons has been organised, and that letters will be received +and forwarded to the provinces and abroad, provided they do not weigh +above four grammes. A deputation of English and American correspondents +waited to-day on M. Jules Favre, to ask him to give them facilities to +send their letters by the balloons. This he promised to do. He also half +promised to let all correspondents have a pass, on stating who they are. +The worst of a pass is, that it is no protection against arrest, for, +say your captors, "Prussian spies are so cunning that they would be +precisely the persons to have papers, either forged or stolen." Another +trouble is, that if you are arrested, you are generally shut up, with +half-a-dozen thieves and drunkards, for about twenty-four hours, before +a Commissary condescends to inquire into your case. No one as yet has +ever troubled me; but the spy mania certainly does not add to the charm +of the residence of a stranger in Paris just now. I would rather run the +chance of being hit during a bombardment, than affront the certainty of +twenty-four hours in a filthy police cell. Suspicion is, no doubt, +carried to a ridiculous excess; but it is equally true that +unquestionable spies are arrested every day under every sort of +disguise. Mr. Washburne told me yesterday that he saw a <i>soi-disant</i> +"Invalide" arrested, who turned out to be a regular "spectacled +Dutchman."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 28th.</i></p> + +<p>Nothing new at the front. We suppose that the enemy are concentrating +troops on the Sèvres-Meudon plateau, and that they intend to attack on +that side. We are confident that the guns of Mont Valérien will prevent +the success of this attack. On the opposite side of Paris they are +endeavouring to erect batteries; but they are unable to do so on account +of the fire of Fort Nogent. It seems to me that we are shouting before +we are quite out of the wood; but we are already congratulating +ourselves upon having sustained a siege which throws those of Saragossa +and Richmond into the shade. If we have not yet been bombarded, we have +assumed "an heroic attitude of expectation;" and if the Prussians have +not yet stormed the walls, we have shown that we were ready to repel +them if they had. Deprived of our shepherd and our sheep-dogs, we civic +sheep have set up so loud a ba-ba, that we have terrified the wolves who +wished to devour us. In the impossible event of an ultimate capitulation +we shall hang our swords and our muskets over our fire-places, and say +to our grandchildren, "I, too, was one of the defenders of Paris." In +the meantime, soldiers who have run away when attacked are paraded +through the streets with a placard on their breasts, requesting all good +citizens to spit upon them. Two courts-martial have been established to +judge spies and marauders, and in each of the nine sections there is a +court-martial to sit upon peccant National Guards. "The sentence," says +the decree, "will at once be executed by the detachment on duty." We are +preparing for the worst; in the Place of the Panthéon, and other +squares, it is proposed to take up the paving stones, because they will, +if left, explode shells which may strike them. The windows of the Louvre +and other public edifices are being filled with sand bags. This morning +I was walking along the Rue Lafayette, when I heard a cry "A bas les +cigares!" and I found that if I continued to smoke, it was thought that +I should set light to some ammunition waggons which were passing.</p> + +<p>Yesterday evening there was a report, which was almost universally +credited, that a revolution had broken out in London, because the +English Government had refused to aid Paris in driving back the +Prussians. The Parisians find it impossible to understand that the world +at large can see little distinction between a French army entering +Berlin and a Prussian army entering Paris. Their capital is to them a +holy city, and they imagine that the Christian world regards the +Prussian attack upon it much as the Mahometan world would regard a +bombardment of Mecca. No doubt it will be a shocking thing to bombard a +city such as this, filled with women and children; still, being an +Englishman, I cannot see that it would be worse than to bombard London. +The newspapers of this morning contain a <i>précis</i> of a letter from "our +Fritz" to William "the mystic drunkard." Our Fritz writes to his papa +to say that he ought to have accepted peace when it was proffered by +Jules Favre. How the contents of the letter are known in Paris is not +stated. But here we know everything. We know that at a council of war +held two days ago at Versailles a majority declared that it was +impossible to take Paris. We know that the German soldiers are dying of +starvation and clothed in rags. We know that they are forced by their +officers, against their will, to attack their French brothers. Did not +yesterday a National Guard himself take five Prussian prisoners? They +were starving, and thankfully accepted a piece of bread. They had a +wounded companion in a wheelbarrow, who continually shook his fist in +the direction of the "mystic drunkard," and plaintively moaned forth the +only French word he knew, "Misérable, misérable!" Did not another +National Guard go into a house recently occupied by "Bavarians," and +find the following words written on a shutter—"Poor Frenchmen, we love +you: they force us to fight against you?" I believe all this, and many +other strange facts, because I see them in print in the newspapers. Can +it possibly be that I am over-credulous? Am I wrong, too, in believing +that France is rising <i>en masse</i>, that Moltke did not understand his +business in advancing on Paris, and that he will be crushed by the +armies of the Loire and a dozen other places—if, indeed, our gallant +heroes congregated in Paris give their brethren outside time to share in +the triumph of defeating him? <i>En attendant</i>, we eat, drink, and are +reasonably merry; our defenders mount guard, and drill when they are off +guard. Our wary Mobiles outside not only refuse to allow Prussians to +pass, but such is their vigilance, they generally arrest officers of any +regiment except their own who come within their ken. These worthy +fellows will, I believe, fight with bravery. The working men, too, are +engaged in heaping up barricades, and are ready to allow themselves to +be killed and their landlords' houses to be blown up rather than +surrender. The sailors in the forts are prepared to hold them like +ships against all comers. The "infantry of the marine" is commanded by +an old tar who stands no nonsense. A few days ago he published an order +complaining that the marines "undulated under fire." Some of his +officers went to him as a deputation to protest against this slur on +them and their men; but he cut their remonstrances short by immediately +cashiering the spokesman. To-day he announces that if his men are +supplied with drink within the limits of his command he will burn down +all the pothouses. It is greatly to be deplored that the determined +spirit of this Admiral does not animate all his brother commanders; they +are perpetually engaged in discussing with those who are under their +orders, and appear to be afraid to put down insubordination with a high +hand. If ever they venture upon any act of rigour, they are called upon +by the Ultra press to justify it, and they generally do so in a lengthy +letter.</p> + +<p>I have been, as the Americans say, much exercised of late respecting +certain persons whom I have seen strolling about the streets, avoiding +as much as possible their species. Whenever anyone looked at them they +sneaked away with deprecating glances. They are dressed in a sort of +pea-jacket, with hoods, black trousers, and black caps, and their +general appearance was a cross between a sailor and a monk. I have at +length discovered with surprise that these retiring innocents are the +new sergents-de-ville of M. Kératry, who are daily denounced by the +Ultras as ferocious wolves eager to rend and devour all honest citizens. +If this be true, I can only say that they are well disguised in sheep's +clothing.</p> + +<p>Letters from Paris, if ever they do get to London, must necessarily be +so dull, that they can hardly repay the trouble of reading them. Life +here is about as lively as life on board a ship. The two main subjects +of conversation, the military preparations within the town, and the +amount of food, are in honour tabooed to correspondents. With respect to +the former I will only say, that if the Prussians do carry the forts and +the enceinte, they will not have taken Paris; with regard to the latter, +I can state that we shall not be starved out for some time. Besides the +cattle which have been accumulated, we have 90,000 horses; and although +a cab horse may not taste as good as Southdown mutton, I have no doubt +that Parisian cooking will make it a very palatable dish for hungry men; +there are, too, a great many dogs, and the rats have not yet left the +sinking ship. As for coffee and sugar we have enough to last for six +months; and, unless the statistics of the Government are utterly +worthless, come what may we shall not lack bread for many a day.</p> + +<p>The Rump of the Corps Diplomatique has held a second meeting, and a +messenger has been sent to Bismarck to know—1st, whether he means to +bombard the city; 2nd, whether, if he does, he intends to give the usual +twenty-four hours' notice. Diplomates are little better than old women +when they have to act on an emergency. Were it not for Mr. Washburne, +who was brought up in the rough-and-ready life of the Far West, instead +of serving an apprenticeship in Courts and Government offices, those who +are still here would be perfectly helpless. They come to him at all +moments, and although he cannot speak French, for all practical purposes +he is worth more than all his colleagues put together. Lord Lyons would, +I believe, have remained, had he not been over persuaded by timid +colleagues, who were ordered to do as he did. It is a great pity that he +did not act according to his own judgment; but Republics, we know, are +not in good odour with courtiers. As for that poor creature Metternich, +he was utterly demoralized. He was more of a Chamberlain of Badinguet +than an Ambassador, and, of course, when his friend disappeared, he +took the earliest opportunity to follow his example.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 29th.</i></p> + +<p>We still are cut off from the outer world, but neither "the world +forgetting," nor, we imagine, "by the world forgot." The inhabitants of +the "Mecca of civilization" are still, like Sister Anne, looking out for +some one to come to their assistance. I am utterly sick and tired of the +eternal brag and bombast around me. Let the Parisians gain some success, +and then celebrate it as loudly as they please: but why, in the name of +common sense, will they rejoice over victories yet to come? "We are +preserving," they say, "a dignified expectative attitude." Mr. Micawber +put the thing in more simple vernacular when, he said that he was +waiting for something to turn up. "First catch your hare" is a piece of +advice which our patriots here would scoff at. They have not yet caught +the Prussians, but they have already, by a flight of imagination, cooked +and eaten them. Count Moltke may as well—if I am to believe one quarter +of what I hear—like the American coon, come down. In a question of +military strategy between the grocers of Paris and the Prussian generals +I should have thought that the odds were considerably in favour of the +latter, but I am told that this is not so, and that in laying siege to +Paris they are committing a mistake for which a schoolboy would be +deservedly whipped. If you eliminate the working-class element, which +has not been corrupted by the Imperial system, the population of this +town is much what I imagine that of Constantinople to have been when it +was taken by the Turks. They are Greeks of the lower empire. Monsieur +sticks his kepi on one side of his head, and struts and swaggers along +the Boulevard as though he were a bantam cock. We have lost the <i>petits +crevés</i> who formed so agreeable an element in society, but they have +been replaced by the military dandy, a being, if possible, still more +offensive. This creature mounts some sorry screw and parades the +Boulevard and the Champs Elysées, frowning dismally upon the world in +general, and twirling his moustache with the one hand, whilst he holds +on to the saddle with the other. His sword is of the longest, his waist +is of the tightest, and his boots are of the brightest. His like is only +to be seen in England when the <i>Battle of Waterloo</i> is played at +Astley's, but his seat is not as good as that of the equestrian warriors +of that establishment. As he slowly paces along he gazes slyly to see +how many people are looking at him, and it must be owned that those who +do see him, vastly admire him. What manner of beings these admirers are +may be imagined from their idol. No contrast can be greater than that +which exists between the Parisian Bobadils and the Provincial Mobiles. +The latter are quiet and orderly, eager to drill and without a vestige +of bluster—these poor peasants are of a very different stuff from the +emasculated, conceited scum which has palmed itself off on Europe as +representative Frenchmen. The families with whom they lodge speak with +wonder of their sobriety, their decency, and their simple ways, and in +their hearts almost despise them because they do not ravish their +daughters or pillage their cellars; and neither swear every half-hour to +die for their country, nor yell the "Marseillaise." If Paris be saved, +it will be thanks to them and to the working men of the capital. But it +will be the old <i>sic vos non vobis</i> story; their brave deeds and +undemonstrative heroism will be forgotten, and Jules and Alphonse, the +dandies and braggarts of the Boulevard, will swear to their own heroism. +I trust that the Prussians will fail to take Paris, because I think that +the French are right to fight on rather than submit to the dismemberment +of their country; and because I prefer a Republic to a Monarchy where a +King reigns by right divine. But when I read the bombastic articles in +the newspapers—when I see the insane conceit and the utter ignorance of +those with whom I am thrown—when I find them really believing that they +are heroes because they are going, they say, to win battles, it is +difficult to entertain any great sympathy for them. How utterly must +poor old Badinguet, before whom they cringed for years—who used them, +bought them, and made his market out of their vanity, their ignorance, +and their love of theatrical claptrap, despise them, as he dreams again +through life's dream in the gardens of his German prison. They call him +now a "sinister scoundrel" and a "lugubrious stage player." But he was +their master for many a long year, and they owe their emancipation from +his yoke to Prussian arms and not to themselves.</p> + +<p>A committee of "subsistence" has been established. The feud between the +butchers and the public still continues, and most of the meat stalls are +closed. The grocers, too, are charging absurd prices for their goods. +<i>La Liberté</i> suggests that their clients should do themselves justice, +and one of these mornings, unless these gentry abate their prices, some +grocer will be found hanging before his door. Although provisions are +plentiful, the misery is very great. Beggars increase in number every +day—they are like one of the plagues of Egypt. I was taking a cup of +coffee this morning before a café, and I counted twenty-three beggars +who asked me for money whilst I was sitting there. We still derive much +comfort from caricaturing Badinguet, William, and Bismarck. The latest +effort represents Badinguet and William as Robert Macaire and Bertrand. +Another represents Badinguet eating an eagle. "Coquin," says William, +"what are you doing with your eagle?" "Eating it," replies Badinguet; +"what else can I do with it?" Little statuettes, too, of the "two +friends," Badinguet and William, are in great request. William, with an +immense moustache, scowls at Badinguet, who humbly kneels before him.</p> + +<p>M. Jules Favre, in reply to the English press deputation, sent last +night to say that each correspondent must make a personal application to +General Trochu. I know what that means already. All I ask is that my +letters should be put up in a balloon. As for passes, I have one +already, and it has not been of the slightest service to me. <i>Les +Nouvelles</i> heads an article "English Spies," and proposes that to +simplify the question of whether they are spies or not, all English in +Paris should at once be shot. I cannot say that I personally have found +any ill-feeling to exist against me because I am an Englishman. +Yesterday afternoon I was in a crowd, and some one suggested that I was +a spy; I immediately mounted on a chair and explained that I was a +"journaliste Anglais," and pointed out to my friends that they ought to +be obliged to me for remaining here. "If any one doubts me," I added, +"let us go to the nearest commissary." No one did doubt me, and fifty +patriots immediately shook hands with me. The French people are apt to +form hasty judgments sometimes, and to act on them still more hastily, +but if one can get them to listen for a moment, they are reasonable, and +soon their natural good nature asserts itself. The zealous but +well-intended Mobiles are the most dangerous, for they shoot you first +and then apologise to your corpse. An order is placarded to-day of +Governor Trochu's, announcing that anyone trying to pass the lines will +be sent before the Courts Martial, or if he or she runs away when +ordered to stop, will be shot on the spot. This latter clause allows a +very great latitude for zeal, more particularly as the "lines" just now +are little more than a geographical expression. Their Emperor is a +prisoner, the enemy is thundering at their gates, they are shut up here +like rats in a hole; they have been vanquished in the only engagement +they have had with their besiegers, and yet the Parisians believe that, +compared with them, the Germans are an inferior race, and, like the +slave before Marius, will shrink abashed before the majesty of Paris. +"If we," say their newspapers, "the wisest, the best, the noblest of +human beings, have to succumb to this horde of barbarians that environ +us, we shall cease to believe in the existence of a Providence."</p> + +<p>The movement on the part of the "Ultras" to elect at once a municipality +is gaining strength. Yesterday several chiefs of the faubourg battalions +of the National Guard interviewed Jules Ferry on the subject. Ledru +Rollin has declared himself in favour of it, and this morning there are +evidences that the Government is inclined to give way to the pressure, +for a decree is published in the <i>Journal Officiel</i> ordering a +registration of voters. The worst of Frenchmen is that, no matter how +patriotic each one may be, he is convinced that the interests of his +country require that he should be one of its rulers. The men of '48 who +have returned from exile are surprised that they are almost forgotten by +the present generation, which regards them as interesting historical +relics, and puts its faith in new gods. At the clubs every evening the +Government is denounced for refusing to admit into its ranks this or +that patriot, or adjourning the municipal elections, and for not sending +revolutionary agents into the provinces. A newspaper this morning makes +the excellent suggestion that M. Blanqui, M.F. Pyat, and their principal +adherents should be invited to proceed at once to the provinces in a +balloon, invested with the rank of Government agents. "They cannot," it +adds, "do so much harm there as they are doing here; and then, too, the +balloon may burst." Personally, I should be glad to see a moderate +Republic established here, for I regard a Court as a waste of public +money; but it seems to me that Republicans should remember that it is +for the nation, and not for them, to decide what shall henceforward be +the form of government.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>September 30th.</i></p> + +<p>We are still beating our tom-toms like the Chinese, to frighten away the +enemy, and our braves still fire off powder at invisible Uhlans. The +Prussians, to our intense disgust, will not condescend even to notice +us. We jeer at them, we revile them, and yet they will not attack us. +What they are doing we cannot understand. They appear to have withdrawn +from the advanced positions which they held. We know that they are in +the habit of making war in a thoroughly ungentlemanly manner, and we +cannot make up our minds whether our "attitude" is causing them to +hesitate, or whether they are not devising some new trick to take us by +surprise. That they are starving, that their communications with Germany +are cut off, that their leaders are at loggerheads, that the Army of the +Loire will soon be here to help us to demolish them, we have not the +slightest doubt. The question is no longer whether Paris will be +taken—that we have solved already—it is whether the Prussians will be +able to get back to the Rhine. We are thankful that Bismarck did not +accept Jules Favre's offer of a money indemnity. We would not give a +hundred francs now to ensure peace or an armistice. I went this morning +into a shop, the proprietor of which, a bootmaker, I have long known, +and I listened with interest to the conversation of this worthy man +with some of his neighbours who had dropped in to have a gossip, and to +congratulate him on his martial achievements, as he had been on guard in +a bastion. We first discussed why the Army of the Loire had not arrived, +and we came to the conclusion that it was engaged in rallying Bazaine. +"I should like to read your English newspapers now," said one; "your +<i>Tims</i> told us we ought to cede Alsace and Lorraine, but its editor must +now acknowledge that Paris is invincible." I told him that I felt +convinced that he did so regularly every morning. "No peace," shouted a +little tailor, who had been prancing about on an imaginary steed, +killing imaginary Prussians, "we have made a pact with death; the world +knows now what are the consequences of attacking us." The all-absorbing +question of subsistence then came up, and some one remarked that beef +would give out sooner than mutton. "We must learn," observed a +jolly-looking grocer, "to vanquish the prejudices of our stomachs. Even +those who do not like mutton must make the sacrifice of their taste to +their country." I mildly suggested that perhaps in a few weeks the +stomachs which had a prejudice against rats would have to overcome it. +At this the countenance of the gossips fell considerably, when the +bootmaker, after mysteriously closing the door, whispered, "A secret was +confided to me this morning by an intimate friend of General Trochu. +There is a tunnel which connects Paris with the provinces, and through +it flocks and herds are entering the town." This news cheered us up +amazingly. My bootmaker's wife came in to help him off with his military +accoutrements; so, with a compliment about Venus disarming Mars, I +withdrew in company with an American, who had gone into the shop with +me. This American is a sort of transatlantic Bunsby. He talks little, +but thinks much. His sole observation to me as we walked away was this, +"They will squat, sir, mark my words, they will squat." I received this +oracular utterance with respect, and I leave it to others to solve its +meaning, I am myself a person of singular credulity, but even I +sometimes ask myself whether all I hear and read can be true. Was there +really, as all the newspapers this morning inform me, a meeting last +Sunday at London of 400,000 persons, who were addressed by eminent +M.P's, and by the principal merchants and owners of manufactories in +England, at which resolutions were adopted denouncing the Queen, and +calling upon Mr. Gladstone either to retire from office, or to declare +war against Prussia?</p> + +<p>The Tuileries correspondence, of which I gave a short summary yesterday, +reveals the fact that both M. de Cassagnac and Baron Jerome David were +regular pensioners on the Civil List. The cost of the Prince Imperial's +baptism amounted to 898,000fr. The cousins, male and female, of the +Emperor, received 1,310,975fr. per annum; the Duc de Persigny received +in two months, 60,000fr.; Prince Jablonowyski, Countess Gajan, Madame +Claude Vignon, Le General Morris, and many other ladies and gentlemen +who never did the State any service, are down for various sums. Among +other items is one of 1,200fr. to General de Failly for sugar plums. The +Duchess of Mouchy, whose name continually appears, received 2,000,000fr. +as a marriage portion. The son of the American Bonaparte had a pension +of 30,000fr.; Madame Ratazzi of 24,000fr.; her sister, Madame Turr, the +same; Marquis Pepoli, 25,000fr. But the poor relations do not appear to +have been contented with their pensions, for on some pretext or other +they were always getting extra allowances out of their rich cousin. As +for Prince Achille Murat, the Emperor paid his debts a dozen times. +Whatever he may have been to the outer world, poor old Badinguet seems +to have been a Providence to his forty-two cousins and to his personal +friends. He carried out Sidney Smith's notion of charity—put his hand +into someone else's pocket, and gave away what he stole liberally.</p> + +<p><i>Figaro</i>, with its usual good taste, recommends the battalions of the +National Guard to choose celebrities of the <i>demi-monde</i> for their +vivandières. From what I hear every day, I imagine that the battalions +will be far more likely to hang the editor of this facetious paper than +to take his advice. I am told by the kiosque women that its sale is +falling off daily.</p> + +<p>The clubs and their organs have announced that the municipal elections +are to take place, with or without the consent of the Government, on +October 2, and that not only the inhabitants of Paris, but the Gardes +Mobiles and the peasants who have taken refuge within the walls of the +city are to vote. In the working men's quarters there is undoubtedly a +strong feeling in favour of these elections being held at once. But the +working men do not attend the clubs. I have dropped into several of +them, and the audience appeared to me principally to be composed of +strongminded women and demagogues, who never did an honest day's work in +their lives. The Government has, however, been "interviewed" on the +subject of the municipal elections by the chiefs of the battalions of +the National Guards of the Faubourgs, and, if only some men of position +can be found to put themselves at the head of the movement, it will +cause trouble. As yet, Ledru-Rollin is the only known politician who +avowedly favours it. The Government is, I believe, divided upon the +expediency of holding the elections at once, or rather I should say, +upon the possibility of putting them off without provoking disturbances. +I am inclined to think that, as is usually the case, the Moderates will +yield on this point to their Ultra colleagues. Very possibly they may +think that, if ever a capitulation becomes necessary, it will be as well +to make the nominees of the Faubourgs share in the responsibility. As +Jules Favre said of Rochefort, they are perhaps safer in the Government +than outside of it.</p> + +<p>The column of the Place Vendôme is daily bombarded by indignant +patriots, who demand that it should be razed to the ground, and the +metal of which it is composed be melted down into cannon. The statue of +Napoleon I., in the cocked hat and great-coat, which used to be on its +summit, was removed a few years ago to a pedestal at the end of the +Avenue de la Grande Armée. It has been concealed to preserve it from the +iconoclasts. There has been a lull of late in M. Gambetta's +proclamations. Within the last twenty-four hours, not above two fresh +ones have appeared. The newspapers are beginning to clamour for a +sortie. Why, they ask, are we to allow ourselves to be besieged by an +army which does not equal in numbers our own? Why are we to allow them +quietly to establish their batteries? There is a certain amount of sense +in these complaints, though the vital question of how regiments, which +have never had an opportunity of being brigaded together, will be able +to vanquish in the open field the disciplined troops of Germany, is the +unknown χ in the problem which has yet to be solved. It is evident, +however, that the question must be tested, unless we are to remain +within the fortifications until we have digested our last omnibus horse. +If the enemy attacks, there is fair ground to suppose that he will be +repelled; but then, perhaps he will leave us to make the first move. +Without entering into details, I may say that considerable engineering +skill has been shown of late in strengthening the defences, that the +Mobiles and the National Guard, if their words mean anything, which has +yet to be proved, are full of fighting, and that the armed force at our +disposal has at length been knocked into some sort of shape. Every day +that the Prussian attack is delayed diminishes its chance of success. +"If they do carry the town by assault," said a general to me yesterday, +"it will be our fault, for, from a military point of view, it is now +impregnable." What the effect of a bombardment may be upon the morale of +the inhabitants we have yet to see. In any case, however, until several +of those hard nuts, the forts, have been cracked, a bombardment can only +be partial.</p> + +<p>There was heavy firing last night, and it increased in intensity this +morning. At about one o'clock I saw above 100 wounded being brought to +the Palais de l'Industrie, and on going to Montrouge I found the church +near the fortifications full of them. The following is the official +account of what has happened:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Our troops in a vigorous sortie, successively occupied Chevilly and +l'Hay, and advanced as far as Thiais and Choisy-le-Roi. All these +positions were solidly occupied, the latter with cannon. After a +sharp artillery and musketry engagement our troops fell back on +their positions with a remarkable order and <i>aplomb</i>. The Garde +Mobile were very firm. <i>En somme journée très honorable</i>. Our +losses have been considerable. Those of the enemy probably as +considerable.</p> + +<p class="right">TROCHU.</p></div> + +<p>I need not add that as usual we have had rumours all day of a great +victory and a junction with the Army of the Loire. General Trochu's +despatch, dated 10-30, Bicêtre, reduces matters to their real +dimensions.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 1st.</i></p> + +<p>Although the Government statistics respecting the amount of food in +Paris have been published, and are consequently, in all probability, in +the hands of the Prussians, I do not like to give them myself. It can, +however, do no harm to explain the system which is being adopted by the +authorities to make our stores hold out as long as possible. Every +butcher receives each morning a certain amount of meat, calculated upon +his average sales. Against this meat he issues tickets in the evening +to his customers, who, upon presentation of the ticket the next morning, +receive the amount for which they have inscribed themselves at the price +fixed by the tariff of the week. When tickets have been issued by the +butcher equivalent to the meat which he is to receive, he issues no +more. Yesterday a decree was promulgated, ordering all persons having +flour on sale to give it up to the Government at the current price. It +will, I presume, be distributed to the bakers, like the meat to the +butchers. As regards meat, the supply does not equal the demand—many +persons are unable to obtain tickets, and consequently have to go +without it. Restaurants cannot get enough for their customers. This +evening, for instance, at seven o'clock, on going into a restaurant, I +found almost everything already eaten up. I was obliged to "vanquish the +prejudices of my stomach," and make a dinner on sheeps' trotters, +pickled cauliflower, and peaches. My stomach is still engaged in +"vanquishing its prejudice" to this repast, and I am yet in the agonies +of indigestion. In connection, however, with this question of food, +there is another important consideration. Work is at a standstill. +Mobiles and Nationaux who apply <i>formâ pauperis</i> receive one franc and a +half per diem. Now, at present prices, it is materially impossible for a +single man to buy sufficient food to stave off hunger for this sum, how +then those who depend upon it for their sustenance, and have wives and +families to support out of it, are able to live, it is difficult to +understand. Sooner or later the population will have to be rationed like +soldiers, and, if the siege goes on, useless mouths will have to be +turned out. It was supposed that the peasants in the neighbourhood of +Paris, who were invited to take refuge within its walls, would bring +more than enough food with them for themselves and their families, but +they preferred to bring their old beds and their furniture. Besides our +stores of flour, of sheep, and of oxen, we have twenty-two million +pounds of horse-flesh to fall back upon, so that I do not think that we +shall be starved out for some time; still the misery among those who +have no money to buy food will, unless Government boldly faces the +question, be very great. Everything, except beef, mutton, and bread, is +already at a fancy price. Ham costs 7fr. the kilo.; cauliflowers, +1.50fr. a head; salt butter 9fr. the kilo, (a kilo, is about two +pounds); a fat chicken 10fr.; a thin one, 5fr.; a rabbit, 11fr.; a duck, +9fr.; a fat goose, 20fr.</p> + +<p>Rents, too, are as vexed a question as they are in Ireland. In a few +days the October term comes due. Few can pay it; it is proposed, +therefore, to allow no landlord to levy it either before the close of +the siege or before December.</p> + +<p>General Trochu, in his Rapport Militaire of yesterday's proceedings, +expands his despatch of yesterday evening. The object, he says, was, by +a combined action on both banks of the Seine, to discover precisely in +what force the enemy was in the villages of Choisy-le-Roi and Chevilly. +Whilst the brigade of General Giulham drove the enemy out of Chevilly, +the head of the column of General Blaize entered the village of Thiais, +and seized a battery of cannon, which, however, could not be moved for +want of horses. At this moment the Prussians were reinforced, and a +retreat took place in good order. General Giulham was killed. General +d'Exea, while this combat was going on, marched with a brigade on +Creteil, and inflicted a severe loss with his mitrailleuses on the +enemy. This report contrasts favourably with the florid, exaggerated +accounts of the engagement which are published in this morning's papers. +I am glad to find that France possesses at least one man who tells the +truth, and who can address his fellow-citizens in plain language. The +credulity of the Parisians, and their love of high-flown bombast, amount +to a disease, which, if this city is not to sink into a species of +Baden Baden, must be stamped out. Mr. O'Sullivan recently published an +account of his expedition to the Prussian headquarters in the <i>Electeur +Libre</i>. Because he said that the Prussians were conducting themselves +well in the villages they occupied, the editor of the paper has been +overwhelmed with letters reviling him for publishing such audacious +lies. Most Frenchmen consider anyone who differs from them to be either +a knave or a fool, and they fabricate facts to prove their theories. An +"intelligent young man" published a letter this morning saying that he +had escaped from Versailles, and that already 700 girls have been +ravished there by the Prussians. This intelligent young man's tale will +be credited, and Mr. O'Sullivan will be disbelieved by nine-tenths of +this population. They believe only what they wish to believe.</p> + +<p>M. Rochefort has issued a "poster" begging citizens not to construct +private barricades. There must, he justly observes, be "unity in the +system of interior defences." The <i>Réveil</i> announces that the Ultras do +not intend to proceed to revolutionary elections of a municipality +to-morrow, because they have hopes that the Government intend to yield +on this question. The Prefect of the Police is actively engaged in an +attempt to throw light upon Pietri's connection with the plots which +periodically came to a head against the Empire. Documents have been +discovered which will show that most of these plots were got up by the +Imperial police. Pietri, Lagrange, and Barnier, a <i>juge d'instruction</i>, +were the prime movers. A certain Bablot received 20,000fr. for his +services as a conspirator.</p> + +<p>The complaints of the newspapers against the number of young men who +avoid military duty by hooking themselves on in some capacity or other +to an ambulance are becoming louder every day. For my part I confess +that I look with contempt upon any young Frenchman I meet with the red +cross on his arm, unless he be a surgeon. I had some thoughts of making +myself useful as a neutral in joining one of these ambulances, but I was +deterred by what happened to a fellow-countryman of mine who offered his +services. He was told that thousands of applicants were turned away +every day, and that there already were far more persons attached to +every ambulance than were necessary.</p> + +<p>Dr. Evans, the leading spirit of the American ambulance, the man whose +speciality it was to have drawn more royal teeth, and to have received +more royal decorations than any other human being, has left Paris. Mr. +Washburne informs me that there are still about 250 Americans here, of +whom about forty are women. Some of them remain to look after their +homes, others out of curiosity. "I regard," said an American lady to me +to-day, who had been in a southern city (Vicksburg, if I remember +rightly), when it was under fire, "a bombardment as the finest and most +interesting effort of pyrotechnical skill, and I want to see if you +Europeans have developed this art as fully as we have, which I doubt."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 2nd.</i></p> + +<p>I wrote to General Trochu yesterday to ask him to allow me to accompany +him outside the walls to witness military operations. His secretary has +sent me a reply to-day regretting that the General cannot comply with my +request. The correspondent of the <i>Morning Post</i> interviewed the +secretary yesterday on the same subject, but was informed that as no +<i>laisser passer</i> was recognised by the Mobiles, and as General Trochu +had himself been arrested, the Government would not take upon itself the +responsibility of granting them. This is absurd, for I hear that neither +the General nor any of his staff have been fired upon or arrested during +the last week. The French military mind is unable to understand that the +world will rather credit the testimony of impartial neutrals than +official bulletins. As far as correspondents are concerned, they are +worse off under the Republic than even under the Empire.</p> + +<p>M. Louis Blanc's appeal to the people of England is declamatory and +rhetorical in tone, and I am inclined to think that the people of +England are but a Richard Doe, and that in reality it is addressed to +the Parisians. M. Blanc asks the English in Paris to bear witness that +the windows of the Louvre are being stuffed with sandbags to preserve +the treasures within from the risks of a bombardment. I do so with +pleasure. I cannot, however, bear him out in his assertions respecting +the menacing calm of Paris, and the indomitable attitude of its National +Guards. M. Blanc, like most of his countrymen, mistakes the wish for the +will, words for deeds, promises for performance. What has happened here, +and what is happening? The forts are manned with sailors, who +conscientiously fire off their cannon. A position has been lost. Two +sorties consisting of troops and armed peasants have been driven back. +The National Guards do duty on the ramparts, drill in the streets, offer +crowns to the statue of Strasburg, wear uniforms, and announce that they +have made a pact with death. I sincerely trust that they may distinguish +themselves, but they have not had an opportunity to do so. Not one of +them has as yet honoured his draft on death. Behind their forts, their +troops, their crowd of peasants, and their ramparts, they boast of what +they will do. If they do really bury themselves beneath the ruins of +their capital they will be entitled to the admiration of history, but as +yet they are civilians of the present and heroes of the future. Noisy +blusterers may be brave men. I have no doubt there are many in Paris +ready to die for their country. I can, however, only deal with facts, +and I find that the Parisians appear to rely for safety upon everything +except their own valour. One day it is the Army of the Loire; another +day it is some mechanical machine; another day dissensions among the +Prussian generals; another day the intervention of Russia or Austria. In +the meantime, clubs denounce the Government; club orators make absurd +and impracticable speeches, the Mayor changes the names of streets, and +inscribes Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité on the public buildings. The +journals of all colours, with only one or two exceptions, are filled +with lies and bombast, and the people believe the one and admire the +other. The Minister of the Interior placards the walls with idle +proclamations, and arrests Bonapartists. Innocent neutrals are mobbed as +Prussian spies, and the only prisoners that we see are French soldiers +on their way to be shot for cowardice. Nothing is really done to force +the Prussians to raise the siege, although the defenders exceed in +number the besiegers. How can all this end? In a given time provisions +and ammunition will be exhausted, and a capitulation must ensue. I wish +with all my heart that the hosts of Germany may meet with the same fate +as befell the army of Sennacherib; but they are not likely to be killed +or forced to retreat by speeches, pacts with death, sentimental appeals, +and exaggerated abuse.</p> + +<p>The <i>Temps</i> calculates that our loss on Friday amounted to about 500 +wounded and 400 killed. The object of the sortie was to blow up a bridge +over the Seine, and to rouse the courage of the Parisians by obtaining a +marked success at a point where the Prussians were not supposed to be in +force. Neither end was attained, and consequently we are greatly +depressed. Count Bismarck has not condescended to send a reply to the +Corps Diplomatique, requesting to be allowed to establish postal +communication with their Governments, much to the disgust of that +estimable body.</p> + +<p>The result of the pryings of the Government into the papers of their +predecessors has as yet only disclosed the facts, that most of the +conspiracies against the Empire were got up by the police, and that the +Emperor bribed porters and postmen to open letters. His main object +seems to have been to get hold of the letters of his Ministers to their +mistresses. The fourth livraison of the Tuileries papers contains the +report of a spy on the doings of the Russian Military Attaché. This +gentleman lost some document, and observes that it can only be his +Prussian colleague who took it from him. Such is diplomacy. The weather +is beautiful. Women and children are making holiday in the streets. The +inner line of barricades is nearly finished.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening.</i></p> + +<p>The news of the fall of Strasburg and Toul was received by the +Government here this morning, and has just been made public. "In +falling," says M. Gambetta, "they cast a glance towards Paris to affirm +once more the unity and indivisibility of the Republic; and they leave +us as a legacy the duty to deliver them, the honour to revenge them." +The Boulevards were crowded, and everyone seemed as much astonished as +if they had never believed this double disaster to be possible. Many +refused to credit the news. <i>L'Electeur Libre</i> proposes to meet the +emergency by sending "virile missionaries into the provinces to organise +a <i>levée en masse</i>, to drive from our territory the impious hordes which +are overrunning it." These missionaries would, I presume, go to their +posts in balloons. It never seems to occur to anyone here that the +authority of a Parisian dropping down from the clouds in a parachute in +any province would be contested. The right of Paris to rule France is a +dictum so unquestioned in the minds of the Parisians, that their +newspapers are now urging the Government to send new men to Tours to +oust those who were sent there before the commencement of the siege. It +strikes no one that the thirty-eight million of Frenchmen outside Paris +may be of opinion that the centralization of all power in the hands of +the most corrupt and frivolous capital in the universe has had its share +in reducing France to her present desperate condition, and may be +resolved to assert their claim to have a voice in the conduct of public +affairs. The Parisians regard all provincials as helots, whose sole +business it is to hear and to obey. If the result to France of her +disasters could be to free her at once from the domination of the +Emperor and of Paris, she would in the end be the gainer by them.</p> + +<p>I hear that General Vinoy expresses himself very satisfied with the +soldierly bearing of the Mobiles who were under fire on Friday. It was +far better, he says, than he expected. He ascribes the failure of his +sortie to the forts having forewarned the Prussians by their heavy +firing between three and four o'clock in the morning. M. de Rohan, +"delegate of the democracy of England," has written a long letter to M. +Jules Favre informing him that a friend who has arrived from London (!) +has brought news of an immense meeting which has been held in favour of +France, and that this meeting represents the opinion of the whole of +England. M. Jules Favre, in his reply, expresses his sincere thanks "for +the sentiments which have been so nobly expressed in the name of the +English nation." The correspondence occupies two columns in the <i>Journal +Officiel</i>. M. de Rohan's residence in England is, I should imagine, in +the vicinity of Tooley-street.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 3rd.</i></p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> contains a decree ordering the statue of +Strasburg, on the Place de la Concorde, to be replaced by one in bronze. +No war news.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 5th.</i></p> + +<p>From a military, or rather an engineering point of view, Paris is +stronger to-day than it was two weeks ago. The defences have been +strengthened. With respect, however, to its defenders, they are much +what they were. The soldiers of the line and the marines are soldiers; +the Mobiles and the Nationaux, with some few exceptions, remain armed +citizens. Each battalion is an <i>imperium in imperio</i>. The men ignore +every one except their own officers, and these officers exercise but +little influence except when they consent to act in strict accordance +with the feelings of those whom they are supposed to command. Some of +the battalions appear to be anxious to fight, but it unfortunately +happens that these are the very ones which are most undisciplined. The +battalions of the <i>bourgeois</i> quarters obey orders, but there is no go +in them. The battalions of the artizan Faubourgs have plenty of go, but +they do not obey orders. General Trochu either cannot, or does not, +desire to enforce military discipline. Outside the enceinte, the hands +of the Mobiles are against every man, but no notice is taken when they +fire at or arrest officers of other corps. The Courts-martial which sit +are a mere farce. I see that yesterday a Franc-tireur was tried for +breaking his musket when ordered to march. He was acquitted because the +court came to the conclusion that he was "un brave garçon." The +application of military law to the Nationaux is regarded by these +citizens as an act of arbitrary power. Yesterday several battalions +passed the following resolution:—"In order to preserve at once +necessary discipline and the rights of citizens, no man shall +henceforward be brought before a council of war, or be awarded a +punishment, except with the consent of the family council of his +company."</p> + +<p>I am not a military man, but it certainly does appear to me strange that +the Prussians are allowed quietly to entrench themselves round the city, +and that they are not disturbed by feints and real sorties. We can act +on the inner lines, we have got a circular railroad, and we have armed +men in numbers. General Trochu has announced that he has a plan, the +success of which he guarantees; he declines to confide to a soul any of +its details, but he announces that he has deposited it with his notary, +Maître Duclos, in order that it may not be lost to the world in the +event of his being killed. As yet no one has fathomed this mysterious +plan; it appears to contemplate defensive rather than offensive +operations.</p> + +<p>Mont Valérien now fires daily. Its commander has been changed; its +former one has been removed because the protests against the silence of +this fort were so loud and strong. His successor, with the fate of his +predecessor before him, bangs away at every Uhlan within sight. For the +commanders of forts to be forced to keep up a continual fire in order to +satisfy public opinion, is not an encouraging state of things. The +assertion of the Government, that no reports of what is going on in +France have been received from Tours, is discredited. They have got +themselves in a mess by their former declarations that communications +with the exterior were kept up; for if they know nothing, it is asked +what can these communications have been worth. Our last news from +outside is derived from a Rouen newspaper of the 29th ult., which is +published to-day.</p> + +<p>A few days ago it was announced that all pledges below the value of +20fr. would be returned by the Mont-de-Piété without payment. Since then +everyone has been pledging articles for sums below this amount, as a +second decree of the same nature is expected. It is not a bad plan to +give relief in this manner to those in want. As yet, however, there is +no absolute destitution, and as long as the provisions last I do not +think that there will be. So long as flour and meat last, everyone with +more or less trouble will get his share. As the amount of both these +articles is, however, finite, one of these days we shall hear that they +are exhausted. The proprietors have been deprived of their power to sue +for rents, consequently a family requires but little ready money to rub +on from hand to mouth. My landlord every week presents me with my bill. +The ceremony seems to please him, and does me no harm. I have pasted +upon my mantlepiece the decree of the Government adjourning payment of +rent, and the right to read and re-read this document is all that he +will get from me until the end of the siege. Yesterday I ordered myself +a warm suit of clothes; I chose a tailor with a German name, so I feel +convinced that he will not venture to ask for payment under the present +circumstances, and if he does he will not get it. If my funds run out +before the siege is over I shall have at least the pleasure to think +that this has not been caused by improvidence.</p> + +<p>Some acquaintances of mine managed in the course of yesterday to get out +to Villejuif without being arrested. I have not been so fortunate. I +have charged the <i>barrières</i> three times, and each time have had to +retire discomfited. My friends describe the soldiers of the line in the +front as utterly despising their allies the Mobiles. They camp out +without tents, in order to be ready at any moment to resist an attack.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 7th.</i></p> + +<p>Paris would hardly be recognised under its present aspect by those +citizens of the Far West who are in the habit of regarding it as a place +where good Americans go when they die. In the garden of the Tuileries, +where <i>bonnes</i> used to flirt with guardsmen, there is an artillery camp. +The guns, the pickets of horses, the tents, the camp-fires, and the +soldiers in their shirt-sleeves, have a picturesque effect under the +great trees. On the Place de la Concorde from morning to evening there +is a mob discussing things in general, and watching the regiments as +they defile with their crowns before the statue of Strasburg. In the +morning the guns of the forts can be heard heavily booming; but the +sound has now lost its novelty, and no one pays more attention to it +than the miller to the wheel of his mill. In the Champs Elysées there +are no private carriages, and few persons sitting on the chairs. The +Palais de l'Industrie is the central ambulance; the Cirque de +l'Impératrice a barrack. All the cafés chantants are closed. Some few +youthful votaries of pleasure still patronise the merry-go-rounds; but +the business cannot be a lucrative one. Along the quays by the river +side there are cavalry and infantry regiments under tentes d'abri. The +Champ de Mars is a camp. In most of the squares there are sheep and +oxen. On the outer Boulevards lines of huts have been built for the +Mobiles, and similar huts are being erected along the Rue des Remparts +for the Nationaux on duty. Everywhere there are squads of Nationaux, +some learning the goose-step, others practising skirmishing between the +carts and fiacres, others levelling their guns and snapping them off at +imaginary Prussians. The omnibuses are crowded; and I fear greatly that +their horses will be far from tender when we eat them. The cabbies, +once so haughty and insolent, are humble and conciliatory, for Brutus +and Scævola have taught them manners, and usually pay their fares in +patriotic speeches. At the Arc de Triomphe, at the Trocadero, and at +Passy, near the Point du Jour, there are always crowds trying to see the +Prussians on the distant hills, and in the Avenue de l'Impératrice (now +the Avenue Uhrich), there are always numerous admirers of Mont Valérien +gazing silently upon the object of their worship. In the Faubourg St. +Antoine workmen are lounging about doing nothing, and watching others +drilling. In the outer faubourgs much the same thing goes on, except +where barricades are being built. Round each of these there is always a +crowd of men and women, apparently expecting the enemy to assault them +every moment. At the different gates of the town there are companies of +Mobiles and National Guards, who sternly repel every civilian who seeks +to get through them. On an average of every ten minutes, no matter where +one is, one meets either a battalion of Nationaux or Mobiles, marching +somewhere. The asphalt of the boulevards, that sacred ground of dandies +and smart dresses, is deserted during the daytime. In the evening for +about two hours it is thronged by Nationaux with their wives; Mobiles +who ramble along, grinning vaguely, hand in hand, as though they were in +their native villages; and loafers. There, and in the principal streets, +speculators have taken advantage of the rights of man to stop up the +side walks with tables on which their wares are displayed. On some of +them there are kepis, on others ointment for corns, on others statuettes +of the two inseparables of Berlin, William and his little Bismarck, on +others General Trochu and the members of the Government in gilt +gingerbread. The street-hawkers are enjoying a perfect carnival—the +last editions of the papers—the Tuileries' papers—the caricatures of +Badinguet—portraits of the heroic Uhrich, and infallible cures for the +small-pox or for worms, are offered for sale by stentorian lungs. +Citizens, too, equally bankrupt alike in voice and in purse, place four +lighted candles on the pavement, and from the midst of this circle of +light dismally croak the "Marseillaise" and other patriotic songs. As +for beggars, their name is legion; but as every one who wants food can +get it at the public cantines, their piteous whines are disregarded. +Lodgings are to be hired in the best streets for about one-tenth part of +what was asked for them two months ago, and even that need not be paid. +Few shops are shut; but their proprietors sit, hoping against hope, for +some customer to appear. The grocers, the butchers, and the bakers, and +the military tailors, still make money; but they are denounced for doing +so at the clubs as bad patriots. As for the hotels, almost all of them +are closed. At the Grand Hotel, there are not twenty persons. Business +of every kind is at a standstill. Those who have money, live on it; +those who have not, live on the State: the former shrug their shoulders +and say, "Provided it does not last;" the latter do not mind how long it +lasts. All are comparatively happy in the thought that the eyes of +Europe are on them, and that they have already thrown Leonidas and his +Spartans into the shade.</p> + +<p>The Government has placarded to-day a despatch from Tours. Two armies +are already formed, we are told—one at Lyons, and the other at——. The +situation of Bazaine is excellent. The provinces are ready. The +departments are organising to the cry of "Guerre à outrance, ni un pouce +de terrain, ni une pierre de nos forteresses!" I trust that the news is +true; but I have an ineradicable distrust of all French official +utterances. A partial attempt is being made to relieve the population. +At the Mairies of the arrondissements, tickets are delivered to heads of +families, giving them the right to a certain portion of meat per diem +until January. The restaurants are still fairly supplied; so that the +system of rationing is not yet carried out in its integrity.</p> + +<p>I am not entirely without hopes that the trial through which France is +passing will in the end benefit it. Although we still brag a good deal, +there is within the last few days a slight diminution of bluster. Cooped +up here, week after week, the population must in the end realise the +fact that the world can move on without them, and that twenty years of +despotism has enervated them and made other nations their equals, if not +their superiors. As Sydney Smith said of Macaulay, they have occasional +flashes of silence. They sit, now and then, silent and gloomy, and mourn +for the "Pauvre France." "Nous sommes bien tombés." This is a good sign, +but will it outlive a single gleam of success? Shall we not in that case +have the Gallic cock crowing as lustily as ever? The French have many +amiable and engaging qualities, and if adversity would only teach them +wisdom, the country is rich enough to rise from the ruin which has +overtaken it. M. Jules Simon has published a plan of education which he +says in twenty years will produce a race of virile citizens; but this is +a little long to wait for a social regeneration. At present they are +schoolboys, accustomed to depend on their masters for everything, and +the defence of Paris is little more than the "barring out" of a girls' +school. They cannot, like Anglo-Saxons, organise themselves, and they +have no man at their head of sufficient force of character to impose his +will upon them. The existing Government has, it is true, to a certain +extent produced administrative order, but they have not succeeded in +inspiring confidence in themselves, or in raising the spirit of the +Parisians to the level of the situation. The Ultras say justly, that +this negative system cannot last, and that prompt action is as much a +political as it is a military necessity.</p> + +<p>The sixth livraison of the Tuileries papers has just appeared. Its +contents are unimportant. There is a receipt from Miss Howard, the +Emperor's former mistress, showing that between 1850 and 1855 she +received above five million francs. This sum was not, however, a +sufficient remuneration in her opinion, for her services, as in July, +1855, she writes for more, and says "the Emperor is too good to leave a +woman whom he has tenderly loved in a false position." This and several +other of her letters are addressed to the Emperor's Secretary, whose +functions seem to have been of a peculiarly domestic character. Indeed, +the person who fulfilled them would everywhere, except at a Court, have +been called something less euphonious than "secretary." A report from M. +Duvergier, ex-Secretary-General of the Police, is published respecting +the <i>Cabinet Noir</i>. It is addressed to the then Minister of the +Interior. It is lengthy, and very detailed. It appears that occasionally +the Emperor's own letters were opened.</p> + +<p>I went to the Hôtel de Ville this afternoon, to see whether anything was +going on there. Several battalions passed by, but they did not +demonstrate <i>en passant</i>. The place was full of groups of what in +England would be called the "dangerous classes." They were patiently +listening to various orators who were denouncing everything in general, +and the Government in particular. The principal question seemed to be +that of arms. Frenchmen are so accustomed to expect their Governments to +do everything for them, that they cannot understand why, although there +were but few Chassepots in the city, every citizen should not be given +one. It is indeed necessary to live here and to mix with all classes to +realise the fact that the Parisians have until now lived in an ideal +world of their own creation. Their orators, their statesmen, and their +journalists, have traded upon the traditions of the First Empire, and +persuaded them that they are a superior race, and that their +superiority is universally recognised. Utterly ignorant of foreign +languages and of foreign countries, they believe that their literature +is the only one in the world, and that a Frenchman abroad is adored as +something little less than a divinity. They regard the Prussians round +their city much as the citizens of Sparta would have regarded Helots, +and they are so astonished at their reverses, that they are utterly +unable to realise what is going on. As for trying to make them +comprehend that Paris ought to enjoy no immunity from attack which +Berlin or London might not equally claim, it is labour lost. "The +neutrals," I heard a member of the late Assembly shouting in a café, +"are traitors to civilisation in not coming to the aid of the Queen of +Europe." They did their very best, they declare, to prevent Napoleon +from making war. Yet one has only to talk with one of them for half an +hour to find that he still hankers after the Rhine, and thinks that +France wishes to be supreme in Europe.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 8th.</i></p> + +<p>Yesterday I happened to be calling at the Embassy, when a young English +gentleman made his appearance, and quietly asked whether he could take +any letters to England. He is to start to-day in a balloon, and has paid +5,000f. for his place. I gave him a letter, and a copy of one which I +had confided on Wednesday to an Irishman who is trying to get through +the lines. I hear that to-morrow the Columbian Minister is going to the +Prussian Headquarters, and a friend of mine assures me that he thinks if +I give him a letter by one o'clock to-day this diplomatist will take it. +The Corps Diplomatique are excessively indignant with the reply they +have received from Count Bismarck, declining to allow any but open +despatches through the Prussian lines. They have held an indignation +meeting. M. Kern, the Swiss Minister, has drawn up a protest, which has +been signed by himself and all his colleagues. The Columbian Minister +is to be the bearer of it. It bombards Bismarck with copious extracts +from Puffendorf and Grotius, and cites a case in point from the siege of +Vienna in the 15th century. It will be remembered that Messenger +Johnson, at the risk of his life and at a very great expense to the +country, brought despatches to the Parisian Embassy on the second day of +the siege. I recommend Mr. Rylands, or some other M.P. of independent +character, to insist upon Parliament being informed what these important +despatches were. The revelation will be a curious one.</p> + +<p>Yesterday afternoon I made an excursion into the Bois de Boulogne under +the convoy of a friend in power. We went out by the Porte de Neuilly. +Anything like the scene of artificial desolation and ruin outside this +gate it is impossible to imagine. The houses are blown up—in some +places the bare walls are still standing, in others even these have been +thrown down. The Bois itself, from being the most beautiful park in the +world, has become a jungle of underwood. In the roads there are large +barricades formed of the trees which used to line them, which have been +cut down. Between the ramparts and the lake the wood is swept clean +away, and the stumps of the trees have been sharpened to a point. About +8,000 soldiers are encamped in the open air on the race-course and in +the Bois. Near Suresnes there is a redoubt which throws shell and shot +into St. Cloud. We are under the impression that the firing from this +redoubt, from Valérien, Issy, and the gunboat Farcy, which took place on +Thursday morning, between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., has destroyed the batteries +and earthworks which the Prussians were erecting on the heights of St. +Cloud and Meudon-Clamart. You, however, are better informed respecting +the damage which was done than we are. When I was in the Bois the +redoubt was not firing, and the sailors who man it were lounging about, +exactly as though they had been on board ship. Occasionally +Mont-Valérien fired a shot, but it was only a sort of visiting card to +the Prussians, for with the best glasses we could see nothing of them. +Indeed, the way they keep under cover is something wonderful. "I have +been for three weeks in a fort," said the aide-de-camp of one of the +commanders of a southern fort, "every day we have made reconnaissances, +and I have not seen one single Prussian."</p> + +<p>From what I learn, on good authority, the political situation is this. +The Government consists mainly of Orleanists. When they assumed the +direction of public affairs, they hoped to interest either Austria or +Russia in the cause of France. They were, therefore, very careful to +avoid as much as possible any Republican propagandism either at home or +abroad. Little by little they have discovered that if France is to be +saved it must be by herself. Some of them, however, still hanker after a +Russian intervention, and do not wish to weaken M. Thiers' prospects of +success at St. Petersburg. They have, however, been obliged to yield to +the Republicanism of the Parisian "men of action," and they have +gradually drifted into a Government charged not only with the defence of +the country, but also with the establishment of a Republic. As is usual +in all councils, the extreme party has gained the ascendancy. But the +programme of the Ultras of the "ins" falls far short of that of the +Ultras of the "outs." The latter are continually referring to '93, and +as the Committee of Public Safety then saved France, they are unable to +understand why the same organisation should not save it now. Their +leaders demand a Commune, because they hope to be among its members. The +masses support them, because they sincerely believe that in the election +of a Commune Paris will find her safety. The Government is accused of a +want of energy. "Are we to remain cooped up here until we are starved +out?" ask the Ultras. "As a military man, I decline to make a sortie," +replies General Trochu. "We are not in '93. War is waged in a more +scientific manner," whispers Ernest Picard. The plan of the Government, +if plan it has, appears to be to wear out the endurance of the besiegers +by a defensive attitude, until either an army from the provinces cuts +off their communications, or the public opinion of Europe forces them to +raise the siege. The plan of the Ultras is to save Paris by Paris; to +make continual sorties, and, every now and then, one in such force that +it will be a battle. I am inclined to think that theoretically the +Government plan is the best, but it ignores the material it has to do +with, and it will find itself obliged either to adopt the policy of the +Ultras, or to allow them to elect a "Commune," which would soon absorb +all power. The position appears to me to be a false one, owing to the +attempt to rule France from Paris through an occasional despatch by +balloon. What ought to have been done was to remove the seat of +Government to another town before the siege commenced, and to have left +either Trochu or some other military man here to defend Paris, as Uhrich +defended Strasburg. But the Government consisted of the deputies of +Paris; and had they moved the seat of Government, they would have lost +their <i>locus standi</i>. Everyone here sees the absurdity of Palikao's +declaration, that Bazaine was commander-in-chief when he was invested in +Metz, but no one seems to see the still greater absurdity of the supreme +civil and military Government of the whole country remaining in Paris +whilst it is invested by the German armies. Yesterday, for instance, a +decree was issued allowing the town of Roubaix to borrow, I forget how +much. Can anything be more absurd than for a provincial town to be +forced to wait for such an authorisation until it receives it from +Paris? It is true that there is a delegation at Tours, but, so long as +it is nothing but a delegation, it will be hindered in its operations by +the dread of doing anything which may conflict with the views of its +superiors here. Paris at present is as great an incubus to France as the +Emperor was. Yesterday M. Gambetta started in a balloon for Tours, and +in the interests of France I shall be glad to see his colleagues one and +all follow him. The day before a balloon had been prepared for him, but +his nerves failed him at the last moment, and he deferred his departure +for twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>M. Rochefort was "interviewed" yesterday by a deputation of women, who +asked to be employed in the hospitals instead, of the men who are now +there. He promised to take their request into consideration. I was down +yesterday at the headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale, and I +cannot say that I think that the accusations of the Ultra-press +respecting the number of young Frenchmen there, is borne out by facts. +There have been, however, a vast number of <i>petits crevés</i> and others +who have shirked military service by forming themselves into amateur +ambulances. The "sergents de ville" have received orders to arrest +anyone wearing the Red Cross who is unable to produce his certificate as +an <i>infirmier</i>. This has thrown the <i>petits crevés</i>—the pets of priests +and old ladies—those youths who are best described by the English +expression, "nice young men for a small tea-party"—into consternation. +I saw yesterday one of these emasculated specimens of humanity arrayed +in a suit of velvet knickerbockers, with a red cross on his arm, borne +off to prison, notwithstanding his whining protests.</p> + +<p>Another abuse which has been put an end to is that of ladies going about +begging for money for the "wounded." They are no longer allowed to do so +unless they have an authorisation. I have a lively recollection of an +old grandaunt of mine, who used to dun every one she met for a shilling +for the benefit of the souls of the natives of Southern Africa, and as I +know that the shillings never went beyond ministering to the wants of +this aged relative, warned by precocious experience, I have not allowed +myself to be caught by the "ladies."</p> + +<p>A singular remonstrance has been received at the British Embassy. In the +Rue de Chaillot resides a celebrated English courtezan, called Cora +Pearl, and above her house floats the English flag. The inhabitants of +the street request the "Ambassador of England, a country the purity and +the decency of whose manners is well known," to cause this bit of +bunting, which is a scandal in their eyes, to be hauled down. I left Mr. +Wodehouse consulting the text writers upon international law, in order +to discover a precedent for the case. Colonel Claremont is doing his +best to look after the interests of his fellow-countrymen. I had a +prejudice against this gentleman, because I was unable to believe that +any one hailing from the Horse Guards could under any circumstances make +himself a useful member of society. I find, however, that he is a man of +energy and good common sense, with very little of the pipeclay about +him.</p> + +<p>From Monday next a new system of the distribution of meat is to come +into force. Between 450 and 500 oxen and 3,500 sheep are to be daily +slaughtered. This meat is to be divided into twenty lots, one for each +arrondissement, the size of each lot to be determined by the number of +the inhabitants of the particular arrondissement. The lot will then be +divided between the butchers in the arrondissement, at twenty centimes +per kilogramme below the retail price. Each arrondissement may, however, +adopt a system of rations. I suspect most of the beef I have eaten of +late is horse; anyhow, it does not taste like ordinary beef. To obtain a +joint at home is almost impossible. In the first place, it is difficult +to purchase it; in the second place, if, when bought, it is spotted by +patriots going through the street, it is seized upon on the ground that +any one who can obtain a joint for love or money must be an aristocrat +who is getting more than his share. I met a lady early this morning, who +used to be most fashionable. She was walking along with a parcel under +her shawl, and six dogs were following her. She asked me to drive them +away, but they declined to go. I could not understand their sudden +affection for my fair friend, until she confided to me that she had two +pounds of mutton in her parcel. A tariff for horse-flesh is published +to-day; it costs—the choice parts, whichever they may be—1f 40c. the +kilo.; the rest, 80c. the kilo.</p> + +<p><i>Figaro</i> yesterday published a "correspondence from Orleans." The +<i>Official Gazette</i> of this morning publishes an official note from the +Prefect of Police stating that this correspondence is "a lie, such as +those which the <i>Figaro</i> invents every day."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Afternoon.</i></p> + +<p>I have just returned from the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville. When I got +there at about two o'clock six or seven thousand manifesters had already +congregated there. They were all, as is the nature of Frenchmen in a +crowd, shouting their political opinions into their neighbours' ears. +Almost all of them were Nationaux from the Faubourgs, and although they +were not armed, they wore a kepi, or some other distinctive military +badge. As well as I could judge, nine out of ten were working men. Their +object, as a sharp, wiry artizan bellowed into my ear, was to force the +Government to consent to the election of a Commune, in order that the +Chassepots may be more fairly distributed between the bourgeois and the +ouvriers, and that Paris shall no longer render itself ridiculous by +waiting within its walls until its provisions are exhausted and it is +forced to capitulate. There appeared to be no disposition to pillage; +rightly or wrongly, these men consider that the Government is wanting in +energy, and that it is the representative of the bourgeoisie and not of +the entire population. Every now and then, some one shouted out "Vive +la Commune!" and all waved their caps and took up the cry. After these +somewhat monotonous proceedings had continued about half an hour, +several bourgeois battalions of National Guards came along the quay, and +drew up in line, four deep, before the Hôtel de Ville. They were not +molested except with words. The leading ranks of the manifesters +endeavoured by their eloquence to convince them that they ought not to +prevent citizens peacefully expressing their opinions; but the grocers +stood stolidly to their arms, and vouchsafed no reply. At three o'clock +General Trochu with his staff rode along inside the line, and then +withdrew. General Tamisier then made a speech, which of course no one +could hear. Shortly afterwards there was a cry of "Voilà Flourens—Voilà +nos amis," and an ouvrier battalion with its band playing the +Marseillaise marched by. They did not halt, notwithstanding the +entreaties of the manifesters, for they were bound, their officers +explained, on a sacred mission, to deposit a crown before the statue of +Strasburg. When I left the Place the crowd was, I think, increasing, and +as I drove along the Rue Rivoli I met several bourgeois battalions +marching towards the Hôtel de Ville. I presume, therefore, that General +Trochu had thought it expedient to send reinforcements. "We will come +back again with arms," was the general cry among the ouvriers, and +unless things mend for the better I imagine that they will keep their +word. The line of demarcation between the bourgeois and the ouvrier +battalions is clearly marked, and they differ as much in their opinions +as in their appearance. The sleek, well-fed shopkeeper of the Rue +Vivienne, although patriotic, dreads disorder, and does not absolutely +contemplate with pleasure an encounter with the Prussians. The wild, +impulsive working man from Belleville or La Villette dreads neither +Prussians without, nor anarchy within. If he could only find a leader he +would blow up himself and half Paris rather than submit to the +humiliation of a capitulation. Anything he thinks is better than this +"masterly inactivity." Above the din of the crowd the cannon could be +heard sullenly firing from the forts; but even this warning of how near +the foe is, seemed to convey no lesson to avoid civil strife. Unless +General Trochu is a man of more energy than I take him to be, if ever +the Prussians do get into the town they will find us in the condition of +the Kilkenny cats.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 9th.</i></p> + +<p>The representative of the Republic of Columbia, to whom I had given my +letter of yesterday, has returned it to me, as he was afraid to cross +the lines with it. The Briton who has paid for a place in a balloon is +still here, and he imagines that he will start to-morrow, so I shall +give him my Columbian letter and this one. I understand that any one who +is ready to give assurances that he will praise everything and every one +belonging to the Government, is afforded facilities for sending out +letters by the Post-office balloons, but I am not prepared to give any +other pledge except that I shall tell the truth without fear or favour.</p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> of this morning, and the Moderate papers, boast +that the Ultra manifestation of yesterday was a complete failure. As +usual, they cry before they are out of the wood. After I left the Place +it appears that there was a counter manifestation of bourgeois National +Guards, who arrived in military order with their arms. Jules Favre +addressed them. Now as far as I can make out, these battalions went to +the Hôtel de Ville on their own initiative. No one, however, seems to +see any incongruity in the friends of the Government making an armed +demonstration as a protest against armed and unarmed demonstrations in +general. The question of the municipal elections will lie dormant for a +few days, but I see no evidence that those who were in favour of it have +altered their minds. As far as yesterday's proceedings were concerned, +they only go to prove the fact, which no one ever doubted, that the +bourgeoisie and their adherents are ready to support the Government, but +they have also proved to my mind conclusively that the working men as a +body have entirely lost all confidence in the men at the head of +affairs.</p> + +<p>On the pure merits of the question, I think that the working men have +reason on their side. They know clearly what they want—to make sorties +and to endeavour to destroy the enemy's works; if this fails—to make +provisions last as long as possible by a system of rationing—and then +to destroy Paris rather than surrender it. The Government and their +adherents are waiters on Providence, and, except that they have some +vague idea that the Army of the Loire will perform impossibilities, they +are contented to live on from day to day, and to hope that something +will happen to avert the inevitable catastrophe. I can understand a +military dictatorship in a besieged capital, and I can understand a +small elected council acting with revolutionary energy; but what I +cannot understand is a military governor who fears to enforce military +discipline, and a dozen respectable lawyers and orators, whose sole idea +of Government is, as Blanqui truly says, to issue decrees and +proclamations, and to make speeches. The only practical man among them +is M. Dorian, the Minister of Public Works, M. Dorian is a hard-headed +manufacturer, and utterly ignoring red tape, clerks, and routine; he has +set all the private ateliers to work, to make cannon and muskets. I have +not yet heard of his making a single speech, or issuing a single +proclamation since the commencement of the siege, and he alone of his +colleagues appears to me to be the right man in the right place. I do +not take my views of the working men from the nonsense which is printed +about them in official and semi-official organs. They are the only class +here which, to use an Americanism, is not "played out." The Government +dreads them as much as the Empire did; but although they are too much +carried away by their enthusiasm and their impulsiveness, they are the +only persons in Paris who appear to have a grain of common sense. "As +for the Army of the Loire," said one of them to me this morning, "no +one, except a fool or a Government employé, can believe that it will +ever be able to raise the siege, and as for all these bourgeois, they +consider that they are heroes because once or twice a week they pass the +night at the ramparts; they think first of their shops, then of their +country." "But how can you imagine that you and your friends would be +able to defeat the Prussians, who are disciplined soldiers?" I asked. +"We can at least try," he replied. I ventured to point out to my friend +that perhaps a little discipline in the ouvrier battalions might not be +a bad thing; but he insisted that the indiscipline was caused by their +distrust of their rulers, and that they were ready to obey their +officers. "Take," he said "Flourens' battalions. They do not, it is +true, march as regularly as the bourgeois, and they have nothing but +kepis and old muskets; but, as far as fighting goes, they are worth all +the bourgeois put together." I do not say that Trochu is not wise to +depend upon the bourgeois; all I say is, that as the Empire fell because +it did not venture to arm any except the regular soldiers, so will Paris +render itself the laughing stock of Europe, if its defence is to depend +upon an apocryphal Army of the Loire, marines from the Navy, peasants +from the provinces, and the National Guards of the wealthy quarters. To +talk of the heroic attitude of Paris, when the Parisians have not been +under fire, is simply absurd. As long as the outer forts hold out, it is +no more dangerous to "man the ramparts" than to mount guard at the +Tuileries. I saw to-day a company of mounted National Guards exercising. +Their uniforms were exquisitely clean, but I asked myself of what +earthly use they were. Their commander ordered them to charge, when +every horse butted against the one next to him. I believe a heavy gale +of wind would have disconnected all these warriors from their chargers. +I fully recognise the fact that the leaders of the ouvriers talk a great +deal of nonsense, and that they are actuated as much by personal +ambition as by patriotism; but it is certain that the individual working +man is the only reality in this population of corrupt and emasculated +humbugs; everyone else is a windbag and a sham.</p> + +<p>A decree has been issued, informing all who have no means of subsistence +that they will receive a certain amount of bread per diem upon +application at their respective mairies. We are also told that if we +wish to make puddings of the blood of oxen, we must mix pigs' blood with +it, otherwise it will be unwholesome.</p> + +<p>It has been showery to-day, and I never have witnessed a more dismal +Sunday in Paris. A pigeon from. Gambetta's balloon has returned, but +this foolish bird lost <i>en route</i> the message which was attached to its +neck.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 10th.</i></p> + +<p>It is very curious how close, under certain conditions of wind and +temperature, the cannonade appears to be, even in the centre of the +town. This morning I was returning home at about two o'clock, when I +heard a succession of detonations so distinctly, that I literally went +into the next street, as I imagined that a house must be falling down +there. It is said that the palace of St. Cloud has been destroyed.</p> + +<p>As well as I can learn, General Burnside came into Paris mainly to +discuss with Mr. Washburne the possibility of the American families who +are still here being allowed to pass the Prussian lines. He saw Jules +Favre, but, if he attempted any species of negotiation, it could have +led to nothing, as we are so absolutely confident that the Army of the +Loire will in a few days cut off the Prussian supplies, and we are so +proud of our attitude, that I really believe if Jules Favre were to +consent to pay a war indemnity as a condition of peace, he and his +friends would be driven from power the next day.</p> + +<p>Having nothing particularly to boast of to-day, the newspapers request +the world to be good enough to turn its eyes upon Gambetta traversing +space in a balloon. A nation whose Minister is capable of this heroic +feat must eventually drive the enemy from its soil. The <i>Figaro</i>, in +fact, hints that in all probability peace will be signed at Berlin at no +very distant date. The <i>Gaulois</i>, a comparatively sensible newspaper, +thus deals with this aërial voyage:—"As the balloon passed above the +Prussian armies, amid the clouds and the birds, the old William probably +turned to Bismarck and asked, 'What is that black point in the sky?' 'It +is a Minister,' replied Bismarck; 'it is the heroic Gambetta, on his way +to the Loire. In Paris he named prefects; on the Loire he will assemble +battalions.' Favourable winds wafted the balloon on her course; perhaps +Gambetta landed at Cahors, his natal town, perhaps somewhere +else—perhaps in the arms of Crémieux, that aged lion. To-morrow the +provinces will resound with his voice, which will mingle with the +rattling of arms and the sound of drums. Like a trumpet, it will peal +along the Loire, inflaming hearts, forming battalions, and causing the +manes of St. Just and Desmoulins to rise from their graves."</p> + +<p>Yesterday a battalion of the National Guard was drawn up before the +Hôtel de Ville, but there was no demonstration of the Ultras. M. Arago, +the Mayor of Paris, made a few speeches from a window, which are +described as inflaming the hearts of these heroic soldiers of the +country. The rain, however, in the end, sent the heroic soldiers home, +and obliged M. Arago to shut his window. A day never passes without one +or more of our rulers putting his head out of some window or other, and +what is called "delivering himself up to a fervid improvisation." The +Ultra newspapers are never tired of abusing the priests, who are +courageously and honestly performing their duty. Yesterday I read a +letter from a patriot, in which he complains that this caste of crows +are to decree the field of battle, and asks the Government to decree +that the last moments of virtuous citizens, dying for their country, +shall not be troubled by this new Horror. To-day a citizen writes as +follows:—"Why are not the National Guards installed in the churches? +Not only might they find in these edifices dedicated to an extinct +superstition, shelter from the weather, but orators might from time to +time in the pulpits deliver speeches. Those churches which are not +required by the National Guard might serve as excellent stables for the +oxen, the sheep, and the hogs, which are now parked out in the open +air."</p> + +<p>Next to the priests and the churches, the streets named after members +and friends of the late Imperial family excite the ire of patriots. The +inhabitants of the quartier Prince Eugène, have, I read to-day, decided +that the Boulevard Prince Eugène shall henceforward be called the +Boulevard Dussault, "the noble child of the Haute Vienne, who was +murdered by the aides of the infamous Bonaparte."</p> + +<p>We are not, as you might perhaps suppose, wanting in news. The French +journalists, even when communications with the rest of the world were +open, preferred to evolve their facts from their moral consciousness—their +hand has not lost its cunning. Peasants, who play the part here of the +intelligent contraband of the American civil war, bring in daily the most +wonderful stories of the misery which the Prussians are suffering, and the +damage which our artillery is causing them—and these tales are duly +published. Then, at least three times a week we kill a Prussian Prince, and +"an army" relieves Bazaine. A few days ago a troop of 1500 oxen marched +into our lines, "they were French oxen, and they were impelled by their +patriotism." This beats the ducks who asked the old woman to come and +kill them.</p> + +<p>The clubs appear to be divided upon the question of the "commune." In +most of them, however, resolutions have been passed reaffirming their +determination to hold the elections with or without the consent of the +Government. Rochefort to-day publishes a sensible reply to Flourens, who +called upon him to explain why he does not resign. "I have," he says, +"descended into the most impenetrable recesses of my conscience, and I +have emerged with the conviction that my withdrawal would cause a +conflict, and this would open a breach to the Prussians. You will say +that I am capitulating with my convictions; if it be so, I do not +necessarily capitulate with the Prussians. I silence my political +instincts; let our brave friends in Belleville allow theirs to sleep for +a time." I understand that in the council which was held to decide upon +the advisability of adjourning these elections, Rochefort, Simon, Ferry, +and Arago voted against the adjournment, and Pelletan, Garnier Pagés, +Picard, and Favre in favour of it. Trochu then decided the question in +the affirmative by a threat that, if the elections were allowed to take +place, he would resign.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 11th.</i></p> + +<p>The notions of a Pall Mall dandy respecting Southwark or the Tower +Hamlets are not more vague than those of the Parisian bourgeois or the +Professional French journalist respecting the vast Faubourgs peopled by +the working men which encircle this city. From actual observation they +know nothing of them. They believe them to be the homes of a dangerous +class—communistic and anarchical in its tendencies, the sworn foes +alike of law, order, and property. The following are the articles of +faith of the journalist:—France is the world. Paris is France. The +boulevards, the theatres, some fifty writers on the press, and the +bourgeoisie of the fashionable quarters of the city, are Paris. Within +this narrow circle he may reason justly, but he never emerges from it, +and consequently cannot instruct others about what he does not know +himself. Since the fall of the Emperor, the Parisian bourgeois has +vaguely felt that he has been surrounded by two hostile armies—the +Prussian without the walls, and the working men within. He has placed +his trust in Trochu, as twenty years ago he did in Cavaignac. The siege +had not lasted a week before he became convinced that the Prussians were +afraid of him, because they had not attacked the town; and within the +last few days he has acquired the conviction, upon equally excellent +grounds, that the working men also tremble before his martial attitude. +On Friday last he achieved what he considers a crowning triumph, and he +is now under the impression that he has struck terror into the breasts +of the advocates of the Commune by marching with his battalion to the +Hôtel de Ville. "We"—and by "we" he means General Trochu and +himself—"we have shown them that we are not to be trifled with," is his +boast from morning to night. Now, if instead of reading newspapers which +only reflect his own views, and passing his time, whether on the +ramparts or in a café, surrounded by men who share his prejudices, the +worthy bourgeois would be good enough to accompany me to Belleville or +La Villette, he would perhaps realise the fact that, as usual, he is +making himself comfortable in a fool's paradise. He would have an +opportunity to learn that, while the working men have not the remotest +intention to pillage his shop, they are equally determined not to allow +him and his friends to make Paris the laughing-stock of Europe. With +them the "Commune" is but a means to an end. What they want is a +Government which will carry out in sober earnest M. Jules Favre's +rhetorical figure that "the Parisians will bury themselves beneath the +ruins of their town rather than surrender." The lull in the +"demonstrations" to urge the Government either to carry out this +programme, or to associate with themselves men of energy who are ready +to do so, will not last long; and when next Belleville comes to the +Hôtel de Ville, it will not be unarmed. The bourgeois and the working +man worship different gods, and have hardly two ideas in common. The +bourgeois believes in the Army of the Loire; believes that in +sacrificing the trade profits of a few months, and in catching a cold by +keeping guard occasionally for a night on the ramparts, he has done his +duty towards his country, and deserves the admiration of all future +ages. As for burying himself, beneath, the ruins of his shop, it is his +shop as much as his country that he is defending. He is gradually +wearying of the siege; the pleasure of strutting about in a uniform and +marching behind a drum hardly compensates for the pecuniary losses which +he is incurring. He feels that he is already a hero, and he longs to +repose upon his laurels. When Bazaine has capitulated, and when the +bubble of the Army of the Loire has burst, he will, if left to himself, +declare and actually believe that Paris has surpassed in heroism and +endurance Troy and Saragossa; and he will accept what is inevitable—a +capitulation. The working man, on the other hand, believes in no Army of +the Loire, troubles himself little about Bazaine, and has confidence in +himself alone. Far from disliking the siege, he delights in it. He lives +at free quarters, and he walks about with a gun, that occupation of all +others which is most pleasing to him. He at least is no humbug; he has +no desire to avoid danger, but rather courts it. He longs to form one in +a sortie, and he builds barricades, and looks forward with grim +satisfaction to the moment when he will risk his own life in defending +them, and blow up his landlord's house to arrest the advance of the +Prussians. What will be the upshot of this radical divergence of opinion +between the two principal classes which are cooped up together within +the walls of Paris, it is impossible to say. The working men have, as +yet, no leaders in whom they place confidence, and under whose guidance +they would consent to act collectively. It may be that this will prevent +them from giving effect to their views before the curtain drops; they +are strongly patriotic, and they are disinclined to compromise the +success of the defence by internal quarrels. Very possibly, therefore, +they will be deceived by promises on the part of the Government, and +assurances that Paris will fight it out to the last ditch, until the +moment to act has passed. As for the bourgeois and the Government, their +most powerful ally is the cry, "No division; let us all be united." They +are both, however, in a radically false position. They have called upon +the world to witness how a great capital can die rather than surrender; +and yet, if no external agency prevents the surrender, they have no +intention to fulfil their boast of dying. Any loophole for escape from, +the alternative in which they have thrust themselves they would welcome. +"Our provisions will last three months," they say; "during this time +something must happen to our advantage." "What?" I inquire. "The Army of +the Loire will advance, or Bazaine will get out of Metz, or the +Prussians will despair of success, or we shall be able to introduce +convoys of provisions." "But if none of these prophecies are +realised.—what then?" I have asked a hundred times, without ever +getting a clear answer to my question. By some strange process of +reasoning in what, as Lord Westbury would say, they are pleased to call +their minds, they appear to have arrived at the conviction that Paris +never will be taken, because they are unable to realise the possibility +of an event which they seem to consider is contrary to that law of +nature, which, has made her the capital and the mistress of the world. A +victorious army is at their gates; they do not dare even to make a +formidable sortie; there is no regular army in the field outside; their +provisions have a limit; they can only communicate with the rest of the +world by an occasional balloon; and yet they regard the idea of a +foreign occupation of Paris much as we do a French invasion of +England—a thing so improbable as to be barely possible.</p> + +<p>Yesterday there were a few groups on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, but +they were rather curious spectators than "manifesters." At about two +o'clock the rappel was beaten in the Place Vendôme, and several +battalions of the National Guard of the quartier marched there and +broke up these groups. M. Jules Ferry's head then appeared from the +window, and he aired his eloquence in a speech congratulating the +friends of order on having rallied to the defence of the Government. It +is a very strange thing that no Frenchman, when in power, can understand +equal justice between his opponents and his supporters. The present +Government is made up of men who clamoured for a Municipal Council +during the Empire, and whose first step upon taking possession of the +Hôtel de Ville was to decree the immediate election of a "Commune." +Since then, yielding to the demands of their own supporters, they have +withdrawn this decree, and now, if I go unarmed upon the Place de +l'Hôtel de Ville and cry "Vive la Commune," I am arrested; whereas if +any battalion of the National Guard chooses, without orders, to go there +in arms and cry, "à bas la Commune," immediately it is congratulated for +its patriotism by some member of the Government.</p> + +<p>Nothing new has passed at the front since yesterday. I learn from this +morning's papers, however, that Moltke is dead, that the Crown Prince is +dying of a fever, that Bismarck is anxious to negotiate, but is +prevented by the obstinacy of the King, that 300 Prussians from the +Polish provinces have come over to our side, and that the Bavarian and +Wurtemberg troops are in a state of incipient rebellion. "From the fact +that the Prussian outposts have withdrawn to a greater distance from the +forts," the <i>Electeur Libre</i>, tells me, "it is probable that the +Prussians despair of success, and in a few days will raise the siege." +Most of the newspapers make merry over the faults in grammar in a letter +which has been discovered and published from the Empress to the Emperor, +although I doubt if there is one Frenchman in the world who could write +Spanish as well as the Empress does French.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening.</i></p> + +<p>It appears that yesterday the cheques signed by M. Flourens were not +recognised by the Etat Major of his "secteur." On this he declared that +he would beat the "generale" in Belleville and march on the Hôtel de +Ville. The quarrel was, however, patched up—no disturbance occurred. +For some reason or other M. Flourens, until he gave in his resignation, +commanded five battalions of the National Guard; he has been told that +he can be re-elected to the command of any one of them, but that he +cannot be allowed to be at the head of more than one. This man is an +enthusiast, and, I am told, not quite right in his head. In personal +appearance he is a good-looking gentlemanly fellow. As long as +Belleville acts under his leadership there is no great fear that any +danger will arise, because his own men distrust, not his good faith, but +his sense.</p> + +<p>Gambetta has sent a despatch from Montdidier, by a pigeon. He says, +"Everywhere the people are rising; the Government of the National +Defence is universally acclaimed."</p> + +<p>The Papal Nuncio is going to try to get through on Thursday. He says he +is anxious about the Pope—no wonder.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 12th.</i></p> + +<p>"What is truth?" said jesting Pilate, and would not wait for an answer; +the Parisians of 1870 are as indifferent about truth as this unjust +Roman judge was. It is strange that their own want of veracity does not +lead them to doubt that of others; they are alike credulous and +mendacious. A man comes into a café, he relates every detail of an +action in which he says he was engaged the day before; the action has +never taken place, but every one believes him; one of the auditors then +perhaps says that he has passed the night in a fort, and that its guns +destroyed a battery which the enemy was erecting; the fort has never +fired a shot, but the first speaker goes off convinced that a battery +has been dismounted. For my part I have given up placing the least faith +in anything I hear or read. As for the newspapers they give currency to +the most incredible stories, and they affect not only to relate every +shot that has been fired, but the precise damage which it has done to +the enemy, and the number of men which it has killed, and wounded. They +have already slain and taken prisoner a far greater number of Prussians +than, on any fair calculation, there could have been in the besieging +army at the commencement of the siege. Since the commencement of the war +the Government, the journalists, the generals, and the gossips have been +engaged apparently in a contest to test the limits of human credulity. +Under the Republic the game is still merrily kept up, and although the +German armies are but a few miles off, we are daily treated to as many +falsehoods respecting what goes on at the front as when they were at +Sedan, or huddled together in those apocryphal quarries of Jaucourt. "I +saw it in a newspaper," or "I was told it by an eye-witness," is still +considered conclusive evidence of the truth of no matter what fact. +To-day, I nearly had a dispute with a stout party, who sat near me as I +was breakfasting in a café, because I ventured, in the mildest and most +hesitating manner, to question the fact that an army of 250,000 men was +at Rouen, and would in the course of this week attack the Prussians at +Versailles. "It is here, sir," he said indignantly pointing to his +newspaper; "a peasant worthy of belief has brought the news to the +Editor; are we to believe no one?" There were a dozen persons +breakfasting at the same time, and I was the only one who did not +implicitly believe in the existence of this army. This diseased state of +mind arises mainly, I presume, from excessive vanity. No Parisian is +able to believe anything which displeases him, and he is unable not to +believe anything which flatters his <i>amour propre</i>. He starts in life +with a series of delusions, which all he has read and heard until now +have confirmed. No journal dares to tell the truth, for if it did its +circulation would fall to nothing. No Parisian, even if by an effort he +could realise to himself the actual condition of his country, would dare +to communicate his opinion to his neighbour, for he would be regarded as +a traitor and a liar. The Bostonians believe that Boston is the "hub of +the universe," and the Parisian is under the impression that his city is +a species of sacred Ark, which it is sacrilege to touch. To bombard +London or Berlin would be an unfortunate necessity of war, but to fire a +shot into Paris is desecration. For a French army to live at the expense +of Germany is in the nature of things; for a German army to live at the +expense of Frenchmen is a barbarity which the civilised world ought to +resent. If the result of the present campaign is to convince Frenchmen +that, as a nation, they are neither better nor worse than other nations, +and to convince Parisians that Paris enjoys no special immunity from the +hardships of war, and that if it sustains a siege it must accept the +natural consequences, it will not have been waged in vain, but will +materially conduce to the future peace of the world. As yet—I say it +with regret—for I abominate war and Prussians, and there is much which +I like in the French—this lesson has not been learnt. Day by day I am +becoming more convinced that a lasting peace can only be signed in +Paris, and that the Parisians must be brought to understand by hard +experience that, if victory means an accession of military glory, defeat +means humiliation, and that the one is just as possible as the other. If +the siege were raised to-morrow, the occupation of Alsace and Lorraine +by an enemy would be disbelieved within six months by this vain, +frivolous populace; and even if the German army does ever defile along +the Boulevards, I shall not be surprised if we are told, as soon as they +have withdrawn, that they never were there. Shut up in this town with +its inhabitants, my sympathies are entirely on their side, but my reason +tells me that Bismarck is right in insisting upon treating in Paris. Let +him, if he can, come in here; let him impose upon France such a war +indemnity, that every man, woman, and child in the country will curse +the folly of this war for the next fifty years; and let him give up his +scheme of annexation, and he will then have acted in the interests of +Europe, and ultimately in those of France herself. Prussia, after the +battle of Jena, was as low as France is now. Napoleon stripped her of +her provinces, and she acceded to the treaty of her spoliation, but at +the first favourable opportunity she protested her signature, and the +world has never blamed her for so doing. France, if she is deprived of +Alsace, will do the same. If she signs the treaty, it will only be +binding on her until she is strong enough to repudiate it. A treaty of +territorial spoliation imposed by force never has and never will bind a +nation. The peace of Europe will not be lasting if France hawks about +her alliance, and is ready to tender it to any Power who wishes to carry +out some scheme of aggrandisement, and who will aid her to re-conquer +the provinces which she has lost. I have always regarded the Prussians +as a disagreeable but a sensible nation, but if they insist upon the +annexation of Alsace, and consider that the dismemberment of France will +conduce to the unity of Germany, I shall cease to consider them as more +sensible than the Gauls, with whom my lot is now cast. The Austrians +used to say that their defensive system rendered it necessary that they +should possess the Milanese and Venetia; but the possession of these two +Italian provinces was a continual source of weakness to them, and in the +end dragged them into a disastrous war. The Prussians should meditate +over this, and over the hundred other instances in history of +territorial greed overreaching itself, and they will then perhaps be +more inclined to take a fair and impartial view of the terms on which +peace ought to be made. "Moderation in success is often more difficult +to practise than fortitude in disaster," says the copy-book. My lecture +upon European politics is, I am afraid, somewhat lengthy, but it must be +remembered that I am a prisoner, and that Silvio Pellico, under similar +circumstances, wrote one of the most dreary books that it ever was my +misfortune to read and to be required to admire. I return to the recital +of what is passing in my prison house.</p> + +<p>Last night and early this morning I had an opportunity to inspect the +bars of the cage in which I am confined. I happened to say before a +superior officer that I was very desirous to see what was going on on +the ramparts and in the forts at night, but that I had as yet been +foiled in my endeavours to do so, when he told me that he would take me +to both, provided in any account that I might give of them I would not +mention localities, which might get him into trouble, or in general +anything which might afford aid and comfort to the enemy. Of course I +accepted his offer, and at eleven o'clock P.M. we started on horseback. +We soon struck the Rue des Remparts, and dismounted. Along the top of +the ramparts there was a line of sentinels. They were so numerous in +some places that they almost touched each other. Every few minutes the +cry, "Sentinelles, prenez gardé à vous," went along. Behind them grandes +gardes and other patrols were continually passing, and we could hardly +move a step without being obliged to give the password, with a bayonet +in close proximity to our chests. The National Guards were sleeping, in +some places in tents, in others in huts, and I found many more in the +neighbouring houses. Here and there there was a canteen, where warm +coffee and other such refreshments were sold, and in some places +casemates were already built. In the bastions there were camps of +Artillerymen, Mobiles, and Nationaux. All was very quiet, and I was +agreeably surprised to find with what order and method everything was +conducted. At about four o'clock this morning we passed through one of +the gates, outside there were patrols coming and going, and I could see +numerous regiments on each side of the road, some in tents, others +sleeping in the open air, or trying to do so, for the nights are already +very chilly. We were stopped almost every two minutes, and my friend had +to explain who and what he was. At last we reached a fort. Here we had a +long parley before we were admitted. When we got in, the day was +breaking. We were taken into the room of the Commandant, with whom my +friend had some business to transact. He was a sailor, and from his cool +and calm demeanour, I am convinced that he will give a good account of +himself if he is attacked. In the fort there were Mobiles and soldiers, +and by the guns stood the sailors. I talked to several of them as they +leant against their guns, or walked up and down as though they were +keeping watch on deck. None of them had left the fort for the last three +weeks, and they seemed to have no particular desire to go "on shore," as +they called Paris. Their fire, they said, had, they believed, done +considerable damage to the works which the Prussians had tried to erect, +within their range. The Commandant now came out with some of his +officers, and we tried to search with telescopes the distant woods which +were supposed to conceal the enemy. I confess that I saw absolutely +nothing except trees and some houses, which were in ruins, "Throw a +shell into those houses," cried the Commandant, and off went one of the +great guns. It fell wide. "Try again," he said. This time we could see +through the glasses that the house had been hit, for a portion of one of +the walls toppled over, and a column of dust arose. No Prussians, +however, emerged. A few shots were then fired promiscuously into the +woods, in order to sound the lines; and then Commandant, officers, +friend and I, withdrew to breakfast. I was, of course, cautious in my +conversation, and all that was said I do not care to repeat—the general +feeling, however, seemed to be that the prospects of Paris defending +itself successfully were considerably weakened by the "lot of lawyers" +who interfered with matters about which they knew nothing. The National +Guards, who I hear are to occupy the forts, were laughed at by these +warriors; as for the Mobiles, it was thought that in two months they +might become good soldiers, but that their discipline was most +defective. "When we get them in here," said a gruff old Captain, "we do +not stand their nonsense; but outside, when they are alone with their +officers, they do very much what they please." The soldiers of the +regular army, I was told, had recovered their <i>morale</i>, and if well led, +might be depended upon. As was natural, the sailors were greatly +extolled, and I think they deserved it; the best come from Brittany; and +like Joe Bagstock, they are tough, sir, very tough—what are called in +French, "wolves of the sea." Breakfast over, we returned to Paris in +company with two or three officers, who had been given leave of absence +for the day. This afternoon, hearing that egress was allowed at the +Barrière de Neuilly, I started out in a fiacre, to see what was to be +seen in that direction. Along the Avenue de Neuilly there were +encampments of soldiers of the line and Mobiles. At the bridge of +Neuilly my fiacre was stopped, but having explained to the commander of +the picket that I wanted to take a walk, and shown my papers, for some +reason best known to himself, he allowed me to go forward on foot. In +Courbevoie all the houses were shut up, except those occupied by troops, +and the windows of these were filled with sandbags. Right and left trees +were being cut down, and every moment some old poplar was brought to the +ground. I passed through Courbevoie, as no one seemed to notice me, and +held on to the right until I struck Asnières. It is a species of French +Greenwich, full of hotels, tea-gardens, and restaurants. The last time I +had been there was on a Sunday, when it was crowded with Parisian +bourgeois, and they were eating, drinking, dancing, and making merry. +The houses had not been destroyed, but there was not a living soul in +the place. On the promenade by the river the leaves were falling from +the trees under which were the benches as of old. The gay signs still +hung above the restaurants, and here and there was an advertisement +informing the world that M. Pitou offered his hosts beer at so much the +glass, or that the more ambitious Monsieur Some One Else was prepared to +serve an excellent dinner of eels for 2fr., but I might as well have +expected to get beer or eels in Palmyra as in this village where a few +short weeks ago fish, flesh, and fowl, wine and beer were as plentiful +as at Greenwich and Richmond during the season. Goldsmith's "Deserted +Village," I said to myself, and I should have repeated some lines from +this admirable poem had I remembered any; as I did not, I walked on in +the direction of Colombes, vaguely ruminating upon Pompeii, Palmyra, +fish dinners at Greenwich, and the mutability of human things. I had +hardly left Asnières, however, and was plodding along a path, when I was +recalled to the realities of life by half-a-dozen Mobiles springing up +from behind a low wall, and calling upon me to stop, while they enforced +their order by pointing their muskets at my head. I stood still, and +they surrounded me. I explained that I was an Englishman inhabiting +Paris, and that I had come out to take a walk. My papers were brought +out and narrowly inspected. My passport, that charter of the Civis +Romanus, was put aside as though it had been a document of no value. A +letter from one of the authorities, which was a species of unofficial +<i>laisser passer</i>, was read, and then a sort of council of war was held +about what ought to be done with me. They seemed to be innocent and well +meaning peasants; they said that they had orders to let no one pass, and +they were surprised that I had got so far without being stopped. I told +them that they were quite right to obey their <i>consigne</i>, and that I +would go back the way I had come. One of them suggested that I might be +a spy, but he accepted my assurance that I was not. Another proposed to +keep me as a captive until some officer passed; but I told them that +this was contrary to all law, human and divine, civil and military. +"Well, gentlemen," I at last said, "I will now wish you good day, my +mother will be anxious about me if I do not return, otherwise I should +have been happy to remain in such good society;" and with this speech I +turned back and went towards Asnières; they did not follow me, but +remained with their mouths open, utterly unable to grasp the idea why an +Englishman should be taking a walk in the neighbourhood of Paris, and +why he should have an aged mother anxiously awaiting his return in the +city. (N.B.—If you want to inspire a Frenchman with a sort of +sentimental respect, always talk of your mother; the same effect is +produced on a German by an allusion to your bride.) At the bridge of +Neuilly the guard had been changed, and I had a lengthy discussion +whether I ought to be imprisoned or allowed to pass. I was inclined to +think that I owe the latter motion being carried, to a very eloquent +speech which I threw off, but this may perhaps be vanity on my part, as +Mont Valérien was also discoursing at the same time, and dividing with +me the attention of my auditors.</p> + +<p>M. de Kératry has resigned his post of Prefect of the Police, and has +been succeeded by M. Edmond Adam, who is said to be a man of energy. +Yesterday M. Jules Ferry went down to Belleville, and delivered several +speeches, which he informs us to-day in a letter were greatly +applauded. The <i>Official Gazette</i> contains an intimation that M. +Flourens is to be prosecuted, but I greatly question whether it is more +than <i>brutum fulmen</i>. The Council of War has condemned five of the +soldiers who ran away at the fight of Chatillon. Several others who were +tried for the same offence have been acquitted. It is reported that an +engagement took place this afternoon at Villejuif, but no details are +yet known. There is no doubt that the Prussians have enlarged their +circle round Paris, and that they have massed troops near Choisy-le-Roi. +What these two manoeuvres portend, we are all anxiously discussing.</p> + +<p>Several balloons went off this morning. I have deluged the Post-office +with letters, but I doubt if they ever get any farther. Mr. Hore, the +naval attaché of the British Embassy, also left this morning for Tours. +As the Parisian fleet consists of one gunboat, I presume that he +considers that his valuable services may be utilised elsewhere.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 13th.</i></p> + +<p>Frenchmen have none of that rough and tumble energy which enables +Anglo-Saxons to shake themselves, no matter under what circumstances, +into some sort of shape. Left to themselves they are as helpless as +children, it takes a certain time to organize them, and to evolve order +from chaos, but when once the process is effected, they surpass us in +administrative mechanism, and in readiness to fall into new ways. The +organization of Paris, as a besieged city, is now in good working trim, +and it must be admitted that its results are more satisfactory than a +few weeks ago could have been anticipated. Except when some important +event is taking place at the front, there are no crowds in the streets, +and even the groups which used to impede circulation are now rare. The +National Guards go in turn to the ramparts, like clerks to their office. +In the morning the battalions are changed, and those who come off duty +march to their respective "quartiers" and quietly disband. Unless there +is some extraordinary movement, during the rest of the day and night +there is little marching of troops. In the evening the Boulevards are +moderately full from eight to ten o'clock, but now that only half the +number of street lamps are lit—they look gloomy even then—at half-past +ten every <i>café</i> and shop is closed, and half-an-hour later every one +has gone home. There are no quarrels and no drunkards. Robberies +occasionally occur, but they are rare. "Social evils" have again made +their appearance, but they are not so insolently conspicuous as they +were under the paternal rule of the Empire. Paris, once so gay, has +become as dull as a small German capital. Its inhabitants are not in the +depths of despair, but they are thoroughly bored. They are in the +position of a company of actors shut up in a theatre night and day, and +left to their own devices, without an audience to applaud or to hiss +them. "What do you think they are saying of us in England?" is a +question which I am asked not less than a hundred times every day. My +interrogator usually goes on to say, that it is impossible that the +heroism of the population has not elicited the admiration of the world. +It seems to me that if Paris submits to a blockade for another month, +she will have done her duty by France; but I cannot for the life of me +see that as yet she has done anything to entitle her to boast of having +set the world an example of valour.</p> + +<p>Yesterday, it appears by the official report, there was a reconnaissance +in force under General Ducrot in the direction of Bougival and Rucil. +The Mobiles, we are told, behaved well, but the loss on either side was +insignificant. Our amateur strategists are divided as to the expediency +of taking Versailles, with the whole Prussian quartier-général, or +reopening communications with the provinces by the way of Orleans. The +relative advantages of these two schemes is hotly debated in the +newspapers and the pothouses. A more practical suggestion to form +mobilised regiments of National Guards by taking the most active men +from the existing battalions is being seriously considered by the +Government. This is all the news, except that a battalion of Amazons is +in course of formation. They are to wear trousers, kepis, and blouses, +and to be armed like the National Guard. The walls are covered with +large placards inviting enlistments. It is reported that the Government +are in possession of evidence to show that many of those female +ornaments of the Imperial Court who were called cocodettes, and who +spent in dress every year three times the annual income of their +husbands, were in the pay of Bismarck. This intelligent and unscrupulous +gentleman also, it is said, has a corps of spies recruited from all +nations, consisting of good-looking men of pleasant address and of a +certain social standing, whose business it was to insinuate themselves +into the good graces of the beauties of Parisian society, and then +endeavour to pick up the secrets of their husbands and friends. I am +inclined to think that there is a good deal of truth in this latter +allegation, because for several years I have known fascinating +foreigners who used to frequent the clubs, the Bois, and the salons of +the great world, and lead a joyous life without having any recognised +means of existence. I have been struck more than once with the anxiety +of these gentry to hook themselves on to the train of any lady who was +either the relative of a man in power or who was supposed to be on +intimate terms with a minister or a courtier. Every man, said Sir Robert +Walpole, has his price, and Bismarck might be justified in making the +same reflection as far as regards what is called European good society.</p> + +<p>The eighth <i>livraison</i> of the Tuileries papers has appeared; it contains +two letters from General Ducrot to General Frossard, a despatch from the +French Foreign-office to Benedetti, a report on France by Magne, and a +letter from a prefect to Pietri. From the few papers of any importance +which have been discovered in the Imperial palaces, our friend Badinguet +must have had an inkling when he last left Paris that he might not +return, and must have put his papers in order, <i>i.e.</i>, in the +fire-place.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening.</i></p> + +<p>I am very much afraid that it will be some time before my letters reach +you, if indeed they ever do. I had entrusted one to Lord Lyons' butler, +a very intelligent man, who was to accompany Mr. Hore, our naval +attaché, to Tours; but, alas, they did not get further than the Prussian +lines at Epinay, and they are back again at the Embassy. Mr. Hore had +with him a letter from the Nuncio to the Crown Prince, but the officer +in command of the outpost declined to take charge of it. The Columbian +Minister, too, who was charged with the protest of the Corps +Diplomatique to Bismarck on account of his refusal to allow their +despatches to go out, has also returned, to re-peruse Grotius and +Puffendorf, in order to find more precedents with which to overwhelm +Bismarck. The Greek Minister has managed to run the blockade. A son of +Commodore Lynch made an attempt to get out, but after being kept twelve +hours at the Prussian outposts, and fired on by the French, he has +returned to share our imprisonment. This morning I read in one of the +papers a wonderful account of what Mr. Lynch had seen when with the +Prussians. Meeting him this evening, I asked him whether it was true. He +told me that he had already been to the newspaper to protest against its +appearance, as every statement in it was destitute of foundation. He +could, however, get no redress; the editor or his <i>locum tenens</i> told +him that one of their reporters had given it him, and that he knew +nothing more about it. This is an instance of the reckless mode in which +the business of journalism is conducted here.</p> + +<p>I made two visits this afternoon, one to a pothouse in Belleville, the +other to a countess in the Faubourg St. Germain. I went to the former in +order to find out what the Bellevillites thought of things in general. I +found them very discontented with the Government, and divided in opinion +as to whether it would be more in the interests of the country to turn +it out at present, or to wait, until the Prussians were defeated, and +then do so. They are all very angry at the counter-manifestation of the +bourgeois against them in the Commune. "The Government," said one of +them to me, "is weak and incapable, it means to deceive us, and is +thinking more of bringing back the Comte de Paris than of defending the +town. We do not wish it to be said that we compromise the success of the +defence by agitation, but either it must show more energy, or we will +drive it from the Hôtel de Ville." I quoted to my friend Mr. Lincoln's +saying, about the mistake of changing a horse when half-way over a +river. "That is all very well," replied a citizen, who was discussing +some fiery compound at a table near me, "but we, unfortunately, have +only an ass to carry us over, and he will be swept away down the stream +with us on his back." Somebody now asked me what I was doing in Paris. I +replied that I was the correspondent of an English newspaper. Several +immediately shook me by the hand, and one of them said to me, "Pray tell +your countrymen that we men of Belleville are not what the bourgeois and +their organs pretend. We do not want to rob our neighbours; all we ask +is, to keep the Prussians out of Paris." He said a good deal more which +it is needless to repeat, but I willingly fulfil his request, to give +my testimony that he, and thousands like him, who are the bugbear of the +inhabitants of the richer districts of the city, are not by any means as +black as they are painted. They are impulsive and somewhat inclined to +exaggerate their own good qualities and the faults of others; they seem +to think that anyone who differs from them must be a knave or a fool, +and that the form of government which they prefer ought at once to be +established, whether it obtains the suffrages of the majority or not; +their knowledge, too, of the laws of political and social economy is, to +say the least, vague; but they are honest and sincere, mean what they +say, do not mistake words for deeds, and after the dreary inflated +nonsense one is compelled to listen to from their better educated +townsmen, it is refreshing to talk with them. From the Belleville +pothouse I went to the Faubourg St. Germain. In this solemn abode of a +fossil aristocracy I have a relative—a countess. She is, I believe, my +cousin about sixteen times removed, but as she is the only person of +rank with whom my family can claim the most distant relationship, we +stick to the cousinship and send her every year cheap presents, which +she reciprocates with still more meretricious <i>bonbons</i>. When I was +ushered into her drawing-room, I found her taking afternoon tea with two +old gentlemen, also a mild young man, and a priest. A "Lady of the +Faubourg," who has any pretensions to beauty, but who is of Cornelia's +mood, always has two or three old gentlemen, a mild young man, and a +priest, who drop in to see her almost every afternoon. "Are you come to +congratulate us?" said my cousin, as I entered. I kissed her hand. +"What," she continued, "have you not heard of the victory?" I opened my +eyes. "Madame," said one old gentleman, "alludes to the taking of Choisy +le Roy." I mildly hinted that the news of this important event had not +reached me. "Surprising!" said he, "I saw Vinoy myself yesterday." "It +does not follow," I suggested, "that he has taken Choisy to-day." +"Monsieur, perhaps, is not aware," jeered old gentleman No. 2, "that +60,000 men have broken through the Prussian lines, and have gone to the +relief of Bazaine." "I have not the slightest doubt of the fact; it is +precisely what I expected would occur," I humbly observed. "As for the +victory," struck in the mild young man, "I can vouch for it; I myself +have seen the prisoners." "Surely," added my cousin, "you must have +heard the cannon; ah! you English are all the same; you are all +Prussians, your Queen, your <i>'Tims'</i>, and all of you." I took refuge in +a cup of tea. One old gentleman came and stood before me. I knew well +what was coming—the old, old question. "Well, what does England think +of our attitude now?" I said that only one word could properly qualify +it—sublime. "We are sacrificing our lives," said the mild young man. I +looked at him, and I greatly fear that I smiled—"that is to say," he +continued, "we are prepared to sacrifice them." "Monsieur is in the +Garde Nationale?" I asked. "Monsieur is the only son of a widow," put in +my cousin. "But I mean to go to the ramparts for all that," added the +orphan. "You owe yourself to your mother," said the priest—"and to your +country," I suggested, but the observation fell very flat. "It is a +grand sight," observed one old gentleman, as he put a third lump of +sugar in his tea, and another into his pocket, "a glorious spectacle, to +see a population that was supposed to be given up to luxury, subsisting +cheerfully week after week upon the simplest necessaries of existence." +"I have not tasted game once this year, and the beef is far from good," +sighed old gentleman No. 2; "but we will continue to endure our +hardships for months, or for years if need be, rather than allow the +Prussians to enter Paris." This sort of Lacedemonian twaddle went on +during the whole time of my visit, and my cousin evidently was proud of +being surrounded by such Spartans. I give a specimen of it, as I think +these worthies ought to be gratified by their heroic sacrifices being +made public. "I'd rough it in a campaign as well as any linesman," said +the cornet of her Majesty's Life Guards; "give me a pint of claret and a +chicken every day, or a cut at a joint, and I would ask for nothing +more;" and the Belgravian knight's idea of the discomforts of war is +very like that of the beleaguered Gaul. Want may come, but as yet never +has a large city enjoyed greater abundance of bread and meat. The poor +are nourished by the State. The rich have, perhaps, some difficulty in +getting their supply of meat, but this is the fault of a defective +organization; in reality they are only deprived of those luxuries the +habitual use of which has impaired the digestions of half of them. It is +surely possible to exist for a few weeks on beef, mutton, flour, +preserved vegetables, wine, milk, eggs, and every species of sauce that +cook ever contrived. At about seven, provisions at the restaurants +sometimes run short. I dined to-day at a bouillon at six o'clock for +about half-a-crown. I had soup, salt cod, beef (tolerable, but perhaps a +shade horsey), rabbit, French beans, apple fritters, grapes, and coffee. +This bill of fare is a very long way from starvation.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 14th.</i></p> + +<p>According to the official account of yesterday's proceedings, General +Trochu was anxious to discover whether the Prussians were in force upon +the plateau of Chatillon, or had withdrawn from that position. The +villages of Chatillon, Bagneux, and Clamart, were consequently attacked, +and after an artillery and musketry engagement, the Prussian reserves +were brought up, thus proving that the report that they had withdrawn +was unfounded. The retreat then commenced under the fire of the forts. +About 100 prisoners were taken; in the evening they were brought to the +Place Vendôme. The newspapers are one and all singing peans over the +valour of the Mobiles—those of the Côte d'Or most distinguished +themselves. Although the whole thing was little more than a +reconnaissance, its effect has been electrical. The battalions of the +National Guard sing the Marseillaise as of old, and everyone is full of +confidence. Some of the officers who were engaged tell me that the +Mobiles really did show coolness under fire, and that they fought well +with the bayonet in the village of Bagneux. Between carrying an advanced +post and forcing the Prussian army to raise the siege, there is of +course a slight difference, but I see no reason why these strong, +healthy peasants should not become excellent troops. What they want are +commanders who are old soldiers, and would force them to submit to +regular discipline. The <i>Official Gazette</i> contains the following +decree: "Every officer of the National Guard whose antecedents are of a +nature to compromise the dignity of the epaulette, and the consideration +of the corps in which he has been elected, can be revoked. The same +punishment may be inflicted upon those officers who render themselves +guilty of continuous bad conduct, or of acts wanting in delicacy. The +revocation will be pronounced by the Government upon a report of the +Minister of War." If the Government has enough determination to carry +out this decree, the National Guard will greatly profit by it.</p> + +<p>Yesterday evening at the Folies Bergères a demonstration was made +against the Princes of the Orleans family, who are said to be in command +of an army at Rouen. It was determined to send a deputation to the +Government on the subject. This move is important, as the Folies +Bergères is rather the rendezvous of the Moderate Republicans than of +the Ultras.</p> + +<p>A letter from Havre, dated October 4, has been received, in which it is +stated that the ex-Emperor has issued an address to the nation. I do not +know what his chances of restoration are in the provinces, but here +they are absolutely hopeless. The Napoleonic legend was founded upon +victories. Since the name of Napoleon has been coupled with the +capitulation of Sedan, it is loathed as much as it once was adulated. +Apart from his personal following, Napoleon III. has not 100 adherents +in Paris.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 15th.</i></p> + +<p>Colonel Loyd Lindsay arrived here yesterday morning with £20,000 for the +ambulances, and leaves to-morrow with the Comte de Flavigny, the +President of the Ambulance Internationale. Mr. Herbert is getting +anxious respecting the future of the destitute English still here; and +with all due respect to our charitable friends at home, it appears to me +that Paris is rich enough to look after its own wounded. The flag of the +Cross of Geneva waves over several thousand houses, and such is the +desire of brave patriots to become members of an ambulance corps, that +the services of neutrals are declined.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 16th.</i></p> + +<p>We are told that the ex-Emperor has issued a proclamation, <i>urbi +orbique</i>, and that his agents are engaged in London and elsewhere in +intriguing in his behalf. I cannot believe that they have any chance of +gaining adherents to their master's cause in England. That halo of +success which blinded a portion of the English press to the iniquities +which were concealed beneath the Imperial purple has now disappeared. +The publication of the papers discovered in the Tuileries has stripped +despotism of its tinsel, and has revealed the vile and contemptible arts +by which a gallant nation has been enslaved. The Government of Napoleon, +as Mr. Gladstone said of that of Bomba, "was a negation of God upon +earth." His councillors were bold bad men, ever plotting against each +other, and united alone in a common conspiracy to grow rich at the +expense of their country, <i>creverunt in exitio patriæ</i>. His court was +the El Dorado of pimps and parasites, panders and wantons. For eighteen +long years he retained the power, which he had acquired through perjury +and violence, by pandering to the baser passions of his subjects, and by +an organized system of fraud, mendacity, and espionnage. Beneath his +blighting rule French women only sought to surpass each other in +reckless extravagance, and Frenchmen lost the courage which had half +redeemed their frivolity. Honest citizens there were, indeed, who +protested against these Saturnalia of successful villany and rampant +vice, but few listened to their warnings. They were jeered at by the +vulgar, fined, imprisoned, or banished by Ministers and Magistrates. All +that was good, noble, and generous in the nation withered in the +uncongenial atmosphere. The language of Pascal and of Corneille became +the medium of corrupting the minds of millions. The events of the day +were some actress who had discovered a new way to outrage decency, or +some new play which deified a prostitute or an adulteress. Paris became +the world's fair, to which flocked the vain, the idle, and the debauched +from all corners of the globe. For a man to be rich, or for a woman to +find favour in the eyes of some Imperial functionary, were ready +passports to social recognition. The landmarks between virtue and vice +were obliterated. The Court lady smiled in half-recognition on the +courtezan, and paid her homage by endeavouring to imitate her dress and +her manners. Cardsharpers and stockjobbers, disreputable adventurers and +public functionaries were intimate friends. No one, able to insult +modest industry by lavish ostentation, was asked how he had acquired his +wealth. Honour and honesty were prejudices of the past. What has been +the consequence? It is a comment upon despotism, which I hope will not +be lost upon those who extol the advantages of personal government, and +who would sacrifice the liberty of all to the concentrated energy of +one. The armies of France have been scattered to the winds; the +Emperor, who knew not even how a Cæsar should die, is a prisoner; his +creatures are enjoying their booty in ignoble ease, not daring even to +fight for the country which they have betrayed. The gay crowd has taken +to itself wings; an emasculated bourgeoisie, grown rich upon fashionable +follies, and a mob of working men, unused to arms, and distrustful even +of their own leaders, are cowering beneath the ramparts of Paris, +opposing frantic boasts, pitiful lamentations, unskilled valour, to the +stern discipline of the legions of Germany, whose iron grasp is +contracting closer and closer every day round the vaunted capital of +modern civilization. You know better than we do what is passing in the +provinces, but I can answer for it that the Parisians, low as they have +fallen, are not so lost to every impulse of honour as to be ready to +welcome back in triumph the prime cause of their degradation, the man of +December and of Sedan. Titania, in the <i>Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, +idealizes the weaver, and invests him with every noble attribute, and +then as soon as she regains her senses, turns from him with disgust and +exclaims, "Oh, how mine eyes do loathe thee now." So it was and so it is +with Paris and Napoleon, "None so poor to do him honour now."</p> + +<p>The Government is daily becoming more and more military, and the +Parisian Deputies are becoming little more than lay figures. M. +Gambetta, the most energetic of them, has left for the provinces. MM. +Jules Favre, Picard, and Pelletan are almost forgotten. Rochefort +devotes himself to the barricades, and M. Dorian, a hard-headed +manufacturer, is occupying himself in stimulating the manufacture of +cannon, muskets, and munitions of war. These gentlemen, with the +exception of the latter, are rather men of words than of action. They do +neither harm nor good. Of General Trochu, into whose hands, by the mere +force of circumstances, all civil and military authority is +concentrating, <i>Bonum virum, facile dixeris, magnum libenter</i>. He is, I +believe, a good general and a good administrator. Although he awakens no +enthusiasm, confidence is felt by the majority in his good sense. It is +thought, however, that he is wanting in that energy and audacity which +are requisite in a leader, if victory is to be wrested from the Germans. +He forgets that time is not his ally, and that merely to hold Paris +until that surely inevitable hour arrives when the provisions are +exhausted will neither save France nor her capital. He is a man slow to +form a plan, but obstinate in his adherence to it; unwilling to move +until he has his forces perfectly under control, and until every +administrative detail is perfected—better fitted to defend Troy for ten +years than Paris for a few months—in fact, a species of French +M'Clellan.</p> + +<p>We are now in a position, according to our military authorities, to hold +out as long as our provisions last. If Paris does this, without being so +heroic as her citizens imagine that she already is, she will have done +her duty by France. Nicholas said, when Sebastopol was besieged, that +winter was his best ally; and winter will soon come to our aid. The +Prussians are a long way from their homes; if the provinces rise it will +be difficult for them to keep their lines of communication open, and to +feed their troops. It may also be presumed that they will be harassed by +the 300,000 armed men who are cooped up here, and who are acting on the +inner circle. Cannon are being cast which, it is expected, will render +the sorties far more effective. On the other hand, the question has not +yet been solved whether the Parisians will really support the hardships +of a siege when they commence, and whether there will not be internal +dissensions. At present the greatest confidence is felt in ultimate +success. The Parisians cannot realise to themselves the possibility of +their city being taken; they are still, in their own estimation, the +representative men of "la grande nation," and they still cite the +saying of Frederick the Great that, were he King of France, not a sword +should be drawn without his permission, as though this were a dictum +that a sage had uttered yesterday. They feed every day on the vaunts and +falsehoods which their newspapers offer them, and they digest them +without a qualm. While they expect the provinces to come to their aid, +they are almost angry that they should venture to act independently of +their guidance. They are childishly anxious to send out commissaries to +take the direction of affairs in Normandy and Touraine, for the +provincials are in their eyes slaves, born to serve and to obey the +capital. Indeed, they have not yet got over their surprise that the +world should continue to move now that it is deprived of its pivot. All +this folly may not prevent their fighting well. Fools and braggarts are +often brave men. The Parisians have an indomitable pride, they have +called upon the world to witness their achievements, and the thought of +King William riding in triumph along the Boulevards is so bitter a one, +that it may nerve them to the wildest desperation. If, however, Bazaine +capitulates, and the armies of the Loire and of Lyons are only the +figments of their own brains, it may be that they will bow to what they +will call destiny. "Heaven has declared against us," is an expression +that I already hear frequently uttered. It is indeed as impossible to +predicate here, as it is in London, what may be the mood of this fickle +and impulsive population a week hence. All I can positively say is, that +at the present moment they are in "King Cambyses' vein." We ought not to +judge a foreign nation by our own standard, but it is impossible not to +re-echo Lord Bolingbroke's "poor humanity" a hundred times a day, when +one reads the inflated bombast of the newspapers, and hears the nonsense +that is talked by almost everyone; when one sees the Gaul marching off +to the ramparts convinced, because he wears a kepi and a sword, that he +is a very Achilles; when regiments solemnly crown a statue with laurel +crowns, and sign round robins to die for their country. All these antics +ought not to make one forget that these men are fighting for the holiest +of causes, the integrity of their country, and that the worst of +Republics is better than the best of feudal monarchies; but I confess I +frequently despair of their ever attaining to the dignity of free men, +until they have been further tried in the school of adversity.</p> + +<p>Yesterday M. Jules Favre, in reply to a deputation from the Club of the +Folies Bergères, stated that he was not aware that the Orleans Princes +were in France. "If the army of succour," he said, "comes to us, we will +extend our hands to it; but if it marches under the Orleans banner, the +Government will not recognise that banner. As a man, I deplore the law +which proscribes this family; as a citizen and a politician, I maintain +it. Even if these Princes were to abdicate their dynastic pretensions, +the Government will remember Bonaparte, and how he destroyed the +Republic in 1851, and energetically protest against their return." This +reply when reported to the Club was greatly applauded. Probably none of +its members had ever heard the proverb that beggars ought not to be +choosers.</p> + +<p>The event of the day has been the arrest of M. Portales, the editor of +the <i>Vérité</i>. This newspaper, after asserting that the Government has +received news from the provinces, asks a series of questions. In the +afternoon the editor was arrested, and this morning the <i>Official +Gazette</i> thus replies to the queries: No news has been concealed. The +last official despatch received is one from Gambetta, announcing his +safe arrival at Montdidier. The Government has received an old copy of +the <i>Standard</i>, but this journal, "notoriously hostile to France," +contained sensational intelligence, which appeared absolutely untrue. +To-day it has received a journal of Rouen of the 12th, and it hastens to +publish the news derived from this source. Bismarck never proposed an +armistice through Burnside. The General only unofficially informed +Trochu that Bismarck's views were not altered since he had met Favre at +Ferrières, when he stated that "if he considered an armistice realizable +for the convocation of an Assembly, he would only grant it for +forty-eight hours; he would refuse to include Metz, or to permit +provisions to enter Paris, and exclude from the Assembly our brave and +unhappy compatriots of Alsace and Lorraine." The <i>Official Gazette</i> then +gives extracts from the Rouen paper, which are very contradictory. Our +newspapers, however, in commenting on them, come to the conclusion that +there are two armies in the field well equipped, and that they have +already achieved important successes. The situation also of Bazaine is +proved to be excellent. <i>Quem Dem, &c.</i></p> + +<p>Two of the mayors have ordered all crucifixes to be removed from the +ambulances in their arrondissements. Their conduct is almost universally +blamed. The enlistment of the Amazons, notwithstanding the efforts of +the Government, still continues. The pretty women keep aloof from the +movement; the recruits who have already joined are so old and ugly that +possibly they may act upon an enemy like the head of Medusa.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 17th.</i></p> + +<p>The newspapers to-day almost universally blame the arrest of M. +Portales. This gentleman, with M.E. Picard, started, just before the +siege commenced, a paper called <i>L'Electeur Libre</i>. It was thought that +M. Picard's position as a member of the Government rendered it +impossible for him to remain the political director of a newspaper, so +he withdrew, but appointed his brother as his successor. This did not +please M. Portales, who with most of the staff left the <i>Electeur +Libre</i>, and founded <i>La Vérité</i>. It is, therefore, somewhat suspicious +that this new paper should be the only one whose editor has been +imprisoned for circulating "falsehoods." In the first place, almost +every French newspaper of any circulation trades upon lies; in the +second place, it appears that in this particular case the <i>Vérité</i> only +put in the sensational form of questions a letter from the <i>Times</i>' +correspondent at Tours. This letter it publishes to-day, and appeals to +the public to judge between M. Portales and M. Picard. The fact is that +this population can neither tell nor hear the truth. The English papers +are one and all in bad odour because they declined to believe in the +Emperor's victories, and if a <i>Daily News</i> comes in here with an account +of some new French reverse, I shall probably be imprisoned. Government +and people have laid down this axiom, "bad news false news." General +Trochu again appears in print in a long circular letter to the +commandants of the corps d'armée and the forts. He desires them each to +send him in a list of forty men who have distinguished themselves, and +their names and no others will appear in the order of the day. "We +have," says the General, "to cause this grand thought, which monarchies +decline to recognise but which the Republic should hold sacred, to +penetrate into the minds of our officers and soldiers—opinion alone can +worthily recompense the sacrifice of a life; remember that if you make a +bad choice of the men you recommend, you will gravely compromise your +responsibility towards me, and at the same time the great principle +which I would have prevail." The General is a very copious writer, and +it seems to me that he would do well to remember that if he can only +drive away the Prussians, he will have time enough afterwards to +introduce his "grand thoughts" into the army. Two things, says Thiers, +impose upon Frenchmen—military glory and profound silence. Trochu has +the first to win, and he apparently scorns the latter. He is a species +of military doctrinaire, and he finds it difficult to avoid lecturing +soldiers or civilians at least once a day. I was looking at him the +other day, and I never saw calm, serene, self-complacency more clearly +depicted upon the human countenance. Failure or success will find him +the same—confident in himself, in his plans, and his grand thoughts. If +he eventually has to surrender, he will console himself by coupling with +the announcement of his intention many observations—very wise, very +beautiful, very lengthy, and very stale.</p> + +<p>Mr. Herbert tells me that there are more English here than he had +imagined. He estimates their number at about 4000, about 800 of whom are +destitute. The funds at his disposal for them would have already run +short had not Mr. Wallace again largely contributed to them. They are +fed with rice and Liebig, but the great difficulty has been to find fat +to add to this mess. The beasts that are killed are so lean that it is +almost impossible to obtain it except at an extravagant price. Tallow +candles have been seriously suggested, but they too are scarce. The +English, as foreigners, cannot claim rations, and were it not for the +kindness of Mr. Herbert and Mr. Wallace, they would, I am afraid, really +starve. All their rich fellow-countrymen, with the exception of Mr. +Wallace, have left Paris, and even if they were here they would not be +able to do anything unless they had money with them, as it is impossible +to draw on London. Winter is coming on, and clothes and fuel as well as +food will be wanted. I would suggest to the charitable in England to +send contributions to Mr. Herbert. I can hardly suppose that Count +Bismarck would decline to let the money pass through the Prussian lines. +I hear that Mr. Washburne has obtained a half permission to send his +countrymen out of the town, if so, I think it would be well if the poor +English were also to leave; but this, of course, will require money.</p> + +<p>The Nuncio has managed to get away; he declined to take letters with +him. E. Washburne, United States Minister, Lopez de Arosemana, Chargé +d'Affaires of Honduras, Duke Aquaviva, Chargé d'Affaires of Monaco, and +the other members of the Corps Diplomatique still here, have signed and +published a protest against the refusal of Count Bismarck to let their +despatches to their respective Governments leave Paris sealed. That Mr. +Washburne should be indignant I can well understand; but although I do +not personally know either Lopez de Arosemana, or Aquaviva, Chargé +d'Affaires of Monaco, I can understand Count Bismarck not being +absolutely satisfied with the assurance of these potent signors that +nothing except official despatches should pass under their seal. That +the Prince of Monaco should be debarred for a few months from receiving +communications from his representative in Paris, may perhaps be +unpleasant to him, but must be a matter of the most profound +indifference to the rest of the world.</p> + +<p>It is somewhat amusing to observe how justice is administered when any +dispute arises in the streets. The sergents-de-ville immediately +withdraw, in order not to prejudice the question by their presence. A +sort of informal jury is impanelled, each disputant states his case, and +the one who is thought by the tribunal to be in fault, is either taken +off to prison, or cuffed on the spot. I have bought myself a sugar-loaf +hat of the First Republic, and am consequently regarded with deference. +To-day a man was bullying a child, and a crowd gathered round him; I +happened just then to come up, room was immediately made for me and my +hat, and I was asked to give my opinion as to what ought to be done with +the culprit. I suggested kicking, and as I walked away, I saw him +writhing under the boots of two sturdy executioners, amid the applause +of the spectators. "The style is the man," said Buffon; had he lived +here now he would rather have said "the hat is the man." An English +doctor who goes about in a regulation chimney-pot has already been +arrested twenty-seven times; I, thanks to my revolutionary hat, have +not been arrested once. I have only to glance from under its brim at any +one for him to quail.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 18th.</i></p> + +<p>A decree has been issued ordering a company of 150 men to be mobilised +in each battalion of the National Guard. Three of these companies are +together to form a mobilised battalion, and to elect their commander. +The <i>Journal Officiel</i> contains two long reports upon the works of +defence which have been executed since the commencement of the siege. +They give the number of guns on each bastion, and the number of rounds +to each gun, the number of cartridges, and the amount of powder in +store. Unless these reports be patriotic fictions, it seems strange to +publish them in the newspapers, as they must inevitably fall into the +hands of the Prussians. Be this as it may, I do not feel at liberty to +quote from them. General Ducrot publishes a letter protesting against a +statement of the German journals that he escaped from Pont-à-Mousson +when on parole. He asserts that his safe-conduct had been given up, and +that he consequently was free to get away if he could. His evasion is +very similar to that of F. Meagher from Australia. M. Jules Favre +publishes a circular to the French Diplomatic Agents abroad, in reply to +Count Bismarck's report of the meeting at Ferrières. You will probably +have received it before you get this letter. It is more rhetorical than +logical—goes over the old ground of the war having been declared +against Napoleon rather than against the French nation, and complains +that "the European Cabinets, instead of inaugurating the doctrine of +mediation, recommended by justice and their own interests, by their +inertness authorise the continuation of a barbarous struggle, which is a +disaster for all and an outrage on civilization." M. Jules Favre cannot +emancipate himself from the popular delusions of his country, that +France can go to war without, if vanquished, submitting to the +consequences, and that Paris can take refuge behind her ramparts without +being treated as a fortified town; at the same time he very rightly +protests against the Prussian theory of the right of conquest implying a +moral right to annex provinces against the wishes of their inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Few have been in Paris without having driven through the Avenue de +l'Impératrice. What has been done there to render it impregnable to +attack will consequently give an idea what has been done everywhere. At +the Bois de Boulogne end of the avenue the gate has been closed up by a +wall and a moat; behind them there is a redoubt. Between this and the +Arc de Triomphe there are three barricades made of masonry and earth, +and three ditches. Along the grass on each side of the roadway, the +ground has been honey-combed, and in each hole there are pointed stakes. +In every house Nationaux are billeted; in two of them there are +artillerymen. In the Avenue de Neuilly, and in many other parts of the +town, the preparations against an assault are still more formidable. +Bagatelles, the villa of the late Lord Hertford, has been almost gutted +by 2,000 Mobiles, who make it their headquarters. We are exceedingly +proud of having burnt down St. Cloud, and we say that if this does not +convince the Prussians that we are in earnest, we will burn down +Versailles. I wonder whether the proverb about cutting off one's nose to +spite one's face has an equivalent in French.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 19th.</i></p> + +<p>A despatch is published this morning from M. Gambetta, giving a very +hopeful account of things in the provinces. As, however, this gentleman +on his arrival at Tours issued a proclamation in which he announced that +there were one-third more guns in Paris than it is even pretended by the +Government that there are, I look with great suspicion upon his +utterances. The latest declaration of the Government differs essentially +from that which was made at the commencement of the siege. A friend of +mine pointed out to one of its members this discrepancy, when he replied +that the Government had purposely understated their resources at first. +This may be all very fair in war, but it prevents a reasonable person +placing the slightest confidence in anything official. Dr. Johnson did +not believe in the earthquake at Lisbon for one year after the news +reached London, and I shall not believe in the resources of the +provinces until they prove their existence by raising the siege. I am +very curious to discover what is thought of Paris by the world. There is +but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. If really by holding +out for several months the situation can be altered for the better, the +Parisians are right to do so, but if the Government is only humbugging +them with false intelligence, if they are simply destroying their own +villages in the neighbourhood, and exhausting their resources within +the town, whilst a Prussian army is living at the cost of their country, +it seems to me that they are acting like silly schoolboys rather than +wise men, and that there really is something in the sneer of Bismarck +that the Deputies of Paris are determined, <i>coûte qui coûte</i>, to +preserve the power with which the hazards of a revolution invested them.</p> + +<p>The newspapers this morning are full of articles lauding M. Jules +Favre's circular, and reviling the proposals of Bismarck. The following +extract from the <i>Liberté</i> will serve as an example of their usual +tone:—"A word of gratitude to the great citizen, to Jules Favre. Let +him know that his honest, eloquent, and brave words give us strength, +dry our tears, and cure our wounds. Poor and dear France! Provinces +crushed and towns blockaded, populations ruined, and thou, O Paris, once +the city of the fairies, now become the city of the grave times of +antiquity, raise thy head, be confident, be strong. It is thy heart that +has spoken, it is thy soul unconquered, invincible, the soul of thy +country that has appealed to the world and told it the truth." The +<i>Liberté</i>, after this preliminary burst, goes on to say, that it knew +before that Bismarck was everything that was bad, but that it has now +discovered that, besides possessing every other vice, he is a liar, and +if there is one thing that France and the <i>Liberté</i> cannot endure, it is +a man who does not tell the truth. If the Prussians are not driven out +of France by words, it certainly will be a proof that mere words have +very little effect in shaping the destinies of nations.</p> + +<p>Each person now receives 100 grammes of meat per diem, the system of +distribution being that every one has to wait on an average two hours +before he receives his meat at the door of a butcher's shop. I dine +habitually at a bouillon; there horse-flesh is eaten in the place of +beef, and cat is called rabbit. Both, however, are excellent, and the +former is a little sweeter than beef, but in other respects much like +it; the latter something between rabbit and squirrel, with a flavour all +its own. It is delicious. I recommend those who have cats with +philoprogenitive proclivities, instead of drowning the kittens, to eat +them. Either smothered in onions or in a ragout they are excellent. When +I return to London I shall frequently treat myself to one of these +domestic animals, and ever feel grateful to Bismarck for having taught +me that cat served up for dinner is the right animal in the right place.</p> + +<p>I went last night to the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin; it has become +the rendezvous of the optimists, and speeches were delivered to prove +that everything was for the best in the best of worlds, and poetry was +recited to prove that the Prussians must eventually be defeated. The +chair was taken by M. Coquerel, who with great truth said that Paris had +fallen so low that the siege might be considered almost a blessing, and +that the longer it lasted, the more likely was it to aid in the work of +regeneration, which alone can make this world a globe of honourable men +and honest women. It will, indeed, do the Parisians all the good in the +world to keep guard on the ramparts instead of doing nothing but gossip +till one or two in the morning at cafés.</p> + +<p>General Trochu, that complete letter-writer, to-day replies to General +Ducrot, telling him that his proclamation respecting his evasion from +Pont-à-Mousson is most satisfactory.</p> + +<p>The military events of this week have been unimportant. The forts have +continued silent, and reconnaissances have been made here and there. The +faubourgs, too, have been quiet. Everything is being done to make the +siege weigh as little upon the population as possible. Thus, for +instance, few lamps are lit in the streets, but the shops and cafés are +still a blaze of light; they close, however, early. Here is rather a +good story; I can vouch for its truth. The Government recently visited +the Tuileries. They were received by the governor, whom they found +established in a suite of apartments. He showed them over the palace, +and then offered them luncheon. They then incidentally asked him who had +nominated him to the post he so ably filled. "Myself," he replied; "just +by the same authority as you nominated yourselves, and no less." There +was heavy firing all through the night in the direction of Vannes.</p> + +<p>M. Mottu, the mayor of the 11th arrondissement, who had entered into a +campaign against crucifixes, has been removed. The Government were +"interviewed" last night by the chiefs of thirty battalions of Gardes +Nationales of the 11th arrondissement on the subject. The deputation was +assured that M. Mottu would be reinstated in his mairie if he would +promise to moderate his zeal.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 20th.</i></p> + +<p>"The clients of M. Poiret are informed that they can only have one plate +of meat," was the terrible writing which stared me on the wall, when I +went to dine at my favourite bouillon—and, good heavens, what a portion +it was! Not enough for the dinner of a fine lady who has previously +gorged herself at a private luncheon. If meat is, as we are told, so +plentiful that it will last for five weeks more, the mode in which it is +distributed is radically bad. While at a large popular restaurant, where +hundreds of the middle classes dine, each person only gets enough cat or +horse to whet his appetite for more; in the expensive cafés on the +Boulevards, feasts worthy of Lucullus are still served to those who are +ready to part with their money with the proverbial readiness of fools. +Far more practical, my worthy Republicans, would it be to establish +"liberté, égalité, fraternité" in the cook shops, than to write the +words in letters of gold over your churches. In every great city there +always is much want and misery; here, although succour is supposed to be +afforded to all who require it, many I fear are starving owing to that +bureaucrat love of classification which is the curse of France. After my +meagre dinner, I was strolling along the quays near the river, +<i>l'estomac</i> as <i>leger</i> as M. Ollivier's heart, when I saw a woman +leaning over the parapet. She turned as I was passing her, and the lamp +from the opposite gate of the Tuileries shone on her face. It was honest +and homely, but so careworn, so utterly hopeless, that I stopped to ask +her if she was ill. "Only tired and hungry'" she replied; "I have been +walking all day, and I have not eaten since yesterday." I took her to a +café and gave her some bread and coffee, and then she told me her story. +She was a peasant girl from Franche Comté, and had come to Paris, where +she had gone into service. But she had soon tired of domestic servitude, +and for the last year she had supported herself by sewing waistcoats in +a great wholesale establishment. At the commencement of the siege she +had been discharged, and for some days she found employment in a +Government workshop, but for the last three weeks she had wandered here +and there, vainly asking for work. One by one she had sold every article +of dress she possessed, except the scanty garments she wore, and she had +lived upon bread and celery. The day before she had spent her last sou, +and when I saw her she had come down to the river, starving and +exhausted, to throw herself into it. "But the water looked so cold, I +did not dare," she said. Thus spoke the grisette of Paris, very +different from the gay, thoughtless being of French romance, who lives +in a garret, her window shrouded with flowers, is adored by a student, +and earns enough money in a few hours to pass the rest of the week +dancing, gossiping, and amusing herself. As I listened to her, I felt +ashamed of myself for repining because I had only had one plate of meat. +The hopeless, desolate condition of this poor girl is that of many of +her class to-day. But why should they complain? Is not King William the +instrument of Heaven, and is he not engaged in a holy cause? That Kings +should fight and that seamstresses should weep is in the natural order +of things. Frenchmen and Frenchwomen only deserve to be massacred or +starved if they are so lost to all sense of what is just as to venture +to struggle against the dismemberment of their country, and do not +understand how meet and right it is that their fellow-countrymen in +Alsace should be converted into German subjects.</p> + +<p>General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea, and who takes a somewhat larger +view of things than the sententious Trochu, has been good enough to +furnish me with a pass, which allows me to wander unmolested anywhere +within the French outposts. "If you attempt to pass them," observes the +General, "you will be shot by the sentinels, in obedience to my orders." +A general order also permits anyone to go as far as the line of the +forts. Yesterday I chartered a cab and went to Boulogne, a village on +the Seine, close by the wood of the same name. We drove through a +portion of the Bois; it contained more soldiers than trees. Line and +artillerymen were camped everywhere, and every fifty yards a group was +engaged in skinning or cutting up a dead horse. The village of Boulogne +had been deserted by almost all the inhabitants. Across some of the +streets leading to the river there were barricades, others were open. In +most of the houses there were soldiers, and others were in rifle-pits +and trenches. A brisk exchange of shots was going on with the Prussians, +who were concealed in the opposite houses of St. Cloud. I cannot +congratulate the enemy upon the accuracy of their aim, for although +several evilly disposed Prussians took a shot at my cab, their bullets +whistled far above our heads, and after one preliminary kick, the old +cab-horse did not even condescend to notice them. As for the cabman, he +was slightly in liquor, and at one of the cross-streets leading to the +river he got off his box, and performed a war-dance to show his contempt +for the skill of the enemies of his nation. In the Grand Place there was +a long barricade, and behind it men, women, and children were crouching +watching the opposite houses, from which every now and then a puff of +smoke issued, followed by a sharp report. The soldiers were very orderly +and good-natured; as I had a glass, some of them took me up into the +garrets of a deserted house, from the windows of which we tried in vain +to espy our assailants. My friends fired into several of the houses from +which smoke issued, but with what effect I do not know. The amusement of +the place seemed to be to watch soldiers running along an open road +which was exposed to fire for about thirty yards. Two had been killed in +the morning, but this did not appear in any way to diminish the zest of +the sport. At least twenty soldiers ran the gauntlet whilst I was there, +but not one of them was wounded. As well as I could make out, the damage +done to St. Cloud by the bombs of Mont Valérien is very inconsiderable. +A portion of the Palace and a few houses were in ruins, but that was +all. There is a large barrack there, which the soldiers assured me is +lit up every night, and why this building has not been shelled, neither +they nor I could understand. The newspapers say that the Prussians have +guns on the unfinished redoubt of Brinborion; it was not above 1,000 +yards from where I was standing, but with my glass I could not make out +that there were any there. Several officers with whom I spoke said that +it was very doubtful. On my return, my cabman, who had got over his +liquor, wanted double his fare. "For myself," he said, "I am a +Frenchman, and I should scorn to ask for money for running a risk of +being shot by a <i>canaille</i> of a German, but think of my horse;" and then +he patted the faithful steed, whom I may possibly have the pleasure to +meet again, served up in a sauce piquante. The newspapers, almost +without exception, protest against the mediation of England and Russia, +which they imagine is offered by these Powers. "It is too late," says +the organ of M. Picard. "Can France accept a mediation which will snatch +from her the enemy at the moment when victory is certain?"</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 25th.</i></p> + +<p>Has General Trochu a plan?—if so, what is it? It appears to me, as Sir +Robert Peel would have said, that he has only three courses to pursue: +first, to do nothing, and to capitulate as soon as he is starved out; +this would, I reckon, bring the siege to an end in about two months: +secondly, to fight a battle with all his disposable forces, which might +be prolonged for several days, and thus risk all upon one great venture: +thirdly, to cut his way out of Paris with the line and the Mobiles. The +two united would form a force of about 150,000 men, and supported by 500 +cannon, it may reasonably be expected that the Prussian lines would be +pierced. In this case a junction might be effected with any army which +exists in the provinces, and the combined force might throw itself upon +the enemy's line of communications. In the meantime Paris would be +defended by its forts and its ramparts. The former would be held by the +sailors and the mobilized National Guards of Paris, the latter by the +Sedentary Garde Nationale. Which of these courses will be adopted, it is +impossible to say; the latter, however, is the only one which seems to +present even a chance of ultimate success. With respect to the second, I +do not think that the Mobiles could stand for days or even for hours +against the artillery and musketry force of their opponents. They are +individually brave, but like all raw troops they become excited under +fire, shoot wildly, then rush forward in order to engage in a +hand-to-hand encounter, and break before they reach the Prussian lines. +In this respect the troops of the line are not much better. The +Prussian tactics, indeed, have revolutionized the whole system of +warfare, and the French, until they have learnt them, will always go to +the wall.</p> + +<p>Every day that this siege lasts, convinces me more and more that General +Trochu is not the right man in the right place. He writes long-winded +letters, utters Spartan aphorisms, and complains of his colleagues, his +generals, and his troops. The confidence which was felt in him is +rapidly diminishing. He is a good, respectable, honest man, without a +grain of genius, or of that fierce indomitable energy which sometimes +replaces it. He would make a good Minister of War in quiet times, but he +is about as fit to command in the present emergency as Mr. Cardwell +would be. His two principal military subordinates, Vinoy and Ducrot, are +excellent Generals of Division, but nothing more. As for his civilian +colleagues, they are one and all hardly more practical than Professor +Fawcett. Each has some crotchet of his own, each likes to dogmatize and +to speechify, and each considers the others to be idiots, and has a +small following of his own, which regards him as a species of divinity. +They are philosophers, orators, and legists, but they are neither +practical men nor statesmen. I understand that General Trochu says, that +the most sensible among them is Rochefort.</p> + +<p>We want to know what has become of Sergeant Truffet. As the Prussians +are continually dinning it into Europe that the French fire on their +flags of truce, the following facts, for the truth of which I can vouch, +may, perhaps, account for it; if, indeed, it has ever occurred. A few +days ago, some French soldiers, behind a barricade a little in advance +of the Moulin Saqui, saw a Bavarian crawl towards them, waving a white +flag. When he stopped, the soldiers called to him to come forward, but +he remained, still waving his flag. Sergeant Truffet then got over the +barricade, and went towards him. Several Germans immediately rushed +forward, and sergeant, flag, and Germans, disappeared within the enemy's +lines. The next day, General Vinoy sent an officer to protest against +this gross violation of the laws of war, and to demand that the sergeant +should be restored. The officer went to Creteil, thence he was sent to +Choisy le Roi, where General Jemplin (if this is how he spells his name) +declined to produce the sergeant, who, he said, was a deserter, or to +give any explanation as to his whereabouts. Now Truffet, as his +companions can testify, had not the remotest intention to desert. He was +a good and steady soldier. He became a prisoner, through a most odious +stratagem, and a Prussian general, although the facts have been +officially brought before him, has refused to release him. The Germans +are exceedingly fond of trumping up charges against the French, but they +have no right to expect to be believed, until they restore to us our +Truffet, and punish the Bavarians who entrapped him by means of a false +flag of truce.</p> + +<p>The subscription for the 1500 cannon hangs fire. The question, however, +whether both cannon and Chassepots can be made in Paris is solved, as +the private workshops are making daily deliveries of both to Government. +At the commencement of the siege it was feared that there would not be +enough projectiles; these, also, are now being manufactured. For the +last week, the forts have been firing at everything and anything. The +admirals in command say that the sailors bore themselves so, that they +are obliged to allow them to fire more frequently than is absolutely +necessary.</p> + +<p>I have been endeavouring to form an estimate of the absolute cost in +money of the siege, per diem. The National Guard receive in pay +24,000l., rations to themselves and families amount to about 10,000l., +the Mobiles do not cost less than 30,000l. Unproductive industries +connected with the war, about 15,000l. Rations to the destitute, 5000l. +When, in addition to these items, it is remembered that every +productive industry is at a standstill, it is no exaggeration to say +that Paris is eating its head off at the rate of 200,000l. per diem.</p> + +<p>Flourens has been re-elected commander-in-chief of five battalions of +Belleville National Guards. The Government, however, declines to +recognize this cumulative command. The "Major" writes a letter to-day to +the <i>Combat</i> denouncing the Government, and demanding that the Republic +"should decree victory," and shoot every unsuccessful general. Blanqui +says that he lost his election as commander of a battalion, through the +intrigues of the Jesuits. It was proposed on Saturday, at a club, to +make a demonstration before the Hôtel de Ville, in favour of M. Mottu, +the Mayor of the eleventh arrondissement, who was dismissed on account +of his crusade against crucifixes. An amendment, however, was carried, +putting it off until famine gives the friends of a revolution new +adherents. Crucifixes were denounced by an orator in the course of the +evening, as "impure nudities, which ought not to be suffered in public +places, on account of our daughters."</p> + +<p>The great meat question is left to every arrondissement to decide +according to its own lights. As a necessary consequence of this, while +in one part of Paris it takes six hours to get a beef-steak, in others, +where a better system of distribution prevails, each person can obtain +his ration of 100 grammes without any extraordinary delay. Butter now +costs 18fr. the pound. Milk is beginning to get scarce. The "committee +of alimentation" recommends mothers to nourish their babies from what +Mr. Dickens somewhere calls "nature's founts."</p> + +<p>I had a conversation yesterday with one of the best writers on the +French press, and I asked him to tell me what were the views of the +sensible portion of the population respecting the situation. He replied, +"We always were opposed to the Empire; we knew what the consequences +eventually would be. The deluge has overtaken us, and we must accept the +consequences. In Paris, few who really are able to form a just estimate +of our resources, can expect that the siege can have any but a +disastrous termination. Everyone, however, has lost so much, that he is +indifferent to what remains. We feel that Paris would be disgraced if at +least by a respectable defence she does not show that she is ready to +sacrifice herself for France." "But," I said, "you are only putting off +the inevitable hour at a heavy cost to yourself." "Perhaps," he replied, +"we are not acting wisely, but you must take into consideration our +national weaknesses; it is all very well to say that we ought to treat +now, and endeavour to husband our resources, so as to take our revenge +in twenty years, but during that twenty years we should not venture to +show ourselves abroad, or hold up our heads at home." "In the end, +however, you must treat," I said. "Never," he replied. "Germany may +occupy Alsace and Lorraine, but we will never recognise the fact that +they are no longer French." "I hardly see," I said, "that this will +profit you." "Materially, perhaps not," he answered, "but at least we +shall save our honour." "And what, pray, will happen after the +capitulation of Paris?" "Practically," he replied, "there is no +Government in France, there will not be for about two years, and then, +probably, we shall have the Orleans princes." The opinions enunciated by +this gentleman are those of most of the <i>doctrinaires</i>. They appear to +be without hope, without a policy, and without any very definite idea +how France is to get out of the singularly false position in which the +loss of her army, and the difficulty of her people to accept the +inevitable consequences, have placed her. My own impression is, that the +provinces will in the end insist upon peace at any cost, as a +preliminary step towards some regular form of government, and the +withdrawal of the German troops, whose prolonged occupation of +department after department must exhaust the entire recuperative +resources of the country.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 27th.</i></p> + +<p>At an early hour yesterday morning, about 100 English congregated at the +gate of Charenton <i>en route</i> for London. There were with them about 60 +Americans, and 20 Russians, who also were going to leave us. Imagine the +indignation of these "Cives Romani," when they were informed that, while +the Russians and the Americans would be allowed to pass the Prussian +outposts, owing to the list of the English wishing to go not having +reached Count Bismarck in time, they would have to put off their journey +to another day. The guard had literally to be turned out to prevent them +from endeavouring to force their way through the whole German army. I +spoke this morning to an English butler who had made one of the party. +This worthy man evidently was of opinion that the end of the world is +near at hand, when a butler, and a most respectable person, is treated +in this manner. "Pray, sir, may I ask," he said, with bitter scorn, +"whether her Majesty is still on the throne in England?" I replied, "I +believed that she was." "Then," he went on, "has this Count Bismarck, as +they call him, driven the British nobles out of the House of Lords? +Nothing which this feller does would surprise me now." Butler, Chargé +d'Affaires, and the other <i>cives</i>, are, I understand, to make another +start, as soon as the "feller" condescends to answer a letter which has +been forwarded to him, asking him to fix a day for their departure.</p> + +<p>We are daily anticipating an attack on the Southern side of the city. +The Prussians are close into the forts on their line from Meudon to +Choisy-le-Roi. Two days ago it was supposed that they were dragging +their siege guns to batteries which they had prepared for them, +notwithstanding our fire, which until now we proudly imagined had +rendered it impossible for them to put a spade to the ground. Our +generals believe, I know not with what truth, that the Prussians have +only got twenty-six siege guns. If they are on the plateau of Meudon, +and if they carry, as is asserted, nine kilometres, a large portion of +the city on the left bank of the Seine will be under fire. On our side +we have approached so close to the villages along the Prussian line in +this direction that one side or the other must in self-defence soon make +an attack. The newspapers of yesterday morning having asserted that +Choisy-le-Roi was no longer occupied by the enemy, I went out in the +afternoon to inspect matters. I got to the end of the village of Vitry, +where the advanced posts, to whom I showed my pass, asked me where I +wanted to go. I replied, to Choisy-le-Roi. A corporal pointed to a house +at some distance beyond where we were standing. "The Prussians are in +that house," he said. "If you like, you can go forward and look at them; +they are not firing." So forward I went. I was within a hundred yards of +the house when some Francs-tireurs, hid in the field to the right of +the road, commenced firing, and the Fort d'Ivry from behind opened fire. +The Prussians on their side replied with their needle-guns. I got behind +a tree, feeling that my last hour was come. There I remained about half +an hour, for whenever I moved a bullet came whizzing near me. At last a +thought, a happy thought, occurred to me. I rolled myself into a ditch, +which ran alongside the road, and down this ditch I crept until I got +close to the barricade, over which I climbed with more haste than +dignity. The soldiers were greatly amazed at my having really believed a +statement which I had read in the newspapers, and their observations +respecting the Parisians and their "organs" were far from complimentary. +On my way back by Montrouge, I stopped to gossip with some Breton +Mobiles. They, too, spoke with the utmost scorn of the patriots within +the walls. "We are kept here," they said, "to defend these men, all of +whom have arms like us; they live comfortably inside the ramparts, +whilst the provinces are being ravaged." These Breton Mobiles are the +idols of the hour. They are to the Republic what the Zouaves were to the +Empire. They are very far, however, from reciprocating the admiration +which the Republicans entertain for them. They are brave, devout, +credulous peasants, care far more for Brittany than they do for Paris, +and regard the individuals who rule by the grace of Paris with feelings +the reverse of friendly. The army and the Mobiles, indeed, like being +cooped up here less and less every day, and they cannot understand why +the 300,000 National Guards who march and drill in safety inside the +capital do not come outside and rough it like them. While I was talking +to these Bretons one of them blew his nose with his handkerchief. His +companions apologised to me for this piece of affectation. "He is from +Finisterre," they said. In Finisterre, it appears, luxury is enervating +the population, and they blow their noses with handkerchiefs; in other +parts of Brittany, where the hardy habits of a former age still prevail, +a more simple method is adopted.</p> + +<p>The volunteering from the National Guard for active service has been a +failure. 40,000 men were required; not 7,000 have sent in their names. +The Ultras say that it is a scheme to get rid of them; the bourgeoisie +say nothing, but volunteer all the less. The fact is, the siege as far +as regards the Parisians has been as yet like hunting—all the pleasure +of war, with one per cent. of the danger; and so long as they can help +it they have no intention to increase that per-centage. As for the 1,500 +cannon, they have not yet been made; but many of them have already been +named. One is to be called the "Jules Favre," one the "Populace," "We +already hear them thunder, and see the Prussians decimated," says the +<i>Temps</i>, and its editor is not the first person who has counted his +chickens before they are hatched.</p> + +<p>All yesterday afternoon and evening the Fort of Issy, and the battery of +the Bois de Boulogne, fired heavily on Brinborion and Meudon, with what +result no one knows. Yesterday morning the <i>Combat</i> announced that +Marshal Bazaine was treating for the surrender of Metz in the name of +Napoleon. The Government was interviewed, and denied the fact. In the +evening the <i>Combat</i> was burnt on the Boulevards. The chief of General +Ducrot's staff has published a letter protesting against the assertions +of certain journals that the fight at Malmaison produced no results. On +the contrary, he says it gained us sixty square kilometres of ground in +the plain of Genevilliers.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 28th.</i></p> + +<p>I see at a meeting of the mayors, the population of Paris is put down at +2,036,000. This does not include the regular army, or the Marines and +Mobiles outside and within the lines. The consumption of meat, +consequently, at the rate of 100 grammes per diem, must amount to +between 400,000 and 500,000lbs. per diem. Although mutton according to +the tariff is cheaper than beef, I rarely see any at the restaurants. +This tells its own tale, and I imagine that in three weeks from now at +the very latest fresh meat will have come to an end.</p> + +<p>I am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that there is no more fight in +the working men than in the bourgeois. The National Guard in Montmartre +and Batignolles have held an indignation meeting to protest against +their being employed in the forts. A law was passed on August 10 calling +under arms all unmarried men between 25 and 40. In Paris it has never +been acted on; it would, however, be far better to regularly enrol this +portion of the National Guard as soldiers than to ask for volunteers. As +long as these "sedentary" warriors can avoid regular service, or +subjecting themselves to the discipline and the hardships of real +soldiers, they will do so. Before the Panthéon, the mayor of an +arrondissement sits on a platform, writing down the names of volunteers. +Whenever one makes his appearance, a roll of drums announces to his +fellow-citizens that he has undertaken to risk his valuable life outside +the ramparts. It really does appear too monstrous that the able-bodied +men of this city should wear uniforms, learn the goose-step, and refuse +to take any part in the defence within shot of the enemy. That they +should object to be employed in a campaign away from their homes, is +hardly in accordance with their appeal to the provinces to rise <i>en +masse</i> to defend France, but that they should decline to do anything but +go over every twelve days to the ramparts, is hardly fighting even for +their own homes. Surely as long as the siege lasts they ought to +consider that the Government has a right to use them anywhere within the +lines of investment They make now what they call military promenades, +that is to say, they go out at one gate, keep well within the line of +the forts, and come in at another gate. Some of the battalions are ready +to face the enemy, although they will not submit to any discipline. The +majority, however, do not intend to fight outside the ramparts. I was +reading yesterday the account of a court-martial on one of these heroes, +who had fallen out with his commanding officer, and threatened to pass +his sword through his body. The culprit, counsel urged, was a man of an +amiable, though excitable disposition; the father of two sons, had once +saved a child from drowning, and had presented several curiosities to a +museum. Taking these facts into consideration, the Court condemned him +to six days' imprisonment, his accuser apologised to him, and shook +hands with him. What is to be expected of troops when military offences +of the grossest kind are treated in this fashion? I know myself officers +of the Garde Nationale, who, when they are on duty at the ramparts, +quietly leave their men there, and come home to dinner. No one appears +to consider this anything extraordinary. Well may General Trochu look up +to the sky when it is overcast, and wish that he were in Brittany +shooting woodcocks. He has undertaken a task beyond his own strength, +and beyond the strength of the greatest general that ever lived. How can +the Parisians expect to force the Prussians to raise the siege? They +decline to be soldiers, and yet imagine that in some way or other, not +only is their city not to be desecrated by the foot of the invader, but +that the armies of Germany are to be driven out of France.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 30th.</i></p> + +<p>We really have had a success. Between the north-eastern and the +north-western forts there is a plain, cut up by small streams. The high +road from Paris to Senlis runs through the middle of it, and on this +road, at a distance of about six kilometres from Paris, is the village +of Bourget, which was occupied by the Prussians. It is a little in +advance of their lines, which follow a small river called the Morée, +about two kilometres in the rear. At 5 A.M. last Friday Bourget was +attacked by a regiment of Francs-tireurs and the 9th Battalion of the +Mobiles of the Seine. The Prussians were driven out of it, and fell back +to the river Morée. During the whole of Friday the Prussian artillery +fired upon the village, and sometimes there was a sharp interchange of +shots between the advanced posts. On Friday night two attacks in +considerable force were directed against the position, but both of them +failed. At nine on Saturday morning, after a very heavy artillery fire +from the batteries at Stains and Dugny, which was replied to from the +forts of Aubervilliers and l'Est, La Briche and St. Denis, heavy masses +of infantry advanced from Staines and Gonesse. When they approached the +village the fire which was concentrated on them was so heavy that they +were obliged to fall back. At about twelve o'clock I went out by the +gate of La Villette. Between the ramparts and the Fort of Aubervilliers +there were large masses of troops held in reserve, and I saw several +battalions of National Guards among them, belonging, I heard, to the +Volunteers. I pushed on to an inn situated at the intersection of the +roads to Bourget and Courneuve. There I was stopped. It was raining +hard, and all I could make out was that Prussians and French were busily +engaged in firing, the former into Bourget, the latter into Stains and +Dugny. It appears to have been feared that the Prussians would make an +attack from Bourget upon either St. Denis or Aubervilliers; it was +discovered, however, that they had no batteries there. Whether we shall +be able to hold the position, or whether, if we do, we shall derive any +benefit from it beyond having a large area in which to pick up +vegetables, time alone will prove. On returning into Paris I came across +in the Rue Rivoli about 200 patriots of all ages, brandishing flags and +singing patriotic songs. These were National Guards, who had been +engaged in a pacific demonstration at the Hôtel de Ville, to testify +their affection to the Republic, and to demonstrate that that affection +should be reciprocated by the Republic in the form of better arms, +better pay, and better food. They had been harangued by Rochefort and +Arago. I see by this morning's paper that the latter requested them to +swear that not only would they drive the Prussians out of France, but +that they would refuse to treat with any Government in Germany except a +Republican one.</p> + +<p>A decree of General Trochu converts the Legion of Honour into a military +decoration. The journalists of all colours are excessively indignant at +this, for they all expect, when the party which they support is in +power, to be given this red ribbon as a matter of course. It has been so +lavishly distributed that anyone who has not got it is almost obliged to +explain why he is without it, in the way a person would excuse himself +if he came into a drawing-room without a coat.</p> + +<p>The theatres are by degrees reopening. In order not to shock public +opinion, the programmes of their entertainments are exceedingly dull. +Thus the Comédie Française bill of fare for yesterday was a speech, a +play of Molière's without costumes, and an ode to Liberty. I can +understand closing the theatres entirely, but it seems to me absurd +increasing the general gloom, by opening them in order to make the +audiences wish that they were closed. Fancy, for an evening's +entertainment, a speech from Mr. Cole, C.B.; the play of <i>Hamlet</i> played +in the dresses of the present century; and an ode from Mr. Tupper.</p> + +<p>A few days ago the newspapers asserted that M. Thiers had entered Paris, +having been provided with a safe conduct by the King of Prussia. It is +now said that he is not here yet, but that he shortly will be. Of course +if Count Bismarck allows him to come in, he does so rather in the +interests of Prussia than of France. I cannot believe myself that, +unless Prussia has given up the idea of annexing Alsace and Lorraine to +Germany, negotiation will be productive of good results. If Metz can be +taken, if the armies of the provinces can be defeated, and if the +provisions within the city become less plentiful than they are now, then +perhaps the Parisians will accept the idea of a capitulation. At +present, however, the very large majority believe that France must +eventually conquer, and that the world is lost in wonder and admiration +of their attitude. The siege is one long holiday to the working classes. +They are as well fed as ever they were, and have absolutely nothing to +do except to play at soldiers. Although the troops are unable to hold +the villages within the fire of their forts, they are under the delusion +that—to use the favourite expression—the circle in which we are +inclosed is gradually but surely being enlarged. I was this morning +buying cigars at a small tobacconist's. "Well," said the proprietor of +the shop to me, "so we are to destroy the Prussians in twenty days." +"Really," I said. "Yes," he replied, "I was this morning at the Mairie; +there was a crowd before it complaining that they could not get meat. A +gentleman—a functionary—got upon a stool. 'Citizens and citizenesses,' +he said, 'be calm; continue to preserve the admirable attitude which is +eliciting the admiration of the world. I give you my honour that +arrangements have been made to drive the Prussians away from Paris in +twenty days.' Of course," added my worthy bourgeois, "this functionary +would not have spoken thus had the Government not revealed its plans to +him." At this moment a well dressed individual entered the shop and +asked for a subscription for the construction of a machine which he had +invented to blow up the whole Prussian army. I expected to see him +handed over to a policeman, but instead of this the bourgeois gave him +two francs! What, I asked, is to be expected of a city peopled by such +credulous fools?</p> + +<p>A dispute is going on as to the relative advantages of secular and +religious education. The Mayor of the 23rd arrondissement publishes +to-day an order to the teachers within his domains, forbidding them to +take the children under their charge to hear mass on Sundays. The +municipality has also published a decree doubling the amount contributed +by the city to the primary schools. Instead of eight million francs it +is to be henceforward sixteen millions. This is all very well, but +surely it would be better to put off questions affecting education until +the siege is over. The alteration in the nomenclature of the streets +also continues. The Boulevard Prince Eugène is to be called the +Boulevard Voltaire, and the statue of the Prince has been taken down, to +be replaced by the statue of the philosopher; the Rue Cardinal Fesch is +to be called the Rue de Chateaudun. The newspapers also demand that the +Rue de Londres should be rebaptised on the ground that the name of +Londres is detested even more than Berlin. "If Prussia" (says one +writer) "wages against us a war of bandits and savages, it is England +which, in the gloom of its sombre country houses, pays the Uhlans who +oppress our peasants, violate our wives, massacre our soldiers, and +pillage our provinces. She rejoices over our sufferings."</p> + +<p>The headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale are to move to-morrow +from the Palais de l'Industrie to the Grand Hotel. In the Palais it was +impossible to regulate the ventilation. It was always either too hot or +too cold. Another objection to it which was urged by the medical men +was, that one-half of it served as a store for munitions of war.</p> + + +<p class="right">4 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>So we have been kicked neck and crop out of Bourget. I have got such a +cold that I have been lying up to-day. A friend of mine has just come +in, and tells me that at eight this morning a regiment on their way to +Bourget found the Mobiles who were in it falling back. Some Prussian +troops appeared from between Stains and Courneuve, and attempted to cut +off the retreat. Whether we lost any cannon my friend does not know. He +thinks not. Some of our troops were trapped, the others got away, and +fell back on the barricades in front of Aubervilliers. My friend +observes that if it was not a rout, it was extremely like one. He thinks +that we were only allowed to get into Bourget in order to be caught like +rats in a trap. When my friend left the forts were firing on Pierrefitte +and Etains, and the Prussians were established in front of Bourget. My +friend, who thinks he has a genius for military matters, observes that +we ought to have either left Bourget alone, or held it with more troops +and more artillery. The Mobiles told him that they had been starving +there for forty-eight hours, and only had two pieces of 12, two of 4, +and one mitrailleuse. The Prussians had brought up heavy guns, and +yesterday they established a battery of twenty-one cannon, which +cannonaded the village.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>October 31st.</i></p> + +<p>Yesterday evening until eleven o'clock—a late hour now for Paris;—the +Boulevards were crowded. Although the news that Bourget had been retaken +by the Prussians had been <i>affiché</i> at the Mairies, those who asserted +it were at first treated as friends of Prussia. Little by little the +fact was admitted, and then, every one fell to denouncing the +Government. To-day the official bulletin states that we retreated in +good order, leaving "some" prisoners. From what I hear from officers who +were engaged, the Mobiles fought well for some time, although their +ammunition was so wet that they could only fire twelve shots with their +cannon, and not one with their mitrailleuse. When they saw that they +were likely to be surrounded, there was a stampede to Aubervilliers and +to Drancy, the latter of which was subsequently evacuated. To-day we +have two pieces of news—that M. Thiers entered Paris yesterday, and +that Metz has fallen. The <i>Journal des Débats</i> also publishes copious +extracts from a file of provincial papers up to the 26th, which it has +obtained.</p> + +<p>I hear that M. Thiers advises peace on any terms. The Government of +Paris is in a difficult position. It has followed in the course of +Palikao. By a long <i>suggestio falsi et suppressio veri</i> it has led the +population of this city to believe that the position of France has +bettered itself every day that the siege has lasted. We have been told +that Bazaine could hold out indefinitely, that vast armies were forming +in the provinces, and would, before the middle of November, march to the +relief of Paris; that the investing army was starving, and that it had +been unable to place a single gun in position within the range of the +forts; that we had ample provisions until the month of February, and +that there would not be the slightest difficulty in introducing convoys. +Anyone who ventured to question these facts was held up to public +execration. General Trochu announced that he had a "plan," and that if +only he were left to carry it out, it must result in success. All this +time the General and the members of the Government, who were at +loggerheads with each other, privately confessed to their friends that +the situation was growing every day more critical.</p> + +<p>The attempt to obtain volunteers from the population of the capital for +active service outside the gates has resulted in a miserable failure, +and the Government does not even venture to carry out the law, which +subjects all between twenty-five and thirty-five to enrolment in the +army. With respect to public opinion, all are opposed to the entry of +the Prussians into Paris, or to a peace which would involve a cession of +territory; but many equally object to submitting either to real hardship +or real danger. They hope against hope that what they call their +"sublime attitude" will prevent the Prussians from attacking them, and +that they may pass to history as heroes, without having done anything +heroic. I had thought that the working men would fight well, but I think +so no longer. Under the Empire they got high wages for doing very +little. Since the investment of the capital, they have taken their 1fr. +50c. and their rations for their families, and done hardly anything +except drill, gossip, and about once a week go on the ramparts. So fond +they are of this idle existence, that although workshops offer 6fr. a +day to men, they cannot obtain hands. With respect to provisions, as yet +the poorer classes have been better off than they ever were before. +Every one gets his 50 or 100 grammes of meat, and his share of bread. +Those persons alone who were accustomed to luxuries have suffered from +their absence. Meat of some kind is, however, to be obtained by any +person who likes to pay for it about twice its normal value. So afraid +is the Government of doing anything which may irritate the population, +that, contrary to all precedent, the garrison and the wounded alone are +fed with salt meat. What the result of M. Thiers' mission will be, it +is almost impossible to say. The Government will be anxious to treat, +and probably it will put forward feelers to-morrow to see how far it may +dare go. Some of its members already are endeavouring to disconnect +themselves from a capitulation, and, if it does take place, will assert +that they were opposed to it. Thus, M. Jules Favre, in a long address to +the mayors of the banlieus yesterday, goes through the old arguments to +prove that France never desired war.</p> + +<p>This gentleman is essentially an orator, rather than a statesman. When +he went to meet Count Bismarck at Ferrières, he was fully prepared to +agree to the fortresses in Alsace and Lorraine being rased; but when he +returned, the phrase, "<i>Ni un pouce du territoire, ni une pierre des +forteresses</i>," occurred to him, and he could not refrain from +complicating the situation by publishing it.</p> + +<p>To turn for a moment to less serious matters. I never shall see a donkey +without gratefully thinking of a Prussian. If anyone happens to fall out +with his jackass, let me recommend him, instead of beating it, to slay +and eat it. Donkey is now all the fashion. When one is asked to dinner, +as an inducement one is told that there will be donkey. The flesh of +this obstinate, but weak-minded quadruped is delicious—in colour like +mutton, firm and savoury. This siege will destroy many illusions, and +amongst them the prejudice which has prevented many animals being used +as food. I can most solemnly assert that I never wish to taste a better +dinner than a joint of a donkey or a <i>ragout</i> of cat—<i>experto crede</i>.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 1st.</i></p> + +<p>We have had an exciting twenty-four hours. The Government of the +National Defence has in the course of yesterday been deposed, +imprisoned, and has again resumed the direction of public affairs. I +went yesterday, between one and two o'clock, to the Hôtel de Ville. On +the place before it there were about 15,000 persons, most of them +National Guards from the Faubourgs, and without arms, shouting, "Vive la +Commune! Point d'armistice!" Close within the rails along the façade +there were a few Mobiles and National Guards on duty. One of the two +great doorways leading into the hotel was open. Every now and then some +authority appeared to make a speech which no one could catch; and at +most of the windows on the first floor there was an orator +gesticulating. The people round me said that the mayors of Paris had +been summoned by Arago, and were in one room inside deliberating, whilst +in another was the Government. I managed to squeeze inside the rails, +and stood near the open door. At about 2.30 the Mobiles who guarded it +were pushed back, and the mob was forcing its way through it, when +Trochu appeared, and confronted them. What he said I could not hear. His +voice was drowned in cries of "A bas Trochu!" Jules Simon then got on a +chair, to try the effect of his eloquence; but in the midst of his +gesticulations a body of armed men forced their way through the +entrance, and with about 300 of the mob got inside the Hotel. Just then +three or four shots were fired. The crowd outside scampered off, yelling +"Aux armes!" and running over each other. I thought it more prudent to +remain where I was. Soon the mob returned, and made a rush at both the +doors; for the one which had been open had been closed in the interval. +This one they were unable to force, but the other, winch leads up a +flight of steps into the great covered court in the middle of the +building, yielded to the pressure, and through it I passed with the +crowd; whilst from the windows above slips were being thrown out with +the words "Commune décrétée—Dorian president" on them. The covered +court was soon filled. In the middle of it there is a large double +staircase leading to a wide landing, from which a door and some windows +communicate with a long salle.</p> + +<p>This, too, was invaded, and for more than two hours I remained there. +The spectacle was a curious one—everybody was shouting, everybody was +writing a list of a new Government and reading it aloud. In one corner a +man incessantly blew a trumpet, in another a patriot beat a drum. At one +end was a table, round which the mayors had been sitting, and from this +vantage ground Felix Pyat and other virtuous citizens harangued, and, as +I understood, proclaimed the Commune and themselves, for it was +impossible to distinguish a word. The atmosphere was stifling, and at +last I got out of a window on to the landing in the courtyard. Here +citizens had established themselves everywhere. I had the pleasure to +see the "venerable" Blanqui led up the steps by his admirers. This +venerable man had, <i>horresco referens</i>, been pushed up in a corner, +where certain citizens had kicked his venerable frame, and pulled his +venerable white beard, before they had recognised who he was. By this +time it appeared to be understood that a Government had been +constituted, consisting of Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Delescluze, Louis +Blanc, Flourens, and others. Flourens, whom I now perceived for the +first time, went through a corridor, with some armed men, and I and +others followed him. We got first into an antechamber, and then into a +large room, where a great row was going on. I did not get farther than +close to the door, and consequently could not well distinguish what was +passing, but I saw Flourens standing on a table, and I heard that he was +calling upon the members of the Government of National Defence, who were +seated round it, to resign, and that Jules Favre was refusing to do so. +After a scene of confusion, which lasted half an hour, I found myself, +with those round me, pushed out of the room, and I heard that the old +Government had been arrested, and that a consultation was to take place +between it and the new one. Feeling hungry, I now went to the door of +the Hôtel to get out, but I was told I could not do so without a +permission from the citizen Blanqui. I observed that I was far too +independent a citizen myself to ask any one for a permit to go where I +liked, and, as I walked on, the citizen sentinel did not venture to stop +me. As I passed before Trochu's headquarters at the Louvre I spoke to a +captain of the Etat-Major, whom I knew, and whom I saw standing at the +gate. When he heard that I had just come from the Hôtel de Ville, he +anxiously asked me what was going on there, and whether I had seen +Trochu. General Schmitz, he said, had received an order signed by the +mayors of Paris to close the gates of the town, and not on any pretext +to let any one in or out. At the Louvre he said all was in confusion, +but he understood that Picard had escaped from the Hôtel de Ville, and +was organizing a counter-movement at the Ministry of Finance. Having +dined, I went off to the Place Vendôme, as the generale was beating. The +National Guards of the quarter were hurrying there, and Mobile +battalions were marching in the same direction. I found on my arrival +that this had become the headquarters of the Government; that an officer +who had come with an order to Picard to go to the Hôtel de Ville, signed +by Blanqui, had been arrested. General Tamisier was still a prisoner +with the Government. Soon news arrived that a battalion had got inside +the Hôtel de Ville and had managed to smuggle Trochu out by a back door. +Off I went to the Louvre. There Trochu, his uniform considerably +deteriorated, was haranguing some battalions of the Mobiles, who were +shouting "Vive Trochu!" Other battalions were marching down the Rue +Rivoli to the Hôtel de Ville. I got into a cab and drove there. The +Hôtel was lit up. On the "place" there were not many persons, but all +round it, in the streets, were Mobiles and Bourgeois National Guards, +about 20,000 in all. The Hôtel was guarded, I heard, by a Belleville +battalion, but I could not get close in to interview them. This lasted +until about two o'clock in the morning, when the battalions closed in, +Trochu appeared with his staff, and in some way or other, for it was so +dark, nothing could be seen, the new Government was ejected; M. Jules +Favre and his colleagues were rescued. M. Delescluze, who was one of the +persons there, thus describes what took place: "A declaration was signed +by the new Government declaring that on the understanding that the +Commune was to be elected the next day, and also the Provisional +Government replaced by an elected one, the citizens designed at a public +meeting to superintend these elections withdrew." This was communicated +first to Dorian, who appears to have been half a prisoner, half a +friend; then to the members of the old Government, who were in +honourable arrest; then to Jules Ferry outside. A general sort of +agreement appears then to have been made, that bygones should be +bygones. The Revolutionists went off to bed, and matters returned to the +point where they had been in the morning. Yesterday evening a decree was +placarded, ordering the municipal elections to take place to-day, signed +Etienne Arago; and to-day a counter-decree, signed Jules Favre, +announces that this decree appeared when the Government was <i>gardé à +vue</i>, and that on Thursday next a vote is to be taken to decide whether +there is to be a Commune or not.</p> + +<p>To-day the streets are full of National Guards marching and +counter-marching, and General Tamisier has held a review of about 10,000 +on the Place Vendôme. Mobile battalions also are camped in the public +squares. I went to the Hôtel de Ville at about one o'clock, and found +Mr. Washburne there. We both came to the conclusion that Trochu had got +the upper hand. Before the Hôtel de Ville there were about 5,000 +Mobiles, and within the building everything appeared quiet. Had General +Trochu been a wise man he would have anticipated this movement, and not +rendered himself ridiculous by being imprisoned with his council of +lawyers and orators for several hours by a mob. The working men who +performed this feat seemed only to be actuated by a wild desire to fight +out their battle with the Prussians, and not to capitulate. They wished +to be led out, as they imagine that their undisciplined valour would be +a match for the German army. They showed their sense by demanding that +Dorian should be at the head of the new Government. He is not a +Demagogue, he has written no despatches, nor made any speeches, nor +decreed any Utopian reforms after the manner of his colleagues. But, +unlike them, he is a practical man of business, and this the working men +have had discernment enough to discover. They are hardly to be blamed if +they have accepted literally the rhetorical figures of Jules Favre. When +he said that, rather than yield one stone of a French fortress, Paris +would bury itself beneath its ruins, they believed it. I need hardly say +that neither the Government nor the bourgeoisie have the remotest +intention to sacrifice either their own lives or their houses merely in +order to rival Saragossa. They have got themselves into a ridiculous +position by their reckless vaunts, and they have welcomed M. Thiers, as +an angel from heaven, because they hope that he will be able to save +them from cutting too absurd a figure. He left yesterday at three +o'clock, and I understand he has full powers to negotiate an armistice +upon any terms which will save the <i>amour-propre</i> of the Parisians. I +should not be surprised, however, if the Government continues to resist +until the town is in real danger or has suffered real privations. If the +Parisians take it into their heads that they will be able to palm +themselves off as heroes by continuing for a few weeks longer their +passive attitude of opposition, they will do so. What inclines them to +submit to conditions now, is not so much the capitulation of Bazaine, +as the dread that by remaining much longer isolated they will entirely +lose their hold on the Provincials. That these Helots should venture to +express their opinions, or to act except in obedience to orders from the +capital, fills them with indignation.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 2nd.</i></p> + +<p>The Government has issued the following form, on which a vote is to be +taken to-morrow: "Does the population of Paris maintain, Yes or No, the +powers of the Government of National Defence?"</p> + +<p>The Ultras bitterly complain that the members of the Government agreed +to the election of a Commune, on the recommendation of all the mayors, +and that now they are going back from their concession, and are +following in the steps of the Empire and taking refuge in a Plebiscite. +They, therefore, recommend their friends to abstain from voting. The +fact is, that the real question at issue is, whether Paris is to resist +to the end, or whether it is to fall back from the determination to do +so, which it so boldly and so vauntingly proclaimed. The bourgeois are +getting tired of marching to the ramparts, and making no money; the +working-men are thoroughly enjoying themselves, and are perfectly ready +to continue the <i>status quo</i>. I confess I rather sympathise with the +latter. They may not be over wise, but still it seems to me that Paris +ought to hold out as long as bread lasts, without counting the cost. She +had invited the world to witness her heroism, and now she endeavours to +back out of the position which she has assumed. I have not been down to +Belleville to-day, but I hear that there and in the other outer +Faubourgs there is great excitement, and the question of a rising is +being discussed. Flourens and some other commanders of battalions have +been cashiered, but they are still in command, and no attempt is being +made to oblige them to recognise the decree. Rochefort has resigned his +seat in the Government, on the ground that he consented to the election +of the Commune. The general feeling among the shopkeepers seems to be to +accept an armistice on almost any terms, because they hope that it will +lead to peace. We will take our revenge, they say, in two years. A +threat which simply means that if the French army can fight then, they +will again shout "<i>à Berlin</i>!" M. Thiers is still at Versailles. There +appears to be a tacit truce, but none knows precisely what is going on. +A friend of mine saw General Trochu yesterday on business, and he tells +me that this worthy man was then so utterly prostrated, that he did not +even refer to the business which he had come to transact. Never was a +man more unfit to defend a great capital. "Why do you not act with +energy against the Ultras?" said my friend. "I wish," replied Trochu, +"to preserve my power by moral force." This is all very well, but can +the commander of a besieged town be said to have preserved his power +when he allows himself to be imprisoned by a mob for six hours, and then +does not venture to punish its leaders? Professor Fustel de Coulanges +has written a reply to Professor Mommsen. He states the case of France +with respect to Alsace very clearly. "Let Prussia double the war-tax she +imposes on France, and give up this iniquitous scheme of annexation," +ought to be the advice of every sincere friend of peace. In any case, if +Alsace and Lorraine are turned with the German Rhine Provinces into a +neutral State, I do hope that we shall have the common sense not to +guarantee either its independence or its neutrality. If we do so, within +ten years we shall infallibly be dragged into a Continental war. We have +a whim about Belgium, one day it will prove a costly one; we cannot, +however, afford to indulge in many of these whims.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 3rd.</i></p> + +<p>The vote is being taken to-day whether the population of Paris maintains +in power the Government of National Defence. On Saturday each of the +twenty arrondissements is to elect a Mayor and four adjuncts, who are to +replace those nominated by the Government. Of course the Government will +to-day have a large majority. Were it to be in the minority the +population would simply assert that it wishes to live under no +Government. This plebiscite is in itself an absurdity. The real object, +however, is to strengthen the hands of the depositories of power, and to +enable them to conclude an armistice, which would result in a +Constituent Assembly, and would free them from the responsibility of +concluding peace on terms rather than accept which they proudly asserted +a few weeks ago they would all die. The keynote of the situation is +given by the organs of public opinion, which until now have teemed with +articles calling upon the population of the capital to bury itself +beneath its ruins, and thus by a heroic sacrifice to serve as an example +to the whole of France. To-day they say, "It appears that the provinces +will not allow Paris to be heroic. They wish for peace; we have no right +to impose upon them our determination to fight without hope of victory." +The fact is that the great mass of the Parisians wish for peace at any +price. Under the circumstances I do not blame them. No town is obliged +to imitate the example of Moscow. If, however, it intends after +submitting to a blockade, to capitulate on terms which it scouted at +first, before any of its citizens have been even under fire, and before +its provisions are exhausted, it would have done well not to have called +upon the world to witness its sublimity. My impression is that on one +point alone the Parisians will prove obstinate, and that is if the +Prussians insist upon occupying their town; upon every other they will +only roar like "sucking doves." Rather than allow the German armies to +defile along the Boulevards, they would give up Alsace, Lorraine, and +half a dozen other provinces. As regards the working-men, they have far +more go in them than the bourgeois, and if the Prussians would oblige +them by assaulting the town, they would fight well in the streets; but +with all their shouts for a sortie, I estimate their real feelings on +the matter by the fact that they almost unanimously, on one pretext or +another, decline to volunteer for active service outside the ramparts.</p> + +<p>The elections on Saturday, says M. Jules Favre, will be a "negation of +the Commune." By this I presume he means that the elected Mayors and +their adjuncts will only exercise power in their respective +arrondissements, but that their collective action will not be +recognised. As, however, they will be the only legally elected body in +Paris, and as, undoubtedly, they will frequently meet together, it is +very probable that they will be able to hold their own against the +Government. The word "Commune" is taken from the vocabulary of the first +Revolution. During the Reign of Terror the Municipality was all +powerful, and it styled itself a "Commune." By "Commune," consequently, +is simply meant a municipality which is strong enough to absorb tacitly +a portion of the power legally belonging to the Executive.</p> + +<p>The Government now meets at one or other of the ministries. At the +Hôtel de Ville Etienne Arago still reigns. Being a member of the +Government himself, he cannot well be turned out by his own colleagues, +but they distrust him, and do not clearly know whether he is with them +or against them. Yesterday, several battalions were stationed round the +hotel. Arago came out to review them. He was badly received, and the +officers let him understand that they were not there to be reviewed by +him. Soon afterwards General Tamisier passed along the line, and was +greeted with shouts of "A bas la Commune!"</p> + +<p>I am sorry for Trochu; he is a good, honourable, high-minded man; +somewhat obstinate, and somewhat vain; but actuated by the best +intentions. He has thrust himself into a hornet's nest. In vain he now +plaintively complains that he has made Paris impregnable, that he cannot +make sorties without field artillery, and that he is neither responsible +for the capitulation of Metz, nor the rout the other day at Bourget. +What, then, say his opponents with some truth, was your wonderful plan? +Why did you put your name to proclamations which called upon us, if we +could not conquer, at least to die? Why did you imprison as calumniators +those who published news from the provinces, which you now admit is +true? It is by no means easy for him or his colleagues to reply to these +questions.</p> + +<p>General Bellemare has been suspended. He, it appears, is to be the +scapegoat of the Bourget affair. I hear from the Quartier-Général that +the real reason why the artillery did not arrive in time to hold this +position was, not because Bellemare did not ask for it, but because he +could not get it. Red tape and routine played their old game. From St. +Denis none could be sent, because St. Denis is within the "territorial +defence of Paris," and Bourget is not. In vain Bellemare's officers went +here and there. They were sent from pillar to post, from one aged +General to another, and at eleven o'clock on the day when Bourget was +taken, after the troops had been driven out of it, the artillery, every +formality having been gone through, was on its way to the village. It is +pleasant, whilst one is cut off from the outer world, to be reminded by +these little traits of one's native land, its War-Office and its +Horse-Guards.</p> + +<p>I was out yesterday afternoon along our southern advanced posts. A few +stray shots were occasionally fired by Francs-tireurs; but there seemed +to be a tacit understanding that no offensive operations should take +place. The fall of the leaves enables us to distinguish clearly the +earthworks and the redoubts which the Prussians have thrown up. I am not +a military man, but my civilian mind cannot comprehend why Vanves and +Montrouge do not destroy with their fire the houses occupied on the +plateau of Chatillon by the Prussians. I asked an officer, who was +standing before Vanves, why they did not. He shrugged his shoulders, and +said, "It is part of the plan, I suppose." Trochu is respected by the +troops, but they have little confidence in his skill as a commander. In +the evening I went to the Club Rue d'Arras, which is presided over by +the "venerable" Blanqui in person, and where the Ultras of the Ultras +congregate. The club is a large square room, with a gallery at one end +and a long tribune at the other. On entering through a baize door one is +called upon to contribute a few sous to the fund for making cannon. When +I got there it was about 8.30. The venerable Blanqui was seated at a +table on the tribune; before him were two assessors. One an unwholesome +citizen, with long blond hair hanging down his back, the other a most +truculent-looking ruffian. The hall was nearly full; many were in +blouses, the rest in uniform; about one-fifth of the audience was +composed of women, who either knitted, or nourished the infants, which +they held in their arms. A citizen was speaking. He held a list in his +hand of a new Government. As he read out the names some were applauded, +others rejected. I had found a place on a bench by the side of a lady +with a baby, who was occupied, like most of the other babies, in taking +its supper. Its food, however, apparently did not agree with it, for it +commenced to squall lustily. "Silence," roared a hundred voices, but the +baby only yelled the louder. "Sit upon it," observed some energetic +citizens, looking at me, but not being a Herod, I did not comply with +their order. The mother became frightened lest a <i>coup d'état</i> should be +made upon her offspring, and after turning it up and solemnly smacking +it, took it away from the club. By this time orator No. 1 had been +succeeded by orator No. 2. This gentleman, a lieutenant in the National +Guard, thus commenced. "Citizens, I am better than any of you. +(Indignant disapproval.) In the Hôtel de Ville on Monday I told General +Trochu that he was a coward." (Tremendous shouts of "You are a liar," +and men and women shook their fists at the speaker.) Up rose the +venerable Blanqui. There was a dead silence. "I am master here," he +said; "when I call a speaker to order he must leave the tribune, until +then he remains." The club listened to the words of the sage with +reverential awe, and the orator was allowed to go on. "This, perhaps, no +one will deny," he continued. "I took an order from the Citizen Flourens +to the public printing establishment. The order was the deposition of +the Government of National Defence"—(great applause)—and satisfied +with his triumph the lieutenant relapsed into private life. After him +followed several other citizens, who proposed resolutions, which were +put and carried. I only remember one of them, it was that the Jesuits in +Vaugirard (a school) should at once be ejected from the territories of +the Republic. At ten o'clock the venerable Blanqui announced that the +sitting was over, and the public noisily withdrew. An attempt has been +made by the respectable portion of the community to establish a club at +the Porte St. Martin Theatre, where speakers of real eminence nightly +address audiences. I was there a few evenings ago, and heard A. Coquerel +and M. Lebueier, both Protestant pastors, deliver really excellent +speeches. The former is severe and demure, the latter a perfect +Boanerges. He frequently took up a chair and dashed it to the ground to +emphasise his words. This club is usually presided over by M. Cernuschi, +a banker, who was in bad odour with the Imperial Government for having +subscribed a large sum for the electoral campaign against the +Plebiscite. Another club is held at the Folies Bergères, an old +concert-hall, something like the Alhambra. The principal orator here is +a certain Falcet, a burly athlete, who was, I believe, formerly a +professional wrestler. Here the quality of the speeches is poor, the +sentiments of the speakers mildly Republican. At the Club Montmartre the +president is M. Tony Reveillon, a journalist of some note. The assessors +are always elected. A person proposes himself, and the President puts +his name to the audience. Generally a dozen are rejected before the two +necessary to make the meeting in order are chosen. Every time I have +been there an old man—I am told an ex-professor in a girls' school—has +got up, and with great unction blessed the National Guards—the "heroic +defenders of our homes." Sometimes he is encored several times; and were +his audience to let him, I believe that he would continue blessing the +"heroic defenders" until the next morning. The old gentleman has a most +reverent air, and I should imagine in quiet times goes about as a blind +man with a dog. He was turned out of the school in which he was a +professor—a profane disbeliever in all virtue assures me—for being +rather too affectionate towards some of the girls. "I like little +girls—big ones, too," Artemus Ward used to say, and so it appears did +this worthy man. Besides the clubs which I have mentioned, there are +above 100 others. Most of them are kept going by the sous which are +collected for cannon, or some other vague object. Almost all are +usually crowded; the proceedings at most of them are more or less +disorderly; the resolutions carried more or less absurd, and the +speeches more or less bad. With the exception of the Protestant pastors, +and one or two others, I have not heard a single speaker able to talk +connectedly for five minutes. Wild invectives against the Prussians, +denunciations against Europe, abuse of every one who differs from the +orator, and the very tallest of talk about France—what she has done, +what she is doing, and what she will do—form the staple of almost all +the speeches.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening.</i></p> + +<p>I went down to Belleville this afternoon. Everything was quiet. The +people, as usual, in the streets doing nothing. If you can imagine the +whole of Southwark paid and fed by the Government, excused from paying +rent, arrayed in kepis and some sort of uniform, given guns, and passing +almost all the time gossiping, smoking, and idling, you will be able to +form a correct notion of the aspect of Belleville and the other outer +faubourgs. The only demonstration I have heard of has been one composed +of women, who marched down the Rue du Temple behind a red flag, shouting +"Vive la Commune." As far as is yet known, about one-seventh of the +population have voted "No." The army and the Mobiles have almost all +voted "Yes." A friend of mine, who was out driving near Bobigny, says he +was surrounded by a Mobile regiment, who were anxious to know what was +passing in Paris. He asked them how they had voted. "For peace," they +replied. "If the National Guards wish to continue the war, they must +come out here and fight themselves." Many battalions have issued +addresses to the Parisians saying that they will not fight for a +Commune, and that the provinces must have a vote in all decisions as to +the future destinies of France. General Vinoy also has issued an order +to the 13th Corps d'Armée, declaring that if the peace of Paris is +disturbed he will march at its head to put down disorders.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 5th.</i></p> + +<p>That Paris is prudent to seize upon the first loophole to get out of the +position into which she has inconsiderately thrust herself is most +certain. Never for a moment did I believe that the Parisians, +indifferent to all but honour, would perish to the last man rather than +give up one inch of territory, one stone of a fortress. Heroic constancy +and endurance under misfortune are not improvised. A population, +enervated by twenty years of slavery, corruption, and luxury, is not +likely to immolate itself for country, like the Spartans at Thermopylæ. +People who mean to die do not sign a preliminary round-robin to do so. +Real fighting soldiers do not parade the streets behind half-a-dozen +fantastically dressed <i>vivandières</i>. When in a town of 2,000,000 +inhabitants not above 12,000 can be found ready to submit to military +discipline, and to go outside an inner line of fortifications, it is +ridiculous to expect a defence like that of Saragossa. We are under the +impression to-day that an armistice will be signed to-morrow. No one +affects even to doubt that the word means peace. The bourgeoisie are +heartily tired of playing at soldiers, the game has lost its novelty, +and the nights are too cold to make an occasional pic-nic to the +fortifications agreeable any longer. Besides, business is business, and +pleasant as it may be to sit arrayed in uniform behind a counter, in the +long run customers are more remunerative, if not so glorious. The cry +for peace is universal, the wealthy are lusting after the flesh-pots of +Egypt, the hotel-keepers are eagerly waiting for the rush of sightseers, +and the shopkeepers are anxious to make up for lost time by plundering +friend and foe. The soldiers, although Trochu is popular with them, +have neither faith nor confidence in his generalship. The Mobiles and +peasants recently from their villages wish to go home, and openly tell +the Parisians that they have no intention to remain out in the cold any +longer on salt beef, whilst the heroic citizens are sleeping quietly in +their houses, or in barracks, and gorging themselves with fresh +provisions. As for the working-men, they are spoiling for a fight in the +streets, either with the Prussians, or, if that cannot be, with anyone +else. They are, however, so thoroughly enjoying themselves, doing +nothing, and getting paid for doing it, that they are in too good a +temper to be mischievous. The new Prefect of the Police has arrested +Felix Pyat and other leaders of the riot of last Monday. Flourens and +the venerable Blanqui are only not in prison because they are in hiding. +The mayors of the different arrondissements are being elected to-day, +but no one seems to trouble himself about the election.</p> + +<p>The vote of Thursday has somewhat surprised the bourgeoisie. That +one-seventh of the population should have registered their deliberate +opinion that they prefer no Government to that under which they are +living is by no means a reassuring fact, more particularly when this +seventh consists of "men of action," armed with muskets, and provided +with ammunition. As long as the Line and the Mobiles remain here, Trochu +will be able, if he only acts with firmness, to put down all tendencies +to disorder; but were there to be a fight between the friends of the +Government among the Garde Nationale and its opponents, I am not certain +that the former would have the upper hand. As it is, the Hôtel de Ville +and the Louvre are guarded by Breton battalions of the Mobile, and Vinoy +has announced that if there is a disturbance he will at once march to +the aid of the Government at the head of his division. Many complaints +are made about the mode in which the vote was taken on Thursday; some +of them appear to me to be just. The fact is, that Frenchman have not +the most elementary notion of fair play in an election. No matter what +body of men are in power, they conceive that they have a perfect right +to use that power to obtain a verdict in their favour from their +fellow-citizens. Tried by our electioneering code, every French election +which I ever witnessed would be annulled on the ground of "intimidation" +and "undue influence."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Evening.</i></p> + +<p>No news yet about the armistice. I hear that it is doubtful whether it +will be signed, but no doubt respecting it seems to disquiet the minds +of the Parisians. I cannot help thinking that they have got themselves +again into a fool's paradise. Their newspapers tell them that the +Neutral Powers are forcing Prussia to be reasonable, and that Bismarck +is struck with awe at the sight of our "heroic attitude." As for his not +accepting any terms which we may put forward, the idea does not enter +the mind of any one. I must say, however, that there is a vague feeling +that perhaps we are not quite so very sublime as we imagine. Even to pay +a war indemnity seems to be a concession which no one anticipated. For +the first time since I have known the Parisians, they are out of conceit +with themselves. "If Prussia forces us to make peace now, in five years +we will crush her," is the somewhat vague threat with which many console +themselves. Others say that on the conclusion of peace they will leave +France; but whether this is intended to punish France, Prussia, or +themselves, I do not know. Others boldly assert that they are prevented +from immolating themselves by the Neutral Powers. It is the old story of +"hold me back, don't let me get at him." One thing, however, is certain, +that the capture of Bazaine, the disaster at Bourget, the row at the +Hôtel de Ville, the Prussian cannon on the heights of Meudon, and the +opportune arrival of Thiers, have made this population as peaceful +to-day, as they were warlike a few weeks ago.</p> + +<p>I really am sorry for these vain, silly, gulled humbugs among whom I am +living. They have many amiable qualities, although, in trying to be +Spartans, they have mistaken their vocation. They are, indeed, far too +agreeable to be Spartans, who in private life must have been the most +intolerable of bores. It is a sad confession of human weakness, but, as +a rule, persons are not liked on account of their virtues. Excessively +good people are—speaking socially—angular. Take, for instance, the +Prussians; they are saints compared with the French. They have every +sort of excellence: they are honest, sober, hard-working, +well-instructed, brave, good sons, husbands, and fathers; and yet all +this is spoilt by one single fault—they are insupportable. Laugh at the +French, abuse them as one may, it is impossible to help liking them. +Admire, respect the Prussians as one may, it is impossible to help +disliking them. I will venture to say that it would be impossible to +find 100 Germans born south of the Main who would declare, on their +honour, that they prefer a Prussian to a Frenchman. The only Prussian I +ever knew who was an agreeable man was Bismarck. All others with whom I +have been thrown—and I have lived for years in Germany—were proud as +Scotchmen, cold as New Englanders, and touchy as only Prussians can be. +I once had a friend among them. His name was Buckenbrock. Inadvertently +I called him Butterbrod. We have never spoken since. A Prussian +lieutenant is the most offensive specimen of humanity that nature and +pipeclay have ever produced. Apart from all political considerations, +the supremacy of this nation in Europe will be a social calamity, unless +France, like vanquished Greece, introduces the amenities of society +among these pedants, squires, and martinets.</p> + +<p>What, however, is to be done for the French? Nothing, I am afraid. They +have brought their troubles on their own heads; and, to use an +Americanism, they must face the music. Even at this late moment they +fail to realise the fact that they ever will be called upon to endure +any real hardships, or that their town ever really will be bombarded. I +was watching the crowd on the Boulevards this afternoon. It was +dispirited because it had for twenty-four hours set its heart upon +peace, and was disappointed like a child who cannot get the toy it +wants; but I will venture to say, not one person in his heart of hearts +really imagined that perhaps within a week he might be blown up by a +bomb. They either will not or cannot believe that anything will happen +which they do not desire. Facts of this kind must be palpably brought +home to them before they will even imagine that they are possible.</p> + +<p>The army has been re-organized by that arch organizer Trochu. According +to this new plan, the whole armed force is divided into three armies. +The first comprises the National Guards; the second, under General +Ducrot, is what may be called the active army; it consists of three +corps, commanded respectively by Generals Vinoy, d'Exea, and Renault. +The third comprises all the troops in the forts, in the cottages +adjacent to the forts, which have to be occupied for their defence, and +the fourth commanded by Trochu. The second army will have four cannon to +each thousand men, and will be used to effect a sortie, if possible. +This new arrangement is not well received by military men. Both among +soldiers and officers, General Vinoy is far more popular than any other +general; he is a sort of French Lord Clyde. Until now he had a +coordinate command with Ducrot. That he should be called upon to serve +under him is regarded as an injustice, more particularly because Ducrot +is an intimate personal friend of Trochu. Ducrot and Trochu believe in +themselves, and believe in each other; but no one else believes in +them. They certainly have not yet given the slightest evidence of +military capacity, except by criticising what has been done by others. +Now, at last, however, Trochu will have an opportunity to carry out his +famous plan, by which he asserts that he will raise the blockade in +fourteen days, and of which he has given the fullest details in his +will. Ridicule kills in France—and since this eminent General, as an +evidence that he had a plan, appealed to the will which he had deposited +with his lawyer, he lost all influence. I need not say that this +influence has not been restored by the absurd arrest to which he was +subjected by Messrs. Flourens and Blanqui.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 6th.</i></p> + +<p>So we have declined the armistice. The Government deliberated exactly +five minutes over the question. The <i>Journal Officiel</i> says:—"Prussia +expressly refused to entertain the question of revictualment, and only +admitted under certain reserves the vote of Alsace and Lorraine." No +further details are given. An opportunity has been lost, which may never +recur. Public opinion was disposed to accept a cessation of the siege on +almost any terms. General Trochu, however, and his colleagues had not +the civic courage to attach their names to a document which would +afterwards have been cast in their teeth. A friend of mine, a military +man, saw Trochu late last night. He strongly urged him to accept the +armistice, but in vain. "What do you expect will occur? You must know +that the position is hopeless," said my friend. "I will not sign a +capitulation," was all he could get from Trochu. This worthy man is as +obstinate as only weak men can be; his colleagues, as self-seeking as +only French politicians can be. The news that the armistice had been +rejected, fell like a thunderclap upon the population. I never remember +to have witnessed a day of such general gloom since the commencement of +the siege. The feeling of despair is, I hear, still stronger in the +army. Were the real condition of things outside known, I am certain that +the Government would be forced to conclude an armistice, on no matter +what terms. I happened to come across to-day a file of English +newspapers up to the 22nd ult., and I fully realised how all +intelligence from without has been distorted by the Government to serve +its own purposes. Now a few days ago, these very papers had been lent to +Trochu. He read them, kept them two days to show some of his colleagues, +and then returned them. One single extract was published by the <i>Journal +Officiel</i>—a German report upon the defences of Paris. No man in the +House of Commons is more fond of special pleading than Sir Roundell +Palmer. When anyone complains of it, the reply is, that he teaches some +children their catechism on Sundays. So, when anyone ventures to +question the veracity of Trochu, one is told that he has adopted his +brother's children.</p> + +<p>According to measurements which have been made, the Prussian batteries +at Sèvres and Meudon will carry to the Champ de Mars. From Montretout +their guns would throw shells into the Champs Elysées; but we think that +Valérien will silence them as soon as they open. Meat is getting more +and more scarce every day. That great moralist, Dr. Johnson, said that +he should prefer to dine with a Duke than the most agreeable of +Commoners. I myself at present should prefer to dine with a leg of +mutton than the most agreeable of human beings—Duke or Commoner. I +hear, on what I believe to be good authority, that we shall see the end +of our fresh meat on or about the 20th of this month.</p> + +<p>Yesterday, all the hidden stores which had been hoarded up with an eye +to a great profit were thrown on the market. To-day they have again +disappeared. Lamb is, however, freely offered for sale, and curiously +enough, at the same time, live dogs are becoming scarce.</p> + +<p>Several Ultras have been elected mayors of the different +arrondissements; among them Citizen Mottu, who was turned out of his +mayorship about a fortnight ago because he refused to allow any child to +attend a place of worship except with his own consent. It is all very +well for M. Jules Favre to say that the election of mayors is a negation +of a Commune. As I understand it, a Commune is but a council of elected +mayors. If the Government loses its popularity, the new mayors will +become a Commune. The more, however, the majority desire peace, the less +likely will they be to throw themselves into the arms of Citizen Mottu +and his friends, who are all for war <i>à outrance</i>.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>Monday, November 7th.</i></p> + +<p>The newspapers of to-day, with the exception of the Ultra organs, are +loud in their expressions of regret that the armistice has not been +agreed to. The Government gives no further details, but yesterday +afternoon M. Jules Favre informed several members of the press who +"interviewed" him, that Prussia refused to allow the introduction of +provisions into Paris during the duration of the armistice. I have long +ceased believing any assertion of a member of the French Government, +unless supported by independent evidence. But if this be really true, I +must say that Count Bismarck has been playing a game with the Neutral +Powers, for it can hardly be expected that Paris would consent to +suspend all military operations against the Prussians, whilst their +process of reducing the town by starvation was uninterrupted. Besides, +as such a condition would have amounted practically to a capitulation, +it would have been more frank on the part of Count Bismarck to have +submitted the question in that form. I anticipate very shortly a sortie +in force. An attempt will be made with the Second Army to pierce the +Prussian lines. There appears no reason to doubt that it will fail, and +then the cry for peace will become so strong that the Government will +be obliged to listen seriously to it.</p> + +<p>General Trochu's new organization is severely criticised. I hear from +military men that he elaborated it himself with his personal friends. So +secret was it kept, that the Minister of War knew nothing about it until +it appeared in the <i>Journal Officiel</i> yesterday. After the scene of last +Monday General Vinoy reproached Trochu for having tamely submitted to +arrest and insult by a mob for several hours, and strongly hinted that a +French general owed it to his cloth not to allow his decorations to be +torn from his breast. It is said by General Vinoy's friends that those +observations are mainly the cause why he has been deprived of his +independent command, and placed under the orders of General Ducrot, with +respect to whose evasion from Sedan many French officers shake their +heads.</p> + +<p>I cannot help thinking that the result of the vote of the army on +Thursday last is only relatively correct. Line, Mobile, and Marines do +not amount to 250,000 men, unless I am very much mistaken. The Second +Army, under Ducrot, will number about 110,000 men.</p> + +<p>The English at last are about to leave. They are very indignant at +having been, as they say, humbugged so long, and loud in their +complaints against their Embassy. I do not think, however, that the +delay has been the fault either of Colonel Claremont or of Mr. +Wodehouse. These gentlemen have done their best, but they were unable to +get the Prussian and French authorities to agree upon a day for the +exodus. On the one hand, to send to Versailles to receive an answer took +forty-eight hours; on the other, from the fact that England had not +recognized the Republic, General Trochu could not be approached +officially. Colonel Claremont happens to be a personal friend of his, +and it is, thanks to his exertions, coupled with those of Mr. Washburne, +that the matter has at length been satisfactorily arranged. I need +hardly observe that the Foreign-office has done its best to render the +question more complicated. It has sent orders to Mr. Wodehouse to +provide for the transport of British subjects, without sending funds, +and having told Lord Lyons to take the archives with him, it perpetually +refers to instructions contained in despatches which it well knows are +at Tours.</p> + +<p>Mr. Washburne remains. He has done his utmost to induce the Government +to agree to an armistice, and has clearly told them that they ought not +to sacrifice Paris without a prospect of a successful issue. He is in +despair at their decision, and anticipates the worst. In the interests +of humanity it is greatly to be regretted that Lord Lyons should have +received orders to quit Paris. The personal consideration in which he +was held, and the great influence which it gave him, would have been +invaluable during the negotiations of the last few days.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 8th.</i></p> + +<p>I was once in love. The object of my affections had many amiable +qualities. I remember I thought her an angel; but when she was crossed, +she used to go up into her room and say that she would remain there +without eating until I yielded the point at issue between us. As I was +invariably right and she was invariably wrong, I could not do this; but, +pitying the weakness of her sex, and knowing its obstinacy, I usually +managed to arrange matters in a way which allowed her to emerge from her +retreat without any great sacrifice of <i>amour propre</i>. The Parisians +remind me of this sentimental episode of my existence; they have mounted +a high pedestal, and called upon the world to witness that no matter +what may be the danger to which they are exposed, they will not get off +it, unless they obtain what they want; that they will obtain it, they +find is most improbable, and they are anxiously looking around for some +one to help them down, without being obliged absolutely "to swallow +their own words." They had hoped that the armistice which was proposed +by the neutrals would in some way get them out of their difficulty; and, +as the siege still continues, they are exceedingly indignant with their +kind friends. "They have," say the papers, "loosened our mainspring of +sacrifice. We had fully determined to perish, rather than yield; if we +do not, it will be the fault of Russia, Austria, and England." Be the +cause what it may, the "mainspring of sacrifice" most assuredly is not +only loosened, but it has run down, and, unless some wonderful success +occurs shortly, it will never be wound up again. As long as it could be +supposed that cannon and musketry would only do their bloody work +outside the exterior forts, and that Paris might glory in a "heroic +attitude" without suffering real hardships or incurring real danger, the +note of defiance was loud and bold. As it is, the Government is obliged +to do its utmost to keep their courage up to the sticking point. These +foolish people really imagined that, like them, the world regarded their +city as a species of sacred Jerusalem, and that public opinion would +never allow the Prussians either to bombard it, or to expose the high +priests of civilization who inhabit it to the realities of war. It is +necessary to live here to understand the strength of this feeling. In +England, little attention is paid to the utterances of French +newspapers, but the Parisians, more profoundly ignorant of foreign +politics than the charity school boys of an English village, were under +the flattering delusion that we, in common with every other nation, +lived alone to merit their favourable opinion. They find now, to their +profound astonishment, that beyond a barren sympathy, founded upon a +common humanity, no one regards Paris as different to any other great +city, and that, if they choose to convert it into an intrenched camp for +their armies, they must meet the consequences. Either they must accept +the victor's terms of peace or they must fight the Prussians. The +reality of the situation is by degrees coming home to them. From the +general tone of the conversations I hear, I am inclined to think that, +in their hearts, they admit that Alsace, if not Lorraine, is +irretrievably lost. Words have a great influence over them, and they +find consolation for this loss of territory in the phrase that Alsace +will annex a portion of Germany, and not be annexed to Germany. It is +admitted also that sooner or later, an indemnity must be paid in money +to Prussia. The newspapers, who were the loudest in their praises of M. +Jules Favre's language at Ferrières, now complain that nothing is to be +gained by bombast, and that it is ridiculous of him to talk about +"France" proposing "conditions of peace" which must be unacceptable to +Prussia. The main grounds for continued resistance are the personal +ambition of the members of the Government, who well know that if they +sign an armistice, which is tantamount to peace, they will hereafter be +made scapegoats, and be told that the Parisians were balked of their +desire to perish to the last man; the mulish obstinacy of Trochu; and +the dread of the capital losing its supremacy over the Provinces. Of +course, there are some who wish to fight on to the bitter end. The +"Ultras" hope to found on a war <i>à outrance</i> a democratic republic, and +dream of the successes of the First Revolution. The politicians hardly +know what they want. Their main idea is to keep up for their own +purposes that centralization which has so long been the bane of this +country. If they agree to terms before Paris has given France an example +of heroism, they fear that her supremacy will be compromised; if they +allow the insulation to continue, they fear that the Provinces will +accustom themselves to independent action; if a Constituent Assembly be +elected whilst free communication between Paris and the rest of France +is interrupted, they fear that this Assembly will consist of local +candidates rather than those, as has heretofore been the case in all +French Legislative Chambers, who are imposed upon the departments by a +central organization in the capital.</p> + +<p>The position of the Government is a singular one. They obtained last +Thursday a large majority on their plebiscite, because it was fully +understood that "oui" meant peace; indeed, on many bulletins, the words +"and peace" were added to the "oui." They have imprisoned the leaders of +those who revolted to the cry of "no armistice!" Their friends the +bourgeois trusted to them to put off the municipal elections until after +the war, and they rallied to their defence to the cry of "no Commune!" +In each arrondissement a mayor and two adjuncts have been elected, and +these mayors and adjuncts have only to meet together in order to assume +that right to interfere in public affairs which converts a municipality +into a commune. In Belleville the elected mayor is a prisoner, and his +two adjuncts, Flourens and Milliere, are in hiding. In the nineteenth +arrondissement M. Delescluze, by far the most able of the Ultras, is +mayor. Contrary to the wishes, consequently, of the voters of "oui," we +are to have no armistice, and we probably shall have a commune. The +Ultras are persecuted, but their programme is adopted.</p> + +<p>There appears to be a tacit truce between all parties within the city +until Trochu has made some attempt to carry out his famous plan. For the +last fortnight the Government has not published any news which it may +have received from the Provinces. M. Thiers has either made no report +upon their condition, or it has been concealed. M. Jules Favre, in his +despatch to the envoys abroad, enters into no details, and confines +himself to the simple announcement, that the armistice was not concluded +because Count Bismarck would not allow Paris to be revictualled during +the twenty-five days which it was to last. Our anxiety for news +respecting what is passing outside has to be satisfied with the +following words, which fell from the lips of M. Thiers: "I have seen the +Army of the Loire and the Prussian Guard; man to man I prefer the +former." The <i>Débats</i> and some other journals contain extracts from the +English newspapers up to the 22nd ult. I observe that everything which +tells against France is suppressed, and what is published is headed with +a notice, that as the source is English the truth is questionable. Thus +does the press, while abusing the Government for keeping back +intelligence, fulfil its mission.</p> + +<p>The plan for the redistribution of the troops, and their change from one +corps to another, which was announced on Sunday in a decree signed +Trochu, has not yet been carried out. Its only effect has been as yet to +render confusion twice confounded. Its real object, I hear, was to place +General Ducrot in command of the left bank of the Seine, instead of +General Vinoy, because it is expected that the fighting will be on that +side of the river. So indignant is General Vinoy at being placed under +the orders of General Ducrot, that he threatens to give in his +resignation on the ground that by military law no officer can be called +to serve under a general who has capitulated, and who has not been tried +before a court-martial. The dispute will, I imagine, in some way or +other, be arranged, without its coming before the public. General +Vinoy's retirement would produce a bad effect on the army; for, both +with officers and men, he is far more popular than either Ducrot or +Trochu. He passes as a fighting general; they pass as writing generals. +As for Trochu, to write and to talk is with him a perfect mania. "I have +seen him on business," said a superior officer to me, "a dozen times, +but I never have been able to explain what I came for; he talked so +incessantly that I could not put in a word."</p> + +<p>I was out this morning along the Southern outposts, the forts were +firing intermittently. At Cachan there was a sharp interchange of shots +going on between the Prussian sentinels and Mobiles. It is a perfect +mystery to me how the Prussians have been allowed to establish +themselves at Clamart and at Chatillon, which are within range of the +guns of three forts. Our famous artillerists do not appear to have +prevented them from establishing batteries exactly where they are most +dangerous to us. General Trochu has not confided to me his celebrated +plan, but I am inclined to think, that whatever it may have been, he +will do well to put it aside, and to endeavour to dislodge the enemy in +Chatillon and the adjacent villages, before their batteries open fire. I +suggested this to an officer, and he replied that the troops, thanks to +the decree of Sunday, hardly knew who commanded them, or where they were +to be stationed—"On paper," he added, "I and my battalion are at La +Malmaison." As for the sortie, which is to revictual Paris, by forcing +the Prussian lines, it is simply absurd to talk of it. If Trochu +attempts it, the result must be disastrous, and <i>coûte qui coûte</i>, the +political exigences of the situation render it absolutely necessary that +at least apparent success must crown our next encounter with the enemy. +The next thing would be to hold our own, as long as the provisions last, +and trust to the chapter of accidents; but this is impossible in the +present temper of both soldiers and citizens. General Trochu has +insisted so loudly that, if not interfered with, he would not only keep +the enemy out of Paris, but raise the siege—that he must do something +to redeem his pledge.</p> + +<p>We have almost forgotten our troubles, in hearing that King William, "to +recompense his soldiers and reward their valour," has made his son and +his nephew Field Marshals. We wish to know whether, if his army takes +Paris, he will reward the men by declaring himself infallible, and +giving "our Fritz" a few million francs. With fear and trembling we ask +whether the success of the Bavarians will be recognized by their +monarch being allowed to inflict on us the operas of his friend Wagner.</p> + +<p>A new industry has sprung up in Paris. A manufactory has been +discovered, in which Prussian casques and sabres were being made. It was +at first thought that the owner was engaged in a dark conspiracy, but, +upon being arrested, he confessed that he was endeavouring to meet the +demand for trophies from the fields of battle. In one room of the house +of this ingenious speculator, a large number of forged letters were +found, from mothers, sisters, and brides, to their relations in the army +before Paris: these, he explained, were to be sold, warranted from the +pocket of a German corpse.</p> + +<p>Has Gambetta contracted with a London firm for a loan of 250 millions at +42? The financial world here is in a state of the greatest agitation +about a statement to this effect, which has been discovered in an +English newspaper. The Government officially declares that it knows +nothing about the matter. It is a curious sign of the universal belief +of any one in official utterances, that this denial is regarded as very +questionable evidence against the loan having been made. What puzzles us +is, that the Rente is at 53—why then was this new loan issued at 42? An +attempt has been made to oblige those persons left in charge of houses +occupied by foreigners here, to pay the tax upon absents. An energetic +protest, however, of Mr. Washburne, has saved Americans from this +extortion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>Wednesday, November 9th.</i></p> + +<p>I bought a dozen newspapers this morning. Every one of them, with the +exception of the <i>Gaulois</i>, in more or less covert language, insists +upon peace upon any terms. Our "mainspring" not only has run down, but +is broken. The complaints, too, against the Government for concealing +all news it has received from the provinces, and for giving no details +respecting the negotiations with respect to the armistice, are most +outspoken. M. Edmond About, in the <i>Soir</i> of last night, insists that we +ought to have agreed to the armistice, even without a revictualment; and +such appears to be the opinion of almost everyone. Poor M. Jules Favre, +who a few weeks ago was lauded to the skies for having so nobly +expressed the ideas of his countrymen, when he said that rather than +yield one foot of territory, one stone of a fortress, they would all +perish, is now abused for having compromised the situation, and made it +difficult to treat, by his mania for oratorical claptrap. In the +<i>Figaro</i>, Villemessant blunders through three columns over being again +disappointed in his expectations of embracing his wife, and plaintively +tells "William" that though he may not be anxious to see "his Augusta," +this is no reason why he, Villemessant, should not be absolutely wild to +see Madame. A more utter and complete collapse of all "heroism" I never +did witness.</p> + +<p>General Trochu has, with his usual intelligence, seized this moment to +issue a decree, mobilizing 400 men from each battalion of the National +Guard. First, volunteers; secondly, unmarried men, between 25 and 35 +years; thirdly, unmarried men, between 35 and 45; fourthly, married men +between 25 and 35; fifthly, married men, between 35 and 45, are +successively to be called upon to fill up the contingent. The Vinoy +affair has been settled by the appointment of the General to the command +of the Third Army. The following statistics of the annual consumption of +meat by Paris will give some idea of the difficulty of revictualling +it:—oxen, 156,680; bulls, 66,028; cows, 31,095; calves, 120,275; sheep, +916,388. Meat is now distributed every three days. I hear that on the +present scale of rationing there is enough for five more distributions. +We shall then fall back on horses, and our own salt provisions; the +former will perhaps last for a week, as for the latter it is impossible +to give any accurate estimate. We have, however, practically unlimited +supplies of flour, wine, and coffee; if consequently the Parisians are +ready to content themselves with what is absolutely necessary to support +existence, the process of starving us out will be a lengthy one.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 14th.</i></p> + +<p>"Wanted, 10,000 Parisians ready to allow themselves to be killed, in +order that their fellow-citizens may pass down to posterity as heroes!" +The attempt to obtain volunteers having miserably failed, and fathers of +families having declined to risk their valuable lives whilst one single +bachelor remains out of reach of the Prussian guns, the Government has +now issued a decree calling to arms all bachelors between the age of 25 +and 35. If this measure had been taken two months ago it might have been +of some use, but it is absurd to suppose that soldiers can be improvised +in a few days. I must congratulate my friends here upon the astounding +ingenuity which they show in discovering pretexts to avoid military +service. It is as difficult to get them outside the inner ramparts as it +is to make an old fox break cover. In vain huntsman Trochu and his first +whip, Ducrot, blow their horns, and crack their whips; the wily reynard, +after putting his nose outside his retreat, heads back, and makes for +inaccessible fastnesses, with which long habit has made him familiar. +That General Trochu will be able to beat the Prussians no one supposes; +but if he can manage to get even 5,000 of the heroes who have for the +last two months been professing a wish to die for the honour of their +country under fire, he will have accomplished a most difficult feat.</p> + +<p>For the last few days the newspapers, one and all, have been filled with +details of the negotiations which were supposed to be going on at +Versailles. Russia, it was said, had forwarded an ultimatum to the King +of Prussia, threatening him with a declaration of war in case he +persisted in besieging Paris, or in annexing any portion of French +territory. Yesterday morning the <i>Journal Officiel</i> contained an +announcement that the Government knew absolutely nothing of these +negotiations. The newspapers are, however, not disposed to allow their +hopes of peace to be destroyed in this manner, and they reply that "it +being notorious that no member of the Government can speak the truth, +this official denial proves conclusively the contrary of what it +states." It is indeed difficult to know who or what to believe; all I +know for certain is, that M. Jules Favre assured Mr. Washburne on +Saturday night that since M. Thiers had quitted Paris he had had no +communication with the outer world, and did not even know whether the +Tours delegation was still there. Men may lie for a certain time, and +yet be believed, but this "arm of war" has been so abused by our rulers, +that at present their most solemn asseverations meet with universal +incredulity—not, indeed, that the Parisians are cured of their mania +for crediting every tale which comes to them from any other +source—thus, for instance, every newspaper has contained the most +precise details from eye-witnesses of a conflict which took place two +nights ago before the battery of Hautes-Bruyères, in which our "braves +Mobiles" took between two and three thousand prisoners, and slew +hecatombs of the enemy. Now, I was both yesterday and the day before +yesterday at the Hautes-Bruyères, and I can certify myself that this +pretended battle never took place.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to predict what will occur during the next fortnight. +<i>Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.</i> General Trochu has this +morning issued a lengthy address to the inhabitants of the city, +informing them that, had it not been for their riotous conduct on Oct. +31 the armistice would have been concluded; and that now all that +remains for them to do, is to "close their ranks and to elevate their +hearts." "If we triumph, we shall have given our country a great +example; if we succumb, we shall have left to Prussia an inheritance +which will replace the First Empire in the sanguinary annals of conquest +and violence; an inheritance of hatred and maledictions which will +eventually prove her ruin." The great question which occupies all minds +now is "the sortie." General Trochu and General Ducrot insist upon at +least making an attempt to pierce the Prussian lines. All the other +generals say that, as it cannot succeed, it is wrong to sacrifice life +to no good purpose. This is how the matter is regarded by officers and +soldiers. As for the National Guard, they distinctly say that they will +be no parties to any such act of folly. Even in the councils of the +Government there is a strong feeling against it; but General Trochu +declines to allow the question, which he says is a purely military one, +to be decided by the lawyers who are his colleagues. They, on their +side, complain that the General never quits the Louvre, has surrounded +himself with a number of clerical dandies as his aides-de-camp, whose +religious principles may be sound, but whose knowledge of war is nil; +and that if he wished to make a sortie, he should not have waited until +the Prussians had rendered its success impossible by completing their +lines of investment. It is said that the attempt will be made along the +post road to Orleans, it being now considered impossible, as was at +first intended, to open communications by the Havre railroad. The +general impression is either that the troops engaged in it will be +driven back under the forts in confusion, or that some 50,000 will be +allowed to get too far to return, and then will be netted like sparrows. +It is not, however, beyond the bounds of possibility that the Prussians +will not wait until our great administrator has completed his +preparations for attack, but will be beforehand with him, and open fire +upon the southern posts from their batteries, which many think would +effectually reduce to silence the guns of Vanves, Issy, and of the +advanced redoubts. These Prussian batteries are viewed with a mysterious +awe. We fire on them, we walk about within less than a mile of them, and +they maintain an ominous silence. On the heights of Chatillon it is said +at the advanced posts that there are 108 siege guns in position; some of +them we can actually distinguish without a glass, and yet not a shot +comes from them. Yesterday, the gates of the Bois de Boulogne were +opened, and a crowd of several thousand persons walked and drove round +the lake. Over their heads one of the bastions was throwing shells into +Montretout, but it seemed to occur to no one that Montretout might +return the compliment, and throw a few shells, not over their heads, but +into their midst. One of the most curious phases in this remarkable +siege is, that the women seem to consider the whole question a political +one, which in no way regards them—they neither urge the men to resist, +nor clamour for peace. <i>Tros Tyriusque</i> seems much the same to them; a +few hundreds have dressed themselves up as vivandières, the others +appear to regret the rise in the price of provisions, but to trouble +their heads about nothing else. If they thought that the cession of +Alsace and Lorraine would reduce the price of butchers' meat, they would +in a sort of apathetic way be in favour of the cession; but they are so +utterly ignorant of everything except matters connected with their +toilettes and M. Paul de Kock's novels, that they confine themselves to +shrugging their shoulders and hoping for the best, and they support all +the privations to which they are exposed owing to the siege without +complaint and without enthusiasm. The word armistice being beyond the +range of their vocabulary, they call it "l'amnistie," and imagine that +the question is whether or not King William is ready to grant Paris an +amnesty. As Æneas and Dido took refuge in a cave to avoid a shower, so I +for the same reason found myself with a young lady this morning under a +porte cochère. Dido was a lively and intelligent young person, but I +discovered in the course of our chance conversation that she was under +the impression that the Russians as well as the Prussians were outside +Paris, and that both were waging war for the King of Spain. Sedan, I +also learnt, was in the neighbourhood of Berlin.</p> + +<p>The <i>Temps</i> gives the following details of our provisions—Beef will +fail in a week, horse will then last a fortnight; salt meat a further +week; vegetables, dried fruits, flour, &c., about three weeks more. In +this calculation I think that the stock of flour is understated, and +that if we are contented to live on bread and wine we shall not be +starved out until the middle of January. The ration of fresh meat is now +reduced in almost all the arrondissements to thirty grammes a head. +There is no difficulty, however, in obtaining for money any quantity of +it in the restaurants. In the bouillons only one portion is served to +each customer. Cats have risen in the market—a good fat one now costs +twenty francs. Those that remain are exceedingly wild. This morning I +had a salmis of rats—it was excellent—something between frog and +rabbit. I breakfasted with the correspondents of two of your +contemporaries. One of them, after a certain amount of hesitation, +allowed me to help him to a leg of a rat; after eating it he was as +anxious as a terrier for more. The latter, however, scornfully refused +to share in the repast. As he got through his portion of salted horse, +which rejoiced in the name of beef, he regarded us with horror and +disgust. I remember when I was in Egypt that my feelings towards the +natives were of a somewhat similar nature when I saw them eating rat. +The older one grows the more tolerant one becomes. If ever I am again in +Africa I shall eat the national dish whenever I get a chance. During the +siege of Londonderry rats sold for 7s. each, and if this siege goes on +many weeks longer, the utmost which a person of moderate means will be +able to allow himself will be an occasional mouse. I was curious to see +whether the proprietor of the restaurant would boldly call rat, rat in +my bill. His heart failed him—it figures as a salmi of game.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 15th.</i></p> + +<p>We have passed from the lowest depths of despair to the wildest +confidence. Yesterday afternoon a pigeon arrived covered with blood, +bearing on its tail a despatch from Gambetta, of the 11th, announcing +that the Prussians had been driven out of Orleans after two days' +fighting, that 1,000 prisoners, two cannon, and many munition waggons +had been taken, and that the pursuit was still continuing. The despatch +was read at the Mairies to large crowds, and in the <i>cafés</i> by +enthusiasts, who got upon the tables. I was in a shop when a person came +in with it. Shopkeeper, assistants, and customers immediately performed +a war dance round a stove; one would have supposed that the war was over +and that the veracity of Gambetta is unimpeachable. But as though this +success were not enough in itself, all the newspapers this morning tell +us that "Chartres has also been retaken," that the army of Kératry has +effected a junction with that of the Loire, and that in the North +Bourbaki has forced the Prussians to raise the siege of Amiens. Everyone +is asking when "they" will be here. Edmond About, in the <i>Soir</i>, eats +dirt for having a few days ago suggested an armistice.</p> + +<p>At the Quartier-Général I do not think that very great importance is +attached to Gambetta's despatch, except as an evidence that the +provinces are not perfectly apathetic. It is considered that very +possibly the Prussians may have concentrated their whole available force +round Paris, in order to crush our grand sortie when it takes place. +General Trochu himself takes the most despondent view of the situation, +and bitterly complains of the "spirit" of the army, the Mobiles, and the +Parisians. This extraordinary commander imagines that he will infuse a +new courage in his troops by going about like a monk of La Trappe, +saying to every one, "Brother, we must die."</p> + +<p>Mr. Washburne received yesterday a despatch from his Government—the +first which has reached him since the commencement of the +siege—informing him that his conduct in remaining at Paris is approved +of. With the despatch there came English newspapers up to the 3rd. +Extracts from them will, I presume, be published to-morrow. I passed the +afternoon greedily devouring the news at the American Legation. It was a +curious sight—the Chancellerie was crowded with people engaged in the +same occupation. There were several French journalists, opening their +eyes very wide, under the impression that this would enable them to +understand English. A Secretary of Legation was sitting at a table +giving audiences to unnumbered ladies who wished to know how they could +leave Paris; or, if this was impossible, how they could draw on their +bankers in New York. Mr. Washburne walked about cheerily shaking +everyone by the hand, and telling them to make themselves at home. How +different American diplomatists are to the prim old women who represent +us abroad, with a staff of half-a-dozen dandies helping each other to do +nothing, who have been taught to regard all who are not of the craft as +their natural enemies. At the English Embassy Colonel Claremont and a +porter now represent the British nation. The former, in obedience to +orders from the Foreign Office, is only waiting for a reply from Count +Bismarck to his letter asking for a pass to leave us. Whether the +numerous English who remain here are then to look to Mr. Washburne or to +the porter for protection, I have been unable to discover.</p> + +<p>M. Felix Pyat has been let out of prison. He says that he rather prefers +being there than at liberty, for in his cell he can "forget that he is +in a town inhabited by cowards," and devote himself to the works of M. +Louis Blanc, which he calls the "Bibles of democracy."</p> + +<p>Although Trochu is neither a great general nor a great statesman, he is +a gentleman. I am therefore surprised that he allows obscene caricatures +of the Empress to be publicly sold in the streets and exhibited in the +kiosks. During the time that she occupied the throne in this most +scandal-loving town, no scandal was ever whispered against her. She was +fond, it is true, of dress, but she was a good mother and a good wife. +Now that she and her friends are in exile, "lives of the woman +Bonaparte" are hawked about, which in England would bring their authors +under Lord Campbell's statute. In one caricature she is represented +stark naked, with Prince Joinville sketching her. In another, called +"the Spanish cow," she is made a sort of female Centaur. In another she +is dancing the Can-can, and throwing her petticoats over her head, +before King William, who is drinking champagne, seated on a sofa, while +her husband is in a cage hung up to the wall. These scandalous +caricatures have not even the merit of being funny, they are a +reflection upon French chivalry, and on that of Trochu. What would he +say if the Government which succeeds him were to allow his own wife to +be insulted in this cowardly manner?</p> + +<p>Anything more dreary than the Boulevards now in the evening it is +difficult to imagine. Only one street lamp in three is lighted, and the +<i>cafés</i>, which close at 10.30, are put on half-allowance of gas. To mend +matters, everyone who likes is allowed to put up a shed on the side walk +to sell his goods, or to collect a crowd by playing a dirge on a fiddle. +The consequence is that the circulation is rendered almost impossible. I +suggested to a high authority that the police ought at least to +interfere to make these peripatetic musicians "move on," but he told me +that, were they to do so, they would be accused of being "Corsicans and +Reactionaries." These police are themselves most ludicrous objects; +anyone coming here would suppose that they are members of some new sect +of peripatetic philosophers; they walk about in pairs, arrayed in pea +jackets with large hoods; and when it is wet they have umbrellas. Their +business appears to be, never to interfere with the rights of their +fellow-citizens to do what they please, and, so helpless do they look, +that I believe if a child were to attack them, they would appeal to the +passers-by for protection.</p> + +<p>I see in an English paper of the 3rd that it is believed at Versailles +that we have only fresh meat for twelve days. We are not so badly off as +that. How many oxen and cows there still are I do not know; a few days +ago, however, I counted myself 1,500 in a large pen. The newspapers +calculate that at the commencement of the siege there were 100,000 +horses in Paris, and that there are now 70,000; 30,000 will be enough +for the army, consequently 40,000 can be eaten. The amount of meat on +each horse averages 500 lb., consequently we have twenty million pounds +of fresh horse-flesh, a quantity which will last us for more than three +months at the present rate of the meat consumption. These figures are, I +think, very much exaggerated. I should say that there are not more than +40,000 horses now in Paris. The <i>Petites Voitures</i> (Cab) Company has +8,000, and offered to sell them to the Government a few days ago, but +that proposal was declined. As regards salt meat, the Government keep +secret the amount. It cannot, however, be very great, because it is only +derived from animals which have been killed since the siege commenced. +The stock of flour, we are told, is practically unlimited, and as no +attempt is made to prevent its waste in pasty and fancy cakes, the +authorities are acting apparently on this assumption.</p> + +<p>The health of Paris is far from satisfactory, and when the winter +weather regularly sets in there will be much sickness. No one is +absolutely starving, but many are without sufficient nourishment. The +Government gives orders for 10c. worth of bread to all who are in want, +and these orders are accepted as money by all the bakers. In each +arrondissement there are also what are called cantines économiques, +where a mess of soup made from vegetables and a small quantity of meat +can be bought for five centimes. Very little, however, has been done to +distribute warm clothing among the poor, and when it is considered that +above 100,000 persons have come into Paris from the neighbouring +villages, most of whom are dependent upon public or private charity, it +is evident that, even if there is no absolute want, there must be much +suffering. Count Bismarck was not far wrong when he said that, if the +siege be prolonged until our stock of provisions is exhausted, many +thousands in the succeeding weeks will die of starvation. I would +recommend those charitable persons who are anxious to come to the aid of +this unfortunate country to be ready to throw provisions into Paris as +soon as communications with England are reopened, rather than to +subscribe their money to ambulances. All things considered, the wounded +are well tended. In the hotel in which I am residing the Société +Internationale has established its headquarters. We have now 160 wounded +here, and beds are prepared for 400. The ambulance occupies two stories, +for which 500 francs a day are paid; and an arrangement has been made +with the administration of the hotel to feed each convalescent for 2.50 +francs per diem. As in all French institutions, there appear to me to be +far too many officials; the corridors are pervaded with young healthy +men, with the red cross on their arms, who are supposed to be making +themselves useful in some mysterious manner, but whose main object in +being here is, I imagine, to shirk military service. The ambulance which +is considered the best is the American. The wounded are under canvas, +the tents are not cold, and yet the ventilation is admirable. The +American surgeons are far more skilful in the treatment of gun-shot +wounds than their French colleagues. Instead of amputation they practise +resection of the bone. It is the dream of every French soldier, if he is +wounded, to be taken to this ambulance. They seem to be under the +impression that, even if their legs are shot off, the skill of the +Æsculapii of the United States will make them grow again. Be this as it +may, a person might be worse off than stretched on a bed with a slight +wound under the tents of the Far West.</p> + +<p>The French have a notion that, go where you may, to the top of a pyramid +or to the top of Mont Blanc, you are sure to meet an Englishman reading +a newspaper; in my experience of the world, the American girl is far +more inevitable than the Britisher; and, of course, under the Stars and +Stripes which wave over the American tents she is to be found, tending +the sick, and, when there is nothing more to be got for them, patiently +reading to them or playing at cards with them. I have a great weakness +for the American girl, she always puts her heart in what she is about. +When she flirts she does it conscientiously, and when she nurses a most +uninviting-looking Zouave, or Franc-tireur, she does it equally +conscientiously; besides, as a rule, she is pretty, a gift of nature +which I am very far from undervaluing.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 16th.</i></p> + +<p>It is reported in "official circles" that a second pigeon has arrived +with intelligence from the French Consul at Bâle, that the Baden troops +have been defeated, and that some of them have been obliged to seek +refuge in Switzerland. The evident object of Trochu now is to get up the +courage of our warriors to the sticking point for the grand sortie which +is put off from day to day. The newspapers contain extracts from the +English journals which came in the day before yesterday. By a process, +in which we are adepts at believing everything which tells for us, and +regarding everything which tells against us as a fabrication of +perfidious Albion, we have consoled ourselves with the idea that "the +situation is far better than we supposed." As for Bazaine, we cannot +make up our minds whether we ought to call him a traitor or a hero. We +therefore say as little about him as possible.</p> + +<p>I have just come back from the southern outposts. The redoubts of Moulin +Saqui and Hautes Bruyères were firing heavily, and the Prussians were +replying from Chatillon. Their shrapnell, however, fell short, just +within our advanced line. From the sound of the guns, it was supposed +that they were only using field artillery. The sailors insist that the +enemy has been unable to place his siege-guns in position, and that our +fire knocks their earthworks to pieces. I am inclined to think that +behind these earthworks there are masked batteries, for surely the +Prussian Engineer Officers cannot be amusing themselves with making +earthworks for the mere pleasure of seeing them knocked to pieces. +Anyhow they are playing a deep game, for, as far as I can hear, they +have not fired a single siege-gun yet, either against our redoubts or +forts.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 19th.</i></p> + +<p>Burke, in his work on the French Revolution, augured ill of the future +of a country the greater number of whose legislators were lawyers. What +would he have said of a Government composed almost exclusively of these +objects of his political distrust? When history recounts the follies of +the French Republic of 1870, I trust that it will not forget to mention +that all the members of the Government, with the exception of one; six +ministers; 13 under-secretaries of State; the Préfet of Police; 24 +prefets and commissaries sent into the provinces; and 36 other high +functionaries; belonged to the legal profession. The natural consequence +of this is that we cannot get out of "Nisi prius." Our rulers are unable +to take a large statesmanlike view of the situation. They live from hand +to mouth, and never rise above the expedients and temporizing policy of +advocates. They are perpetually engaged in appealing against the stern +logic of facts to some imaginary tribunal, from which they hope to gain +a verdict in favour of their clients. Like lawyers in England, they +entered public life to "get on." This is still the first object of each +one of them; and as they are deputies of Paris, they feel that, next to +themselves, they owe allegiance to their electors. To secure the +supremacy of Paris over the provinces, and of their own influence over +Paris, is the Alpha and Omega of their political creed. With an eye to +the future, each of them has his own journal; and when any decree is +issued which is not popular, the public is given to understand in these +semi-official organs, that every single member of the Government voted +against it, although it passed by a majority.</p> + +<p>It is somewhat strange that the military man who, by the force of +circumstances, is the President of this Devil's own Government is by +nature more of a lawyer than even if he had been bred up to the trade. +His colleagues own in despair that he is their master in strength of +lungs, and that when they split straws into two he splits them into +four. In vain they fall back on their pens and indite letters and +proclamations, their President out-letters and out-proclaims them. +Trochu is indeed a sort of military Ollivier. He earned his spurs as a +military critic, Ollivier as a civil critic. Both are clever, and +eminently respectable in their private relations, and both are verbose, +unpractical, and wanting in plain common sense. Ollivier had a plan, and +so has Trochu. Ollivier complained when his plan failed, that it was the +fault of every one except himself, and Trochu is already doing the same. +Both protested against the system of rule adopted by their predecessors, +and have followed in their steps. Both were advocates of publicity, and +both audaciously suppressed and distorted facts to suit their +convenience. Ollivier is probably now writing a book to prove that he +was the wisest of ministers. Trochu, as soon as the siege is over, will +write one to prove that he was the best of generals. Ollivier insisted +that he could found a Liberal Government upon an Imperial basis, and +miserably failed. Trochu declares that he, and he alone, can force the +Prussians to raise the siege of Paris. When his plan has failed, as fail +it in all probability will, he still, with that serene assurance which +is the attribute of mediocrity, will insist that it ought to have +succeeded. "<i>Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni.</i>" Those who +knew him in Brittany tell me that long before he became a personage, "le +plan de Trochu" was a standing joke throughout that province. The +General, it appears, is fond of piquet; whenever he sat down to play he +said, "j'ai mon plan." When he got up after losing the game, as was +usually the case, he went away muttering, "Cependant, mon plan était +bon." He seemed to have this word "plan" on the brain, for no one who +ever played with him could perceive in his mode of handling the cards +the slightest trace of a plan. The mania was harmless as long as its +exhibition was confined to a game in which a few francs were to be won +or lost, but it becomes most serious in its consequences when the +destinies of a country are subordinated to it. At the commencement of +the siege, General Trochu announced that he not only had a "plan," but +that he had inscribed it in his will, which was deposited with his +notary. An ordinary man would have made use of the materials at his +command, and, without pledging himself to success, would have +endeavoured to give the provinces time to organize an army of succour by +harassing the Prussians, and thus preventing them from detaching troops +in all directions. Instead of this, with the exception of some two or +three harmless sorties, they have been allowed slowly to inclose us in a +net of circumvallations. Our provisions are each day growing more +scarce, and nothing is done except to heap up defensive works to prevent +the town being carried by an assault, which there is no probability that +the besiegers mean to attempt. Chatillon and Meudon were ill guarded, +but ditches were cut along the Avenue de l'Impératrice. The young +unmarried men in Paris were not incorporated until the 50th day of the +siege, but two or three times a week they were lectured on their duties +as citizens by their leader. If there is really to be a sortie, +everything is ready, but now the General hesitates—hints that he is not +seconded, that the soldiers will not fight, and almost seems to regret +at last his own theoretical presumption. "He trusted," said one of his +generals to me, "first to the neutrals, then to the provinces, and now +he is afraid to trust to himself." Next time a general is besieged in a +town I should recommend him not to announce that he has a plan which +must ensure victory, unless indeed it be a German town, where nothing +which an official can do is considered ridiculous.</p> + +<p>Benjamin Constant said of his countrymen that their heads could never +contain more than one idea at once. A few days ago we were full of our +victory at Orleans. Then came the question whether or not Bazaine was a +traitor. To-day we have forgotten Bazaine and Orleans. The marching +battalions of the National Guard are to have new coats, and we can talk +or think of nothing else. The effect as yet of these marching battalions +has been to disorganise the existing battalions. Every day some new +decree has been issued altering their mode of formation. Perhaps the new +coats will settle everything, and convert them into excellent soldiers. +Let us hope it.</p> + +<p>We are by no means satisfied with the news which has reached us through +the English papers up to the 3rd. Thus the <i>Liberté</i>, after giving +extracts from numbers of the <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, the <i>Daily News</i>, the +<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, the <i>Sun</i>, the <i>Times</i>, and the <i>Standard</i>, +accompanies them with the following reflections:—"We feel bound to +protest in favour of the English press against the assertions of those +who would judge the opinions of a great liberal nation by the wretched +specimens which are under our eyes. Heaven be praised. The civilized +world is not so degenerate that the ignoble conduct of Prussia fails to +elicit universal reprobation." We have had two more pigeons, but +Gambetta either cannot or will not let us know anything of importance. +These two messengers confirm the news of the "victory of Orleans," and +inform us that public opinion is daily pronouncing in favour of France, +and that the condition of affairs in the provinces is most satisfactory. +Such is the universal distrust felt now for any intelligence which +emanates from an official source, that if Gambetta were to send us in an +account of a new victory to-morrow, and if all his colleagues here were +to swear to its truth, we should be in a wild state of enthusiasm for a +few hours, and then disbelieve the whole story.</p> + +<p>Small-pox is on the increase. The deaths last week from this disease +amounted to 419; the general mortality to 1885—a number far above the +average. The medical men complain of the amount of raw spirits which is +drunk—particularly at the ramparts, and ascribe much of the ill health +to this cause.</p> + +<p>By the bye, the question of the treason of Bazaine turns with us upon +what your correspondent at Saarbruck meant by the word "stores," which +he says were discovered in Metz. If munitions of war, we say that +Bazaine was a hero; if food, that he was a traitor.</p> + +<p>If sieges were likely to occur frequently, the whole system of +ambulances, as against military hospitals, would have to be ventilated. +There are in Paris two hundred and forty-three ambulances, and when the +siege commenced, such was the anxiety to obtain a <i>blessé</i>, that when a +sortie took place, those who brought them in were offered bribes to take +them to some house over which the flag of Geneva waved. A man with a +broken leg or arm was worth thirty francs to his kind preservers. The +largest ambulance is the International. Its headquarters are at the +Grand Hotel. It seems to me over-manned, for the number of the healthy +who receive pay and rations from its funds exceeds the number of the +wounded. Many, too, of the former are young unmarried men, who ought to +be serving either in the ranks of the army, or at least of the Garde +Nationale. The following story I take from an organ of public opinion of +to-day's date:—A lady went to her Mairie to ask to be given a wounded +soldier to look after. She was offered a swarthy Zouave. "No," she said, +"I wish for a blonde, being a brunette myself"—nothing like a +contrast.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>November 29th.</i></p> + +<p>From morning to evening cannon were rolling and troops were marching +through the streets. Since Saturday night the gates of the town had been +rigidly closed to all civilians, and even those provided with passes +from headquarters were refused egress. It was known that the grand +effort which is to make or mar us was to be made the next morning, and +it was hoped that the Prussians would be taken unawares. The plan, in +its main details, was confided to me by half a dozen persons, and, +therefore, I very much question whether it is a secret to the enemy. +Most of those who take an interest in the war have, I presume, a map of +Paris. If they consult it, they will see that the Marne from the east, +and the Seine from the south, unite about a mile from the south-eastern +corner of the enceinte. Two miles before the junction of the two rivers +the Marne makes a loop to the south, in this way running parallel with +the Seine for about three miles. On the north of the Marne towards Paris +lies the wood of Vincennes, and beyond the loop there are the villages +of Joinville, Nogent, and Brie. The line is defended by the forts of +Vincennes and Nogent and the redoubt of La Faisanderie. To the south, +between the loop and the Seine, is the fort of Charenton; a little +farther on the village of Creteil; beyond it, just outside the loop, is +Montmesly, where the Prussians have heavy batteries. On the north side +of the loop is the village of Champigny, which is situated on a plateau +that extends from there to Brie. On the south of Paris, between the +Seine and Meudon, are first a line of forts, then a line of redoubts, +except where Chatillon cuts in close by the Fort of Vanves. Beyond this +line of redoubts is a plain, that slopes down towards the villages of +L'Hay, Chevilly, Thiais, and Choisy-le-Roi, which is situated on the +Seine about five miles from Paris. By Monday evening about 100,000 men +and 400 cannon were massed under General Ducrot in the Bois de Vincennes +and in the adjacent villages. About 15,000 men, under General Vinoy, +were behind the southern line of redoubts close by the village of +Villejuif. Troops were also placed near St. Denis and in the peninsula +of Genevilliers to distract the attention of the enemy. It was arranged +that early in the morning General Vinoy should push forward in the +direction of L'Hay and Choisy, and then, when the Prussian reserves had +been attracted to the south by this demonstration, Ducrot should throw +bridges over the Marne and endeavour to force his way through the lines +of investment by the old high road of Bâle. At one in the morning a +tremendous cannonade from all the forts and redoubts round Paris +commenced. It was so loud that I imagined that the Prussians were +attempting an assault, and I went off to the southern ramparts to see +what was happening. The sight there was a striking one. The heavy +booming of the great guns, the bright flash each time they fired, and +the shells with their lighted fusees rushing through the air, and +bursting over the Prussian lines, realised what the French call a "feu +d'enfer." At about three o'clock the firing slackened, and I went home, +but at four it recommenced. At six o'clock General Vinoy's troops +advanced in two columns, one against L'Hay, and the other against La +Gare aux Bœufs, a fortified enclosure, about a mile above Choisy-le-Roi. +The latter was speedily occupied, a body of sailors rushing into it, +and carrying all before them, the Prussians falling back on Choisy. At +L'Hay the attacking column met with a strenuous resistance. As soon as +it had passed the barricade at the entrance of the village, a heavy fire +was poured into it from the houses at both sides of the main street. A +hand-to-hand encounter then took place with the Prussian Guard, which +had been brought up as a reinforcement. While the fight was progressing +an order arrived from General Trochu to retreat. The same order was sent +to the Gare aux Bœufs, and by ten o'clock the troops to the south of +Paris had fallen back to the positions they occupied the previous +evening. General Vinoy, during the engagement, was with his staff on the +bridge which crosses the Seine near Charenton. A battalion of National +Guards were drawn up near him. A chance shell took off the legs of one +of these heroes, his comrades fled in dismay—they were rallied and +brought back with difficulty. A little later they were engaged in +cooking their food, when some tin pans fell against each other. Thinking +it was a bomb, they again scattered, and the General was obliged to ride +along the line shouting "Courage, courage; it is the soup, my children." +In the meantime a terrible mishap had occurred on the north of the +Marne. On Monday evening, General Trochu and General Ducrot slept at +Vincennes. The latter had issued an address, in which he informed his +troops that he meant either to conquer or die. During the night an +exchange of shots had taken place across the river between the French +and Prussian sharp-shooters. Towards morning the latter had withdrawn. +At break of day the troops were drawn up ready to cross the river as +soon as the engagement on the southern lines had diverted the attention +of the enemy. The bridges were there ready to be thrown across, when it +was discovered that the Marne had overflown its bed, and could not be +crossed. Whether it be true or not that the Prussians had cut a dam, or +whether, as sometimes occurs with literary generals, the pontoons were +too few in number, is not yet clear. Whatever the cause, the effect was +to render it impossible to carry out to-day the plan which was to take +General Ducrot and his troops down to Orleans, and at the present moment +he and they are still at Vincennes, waiting for the river to go down. At +twelve o'clock I managed to get through the gate of Vanves. Outside the +walls everything was quiet. Troops were massed in all sheltered places +to resist any attack which might be made from the plateau of Chatillon. +None of the officers seemed to know what had occurred. Some thought that +Choisy had been taken, others that Ducrot had got clear away. I was +walking along the outposts in advance of Vanves, when a cantankerous +officer, one of those beings overflowing with ill-regulated zeal, asked +me what I was doing. I showed my pass. My zealous friend insisted that I +had come in from the Prussian lines, and that I probably was a spy. I +said I had left Paris an hour ago. He replied that this was impossible, +as no civilian was allowed to pass through the gate. Things began to +look uncomfortable. The zealot talked of shooting me, as a simple and +expeditious mode of solving the question. To this I objected, and so at +length it was agreed that I should be marched off to the fort of Vanves. +We found the Commandant seated before his fort with a big stick in his +hand, like a farmer before his farm yard. In vain the zealot endeavoured +to excite his ire against me. The Commandant and I got into conversation +and became excellent friends. He, too, knew nothing of what had +occurred. He had been bombarding Chatillon, he said, and he supposed he +should soon receive orders to recommence. What seemed to surprise him +was that the Prussians during the whole night had not replied either +from Chatillon, Sèvres, or Meudon to the French guns. From Vanves I went +to Villejuif, where a temporary ambulance had been erected, and the +surgeons were busy with the wounded. As soon as their wounds were +dressed, they were taken in ambulance carts inside the town. The +officers and soldiers, who had not yet learnt that General Ducrot had +failed to cross the Marne, were in a very bad humour at having been +ordered to withdraw at the very moment when they were carrying +everything before them. They represented the Prussians as having fought +like devils, and declared that they appeared to take a fiendish pleasure +in killing even the wounded. Within the town the excitement to know what +had passed is intense. The Government has posted up a notice saying that +everything is happening as General Trochu wished it. Not a word is said +about Ducrot's failure. The <i>Liberté</i>, which gives a guarded account of +what really took place, has been torn to pieces on the Boulevards. I +have just been talking with an officer on the headquarters staff. He +tells me that Trochu is still outside, very much cast down, but +determined to make a desperate effort to retrieve matters to-morrow.</p> + +<p>We have received to-day some English newspapers, and you may imagine how +far behind the age we are from the fact that we learn for the first time +that Prince Gortschakoff has put his finger into the pie. Good heavens! +I have invested my savings in Turkish Five per cents., and it gives me a +cold shiver to think at what figure I shall find these Oriental +securities quoted on the Stock Exchange when I emerge from my enforced +seclusion and again find myself in communication with the outer +world.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 2nd.</i></p> + +<p>For the last three days the public within the walls of Paris has been +kept in profound ignorance of what has been passing outside. General +Trochu has once or twice each day published a despatch saying that +everything is happening as he anticipated, and the majority of those +who read these oracular utterances religiously believe in them as though +they had never been deceived. On the Boulevards there are crowds who +question any soldier who is seen passing. "Tout va bien" is the only +answer which they get; but they seem to be under the impression that the +siege is already over, and that the Prussian lines have been forced. +Along the road inside the ramparts, and at the gates, there are dense +masses listening to the cannon, and on every mound from which a distant +view of the smoke can be obtained men, women, and children are +congregated. I have managed to get every day into the horse-shoe at the +mouth of which the fighting was going on, and yesterday afternoon, when +there was a semi-suspension of arms to bury the dead, I went with the +ambulances on the debateable land between the two armies. The whole +horse-shoe is full of artillery. The bombs and shells from the forts and +batteries pass over the French, and explode within the Prussian lines. A +little behind, every house is filled with wounded, who are taken, as +soon as their wounds are dressed, inside the town. One or two batteries +occasionally open fire, and occasionally those of the Prussians respond. +Trochu and Ducrot ride about, and, as far as I can see, the latter +commands, while the former makes speeches. Yesterday afternoon we had +slightly gained ground, beyond however an occasional discharge from our +forts and batteries, there was no fighting. Before our lines a very +large number of Prussian dead were lying. There were burying parties out +on both sides, but they were getting on very slowly with their work, and +were perpetually fired on. At 4 A.M. this morning the Prussians made a +rush at our lines from Champigny to Brie, and the Mobiles and line, +taken by surprise, hastily fell back. One or two regiments of Mobiles +were literally charged by squadrons of gendarmerie, to force them back. +Reinforcements came up, and by nine o'clock the positions had been +regained—the Prussians being unable to withstand the fire of our forts, +redoubts, and siege-guns. The battle then went on till about three +o'clock, when it died out. Towards Villiers, I should say we had gained +about three-quarters of a mile, and at Champigny we had lost about a +third of the village. At about five o'clock I got back to my hotel, +which is the headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale. Until eleven +o'clock wounded were being brought in. It is quite full now. About 460 +French, and 30 Germans—almost all Saxons. Many died during the night. +In the room, next to mine, Franchetti, the commander of the Eclaireurs +of the Seine, is lying—a portion of his hip has been blown away by a +shell, and the doctor has just told me that he fears that he will not +recover, as the wound is too high up for an operation. In the room +beyond him is a young lieutenant of Mobiles, who has had his leg +amputated, and his right arm cut open to extract a portion of the bone, +and who still has a ball in his shoulder. Most of the soldiers in here +are wounded either in the leg or in the arm. There is a great dearth of +doctors, and many wounded who were brought here last night had to wait +until this morning before their turn came to be examined. The American +Ambulance and several others are also, I hear, full. I go in +occasionally to see the Germans, as I can talk their language, and it +cheers them to hear it. I see in the newspapers that wounded Bavarians +and Saxons are perpetually crying "Vive la France!" I can only say that +those here do nothing of the kind. They do not seem to be particularly +downcast at finding themselves in the hands of their enemies. They are +treated precisely as the French are, and they are grateful for this.</p> + +<p>It is said this evening that the troops will be withdrawn and return to +the Bois de Vincennes. Some say that we have left 20,000 men at Villiers +and Champigny; but I take it that our loss does not exceed 6,000 men. +The general idea seems to be, that to-morrow we are to try to get out in +another direction, either by Chatillon or Malmaison. A pigeon came in +this morning from Bourbaki, with a despatch dated Nov. 30, stating that +he is advancing, and among the soldiers this despatch has already become +an official notice that he is at Meaux. All I know for certain is that +the ambulances are ordered out for eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and +that I am now going to bed, so as to be ready to start with them. I hear +that there has been fighting both yesterday and to-day near Bondy; but +not being able to be in two places at once, I cannot tell what really +occurred. To my civilian judgment it appears that as our object was to +force the line of heights on the south-east of Paris, which constitute +the Prussian lines of investment in that direction, and as we have not +done so, we can hardly be said to be in a better position than we were +last Monday. At a heavy cost of life we have purchased the knowledge +that our new artillery is better than was expected, and that Line and +Mobiles will stand under fire with tolerable steadiness until their +officers are bowled over, when they break. The National Guards were not +engaged. General Trochu and General Pisani tried to get some of their +battalions over the Marne, but found it impossible. After a long speech +from Trochu, Pisani shouted, "Vive la France!" To this they responded; +but when he added, "Vive Trochu!" they remained silent, and their +commanders declared that this involved political considerations with +regard to which they and their men "make certain reservations." They +are, however, very proud of having been within two miles of a battle +field, and Trochu congratulates them, in an order of the day, upon +giving a "moral support" to the army. This is precisely what every one +is willing to do. Moral support will not, however, get the Prussians +away from Paris.</p> + +<p>Food is becoming more scarce every day. Yesterday all our sausages were +requisitioned. We have still got the cows to fall back on, but they are +kept to the last for the sake of their milk. They are fed on oats, as +hay is scarce. So you see the mother of a calf has many advantages over +its uncle. All the animals in the Zoological Gardens have been killed +except the monkeys; these are kept alive from a vague and Darwinian +notion that they are our relatives, or at least the relatives of some of +the members of the Government, to whom in the matter of beauty nature +has not been bountiful. In the cellar of the English Embassy there are +three sheep. Never did the rich man lust more after the poor man's ewe +lamb than I lust after these sheep. I go and look at them frequently, +much as a London Arab goes to have a smell at a cookshop. They console +me for the absence of my ambassador. Some one has discovered that an +excellent jelly can be made out of old bones, and we are called upon by +the mayors to give up all our bones, in order that they may be submitted +to the process. Mr. Powell is, I believe, a contractor in London. I do +not know him; but yesterday I dined with a friend who produced from a +tin some Australian mutton, which he had bought of Mr. Powell before the +commencement of the siege. Better I never tasted, and out of gratitude I +give the worthy Powell the benefit of a gratis advertisement. If we only +had a stock of his meat here, we could defy the Prussians. As it is, I +am very much afraid that in a very few weeks William will date his +telegrams to Augusta from the Tuileries.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 3rd.</i></p> + +<p>I wrote to you in a great hurry last night in order to catch a balloon +which was to have gone this morning, but whose departure has been +deferred as the wind was not favourable. I am now able to give some more +accurate details respecting the affair of Friday, as I have had an +opportunity of talking with several of the officers who were on the +staffs of the different generals engaged. After the Prussians at 4 A.M. +had surprised the whole of the French line from Brie to Champigny, they +pushed forward a heavy column between, the latter place and the Marne, +thus outflanking their opponents. The column advanced about half-way up +the horse-shoe formed by the bend in the river, and would have got as +far as the bridges at Joinville, had not General Favé opened fire upon +it from a small redoubt which he had built in advance of Joinville, with +forty field guns which he rapidly placed in position. Reinforcements +were then brought up under General Blanchard, and the column was at +length forced back, fighting hard to Champigny. To-day most of the +troops in the horse-shoe crossed over the river, and are now either in +the wood of Vincennes or in other portions of the line between the forts +and the enceinte. General Trochu has returned to the Louvre, and General +Ducrot, I hear, yesterday evening expressed his regret that he had +published that foolish manifesto, in which he declared that if he did +not conquer he would die; for, not having done either, he felt the +awkwardness of re-entering the city. Both Ducrot and Trochu freely +exposed themselves; the latter received a slight wound in the back of +the head from a piece of a shell which struck him. All the officers were +obliged to keep well in advance of their soldiers in order to encourage +them. The brunt of the fighting fell to the Line; the Mobiles, as a +rule, only behaved tolerably well; the Vendeans, of whom much was +expected, badly. The only battalion of the National Guards engaged was +that from Belleville, and it very speedily fell back. I have always had +my doubts about the valour of the Parisians. I found it difficult to +believe in men who hunt for pretexts to avoid military service—who are +so very fond of marching behind drums and vivandières inside a town, and +who, in some way or other, manage either to avoid going out of it, or +when forced out, avoid all danger.</p> + +<p>The population is in profound ignorance of the real state of affairs +outside. It still believes that the Prussian lines have been forced, and +that the siege will be over in a few days. I presume that Trochu will +make a second sortie in force. Unless, however, his operations are +powerfully aided by the armies of the provinces, it is difficult to +believe that the result will be anything beyond a useless sacrifice of +life. On Friday, it is estimated that our loss amounted to 4,500 +wounded, and 600 killed. That of the Prussians must have been very +heavy, to judge from the number of dead bodies that were lying about in +the fields and woods.</p> + +<p>The ambulances were ordered out this morning, and at seven o'clock some +300 victims rendezvoused with the carriages on the Quai, near the Place +de la Concorde. After freezing there for about two hours, it was +suggested that a messenger should be sent to General Trochu, to ask him +whether we were really wanted. The reply was that no attack would be +made to-day, and consequently we went off home to thaw. If wars really +must be made, I do hope that we shall fall back upon the old system of +carrying on military operations in summer. When the thermometer is below +zero, I feel like Bob Acres—all my valour oozing out at my fingers' +ends. The doctors tell me that many slight wounds have gangrened owing +to the cold. When a battle lasts until evening the mass of the wounded +cannot be picked up until the next morning, and their sufferings during +the night must be terrible. I saw several poor fellows picked up who +appeared literally frozen.</p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> of to-day contains a letter from Monseigneur +Bauer, protesting against the Prussians having shot at him when he went +forward with a flag of truce and a trompette. The fact is vouched for +by, among others, a journalist who remained during the night of Friday +outside the walls. I can easily believe it, for the Prussians are not a +chivalrous enemy. They are perpetually firing on ambulances: and, when +it suits their own purposes, raising the white flag. If, indeed, +one-tenth part of the stories which I hear of their treacheries be true, +they ought to be exterminated like wolves. This Monseigneur Bauer is a +character. He began life as a German Jew, and he is now a Frenchman and +a Christian Bishop. During the Empire he was chaplain to the court, and +confessor of the Empress. He is now chaplain of the Ambulances de la +Presse, and has under his orders 800 "Frères Chrétiens," who dress as +priests, but are not in holy orders. Both he and they display the +greatest courage. The Frères Chrétiens are the foremost in picking up +the wounded; going forward long before the firing is over. The Bishop +prances about on his horse, dressed in a soutane and long boots, the +Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour on his breast, a golden crucifix +hanging from his neck, and a huge episcopal ring on his finger, outside +his gloves. Sometimes he appears in a red cloak, which, I presume, is a +part of his sacerdotal gear. I am told, by those who know him, that +"Monseigneur" is a consummate humbug, but he is very popular with the +soldiers, as he talks to them in their own language, and there certainly +is no humbug about his pluck. He is as steady under fire as if he were +in a pulpit. He was by the side of Ducrot when the general's horse was +killed under him.</p> + +<p>The events of the past week prove that General Trochu's sole available +force for resisting the enemy consists of the Line and the Mobiles. As +for the population of Paris, they are more than useless. They eat up the +provisions; they are endowed with a mixture of obstinacy and conceit, +which will very probably enable them to endure considerable hardships +rather than surrender; fight, however, they will not, although I am +convinced that, to the end of their lives, they will boast of their +heroic valour, and in the legend which will pass muster as history of +the siege of Paris, our grandchildren will be taught that in 1870, when +the French troops were all prisoners of war, the citizens of the French +capital "covered themselves with honour," and for nearly three months +held their town against the furious onslaughts of the victorious German +armies. The poor soldiers and the Mobiles, who do all the real fighting, +will experience the eternal truth of Virgil's <i>Sic vos non vobis</i>. But +there is no use being angry at what will happen in one hundred years, +for what does it signify to any who are now alive either in Paris or out +of Paris?</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 5th.</i></p> + +<p>A proclamation has been issued by the Government, announcing that the +troops have retired across the Marne, as the enemy has had time to +collect such a force in front of Villiers and Champigny, that further +efforts in this direction would be sterile. "The loss of the enemy +during the glorious days of the 29th and 30th November, and December +2nd, has been so great that, struck down in its pride of power, it has +allowed an army which it attacked the day before, to cross a river under +its eyes, and in the light of day," continues this manifesto. Now, +considering that the crossing took place at Joinville, and that the +river at that point is under the fire of three forts and two redoubts, +it appears to me that General Trochu might as well take credit to +himself for crossing the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. I will +say for the Government of to-day, that in any attempt to beat its +predecessor in mendacity it had a hard task, but it has worked with a +will, and completely succeeded. The military attachés who are still +here, consider that the French loss during the three days cannot be less +than 10,000 in killed and wounded. It is very unlikely that the +Government will admit a loss of above 2,000 or 3,000. That of the +Prussians is, we are told, far larger than ours. Without accepting this +assertion as gospel, it must have been very heavy. A friend of mine +himself counted 500 dead bodies in one wood. We have a certain number of +prisoners. With respect to the wounded Germans in our hands, I find that +there are about 30 in my hotel, as against above 400 French. In the +American ambulance, out of 130 only two are Germans. Colonel Claremont, +who had put off his departure, witnessed the fight in the redoubt which +General Favé had built opposite Joinville. He was nearly killed several +times by bombs from La Faisanderie, which was behind him, bursting +short.</p> + +<p>The Parisians are somewhat taken aback at the victory resulting in a +retreat. They appear, however, to be as ignorant of the environs of +their own capital as they are of foreign countries, and they never +condescend to consult a map. While some of them shake their heads in +despair of success, the majority are under the impression that Villiers +and Champigny are far beyond the range of the guns of our forts, and +that as the ground near them is still occupied by our troops, something +which will lead to the speedy retreat of the Prussians has been done. We +are two millions, they say; we will all die rather than surrender: and +they appear to be under the impression that if they only say this often +enough, Paris never will be taken. The Ultra-Democrats in the clubs have +a new theory to account for their refusal to fight. "We are," observed +an orator, a few nights ago, "the children of Paris, she has need of us; +can we leave her at such a moment?" Some of these heroes, indeed, assert +that the best plan would be to allow the Prussians to enter and then +convert them to the doctrines of Republicanism. I think it was St. +Augustine who did not despair of the devil eventually turning over a new +leaf; in the same way I heard an ardent patriot express the hope of +being able to convert "William" himself to the creed of the Universal +Republic. At the club where these fraternal sentiments were expressed +there is a lady who sits on the platform. When anyone makes what she +considers a good speech she embraces him on both cheeks. She is by no +means ugly, and I had serious thoughts of making a few observations +myself in view of the reward. That bashfulness, however, which has been +my bane through life, prevented me. The lady occasionally speaks +herself, and is fond of giving her own experiences. "I was on my way to +this club," she said, "the other evening, when I observed a man +following me. 'What dost thou want?' I asked, sternly eyeing him. 'I +love you,' replied the vile aristocrat. 'I am the wife of a citizen,' I +answered, 'and the mother of the Gracchi.' The wretch sneaked away, +abashed to seek other prey. If he addresses himself to some princess or +duchess he will probably find a victim." The loudest applause greeted +this "experience," and several very unclean-looking patriots rushed +forward to embrace the mother of the Gracchi, in order to show her how +highly they appreciated her noble conduct.</p> + +<p>The newspapers are already beginning to dread that possibly some doubts +may be cast upon the heroism of everyone during the last week. The +<i>Figaro</i> contains the following:—"No matter what certain +correspondents—better known than they suppose—may say, and although +they are preparing to infect foreign countries with their +correspondence, our Bretons did not run away on Thursday. It is true +that when they saw the Saxons emerging from their holes and shouting +hurrah, our Bretons were a little troubled by this abrupt and savage +joke, but"—then follows the statement of several of the heroes +themselves that they fought like lions. The fact is, as I have already +stated in my letter of yesterday, the Mobiles fought only tolerably +well, and some of their battalions rather the reverse of well. The Line, +for young troops, behaved very fairly; and the reckless courage of the +officers, both of the Line and Mobile, was above all praise. It is, +however, a military axiom that when an undue proportion of officers are +killed in a battle their troops have hung back. Good soldiers cannot be +made in two months, and it is absurd to expect that raw lads, who were +taken from the plough a few weeks ago, would fight as well as trained +and hardened warriors. This however, we are called upon, in defiance of +facts, to believe, because "the soil of France produces soldiers."</p> + +<p>It is difficult to guess what will happen now. The generals must be +aware that unless one of the armies of the provinces takes the Prussians +in the rear, a fresh sortie will only result in a fresh butchery; but +then, on the other hand, the Parisians will not be satisfied until all +the Line and the Mobiles outside the walls have been killed, in order +that it may be said that the resistance of Paris was heroic. If I were +Trochu, I should organize a sortie exclusively of National Guards, in +order to show these gentry what a very different thing real fighting is +to parading about the streets of the capital and wearing a uniform.</p> + +<p>The following is a list of the prices of "luxuries:"—Terrines of +chicken, 16f; of rabbit, 13f; a fowl, 26f; a rabbit, 18f; a turkey, +60f; a goose, 45f; one cauliflower, 3f; one cabbage, 4f; dog is 2f. a +lb.; a cat skinned costs 5f.; a rat, 1f., if fat from the drains, 1f. +50c. Almost all the animals in the Jardin d'Acclimatation have been +eaten. They have averaged about 7f. a lb. Kangaroo, however, has been +sold for 12f. the lb. Yesterday I dined with the correspondent of a +London paper. He had managed to get a large piece of mufflon, an animal +which is, I believe, only found in Corsica. I can only describe it by +saying that it tasted of mufflon, and nothing else. Without being +absolutely bad, I do not think that I shall take up my residence in +Corsica, in order habitually to feed upon it.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> A balloon letter, dated November 30, giving, it is +presumed, an account of the military operations on that day, suffered so +much <i>in transitu</i>, that it is illegible.</p></div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 6th.</i></p> + +<p>I am by no means certain that I should be a hero at the Equator, but I +am fully convinced that I should be an abject coward at the North Pole. +Three mornings ago I stood for two hours by the Ambulances de la Presse, +and my teeth have not ceased to chatter ever since. I pity the +unfortunate fellows who had to keep watch all night on the plateau of +Villiers more than those who were put out of their misery the day +before. When it is warm weather, one views with a comparative +resignation the Prussian batteries, and one has a sort of fanatical +belief that the bombs will not burst within striking distance; when the +thermometer is below zero, one imagines that every cannon within four +miles is pointed at one's head. I do not know how it may be with others, +but on me cold has a most unheroic effect. My legs become as wilful as +those of Mrs. Dombey's titled relative, and it is only by the strongest +effort of mind over matter that I can prevent them carrying me beyond +the reach of cannon-balls, bullets, and shells. I have a horrible vision +of myself lying all night with a broken leg in a ditch, gradually +freezing. On a warm summer's day I do not think very much of the courage +of those who fight well; on a cold winter's day, however, any man who +does not run away and take shelter by a fire deserves well of his +country.</p> + +<p>We are by no means a very happy family. General Ducrot and General +Blanchard have "had words." The latter, in the course of the dispute, +said to the former, "If your sword were as long as your tongue, you +would be a wonderful warrior indeed." Ducrot and Trochu are the literary +Generals; Vinoy and Blanchard the fighting Generals. It is reported also +that General Favé is to be superseded, though why I cannot learn, as his +redoubt may be said to have saved the army from a greater disaster. +While, however, the military men differ among themselves, they are all +agreed in abusing the National Guards, whom they irreverently call "Les +Charcutiers"—the pork butchers. When La Gare aux Bœufs was carried by +Admiral Pothuan and his sailors, two battalions of these heroes followed +in the rear. The Admiral and the sailors were somewhat astonished to +find that in the order of the day hardly anything was said of those who +really did all the fighting, but that the "pork butchers" were lauded to +the skies. General Trochu on this wrote a letter to the Admiral, +informing him that it was necessary for political reasons to encourage +the National Guard. Whilst the battle was going on at Villiers and +Champigny, the marching battalions of the National Guard were drawn up +almost out of shot. An order came to form them into line. Their +commander, General Clément Thomas, replied that this would be +impossible, as they would imagine that they were about to be taken into +action. Notwithstanding this, General Trochu congratulates them upon the +"moral support" which they afforded him. It is not surprising that the +real soldiers should feel hurt at this system of humbug. They declare +that at the next sortie they will force the Parisians to fight by +putting them in front, and firing on them if they attempt to run away. +It must be remembered that these fighting battalions consist of young +unmarried men, and if Paris is to be defended, there is no reason why +they should not be exposed to danger. The inhabitants of this city seem +to consider themselves a sacred race; they clamour for sorties, vow to +die for their country, and then wish to do it by procuration. I am +utterly disgusted with the difference between their words and their +deeds. The Mobiles and the Line have as yet done all the righting, and +yet, to read the Paris newspapers, one would suppose that the National +Guards, who have kept well out of all danger, have "covered themselves +with glory." Since the siege commenced they have done nothing but +swagger about in uniforms, and go in turns on the ramparts. They have +learnt to knock a penny off a cork at a distance of ten yards, and they +have carried on a very successful campaign against the sparrows.</p> + +<p>A fresh order was issued yesterday, suppressing all passes until further +notice. I have a pass <i>en règle</i> from General Vinoy; but even with this, +the last time I went out of the town I was turned back at two gates +before I got through at the third. A good deal of discussion has taken +place among the foreign correspondents respecting the fairness of going +out with an ambulance under guise of the Geneva flag. I see myself no +objection to it, provided the correspondent really does make himself +useful in picking up the wounded. In the Prussian camp a correspondent +has a recognised position; here it is different, and he must use all +legitimate means to obtain intelligence of what is passing. My pass, for +instance, does not describe me as a correspondent, but as an Englishman +accredited by the British Embassy. At the commencement of the siege I +begged Mr. Wodehouse to give me a letter of introduction to M. Jules +Ferry, one of the members of the Government. This I did not deliver, but +at General Vinoy's headquarters I showed it to prove that I was not a +Prussian spy, but that I was known by my natural guardian. An +aide-de-camp then gave me a pass, and, not knowing precisely what to +call me, described me as "accredited by the British Embassy." I move +about, therefore, as a mysterious being—perhaps an Ambassador, perhaps +an Ambassador's valet. A friend of mine, who is an authority with the +Ambulance de la Presse, and who owns a carriage, has promised to call +for me when next the ambulances are sent for; but, as I have already +said, all my energy oozes out of me when the thermometer is below zero; +and unless the next battle is fought on a warm day, I shall not witness +it. As a matter of fact, unless one is riding with the staff of the +general who commands, one cannot form an idea of what is going on by +hanging about, and it is a horrible sight to look with an opera-glass at +men and horses being massacred. When knights charged each other with +lances there was a certain chivalry in war; but there is nothing either +noble or inspiriting in watching a quantity of unfortunate Breton +peasants, who cannot even speak French, and an equal number of Berlin +grocers, who probably ask for nothing better than to be back in their +shops, destroying each other at a distance of two or three miles with +balls of lead and iron, many of them filled with explosive materials. I +confess that I pity the horses almost as much as the men. It seems a +monstrous thing that in order that the Alsacians should be forced into +becoming subjects of King William of Prussia, an omnibus horse, who has +honestly done his work in the streets of Paris, should be taken outside +the walls of the town to have his head blown off or to stump about on +three legs until he dies of cold and hunger. Horses have a way when they +are wounded of making desperate efforts to get up, and then letting +their heads fall with a bang on the soil which is very horrible to +witness.</p> + +<p>Everybody in authority and out of it seems to have a different opinion +as to when the siege will end. I cannot think that when a town with two +million inhabitants is reduced to such expedients as this is now, it can +hold out very long. The rations, consisting alternately of horse and +salt fish, are still distributed, but they are hardly sufficient to keep +body and soul together. Unless we make up our minds to kill our +artillery horses, we shall soon come to the end of our supply. The +rumour to-day is that the Prussians have evacuated Versailles, and that +Frederick Charles has been beaten in a battle on the Loire, but I cannot +say that I attach great credit to either story. No pigeon has arrived +for the last three days, owing, it is supposed, to the cold; and until +we know for certain what d'Aurelles de Paladine is doing, we are unable +to form an accurate opinion of the chances of the siege being raised. +All that can be said is that, left to ourselves, we shall not be able to +break through the lines of investment, and that when we have eaten up +all our food, we shall have to capitulate.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 7th.</i></p> + +<p>When this war commenced the Parisians believed in the bulletins which +their own Government issued, because they thought it only natural that +their arms should be successful, and they disbelieved in any foreign +newspaper which ventured to contest their victories. At present they are +incredulous alike of everything that comes from friend and foe. +Nine-tenths of them are under the impression that Count Moltke, in +announcing the defeat of the Army of the Loire, is guilty of a +deliberate falsehood; the other tenth supposes that he has grossly +exaggerated a slight mishap, and that the occupation of Orleans only +proves that Orleans was not defended by a large body of troops. It takes +about three days for any information which is not in accordance with the +wishes of this extraordinary population to obtain credit, no matter what +amount of evidence there may be to prove its truth. If really the Army +of the Loire has been put <i>hors de combat</i>, sooner or later the fact +will be admitted; then, although we shall still pin our faith to Kératry +or Bourbaki, the disaster will no doubt tend to produce a certain +degree of discouragement, more particularly as it is coupled with the +retreat of Ducrot's forces from the south bank of the Marne. French +politicians will insist upon dressing up their facts in order to meet +the requirements of the moment, and they never seem to consider that so +soon as the real state of things comes out there must be an inevitable +reaction, which will be far more depressing than if the truth had been +fairly told at once. I hear that when Count Moltke's letter arrived, two +of the members of the Government of National Defence were inclined to +accept his offer to verify what had occurred on the Loire, but that +General Trochu stated that he intended to resist until the last, and +that consequently, whether Orleans had fallen, or not, was a matter of +no importance. If Trochu really thinks that a further resistance and a +further sacrifice of life will materially advance the interests of his +country, of course he is right to hold out; but if, disregarding facts, +he simply wishes to oblige the Prussians to continue the siege, for no +purpose except to prove his own tenacity, he cannot be regarded either +as a good patriot or a sensible man. When the vote on the Plebiscite was +taken, his majority consisted of "Ouis" which were given because it was +supposed that he was about to treat. Since then we have gone on from day +to day vaguely hoping that either the Neutral Powers or the armies of +the provinces would get us out of the mess in which we are, or, even if +these failed us, that by a sortie the town would be revictualled. At +present none believe in the intervention of the Neutrals; few in the +success of a sortie; but all still cling, as drowning men do to a straw, +to the armies of the provinces. To destroy this belief it will be +necessary for the Prussians to obtain a substantial advantage not only +at Orleans, but over the armies of Kératry and Bourbaki. When once we +find that we are entirely left to our own resources, and that it is +impossible for us to penetrate the lines of investment, I cannot help +thinking that we shall yield to the force of circumstances. At present +all the newspapers are for fighting on as long as we have a crust, +regardless of the consequences; but then, as a rule, a besieged town is +never so near surrendering as when it threatens to hang the first man +who speaks of surrender. The majority would even now take a practical +view of matters if they dared, but Trochu is their man, and Trochu, much +to their secret sorrow, refuses to hear of a capitulation.</p> + +<p>Some German officers who are prisoners on parole have been insulted in a +restaurant, and for their own safety it has been found necessary to +confine them in La Roquette. I am not surprised at this. French officers +are, of course, incapable of this contemptible conduct, and it must be +owned that the majority of the Parisians have not, under the trying +circumstances in which they find themselves, lost that courtesy which is +one of the peculiar attributes of the nation. But there is a scum, who +lived from hand to mouth during the Empire, and which infests the +restaurants and the public places. Some of them wear the uniform of the +National Guard; others have attached themselves to the ambulances; and +all take very good care not to risk their precious lives. I was +peaceably dining last night in a restaurant; a friend with whom I had +been talking English had left me, and I found myself alone with four of +these worthies, who were dining at a table near me. For my especial +benefit they informed each other that all strangers here were outlaws +from their own country, and that the Americans and Italians who have +established ambulances were in all probability Prussian spies. As I took +no notice of these startling generalities, one of them turned to me and +said, "You may look at me, sir, but I assert before you that Dr. Evans, +the ex-dentist of the Emperor, was a spy." I quietly remarked, that not +having the honour to know Dr. Evans, and being myself an Englishman, +whilst the Doctor is an American, I was not responsible for him. "You +are a Greek," observed another; "I heard you talk Greek just now." I +mildly suggested that his knowledge of foreign tongues was, perhaps, +somewhat limited. "Well, if you are not a Greek," he said, "I saw you +the other morning near the Ambulance of the Press, to which I belong, +and so you must be a spy." "If you are an Englishman," cried his friend, +"why do you not go back to your own country, and fight Russia?" I +replied that the idea was an excellent one, but that it might, perhaps, +be difficult to pass through the Prussian lines. "The English Ambassador +is a friend of mine, and he will give you a pass at my request," +answered the gentleman who had mistaken English for Greek. I thanked +him, and assured him that I should esteem it a favour if he would obtain +from his friend Lord Lyons this pass for me. He said he would do so, as +it would be well to rid Paris of such vermin as myself and my +countrymen. He has not yet, however, fulfilled his promise. Scenes such +as these are of frequent occurrence at restaurants; bully and coward are +generally synonymous terms; any scamp may insult a foreigner now with +perfect impunity, for if the foreigner replies he has only to denounce +him as a spy, when a crowd will assemble, and either set on him or bear +him off to prison. While, as I have already said, nothing can be more +courteous than the conduct of French officers, French gentlemen, and, +unless they are excited, the French poorer classes, nothing can be more +insolent than that of the third-class dandies who reserve their valour +for the interior of the town, or who, if ever they venture outside of +its fortifications, take care to skulk beneath the protection of the +cross of Geneva.</p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> contains a decree breaking up the battalion of +Belleville. These warriors, says their own Commander, ran away in the +presence of the enemy, refused the next day to go to the front, and +commenced fighting with their neighbours from La Villette. M. Gustave +Flourens, who is the hero of these men of war, and who, although +exercising no official rank in the battalion, insisted upon their +accepting him as their chief, is to be brought before a Council of War.</p> + +<p>My next-door neighbour, Franchetti, died yesterday, and was buried +to-day. He was a fine, handsome young man, well off, happily married, +and, as the commander of the Eclaireurs of the Seine, has done good +service during the siege. As he was an Israelite, he was followed to the +grave by the Rothschilds and many other of his co-religionists.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 8th.</i></p> + +<p>M. de Sarcey, in the <i>Temps</i> of to-day, enters into a lengthy argument +to prove that the Parisians are heroic. "Heroism is positive and +negative," he says, "and we have, for the sake of our country, deprived +ourselves during several months of the power to make money, and during +this time we have existed without many of the comforts to which we are +accustomed." Now, I by no means wish to undervalue the sacrifices of the +Parisians, but heroism is not the word for them. So long as there are +enough provisions in the town to enable every one to live without +feeling the pangs of hunger, they have no opportunity to show negative +heroism. So long as the town is not assaulted, and they do not take part +in sorties, they cannot be said to be actively heroic. A blockade such +as the Prussians have instituted round Paris, is no doubt most +disagreeable to its inhabitants. In submitting to it, undoubtedly they +show their patriotism and their power of passive endurance. Heroism is, +however, something more than either patriotism or endurance—it is an +exceptional quality which is rarely found in this world. If the +Parisians possessed it, I should admire them; because they do not, no +one has a right to blame them.</p> + +<p>The newspapers have now proved to their own complete satisfaction that +Count Moltke's assertion respecting the defeat of the Army of the Loire +can only refer to its rearguard, and although no news from without has +been received for several days, they insist that the greater portion of +this army has effected its junction with that of Bourbaki. A French +journalist, even when he is not obliged to do so, generally invents his +facts, and then reasons upon them with wonderful ingenuity. I do not +know whether the Paris journals get to you through the Prussian lines; +if they do not, you have little idea how much excellent advice you lose. +One would think that just at present a Parisian would do well to keep +his breath to cool his own porridge; such, however, is not his opinion. +He thinks that he has a mission to guide and instruct the world, and +this mission he manfully fulfils in defiance of Prussians and Prussian +cannon. It is true that he knows rather less of foreign countries than +an intelligent Japanese Daimio may be supposed to know of Tipperary, but +by some curious law of nature, the less he knows of a subject the more +strongly does he feel impelled to write about it. I read a very clever +article this morning, pointing out that, if we are not on our guard, our +empire in India will come to an end by a Russian fleet attacking it from +the Caspian Sea; and when one thinks how very easy it would have been +for the author not to write about the Caspian Sea, one is at once +surprised and grateful to him for having called our attention to the +danger which menaces us in that quarter of the globe.</p> + +<p>M. Gustave Flourens has been arrested and is now in prison. The clubs of +the Ultras are very indignant at the Government having accused the +braves of Belleville of cowardice. They feel convinced that the "Jesuit" +Trochu must have introduced some <i>mouchards</i> into the band of heroes, +who received orders to run away, in order to discredit the whole +battalion. I was in the "Club de la Délivrance" this evening. It holds +its sittings in the Salle Valentino—a species of Argyle Rooms in +normal times. I held up my hand in favour of a resolution to call upon +the Government to inscribe upon marble tablets the names of the National +Guards who have died in the defence of Paris. The resolution was carried +unanimously. No National Guard has, indeed, yet been good enough to die; +but of course this fact was regarded as irrelevant. The next resolution +was that the concubines of patriots should enjoy the same right to +rations as legitimate wives. As the Club prides itself upon the stern +severity of its morals, this resolution was not carried. An orator then +proposed that all strangers should be banished from France. He was so +exceedingly lengthy that I did not wait until the end of his speech; I +am, therefore, unable to say whether his proposal was carried. The Club +de la Délivrance is by far the most reputable public assembly in Paris. +Those who take part in its proceedings are intensely respectable, and as +intensely dull and prosy. The suppression of gas has been a heavy blow +to the clubs. The Parisians like gas as much as lazzaroni like sunshine. +The grandest bursts of patriotic eloquence find no response from an +audience who listen to them beneath half-a-dozen petroleum lamps. It is +somewhat singular, but it is not the less certain, that the effect of a +speech depends very much upon the amount of light in the room in which +it is delivered. I remember once I went down to assist a friend of mine +in an electioneering campaign in a small borough. His opponent was a +most worthy and estimable squire, who resided in the neighbourhood. It +was, of course, my business to prove that he was a despicable knave and +a drivelling idiot. This I was engaged in doing at a public meeting in +the town-hall. The Philippics of Demosthenes were milk and water in +comparison with my denunciations—when just at the critical moment—as I +was carrying conviction into the breasts of the stolid Britons who were +listening to me, the gas flickered and went out. Three candles were +brought in. I recommenced my thunder; but it was of no use. The candles +utterly destroyed its effect, and two days afterwards the squire became +an M.P., and still is a silent ornament of St. Stephen's.</p> + +<p>I trust that England never will be invaded. But if it is, we shall do +well to profit by the experience of what is occurring here. There must +be no English force, half citizen half soldier. All who take part in the +national defence must submit to the strict discipline of soldiers. A +vast amount of money has been laid out in equipping the National Guard. +Their pay alone amounts to above 20,000fr. per diem, and, as far as the +defence of Paris is concerned, they might as well have remained quietly +by their own firesides. There are, no doubt, brave men among them, but +as their battalions insist upon being regarded as citizens even when +under arms, they have no discipline, and are little better than an armed +mob. The following extract from an article in the last number of the +<i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i> gives some interesting details respecting their +habits when on duty behind that most useless of all works of defence, +the line of the Paris fortifications:—"On the arrival of a battalion, +the chief of the post arranges the hours during which each man is to be +on active duty. After this, the men occupy themselves as they please. +Some play at interminable games of <i>bouchon</i>; others, notwithstanding +orders to the contrary, turn their attention to écarté and piquet; +others gossip over the news of the day with the artillerymen, who are +keeping guard by the side of their cannon. Some go away on leave, or +disappear without leave; they make excursions beyond the ramparts, or +shut themselves up in the billiard-room of some café. Many make during +the course of the day frequent visits to the innumerable canteens, which +succeed each other almost without interruption along the Rue des +Ramparts. Here old women have lit a few sticks under a pot, and sell, +for a penny the glass, a horrible brew called 'petit noir,' composed of +sugar, eau de vie, and the grains of coffee, boiled up together. Behind +there is a line of cook shops, the proprietors of which announce that +they have been commissioned to provide food. These speculators offer for +sale greasy soup, slices of horse, and every species of alcoholic drink. +Each company has, too, its cantinière, and round her cart there is +always a crowd. It seldom happens that more than one-half of the men of +the battalion are sober. Fortunately, the cold of the night air sobers +them. Between eight and nine in the evening there is a gathering in the +tent. A circle is formed in it round a single candle, and whilst the +flasks go round tale succeeds to song, and song to tale, until at length +all fall asleep, and are only interrupted in their slumbers until +morning by the corporal, who, once every hour, enters and calls out the +names of those who are to go on the watch. The abuse of strong drink +makes shameful ravages in our ranks, and is productive of serious +disorder. Few nights pass without false alarms, without shots foolishly +fired upon imaginary enemies, and without lamentable accidents. Every +night there are disputes, which often degenerate into fights, and then +in the morning, when explanations take place, these very explanations +are an excuse for recommencing drinking. Rules, indeed, are not wanting +to abate all this, but the misfortune is that they are never executed. +The indiscipline of the National Guard contrasts strangely with the +patriotism of their words. Most of the insubordination may be ascribed +to drunkenness, but the <i>mauvaise tenue</i> which is so apparent in too +many battalions is due also to many other causes. The primary +organisation of the National Guard was ill-conceived and ill-executed, +and when the enrolments had been made, and the battalions formed, day +after day a fresh series of orders were promulgated, so diffuse, so +obscure, and so contradictory, that the officers, despairing to make +head or tail of them, gave up any attempt to enforce them."</p> + +<p>The attempt at the last hour to form marching battalions out of these +citizen soldiers, by obliging each sedentary battalion to furnish 150 +men, has not been a very successful one. The marching battalions, it is +true, have been formed, but they have not yet been engaged with the +enemy; and it certainly is the opinion of military men that it will be +advisable, for the credit of French arms, to "keep them in reserve" +during any future engagement which may take place. General Clément +Thomas has issued a series of general orders, from the tenor of which it +would appear that the system of substitutes has been largely practised +in these battalions. I have myself no doubt of the fact. The fault, +however, lies with the Government. When these battalions were formed, +the respective categories of unmarried and married men between 25 and +35, and between 35 and 45, were only to be drawn upon in case a +sufficient number of volunteers were not forthcoming. It became, +consequently, the interest of the men in these categories to encourage +volunteering, and this was done on a large and liberal scale. The +Government, if it wanted men, should have called to arms all between 25 +and 35, and have allowed no exemptions. These new levies should have +been subjected to the same discipline as the Line and the Mobiles. It +must now accept the consequences of not having ventured to take this +step. For all operations beyond the enceinte General Trochu's force +consists of the Line and the Mobiles. All that he can expect from the +Parisians is a "moral support."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 9th.</i></p> + +<p>Nothing new. If the Government has received any news from without, it +carefully conceals it. A peasant, the newspapers say, has made his way +through the Prussian lines, and has brought the information that the +armies of the Loire and of Bourbaki are close to Fontainebleau. The cry +is still that we will resist to the last, and for the moment every one +seems to have forgotten that in a few weeks our provisions will all have +been consumed. If we wait to treat until our last crust has been eaten, +the pinch will come after the capitulation; for with the railroads and +the high roads broken up, and the surrounding country devastated, a +fortnight at least must elapse before supplies, in any quantity, can be +thrown into the town.</p> + +<p>I hear that the Prussian officers who were (says the <i>Journal Officiel</i>) +insulted in a café, have been exchanged. A friend of mine, an ex-French +diplomatist, was present when the scene occurred, and he tells me that +the officers, who were all young men, were, to say the least of it, +exceedingly indiscreet. Instead of eating their dinner quietly, they +indulged in a good deal of loud, and by no means wise conversation, and +their remarks were calculated to offend those Frenchmen who heard them.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 15th.</i></p> + +<p>Still no news from the outer world. I trust that M. Jansen, who was +dispatched the other day in a balloon to witness the eclipse of the sun, +will be more fortunate in his endeavours to discover what is going on in +that luminary, than we are in ours to learn what is happening within +twenty miles of us. Search has been made to find the peasant who +announced that he had seen a French army at Corbeil, but this remarkable +agriculturist is not forthcoming. Persons at the outposts say that they +heard cannon in the direction of Fontainebleau, when they put their ears +to the ground, but none believe them. Four officers, who were taken +prisoners on the 12th of the month near Orleans, have been sent in, as +an exchange for the Prussian officers who were insulted at a restaurant, +but they are so stupid that it has been impossible to glean anything +from them except that their division was fighting when they were taken +prisoners. A dead, apathetic torpor has settled over the town. Even the +clubs are deserted. There are no groups of gossips in the streets. No +one clamours for a sortie, and no one either blames or praises Trochu. +The newspapers still every morning announce that victory is not far off. +But their influence is gone. The belief that the evil day cannot be far +off is gradually gaining ground, and those who are in a position to know +more accurately the precise state of affairs, take a still more hopeless +view of them than the masses. The programme of the Government seems to +be this—to make a sortie in a few days, then to fall back beneath the +forts; after this to hold out until the provisions are eaten up, and +then, after having made a final sortie, to capitulate. Trochu is +entirely in the hands of Ducrot, who, with the most enterprising of the +officers, insists that the military honour of the French arms demands +that there should be more fighting, even though success be not only +improbable but impossible. The other day, in a council of war, Trochu +began to speak of the armies of the provinces. "I do not care for your +armies of the provinces," replied Ducrot. Poor Trochu, like many weak +men, must rely upon some one. First it was the neutrals, then it was the +armies of the provinces, and now it is Ducrot. As for his famous plan, +that has entirely fallen through. It was based, I understand, upon some +impossible manœuvres to the north of the Marne. The members of the +Government of National Defence meddle little with the direction of +affairs. M. Picard is openly in favour of treating at once. M. Jules +Favre is very downcast; he too wishes to treat, but he cannot bring +himself to consent to a cession of territory. Another member of the +Government was talking yesterday to a friend of mine. He seemed to fear +that when the people learn that the stock of provisions is drawing to a +close, there will be riots. The Government dares not tell them the +truth. Several members of the Government, I hear, intend to leave +shortly in balloons, and Trochu, as military Governor of Paris, will be +left to his own devices. He himself says that he never will sign a +capitulation, and it is suggested that when there is no more food, the +Prussians shall be allowed to enter without opposition, without any +terms having been previously agreed to. The Parisians are now contending +for their supremacy over the provinces, and they seem to think that if +they only hold out until famine obliges them to give in, that supremacy +will not hereafter be disputed.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to give precise data respecting the store of provisions +now in Paris, nor even were I able would it be fair to do so. As a +matter of private opinion, however, I do not think that it will be +possible to prolong the resistance beyond the first week in January at +the latest. Last Sunday there were incipient bread-riots. By one o'clock +all the bakers had closed their shops in the outer faubourg. There had +been a run upon them, because a decree had been issued in the morning +forbidding flour to be sold, and requisitioning all the biscuits in +stock. Government immediately placarded a declaration that bread was not +going to be requisitioned, and the explanation of the morning's decree +is that flour and not corn has run short, but that new steam-mills are +being erected to meet the difficulty. <i>La Vérité</i>, a newspaper usually +well informed, says that for some days past the flour which had been +stored in the town by M. Clément Duvernois has been exhausted, and that +we are now living on the corn and meal which was introduced at the last +moment from the neighbouring departments. It gives the following +calculation of our resources—flour three weeks, corn three months, salt +meat fifteen days, horse two months. The mistake of all these +calculations seems to be that they do not take into account the fact +that more bread or more corn will be eaten when they become the sole +means of providing for the population. Thus the daily return of flour +sold in Paris is about one-third above the average. The reason is +simple, and yet it seems to occur to no one. French people, more +particularly the poorer classes, can exist upon much less than +Englishmen; but the prospect for any one blessed with a good appetite is +by no means reassuring. In the Rue Blanche there is a butcher who sells +dogs, cats, and rats. He has many customers, but it is amusing to see +them sneak into the shop after carefully looking round to make sure that +none of their acquaintances are near. A prejudice has arisen against +rats, because the doctors say that their flesh is full of trichinæ. I +own for my part I have a guilty feeling when I eat dog, the friend of +man. I had a slice of a spaniel the other day, it was by no means bad, +something like lamb, but I felt like a cannibal. Epicures in dog flesh +tell me that poodle is by far the best, and recommend me to avoid bull +dog, which is coarse and tasteless. I really think that dogs have some +means of communicating with each other, and have discovered that their +old friends want to devour them. The humblest of street curs growls when +anyone looks at him. <i>Figaro</i> has a story that a man was followed for a +mile by a party of dogs barking fiercely at his heels. He could not +understand to what their attentions were due, until he remembered that +he had eaten a rat for his breakfast. The friend of another journalist, +who ate a dog called Fox, says that whenever anyone calls out "Fox" he +feels an irresistible impulse which forces him to jump up. As every +Christmas a number of books are published containing stories about dogs +as remarkable as they are stale, I recommend to their authors these two +veracious tales. Their veracity is guaranteed by Parisian journalists. +Can better evidence be required?</p> + +<p>We are already discussing who will be sent to Germany. We suppose that +the army and the Mobiles, and perhaps the officers of the National +Guard will have to make the journey. One thing, I do hope that the +Prussians will convey across the Rhine all the Parisian journalists, and +keep them there until they are able to pass an elementary examination in +the literature, the politics, the geography, and the domestic economy of +Germany. A little foreign travel would do these blind leaders of the +blind a world of good, and on their return they would perhaps have +cleared their minds of their favourite delusion that civilization is +co-terminous with the frontiers of France.</p> + +<p>How M. Picard provides for the financial requirements of his colleagues +is a mystery. The cost of the siege amounts in hard cash to about +£20,000,000. To meet the daily draw on the exchequer no public loan has +been negotiated, and nothing is raised by taxation. The monthly +instalments which have been paid on the September loan cannot altogether +amount to very much, consequently the greater portion of this large sum +can only have been obtained by a loan from the bank and by <i>bons de +trésor</i> (exchequer bills). What the proportion between the bank loan and +the <i>bons de trésor</i> in circulation is I am unable to ascertain. M. +Picard, like all finance ministers, groans daily over the cost of the +prolongation of the siege, and it certainly appears a very doubtful +question whether France will really benefit by Paris living at its +expense for another month.</p> + +<p>Military matters remain <i>in statu quo</i>. The army is camped in the wood +of Vincennes. The forts occasionally fire. The Prussians seem to be of +opinion that our next sortie will be in the plain of Genevilliers, as +they are working hard on their fortifications along their lines between +St. Denis and St. Cloud, and they have replaced the levies of the +smaller States by what we call here "real" Prussians. Our engineer +officers consider that the Prussians have three lines of investment, the +first comparatively weak, the second composed of strategical lines, by +which a force of 40,000 men can be brought on any point within two +hours; the third consisting of redoubts, which would prevent artillery +getting by them. To invest a large town, say our officers, is not so +difficult a task as it would appear at first sight. Artillery can only +move along roads, and consequently all that is necessary is to occupy +the roads solidly. General Blanchard has been removed from his command, +and is to be employed in the Third Army under Vinoy. His dispute with +Ducrot arose from a remark which the latter made respecting officers who +did not remain with their men after a battle; and as Blanchard had been +in Paris the day before, he took this general stricture to himself. +Personalities of a very strong nature were exchanged between the two +warriors, and it was thought well that henceforward they should, as much +as possible, be kept apart. General Favé also, who commanded the redoubt +near Joinville, which arrested the advance of the Prussians on the +second battle of Villiers, has "had words." It appears that he declined +to obey an order which was forwarded to him, on the ground of its +absurdity, saying that he was responsible to his conscience. +Indiscipline has been the curse of the French army since the +commencement of the war, and it will continue to be so to the end. +During the siege there have been many individual traits of heroism, but +the armed force has been little better than a mob, and Trochu has not +had the moral courage to enforce his will on his generals. Ducrot says +that he is determined to take the war battalions of the National Guards +under fire at the next sortie, but whether he will succeed remains to be +seen. In these marching battalions there are undoubtedly many brave men, +but both officers and soldiers are inexperienced, and when they see men +falling before them, struck down by an invisible enemy, they lose all +presence of mind.</p> + +<p>I do not think, as far as regards the Parisians, Count Bismarck is right +in his opinion that the French will for many years to come attempt to +reverse the verdict of the present war. The Parisian bourgeois is fond +of saving money. As long as war meant a military promenade of the army +across the Rhine, followed by a triumphal entry into Paris, he was by no +means averse to it, for he considered that a French victory reflected +itself on him, and made him a hero in the eyes of the world. Now, +however, that he has discovered that there is a reverse to this picture, +and that it may very possibly mean ruin to himself, he will be very +cautious before he again risks the hazard of the die. Should the +disasters of France result in the emancipation of the provinces from the +rule of Paris, they will be a positive benefit to the nation. If the +thirty-eight million Frenchmen outside Paris are such fools as to allow +themselves to be ruled by the two million amiable, ignorant, bragging +humbugs who are within it, France will most deservedly cease to be a +power of Europe. If this country is to recover from the ruin in which it +is overwhelmed it is absolutely essential that Paris should cease to be +its political capital, and that the Parisians should not have a greater +share in moulding its future policy than they are numerically entitled +to.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 18th.</i></p> + +<p>Prisoners have before now endeavoured to while away their long hours of +captivity by watching spiders making their webs. I can understand this. +In the dreary monotony of this dreariest of sieges a spider would be an +event. But alas, the spider is outside, and we are the flies caught in +his toils. Never did time hang so heavily on human beings as it hangs on +us. Every day seems to have twice the usual number of hours. I have +ceased to wind up my watch for many a week. I got tired of looking at +it; and whether it is ten in the morning or two in the afternoon is much +the same to me; almost everyone has ceased to shave; they say that a +razor so near their throats would be too great a temptation. Some have +married to avoid active service, others to pass the time. "When I knew +that there was an army between my wife and myself," observed a cynic to +me yesterday, "I rejoiced, but even the society of my wife would be +better than this." There is a hideous old woman, like unto one of +Macbeth's witches, who makes my bed. I had a horrible feeling that some +day or other I should marry her, and I have been considerably relieved +by discovering that she has a husband and several olive branches. Here +is my day. In the morning the boots comes to call me. He announces the +number of deaths which have taken place in the hotel during the night. +If there are many he is pleased, as he considers it creditable to the +establishment. He then relieves his feelings by shaking his fist in the +direction of Versailles, and exit growling "Canaille de Bismarck." I get +up. I have breakfast—horse, <i>café au lait</i>—the <i>lait</i> chalk and +water—the portion of horse about two square inches of the noble +quadruped. Then I buy a dozen newspapers, and after having read them, +discover that they contain nothing new. This brings me to about eleven +o'clock. Friends drop in, or I drop in on friends. We discuss how long +it is to last—if friends are French we agree that we are sublime. At +one o'clock get into the circular railroad, and go to one or other of +the city gates. After a discussion with the National Guards on duty, +pass through. Potter about for a couple of hours at the outposts; try +with glass to make out Prussians; look at bombs bursting; creep along +the trenches; and wade knee deep in mud through the fields. The +Prussians, who have grown of late malevolent even toward civilians, +occasionally send a ball far over one's head. They always fire too high. +French soldiers are generally cooking food. They are anxious for news, +and know nothing about what is going on. As a rule they relate the +episode of some <i>combat d'avantposte</i> which took place the day before. +The episodes never vary. 5 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>—Get back home; talk to doctors +about interesting surgical operations; then drop in upon some official +to interview him about what is doing. Official usually first mysterious, +then communicative, not to say loquacious, and abuses most people except +himself. 7 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>—Dinner at a restaurant; conversation general; +almost everyone in uniform. Still the old subjects—How long will it +last? Why does not Gambetta write more clearly? How sublime we are; what +a fool everyone else is. Food scanty, but peculiar. At Voisins to-day +the bill of fare was ass, horse, and English wolf from the Zoological +Garden. A Scotchman informed me that this latter was a fox of his +native land, and patriotically gorged himself with it. I tried it, and +not being a Scotchman, found it horrible, and fell back upon the patient +ass. After dinner, potter on the Boulevards under the dispiriting gloom +of petroleum; go home and read a book. 12 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>—Bed. They nail +up the coffins in the room just over mine every night, and the tap, tap, +tap, as they drive in the nails, is the pleasing music which lulls me to +sleep. Now, I ask, after having endured this sort of thing day after day +for three months, can I be expected to admire Geist, Germany, or Mr. +Matthew Arnold? I sigh for a revolution, for a bombardment, for an +assault, for anything which would give us a day's excitement.</p> + +<p>I enclose you Gambetta's latest pigeon despatch. His style is so +grandiloquently vague that we can make neither head nor tail of it. We +cannot imagine what has become of Aurelles de Paladine and of the army +of Kératry. The optimists say that Gambetta means that Bourbaki and +Chanzy have surrounded Frederick Charles; the pessimists, that Frederick +Charles has got between them. The general feeling seems to be that the +provinces are doing more than was expected of them, but that they will +fail to succour us. Here some of the newspapers urge Trochu to make a +sortie, in order to prevent reinforcements being sent to Frederick +Charles, others deprecate it as a useless waste of life. General Clément +Thomas, who succeeded Tamisier about a month ago in the command of the +National Guards, seems to be the right man in the right place. He is +making great efforts to convert these citizens into soldiers, and stands +no nonsense. Not a day passes without some patriotic captain being tried +by court-martial for drunkenness or disobedience. If a battalion +misbehaves itself, it is immediately gibbeted in the order of the day. +The newspapers cry out against this. They say that Clément Thomas +forgets that the National Guards are his children, and that dirty linen +ought to be washed at home. "If this goes on, posterity," they complain, +"will say that we were little more than a mob of undisciplined +drunkards." I am afraid that Clément Thomas will not have time to carry +out his reforms; had they been commenced earlier, there is no reason why +Paris should not have had on foot 100,000 good troops.</p> + +<p>Mr. Herbert tells me that there are now above 1,000 persons on the +English fund, and that every week there are about 30 new applications. +Unknown and mysterious English emerge from holes and corners every day. +Mr. Herbert thinks that there cannot be less than 3,000 of them still in +Paris, almost all destitute. The French Government sold him a short time +ago 30,000 lbs. of rice, and this, with the chocolate and Liebig which +he has in hand will last him for about three weeks. If the siege goes on +longer it is difficult to know how all these poor people will live. +Funds are not absolutely wanting, but it is doubtful whether even with +money it will be possible to buy anything beyond bread, if that. Mr. +Herbert thinks that it would be most desirable to send, if possible, a +provision of portable food, such as Liebig's extract of meat, as near to +Paris as possible; so that, whenever the siege ceases, it may at once be +brought into the town, as otherwise it is very probable that many of +these English will die of starvation before food can reach them. It does +seem to me perfectly monstrous that for years we should have, in +addition to an Embassy, kept a Consul here, and that he should have been +allowed to go off on leave to some watering place at the very moment at +which his services were most required. When the Embassy left, a sort of +deputy-consul remained here; but with a perfect ingenuity of stupidity, +the Foreign-office officials ordered this gentleman to withdraw with Mr. +Wodehouse, the secretary. Heine said of his fellow-countrymen, "they are +born stupid, and a bureaucratic education makes them wicked." Had he +been an Englishman instead of a Prussian he would have said the same, +and with even more truth, of certain persons who, not for worlds would I +name, but who do not reside 100 miles from Downing-street.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 21st.</i></p> + +<p>When the Fenians in the United States meditate a raid upon Canada, they +usually take very great care to allow their intentions to be known. Our +sorties are much like these Hibernian surprises. If the Prussians do not +know when we are about to attack, they cannot complain that it is our +fault. The "Après vous, Messieurs les Anglais," still forms the +chivalrous but somewhat naïf tactics of the Gauls. On Sunday, as a first +step to military operations, the gates of the city were closed to all +unprovided with passes. On Monday a grand council of generals and +admirals took place at the Palais Royal. Yesterday, and all last night, +drums were beating, trumpets were blowing, and troops were marching +through the streets. The war battalions of the National Guard, in their +new uniforms, spick and span, were greeted with shouts, to which they +replied by singing a song, the chorus of which is "Vive la guerre, +Piff-Paff," and which has replaced the "Marseillaise." As the ambulances +had been ordered to be ready to start at six in the morning, I presumed +that business would commence at an early hour, and I ordered myself to +be called at 5.30. I was called, and got out of my bed, but, alas for +noble resolutions! having done so, I got back again into it and remained +between the sheets quietly enjoying that sleep which is derived from the +possession of a good conscience, and a still better digestion, until the +clock struck nine.</p> + +<p>It was not until past eleven o'clock that I found myself on the outside +of the gate of La Villette, advancing, as Grouchy should have done at +Waterloo, in the direction of the sound of the cannon. From the gate a +straight road runs to Le Bourget, having the Fort of Aubervilliers on +the right, and St. Denis on the left. Between the fort and the gate +there were several hundred ambulance waggons, and above a thousand +"brancardiers," stamping their feet and blowing on their fingers to keep +themselves warm. In the fields on each side of the road there were +numerous regiments of Mobiles drawn up ready to advance if required. Le +Bourget, everyone said, had been taken in the morning, our artillery was +on ahead, and we were carrying everything before us, so towards Le +Bourget I advanced. About a mile from Le Bourget, there is a cross-road +running to St. Denis through Courneuve. Here I found the barricade which +had formed our most advanced post removed. Le Bourget seemed to be on +fire. Shells were falling into it from the Prussian batteries, and, as +well as I could make out, our forts were shelling it too. Our artillery +was on a slight rise to the right of Le Bourget, in advance of Drancy; +and in the fields between Drancy and this rise, heavy masses of troops +were drawn up in support. Officers assured me that Le Bourget was still +in our possession, and that if I felt inclined to go there, there was +nothing to prevent me. I confess I am not one of those persons who snuff +up the battle from afar, and feel an irresistible desire to rush into +the middle of it. To be knocked on the head by a shell, merely to +gratify one's curiosity, appears to me to be the utmost height of +absurdity. Those who put themselves between the hammer and the anvil, +come off generally second best, and I determined to defer my visit to +the interesting village before me until the question whether it was to +belong to Gaul or Teuton had been definitely decided. So I turned off to +the left and went to St. Denis.</p> + +<p>Here everybody was in the streets, asking everybody else for news. The +forts all round it were firing heavily. On the Place before the +Cathedral there was a great crowd of men, women, and children. The +sailors, who are quartered here in great numbers, said that they had +carried Le Bourget early in the morning, but that they had been obliged +to fall back, with the loss of about a third of their number. Most of +them had hatchets by their sides, and they attack a position much as if +they were boarding a ship. About 100 prisoners had been brought into the +town in the morning, as well as two Frères Chrétiens, who had been +wounded, and for whom the greatest sympathy was expressed. Little seemed +to be known of what was passing. "The Prussians will be here in an +hour," shouted one man; "The Prussians are being exterminated," shouted +another. "What is this?" cried the crowd, as Monseigneur Bauer, the +bishop <i>in partibus infidelium</i> of some place or other, now came riding +along with his staff. He held up his two fingers, and turned his hand +right and left. His pastoral blessing was, however, but a half success. +The women crossed themselves, and the men muttered "farceur." The war +which is now raging has produced many oddities, but none to my mind +equal to this bishop. His great object is to see and be seen, and most +thoroughly does he succeed in his object. He is a short, stout man, +dressed in a cassock, a pair of jack-boots with large spurs, and a hat +such as you would only see at the opera. On his breast he wears a huge +star. Round his neck is a chain, with a great golden cross attached to +it; and on his fingers, over his gloves, he wears gorgeous rings. The +trappings of his horse are thickly sprinkled with Geneva crosses. By his +side rides a standard-bearer, bearing aloft a flag with a red cross. +Eight aides-de-camp, arrayed in a sort of purple and gold fancy uniform, +follow him, and the <i>cortége</i> is closed by two grooms in unimpeachable +tops. In this guise, and followed by this état major, he is a +conspicuous figure upon a field of battle, and produces much the same +effect as the head of a circus riding into a town on a piebald horse, +surrounded by clowns and pets of the ballet. He was the confessor of the +Empress, and is now the aumônier of the Press; but why he wears +jack-boots, why he capers about on a fiery horse, why he has a staff of +aides-de-camp, and why he has two grooms, are things which no one seems +to know. He patronises generals and admirals, doctors and commissariat +officers, and they submit to be patronised by him. Half-priest, +half-buffoon, something of a Friar Tuck and something of a Louis XV. +abbé, he is a sort of privileged person, who by the mere force of +impudence has made his way in the world. Most English girls in their +teens fall in love with a curate and a cavalry officer. Monseigneur +Bauer, who combines in himself the unctuous curate and the dashing +dragoon, is adored by the fair sex in Paris. He knows how to adapt his +conversation to the most opposite kind of persons, and I should not be +surprised if he becomes a Cardinal before he dies.</p> + +<p>The arrival of Dr. Ricord was the next event. He was in a basket +pony-chaise, driving two ponies not much larger than rats. A pole about +twelve feet high, bearing the flag of the Geneva Cross, was stuck beside +him, and it was knocking against the telegraph wires which ran along the +street. The eminent surgeon was arrayed in a long coat buttoned up to +his chin and coming down to his feet. On his head was a kepi which was +far too large for him. He looked like one of those wooden figures of +Noah, when that patriarch with his family is lodged in a child's ark. +Having inspected the bishop and the doctor with respectful admiration, +and instituted a search for some bread and wine, I thought it was time +to see what was going on outside. On emerging from St. Denis everything +except the guns of the forts appeared quiet. I had not, however, gone +far in the direction of Le Bourget, which was still burning, when I was +stopped by a regiment marching towards St. Denis, some of the officers +of which told me that the village had been retaken by the Prussians—the +artillery, too, which I had left on the rise before Drancy, had +disappeared. At a farmyard close by Drancy I saw Ducrot and his staff. +The General had his hood drawn over his head, and both he and his +aide-de-camp looked so glum, that I thought it just as well not to +congratulate him upon the operations of the day. In and behind Drancy +there were a large number of troops, who I heard were to camp there +during the night. None seemed exactly to know what had happened. The +officers and soldiers were not in good spirits. On my return into Paris, +however, I found the following proclamation of the Government posted on +the walls:—"2 p.m.—The attack commenced this morning by a great +deployment from Mont Valérien to Nogent, the combat has commenced and +continues everywhere, with favourable chances for us.—Schmitz." The +people on the Boulevards seem to imagine that a great victory has been +gained. When one asks them where? They answer "everywhere." I can only +answer myself for what occurred at Le Bourget. I hear that Vinoy has +occupied Nogent, on the north of the Marne; the resistance he +encountered could not, however, have been very great, as only seven +wounded have been brought into this hotel, and only one to the American +ambulance. General Trochu announced this morning that 100 battalions of +the National Guards are outside the walls, and I shall be curious to +learn how they conduct themselves under fire. Far be it from me to say +that they will not fight like lions. If they do, however, it will +surprise most of the military men with whom I have spoken on the +subject. As yet all they have done has been to make frequent "pacts with +death," to perform unauthorised strategical movements to the rear +whenever they have been sent to the front, to consume much liquor, to +pillage houses, and—to put it poetically—toy with Amaryllis in the +trench, or with the tangles of Nearas' hair. Their General, Clément +Thomas, is doing his best to knock them into shape, but I am afraid that +it is too late. There are cases in which, in defiance of the proverb, it +is too late to mend.</p> + +<p>Officers in a position to know, assure me that no really serious sortie +will be made, but that after two or three days of the sham fights, such +as took place to-day, the troops will quietly return into Paris. The +object of General Trochu is, they say, to amuse the Parisians, and if he +can by hook or by crook get the National Guard under the mildest of +fires, to celebrate their heroism, in order that they may return the +compliment. I cannot, however, believe that no attempt will be made to +fight a battle; the troops are now massed from St. Denis to the Marne; +within two hours they can all be brought to any point along this line, +and I should imagine that either to-morrow or the next day, something +will be done in the direction of the Forest of Bondy. Trochu, it is +daily felt more strongly, even by calm temperate men, is not the right +man in the right place. He is a respectable literary man, utterly unfit +to cope with the situation. His great aim seems now to be to curry +favour with the Parisian population by praising in all his proclamations +the National Guards, and ascribing to them a courage of which as yet +they have given no proof. This, of course, injures him with the Line and +the Mobiles, who naturally object to their being called upon to do all +the fighting, whilst others are lauded for it. The officers all swear by +Vinoy, and hold the military capacity both of Trochu and Ducrot very +cheap. In the desperate strait to which Paris is reduced, something more +than a man estimable for his private virtues, and his literary +attainments is required. Trochu, as we are frequently told, gave up his +brougham in order to adopt his nephews. Richard III. killed his; but +these are domestic questions, only interesting to nephews, and it by no +means follows that Richard III. would not have been a better defender of +Paris than Trochu has proved himself to be. His political aspirations +and his military combinations are in perpetual conflict. He is ever +sacrificing the one to the other, and, consequently, he fails both as a +general and as a statesman.</p> + +<p>In order to form an opinion with regard to the condition of the poorer +classes, I went yesterday into some of the back slums in the +neighbourhood of the Boulevard de Clichy. The distress is terrible. +Women and children, half starved, were seated at their doorsteps, with +hardly clothes to cover them decently. They said that, as they had +neither firewood nor coke, they were warmer out-of-doors than in-doors. +Many of the National Guards, instead of bringing their money home to +their families, spent it in drink; and there are many families, composed +entirely of women and children, who, in this land of bureaucracy, are +apparently left to starve whilst it is decided to what category they +belong. The Citizen Mottu, the Ultra-Democratic Mayor, announced that in +his arrondissement all left-handed marriages are to be regarded as +valid, and the left-handed spouses of the National Guards are to receive +the allowance which is granted to the legitimate wives of these +warriors. But a new difficulty has arisen. Left-handed polygamy prevails +to a great extent among the Citizen Mottu's admirers. Is a lady who has +five husbands entitled to five rations, and is a lady who only owns the +fifth of a National Guard to have only one-fifth of a ration? These are +questions which the Citizen Mottu is now attempting to solve. As for the +future, he has solved the matrimonial question by declining to celebrate +marriages, because, he says, this bond is an insult upon those who +prefer to ignore it. As regards marriage, consequently—and that +alone—his arrondissement resembles the kingdom of heaven. I went to +see, yesterday, what was going on in the house of a friend of mine in +the Avenue de l'Impératrice, who has left Paris. The servant who was in +charge told me that up there they had been unable to obtain bread for +three days, and that the last time that he had presented his ration +ticket he had been given about half an inch of cheese. "How do you live, +then?" I asked. After looking mysteriously round to see that no one was +watching us, he took me down into the cellar, and pointed to some meat +in barrel. "It is half a horse," he said, in the tone of a man who is +showing some one the corpse of his murdered victim. "A neighbouring +coachman killed him, and we salted him down and divided it." Then he +opened a closet in which sat a huge cat. "I am fattening her up for +Christmas-day, we mean to serve her up surrounded with mice, like +sausages," he observed. Many Englishmen regard it as a religious duty to +eat turkey at Christmas, but fancy fulfilling this duty by devouring +cat. It is like an Arab in the desert, who cannot wash his hands when he +addresses his evening prayer, and makes shift with sand. This reminds me +that some antiquarian has discovered that in eating horse we are only +reverting to the habits of the ancient Gauls. Before the Christian +religion was introduced into the country, the Druids used to sacrifice +horses, which were afterwards eaten. Christianity put an end to these +sacrifices, and horse-flesh then went out of fashion.</p> + +<p><i>La France</i> thus speaks of the last despatch of Gambetta:—"At length we +have received official news from Tours. We read the despatch feverishly, +then we read it a second time with respect, with admiration, with +enthusiasm. We are asked our opinion respecting it. Before answering, we +feel an irresistible impulse to take off our hat and to cry 'Vive la +France.'" The <i>Electeur Libre</i> is still more enraptured with the +situation. It particularly admires the petroleum lamp, so different, it +says, to those orgies of light, which under the tyrant, in the form of +gas, gave a fictitious vitality to Paris. The <i>Combat</i> points out that +no fires have broken out since September 4—a coincidence which is +ascribed to the existence since that date of a Republican form of +government. I recommend this curious phenomenon to insurance companies. +The newspapers, one and all, are furious, because they hear that the +Prussians contest our two victories at Villiers. "How singular," +observes the <i>Figaro</i>, with plaintive morality, "is this rage, this +necessity for lying." It is notorious that, having gained two glorious +victories, we returned into Paris to repose on our laurels, and I must +beg the Prussians not to be so mean as to contest the fact.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 23rd.</i></p> + +<p>Since Wednesday the troops—Line, Mobiles, and marching battalions of +the National Guard—have remained outside the enceinte. There has been a +certain amount of spade work at Drancy, but beyond this absolutely +nothing. The cold is very severe. This afternoon I was outside in the +direction of Le Bourget. The soldiers had lit large fires to warm +themselves. Some of them were lodged in empty houses, but most of them +had only their little <i>tentes d'abri</i> to shelter them. The sentinels +were stamping their feet in the almost vain endeavour to keep their +blood in circulation. There have been numerous frost-bitten cases. When +it is considered that almost all of these troops might, without either +danger to the defence, or without compromising the offensive operations, +have been marched back into Paris, and quartered in the barracks which +have been erected along the outer line of Boulevards, it seems monstrous +cruelty to keep them freezing outside. The operations, however, on +Wednesday are regarded as very far short of a success. General Trochu +does not venture, in the state of public opinion, to bring the troops +back into Paris, and thus confess a failure. The ambulances are ordered +out to-morrow morning; but I cannot help thinking that the series of +operations which were with great beating of drums announced to have +commenced on Wednesday, will be allowed gradually to die out, without +anything further taking place. The National Guards are camped in the +neighbourhood of Bondy and Rosny. They have again, greatly to the +disgust of the Mobiles and Line, been congratulated in a general order +upon their valorous bearing. As a matter of fact, there was a panic +among these braves which nearly degenerated into a rout. Several +battalions turned tail, under the impression that the Prussians were +going to attack them. One battalion did not stop until it had found +shelter within the walls of the town. General Trochu's attempt, for +political ends, to force greatness upon these heroes, is losing him the +goodwill of the army. On Wednesday and Thursday several regiments of the +Line and of the Mobiles bitterly complained that they should always be +ordered to the front to protect not only Paris but the National Guards. +The marching battalions are composed of unmarried men between +twenty-five and thirty-five, and why they should not be called upon to +incur the same risks, and submit to the same discipline as the Mobiles, +it is difficult to understand. We may learn from the experience of this +siege that in war, armed citizens who decline to submit to the +discipline of soldiers are worse than useless. The lesson, however, has +not profited the Parisians. The following letter appears in the +<i>Combat</i>, signed by the "adjoint" of the 13th arrondissement. The +defence on the part of this municipal functionary of a marching +battalion, which, at the outposts, broke into a church, and there +parodied the celebration of the mass, is a gem in its way:—</p> + +<p>"The marching companies of this battalion left Paris on the morning of +the 16th to go to the outposts at Issy. The departure was what all +departures of marching battalions must fatally be—copious and +multiplied libations between parting friends, paternal handshakings in +cabarets, patriotic and bacchic songs, loose and indecent choruses—in a +word, the picturesque exhibition of all that arsenal of gaiety and +courage which is the appanage of an ancient Gallic race. The old +troopers, who pretend to govern us by the sword, do not approve of this +joyous mode of regarding death; and all the writers whose pens are +dipped in the ink of reaction and Jesuitism are eager to discover any +eccentricity in which soldiers who are going under fire for the first +time permit themselves to indulge. The Intendance, with that +intelligence which characterises our military administrations, had put +off the departure of the battalion for several hours. What were the men +to do whilst they were kept waiting, except drink? This is what these +brave fellows did. Mars, tired of Venus, sung at the companionship of +Bacchus. If the God of Wine too well seconded the God of War, it is only +water drinkers who can complain; it is not for us, Republicans of the +past and of the future, to throw stones at good citizens in order to +conceal the misconduct of the old Bonapartist Administration which still +is charged with the care of our armies."</p> + +<p>General Blaise has been killed at Villa Evrard. The buildings, which go +by this name, were occupied on Wednesday by General Vinoy's troops. In +the night a number of Prussians, who had concealed themselves in the +cellars, emerged, and a hand-to-hand fight took place. Some of the +Prussians in the confusion got away, and some were killed. Several +French officers who ran away and rushed in a panic into the presence of +General Vinoy, who was at Fort Rosney, announcing that all was lost, are +to be tried by Court Martial. The troops when they heard this were very +indignant; but old Vinoy rode along the line, and told them that they +might think what they pleased, but that he would have no cowards serving +under him. Pity that he is not General-in-Chief.</p> + +<p>A curious new industry has sprung up in Paris. Letters supposed to be +found in the pockets of dead Germans are in great request. There are +letters from mothers, from sisters, and from the Gretchens who are, in +the popular mind, supposed to adore warriors. Unless every corpse has +half a dozen mothers, and was loved when in the flesh by a dozen +sweethearts, many of these letters must be fabricated. They vary in +their style very little. The German mothers give little domestic details +about the life at home, and express the greatest dread lest their sons +should fall victims to the valour of the Parisians, which is filling the +Fatherland with terror and admiration. The Gretchens are all +sentimental; they talk of their inner feelings like the heroines of +third-rate novels, send the object of their affections cigars and +stockings knitted by their own fair hands, and implore him to be +faithful, and not forget, in the toils of some French syren, poor +Gretchen. But what is more strange is that in the pocket of each corpse +a reply is found which he has forgotten to post. In this reply the +warrior tells a fearful tale of his own sufferings, and says that +victory is impossible, because the National Guards are such an +invincible band.</p> + +<p>The number of the wounded in my hotel has considerably diminished owing +to the deaths among them. For the Société Internationale to have made it +their central ambulance was a great mistake. Owing to the want of +ventilation the simplest operations are usually fatal. Four out of five +of those who have an arm or a leg amputated die of pyæmia. Now, as in +the American tents four out of five recover; and as French surgeons are +as skilful as American surgeons, the average mortality in the two +ambulances is a crucial proof of the advantage of the American tent +system. Under their tents there is perfect ventilation, and yet the air +is not cold. If their plan were universally adopted in hospitals, it is +probable that many lives which are now sacrificed to the gases which +are generated from operations, and which find no exit from buildings of +stone or brick, would be saved. "Our war," said an American surgeon to +me the other day, "taught us that a large number of cubic inches of air +is not enough for a sick man, but that the air must be perpetually +renewed by ventilation."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 24th.</i></p> + +<p>The papers publish extracts from German newspapers which have been found +in the pockets of the prisoners who were taken on Wednesday. The news +from the provinces is not considered encouraging. Great stress is laid +upon a proclamation addressed by King William to his troops on December +6, in which it is considered that there is evidence that the Prussians +are getting tired of the war. We hear now, for the first time, that +Prussia has "denounced" the Luxemburg Treaty of '67, and forgetting that +the guarantee of neutrality with respect to these lotus-eaters was +collective, and not joint and several, we anxiously ask whether England +will not regard this as a <i>casus belli</i>. "As soon as Parliament +assembles," says <i>La Vérité</i>, "that great statesman Disraeli will turn +out Mr. Gladstone, and then our old ally will be restored to us." The +<i>Gaulois</i> observes that "the English journalists residing at Paris keep +up the illusion that Paris must fall by sending to their journals false +news, which is reproduced in the organs of Prussia." "These +journalists," adds the <i>Gaulois</i>, "who are our guests, fail in those +duties which circumstances impose upon them." Every correspondent +residing abroad must be the guest, in a certain sense, of the country +from which he is writing; but that this position should oblige him to +square his facts to suit the wishes of his hosts appears to me a strange +theory. Had I been M. Jules Favre, I confess that I should have turned +out all foreign journalists at the commencement of the siege. He, +however, expressed a wish that they should remain in Paris, and his +fellow-citizens must not now complain that they decline to endorse the +legend which, very probably, will be handed down to future generations +of Frenchmen as the history of the siege of Paris. The Prussians will +not raise the siege for anything either French or English journalists +say. The Parisians themselves must perceive that the attempt to frighten +their enemies away by drum-beating and trumpet-blowing has signally +failed. Times have altered since Jericho. It is telling the Prussians +nothing new to inform them that the National Guard are poor troops. For +my part, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to learn some +morning that the German armies round Paris had met with the fate which +overwhelmed Sennacherib and his hosts. I should be delighted to be able +to hope that the town will not eventually be forced to capitulate; but I +cannot conceal from myself the truth that, if no succour comes from +without, it must eventually fall. I blame the French journalists for +perpetually drawing upon their imagination for their facts, and in their +boasts of what France will do, not keeping within the bounds of +probability; but I do not blame them for hoping against hope that their +armies will be successful. I am ready to admit that the Parisians have +shown a most stubborn tenacity, and that they have disappointed their +enemies in not cutting each other's throats; but this is no reason why I +should assert that they are sublime. After all, what is patriotism? The +idea entertained by each nation that it is braver and better and wiser +than the rest of the world. Does not every Englishman feel this to be +true of his own countrymen? It is consequently not absurd that Frenchmen +should think the same of themselves. The French are intensely +patriotic—country with them is no abstraction. They moan over its ruin +as though it were a human being, and far then be it from me to laugh at +them for doing so. When, however, I find persons dressing themselves up +in all the paraphernalia of war, visiting tombs and statues in order to +register with due solemnity that they intend to die rather than yield, +and when, after all this nonsense, these same persons decline to take +their share in the common danger on the score that they have a mother, +or a sister, or a wife, or a child, dependent upon them, and when month +after month they drum and strut up and down the Boulevards, I consider +that they are ridiculous, and I say so. When a man does a silly thing it +is his own fault—not that of the person who chronicles it. Was it wise, +for instance, of General Ducrot to announce a fortnight ago that he was +about to lead his soldiers against the enemy, and that he himself +intended either to conquer or die? Was it wise of General Trochu six +weeks ago to issue a proclamation pledging himself to force the +Prussians to raise the siege of Paris. The Prussians will have read +these manifestoes, and they will form their own estimate respecting +them. That I call them foolish does not "keep up illusions in Germany." +The other day the members of an Ultra club, in the midst of a discussion +respecting the existence of a divinity, determined to decide the +question by a general scrimmage. I think that these patriots might have +been better employed. It does not follow, however, that I do not regret +that they were not better employed. The siege of Paris is in the hands +of General Moltke, and the <i>Gaulois</i> may depend upon it that this wary +strategist is not at all likely to give up the task by any number of +journalists informing him that he is certain to fail.</p> + +<p>I have got a cold, so I have not been out this morning. I hear that some +of the troops have come in from Aubervilliers, and several regiments +have marched by my windows. At Neuilly-sur-Marne and Bondy, it is said, +earthworks are being thrown up; and it is supposed that Chelles will, as +the Americans say, be the objective point of any movement which may take +place in that direction. The <i>Patrie</i> has been suspended for three days +for alluding to military operations. It did more than allude, it +ventured to doubt the wisdom of our generals. As many other journals +have done the same I do not understand why the <i>Patrie</i> should have been +singled out for vengeance.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XV.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 25th.</i></p> + +<p>Real Christmas weather—that is to say, the earth is as hard as a +brickbat, and the wind freezes one to the very marrow. To the rich man, +with a good coal fire in his grate, turkey, roast beef, plum pudding, +and mince pies on his table, and his family gorging themselves on the +solid eatables, a frost at Christmas is very pleasant. Poor people +cowering in their rags before the door of a union, cold, hungry, and +forlorn, or munching their dry bread in some cheerless garret, may not +perhaps so fully appreciate its advantages; but then we all know that +poor people never are contented, and seldom understand the fitness of +things. Here in Paris, the numbed soldiers out in the open fields, and +the women and children, who have no fires and hardly any food, bitterly +complain of the "seasonable" weather. With plenty of money, with warm +clothes, and a good house, a hard frost has its charms, without them it +is not quite so agreeable. For my part I confess that I never have seen +a paterfamilias with his coat tails raised, basking himself before his +fire, and prating about the delights of winter, and the healthy glow +which is caused by a sharp frost, without feeling an irresistible desire +to transplant him stark naked to the highest peak of Mont Blanc, in +order to teach by experience what winter means to thousands of his +fellow-creatures. We are not having a "merry Christmas," and we are not +likely to have a happy new year. Christmas is not here the great holiday +of the year, as it is in England. Still, everyone in ordinary times +tries to have a better dinner than usual, and usually where there are +children in a family some attempt is made to amuse them. Among the +bourgeoisie they are told to put their shoes in the grate on +Christmas-eve, and the next morning some present is found in them, which +is supposed to have been left during the night by the Infant Jesus. +Since the Empire introduced English ways here, plum-pudding and +mincepies have been eaten, and even Christmas-trees have flourished. +This year these festive shrubs, as an invention of the detested foe, +have been rigidly tabooed. Plum-puddings and mincepies, too, will appear +on few tables. In order to comfort the children, the girls are to be +given soup tickets to distribute to beggars, and the boys are to have +their choice between French and German wooden soldiers. The former will +be treasured up, the latter will be subjected to fearful tortures. Even +the midnight mass, which is usually celebrated on Christmas-eve, took +place in very few churches last night. We have, indeed, too much on our +hands to attend either to fasts or festivals, although in the opinion of +the <i>Univers</i>, the last sortie would have been far more successful had +it taken place on the 7th of the month, the anniversary of the +promulgation of the Immaculate Conception. Among fine people New +Year's-day is more of a fête than Christmas. Its approach is regarded +with dark misgivings by many, for every gentleman is expected to make a +call upon all the ladies of his acquaintance, and to leave them a box of +sugarplums. This is a heavy tax upon those who have more friends than +money—300fr. is not considered an extraordinary sum to spend upon these +bonbonnières. A friend of mine, indeed, assured me that he yearly spent +1000fr., but then he was a notorious liar, so very possibly he was not +telling the truth. "Thank Heaven," says the men, "at least we shall get +off the sugarplum tax this year." But the ladies are not to be done out +of their rights this way, and they throw out very strong hints that if +sugarplums are out of season, anything solid is very much in season. A +dandy who is known to have a stock of sausages, is overwhelmed with +compliments by his fair friends. A good leg of mutton would, I am sure, +win the heart of the proudest beauty, and by the gift of half-a-dozen +potatoes you might make a friend for life. The English here are making +feeble attempts to celebrate Christmas correctly. In an English +restaurant two turkeys had been treasured up for the important occasion, +but unfortunately a few days ago they anticipated their fate, and most +ill-naturedly insisted upon dying. One fortunate Briton has got ten +pounds of camel, and has invited about twenty of his countrymen to aid +him in devouring this singular substitute for turkey. Another gives +himself airs because he has some potted turkey, which is solemnly to be +consumed to-day spread on bread. I am myself going to dine with the +correspondent of one of your contemporaries. On the same floor as +himself lives a family who left Paris before the commencement of the +siege. Necessity knows no law; so the other day he opened their door +with a certain amount of gentle violence, and after a diligent search, +discovered in the larder two onions, some potatoes, and a ham. These, +with a fowl, which I believe has been procured honestly, are to +constitute our Christmas dinner.</p> + +<p>It is very strange what opposite opinions one hears about the condition +of the poor. Some persons say that there is no distress, others that it +cannot be greater. The fact is, the men were never better off, the women +and children never so badly off. Every man can have enough to eat and +too much to drink by dawdling about with a gun. As his home is cold and +cheerless, when he is not on duty he lives at a pothouse. He brings no +money to his wife and children, who consequently only just keep body and +soul together by going to the national cantines, where they get soup, +and to the Mairies, where they occasionally get an order for bread. +Almost all their clothes are in pawn, so how it is they do not +positively die of cold I cannot understand. As for fuel even the wealthy +find it difficult to procure it. The Government talks of cutting down +all the trees and of giving up all the clothes in pawn; but, with its +usual procrastination, it puts off both these measures from day to day. +This morning all the firewood was requisitioned. At a meeting of the +Mayors of Paris two days ago, it was stated that above 400,000 persons +are in receipt of parish relief.</p> + +<p>The troops outside Paris are gradually being brought back inside. A +trench has been dug almost continuously from Drancy to Aubervilliers, +and an attempt has been made to approach Le Bourget by flying sap. The +ground, is, however, so hard, that it is much like attempting to cut +through a rock. To my mind the whole thing is merely undertaken in order +to persuade the Parisians that something is being done. For the moment +they are satisfied. "The Prussians," they say, "have besieged us; we are +besieging the Prussians now." What they will say when they find that +even these operations are suspended, I do not know. The troops have +suffered terribly from the cold during these last few days. Twelve +degrees of frost "centigrade" is no joke. I was talking to some officers +of Zouaves who had been twenty hours at the outposts. They said that +during all this time they had not ventured to light a fire, and that +this morning their wine and bread were both frozen. In the tents there +are small stoves, but they give out little warmth. Even inside the +deserted houses it is almost as cold as outside. The windows and the +doors have been converted into firewood, and the wind whistles through +them. The ambulance waggons of the Press alone have brought in nearly +500 men frost-bitten, or taken suddenly ill. From the batteries at Bondy +and Avron there has been some sharp firing, the object of which has been +to oblige the Prussians to keep inside the Forest of Bondy, and to +disquiet them whenever they take to digging anywhere outside it. The +plain of Avron is a very important position as it commands the whole +country round. The end of Le Bourget, towards Paris appears entirely +deserted. An ambulance cart went up to a barricade this morning which +crosses the main street, when a Prussian sentinel emerged and ordered it +to go back immediately. Behind Le Bourget, a little to the right, is a +heavy Prussian battery at Le Blanc Mesnel which entirely commands it. +The Line and the Mobiles bitterly complain that they, and not the +marching battalions, are exposed to every danger. The soldiers, and +particularly those of the Mobiles, say that if they are to go on +fighting for Paris, the Parisians must take their fair share in the +battles. As for the marching battalions, they are, as soldiers, worth +absolutely nothing. The idea of their assaulting, with any prospect of +success, any positions held by artillery, is simply ludicrous. The +system of dividing an army into different categories, is subjected to a +different discipline, is fatal for any united offensive operations. It +is to be hoped that Trochu will at last perceive this, and limit his +efforts to keeping the Prussians out of Paris, and harassing them by +frequent and partial sorties. I hear that General Ducrot wanted to +attempt a second assault of Le Bourget, but this was overruled at a +council of war which was held on Thursday.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 26th.</i></p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> announces that military operations are over for +the present, owing to the cold, and that the army is to be brought +inside Paris, leaving outside only those necessary for the defence. This +is a wise measure, although somewhat tardily taken. The Parisians will +no doubt be very indignant; for if they do not like fighting themselves, +they insist that the Line and the Mobiles should have no repose.</p> + +<p>M. Felix Pyat gives the following account of Christmas in +England:—"Christmas is the great English fête—the Protestant +Carnival—an Anglo-Saxon gala—a gross, pagan, monstrous orgie—a Roman +feast, in which the vomitorium is not wanting. And the eaters of 'bif' +laugh at us for eating frogs! Singular nation! the most Biblical and the +most material of Europe—the best Christians and the greatest gluttons. +They cannot celebrate a religious fête without eating. On Holy Friday +they eat buns, and for this reason they call it Good Friday. Good, +indeed, for them, if not for God. They pronounce messe mass, and boudin +pudding. Their pudding is made of suet, sugar, currants, and tea. The +mess is boiled for fifteen days, sometimes for six months; then it is +considered delicious. No pudding, no Christmas. The repast is sacred, +and the English meditate over it for six months in advance—they are the +only people who put money in a savings'-bank for a dinner. Poor families +economise for months, and take a shilling to a publican every Saturday +of the year, in return for which on Christmas Day they gorge themselves, +and are sick for a week after. This is their religion—thus they adore +their God." M. Pyat goes on to describe the butchers' shops before +Christmas; one of them, he says, is kept by a butcher clergyman, and +over his door is a text.</p> + +<p>The <i>Gaulois</i> gives an extract of a letter of mine from a German paper, +in which I venture to assert that the Parisians do not know that +Champigny is within the range of the guns of their forts, and +accompanies it with the following note:—"The journal which has fallen +into our hands has been torn, and consequently we are unable to give the +remainder of this letter. What we have given is sufficient to prove +that our Government is tolerating within our walls correspondents who +furnish the enemy with daily information. What they say is absurd, +perhaps, but it ought not to be allowed." Does the <i>Gaulois</i> really +imagine that the German generals would have raised the siege in despair +had they not learnt that, as a rule, the Parisians do not study the map +of the environs of the city?</p> + +<p>Old Vinoy has issued an order of the day denouncing the conduct of the +soldiers and officers who ran away when the Prussians issued from the +cellars at Villa Evrard. It requires a great deal of courage just now to +praise the Line, and to find fault with the National Guard. But General +Vinoy is a thorough soldier, and stands no nonsense. If anything happens +to Trochu, and he assumes the command-in-chief, I suspect the waverers +of the National Guard will have to choose between fighting and taking +off their uniforms. The General is above seventy—a hale and hearty old +man; sticks to his profession, and utterly ignores politics. He has a +most unsurrendering face, but I do not think that he would either hold +out vain hopes to the Parisians, or flatter their vanity. He would tell +them the truth, and with perfect indifference as to the consequences. He +is a favourite both with the soldiers and the officers, and hardly +conceals his contempt for the military capacity of Trochu, or the +military qualities of Trochu's civic heroes.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 28th.</i></p> + +<p>The proverbial obstinacy of the donkey has been introduced into our +systems, owing to the number of these long-eared quadrupeds which we +have eaten. We "don't care" for anything. We don't care if the armies of +the provinces have been beaten, we don't care if we have been forced to +suspend offensive operations, we don't care if the Prussians bombard us, +we don't care if eventually we have to capitulate. We have ceased to +reason or to calculate. We are in the don't-care mood. How long this +will last with so impulsive a people it is impossible to say. Our +stomachs have become omnivorous; they digest anything now; and even if +in the end they be invited to digest the leek, as we shall not be called +upon to eat this vegetable either to-morrow or the next day, we don't +care. The cold is terrible, and the absence of firewood causes great +suffering. The Government is cutting down trees as fast as possible, and +by the time it thaws there will be an abundance of fuel. In the meantime +it denounces in the <i>Official Journal</i> the bands of marauders who issue +forth and cut down trees, park benches, and garden palings. I must say +that I don't blame them. When the thermometer is as low as it is now, +and when there is no fire in the grate, the sanctity of property as +regards fuel becomes a mere abstraction. Yesterday the Prussians +unmasked several batteries, and opened fire against the plateau of Avron +and the eastern forts. They fired above 3000 shells, but little damage +was done. We had only thirty-eight killed and wounded. One shell fell +into a house where eight people were dining and killed six of them. The +firing is going on to-day, but not so heavily. The newspapers seem to be +under the impression that we ought to rejoice greatly over this +cannonade. Some say that it proves that the Prussians have given up in +despair the idea of reducing us by famine; others that it is a clear +evidence that Prince Frederick Charles has been beaten by General +Chanzy. On Monday, Admiral La Roncière received a letter from a general +whose name could not be deciphered about an exchange of prisoners. In +this letter there was an allusion to a defeat which our troops in the +North had sustained. But this we consider a mere wile of our insidious +foe.</p> + +<p>The <i>Gaulois</i> continues its crusade against the English Correspondents +in Paris. They are all, it says, animated by a hostile feeling towards +France. "We give them warning, and we hope that they will profit by it." +Now, we know pretty well what French journalists term a hostile feeling +towards their country. We were told at the commencement of the war that +the English press was sold to Prussia, because it declined to believe in +the Imperial bulletins of victories. That a correspondent should simply +tell the truth, without fear or favour, never enters into the mind of a +Gaul. For my part, I confess that my sympathies are with France; and I +am glad to hear, on so good authority, that these sympathies have not +biassed my recital of events. Notwithstanding the denunciations of the +<i>Gaulois</i>, I have not the remotest intention to describe the National +Guards as a force of any real value for offensive operations. If, as the +<i>Gaulois</i> insists, they are more numerous and better armed than the +Prussians, and if the French artillery is superior to the Prussians, +they will be able to raise the siege; and then I will acknowledge that I +have been wrong in my estimate of them. As yet they have only blown +their own trumpets, as though this would cause the Prussian redoubts, +like the walls of Jericho, to fall down. I make no imputation on their +individual courage; but I say that this siege proves once more the truth +of the fact, that unless citizen soldiers consent to merge for a time +the citizen in the soldier, and to submit to discipline, as troops they +are worthless. The <i>Gaulois</i> wishes to anticipate the historical romance +which will, perhaps, be handed down to future generations. Posterity +may, if it pleases, believe that the Parisians were Spartans, and that +they fought with desperate valour outside their walls. I, who happen to +see myself what goes on, know that all the fighting is done by the Line +and the Mobiles, and that the Parisians are not Spartans. They are +showing great tenacity, and suffering for the sake of the cause of their +country many hardships. That General Trochu should pander to their +vanity, by telling them that they are able to cope outside with the +Prussians, is his affair. I do not blame him. He best knows how to deal +with his fellow-countrymen. I am not, however, under the necessity of +following his example.</p> + +<p>The usual stalls which appear at this season of the year have been +erected on the Boulevards. They are filled with toys and New Year's +gifts. But a woolly sheep is a bitter mockery, and a "complete farmyard" +in green and blue wood only reminds one painfully of what one would +prefer to see in the flesh. The customers are few and far between. I was +looking to-day at a fine church in chalk, with real windows, price 6fr., +and was thinking that one must be a Mark Tapley to buy it, and walk home +with it under one's arm under present circumstances. Many of the +stallkeepers have in despair deserted the toy business, and gone in for +comforters, kepis, and list soles.</p> + +<p>Until the weather set in so bitterly cold, elderly sportsmen, who did +not care to stalk the human game outside, were to be seen from morning +to night pursuing the exciting sport of gudgeon-fishing along the banks +of the Seine. Each one was always surrounded by a crowd deeply +interested in the chase. Whenever a fish was hooked, there was as much +excitement as when a whale is harpooned in more northern latitudes. The +fisherman would play it for some five minutes, and then, in the midst of +the solemn silence of the lookers-on, the precious capture would be +landed. Once safe on the bank, the happy possessor would be patted on +the back, and there would be cries of "Bravo!" The times being out of +joint for fishing in the Seine, the disciples of Isaac Walton have +fallen back on the sewers. The <i>Paris Journal</i> gives them the following +directions how to pursue their new game:—"Take a long, strong line, and +a large hook, bait with tallow, and gently agitate the rod. In a few +minutes a rat will come and smell the savoury morsel. It will be some +time before he decides to swallow it, for his nature is cunning. When +he does, leave him five minutes to meditate over it; then pull strongly +and steadily. He will make convulsive jumps; but be calm, and do not let +his excitement gain on you, draw him up, <i>et voilà votre dîner</i>."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 29th.</i></p> + +<p>So we have withdrawn from the plateau of Avron. Our artillery, says the +<i>Journal Officiel</i>, could not cope with the Krupp cannons, and, +therefore, it was thought wise to withdraw them. The fire which the +Prussians have rained for the last two days upon this position has not +been very destructive of human life. It is calculated that every man +killed has cost the Prussians 24,000lbs. of iron. We are still +speculating upon the reasons which induced the Prussians at last to +become the assailants. That they wished to drive us from this plateau, +which overlooks many of their positions, is far too simple an +explanation to meet with favour. The <i>Vérité</i> of this morning contains +an announcement that a Christmas Session of the House of Commons has +turned out Mr. Gladstone by a hostile vote, and that he has been +succeeded by a "War Minister." We are inclined to think that the +Prussians, being aware of this, have been attempting to terrify us, in +order that we may surrender before Sir Disraeli and Milord Pakington +come to our rescue. The Parisians, intelligent and clever as they are, +are absolutely wanting in plain common sense. I am convinced that if 500 +of them were boiled down, it would be impossible to extract from the +stew as much of this homely, but useful quality, as there is in the +skull of the dullest tallow-chandler's apprentice in London.</p> + +<p>The vital question of food is now rarely alluded to in the journals. The +Government is, however, called to task for not showing greater energy, +and the feeling against the unfortunate Trochu is growing stronger. He +is held responsible for everything—the frost, the dearth of food, the +ill-success of our sorties, and the defeats of the armies of succour. I +am sorry for him, for he is a well-meaning man, although unfitted for +such troubled waters. But to a great extent he has himself to thank for +what is occurring. He has risked his all upon the success of his plan, +and he has encouraged the notion that he could force the Prussians to +raise the siege. In the meantime no one broaches the question as to what +is to be done when our provisions fail. The members of the Government +still keep up the theory that a capitulation is an impossible +contingency. The nearer the fatal moment approaches the less anyone +speaks of it, just as a man, when he is growing old, avoids the subject +of death. Frenchmen have far more physical than civic courage. They +prefer to shut their eyes to what is unpleasant than to grapple with it. +How long our stores of flour will last it is difficult to say, but if +our rulers wait to treat until they are exhausted, they will perforce be +obliged to accept any terms; and, for no satisfactory object, they will +be the cause that many will starve before the town can be revictualled. +They call this, here, sublime. I call it folly. Its sublimity is beyond +me. As is the case with a sick man given over by the physicians, the +quacks are ready with their nostrums. The Ultra journals recommend that +the Government should be handed over to a commune. The Ultra clubs +demand that all generals and colonels should be cashiered, and others +elected in their place. One club has subscribed 1,600frs. for Greek +fire; another club suggests blowing up the Hôtel de Ville; another +sending a deputation clothed in white to offer the King of Prussia the +presidency of the Universal Republic; another—and this comes home to +me—passed a vote yesterday evening demanding the immediate arrest of +all English correspondents.</p> + +<p>I am looking forward with horrible misgivings to the moment when I shall +have no more money, so that perhaps I shall be thankful for being lodged +and fed at the public expense. My banker has withdrawn from Paris, and +his representative declines to look at my bill, although I offer ruinous +interest. As for friends, they are all in a like condition, for no one +expected the siege to last so long. At my hotel, need I observe that I +do not pay my bill, but in hotels the guests may ring in vain now for +food. I sleep on credit in a gorgeous bed, a pauper. The room is large. +I wish it were smaller, for the firewood comes from trees just cut down, +and it takes an hour to get the logs to light, and then they only +smoulder, and emit no heat. The thermometer in my grand room, with its +silken curtains, is usually at freezing point. Then my clothes—I am +seedy, very seedy. When I call upon a friend, the porter eyes me +distrustfully. In the streets the beggars never ask me for alms; on the +contrary, they eye me suspiciously when I approach them, as a possible +competitor. The other day I had some newspapers in my hand, an old +gentleman took one from me and paid me for it. I had read it, so I +pocketed the halfpence. My wardrobe is scanty, like the sage <i>omnia mea +mecum porto</i>. I had been absent from Paris before the siege, and I +returned with a small bag. It is difficult to find a tailor who will +work, and even if he did I could not send him my one suit to mend, for +what should I wear in the meantime? Decency forbids it. My pea jacket is +torn and threadbare, my trousers are frayed at the bottom, and of many +colours—like Joseph's coat. As for my linen, I will only say that the +washerwomen have struck work, as they have no fuel. I believe my shirt +was once white, but I am not sure. I invested a few weeks ago in a pair +of cheap boots. They are my torment. They have split in various places, +and I wear a pair of gaiters—purple, like those of a respectable +ecclesiastic, to cover the rents. I bought them on the Boulevard, and at +the same stall I bought a bright blue handkerchief which was going +cheap; this I wear round my neck. My upper man resembles that of a +dog-stealer, my lower man that of a bishop. My buttons are turning my +hair grey. When I had more than one change of raiment these appendages +remained in their places, now they drop off as though I were a moulting +fowl. I have to pin myself together elaborately, and whenever I want to +get anything out of my pocket I have cautiously to unpin myself, with +the dread of falling to pieces before my eyes. For my food, I allowance +myself, in order to eke out as long as possible my resources. I dine and +breakfast at a second-class restaurant. Cat, dog, rat, and horse are +very well as novelties, but taken habitually, they do not assimilate +with my inner man. Horse, doctors say, is heating; I only wish it would +heat me. I give this description of my existence, as it is that of many +others. Those who have means, and those who have none, unless these +means are in Paris, row in the same boat.</p> + +<p>The society at my second-class restaurant is varied. Many are regular +customers, and we all know each other. There are officers who come there +whenever they get leave from outside—hardy, well-set fellows, who take +matters philosophically and professionally. They make the most of their +holiday, and enjoy themselves without much thought of the morrow. Then +there are tradesmen who wear kepis, as they belong to the National +Guard. They are not in such good spirits. Their fortunes are ebbing +away, and in their hearts I think they would, although their cry is +still "no surrender," be glad if all were over. They talk in low tones, +and pocket a lump of the sugar which they are given with their coffee. +Occasionally an ex-dandy comes in. I see him look anxiously around to +make sure that no other dandy sees him in so unfashionable a resort. The +dandy keeps to himself, and eyes us haughtily, for we are too common +folk for the like of him. Traviatas, too, are not wanting in the +second-class restaurant. Sitting by me yesterday was a girl who in times +gone by I had often seen driving in a splendid carriage in the Bois. +Her silks and satins, her jewellery and her carriage, had vanished. +There are no more Russian Princes, no more Boyards, no more Milords to +minister to her extravagances. She was eating her horse as though she +had been "poor but honest" all her life; and as I watched her washing +the noble steed down with a pint of vin ordinaire, I realized the +alteration which this siege was effecting in the condition of all +classes. But the strangest <i>habitués</i> of the restaurant are certain +stalwart, middle-aged men, who seem to consider that their function in +life is to grieve over their country, and to do nothing else for it. +They walk in as though they were the soldiers of Leonidas on the high +road to Thermopylæ—they sit down as though their stools were curule +chairs—they scowl at anyone who ventures to smile, as though he were +guilty of a crime—and they talk to each other in accents of gloomy +resolve. When anyone ventures to hint at a capitulation, they bound in +their seats, and cry, <i>On verra</i>. Sorrow does not seem to have disturbed +their appetites, and, as far as I can discover, they have managed to +escape all military duty. No human being can be so unhappy, however, as +they look. They remind me of the heir at the funeral of a rich relative. +Speaking of funerals reminds me that the newspapers propose that the +undertakers, like the butchers, should be tariffed. They are making too +good a thing out of the siege. They have raised their prices so +exorbitantly that the poor complain that it is becoming impossible for +them even to die.</p> + +<p>A letter found, or supposed to be found, in the pocket of a dead German +from his Gretchen is published to-day. "If you should happen to pillage +a jeweller's shop," says this practical young lady, "don't forget me, +but get me a pretty pair of earrings." The family of this warrior +appears to be inclined to look after the main chance; for the letter +goes on to say that his mother had knitted him a jacket, but having +done so, has worn it herself ever since instead of sending it to him. +Gretchen will never get her earrings, and the mother may wear her jacket +now without feeling that she is depriving her son of it, for the poor +fellow lies under three feet of soil near Le Bourget.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>December 30th.</i></p> + +<p>I hear that a story respecting a council which was held a few days ago, +at which Trochu was requested to resign, is perfectly true. Picard and +Jules Favre said that if he did resign they should do so also, and the +discussion was closed by the General himself saying, "I feel myself +equal to the situation, and I shall remain." Yesterday evening there +were groups everywhere, discussing the withdrawal of the troops from +Avron. It was so bitterly cold, however, that they soon broke up. This +morning the newspapers, one and all, abuse Trochu. Somehow or other, +they say, he always fails in everything he undertakes. I hear from +military men that the feeling in the army is very strong against him. +While the bombardment was going on at Avron he exposed himself freely to +the fire, but instead of superintending the operations he attitudinized +and made speeches. General Ducrot, who was there, and between whom and +Trochu a certain coldness has sprung up, declared that he had always +been opposed to any attempt to retain this position. The behaviour of +Vinoy was that of a soldier. He was everywhere encouraging his men. What +I cannot understand is why, if Avron was to be held, it was not +fortified. It must have been known that the Prussians could, if they +pleased, bring a heavy concentric fire from large siege guns to bear +upon it. Casemates and strong earthworks might have been made—but +nothing was done. I was up there the other day, and I then asked an +engineer officer why due precautions were not being taken; but he only +shrugged his shoulders in reply. General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea, +says that all that the French, English, and Russians did there was +child's play in comparison with the Prussian artillery. From the size of +the unburst shells which have been picked up, their cannon must be +enormous. The question now is, whether the forts will be able to hold +out against them. The following account of what has taken place from the +<i>Vérité</i> is by far the best which has been published:—</p> + +<p>"Notwithstanding that the fire of the enemy slackened on the 26th, the +Prussians were not losing their time. Thanks to the hardness of the +soil, and to the fog, they had got their guns into position in all their +batteries from Villenomble to Montfermeil. The injury done to the park +of Drancy by the precision of the aim of our artillery at Fort Nogent +was repaired; cannon were brought to the trenches which the day before +we had occupied at Ville Evrart; and, as well as it was possible, twelve +new batteries, armed with cannon of long range, were unmasked. All +through the 28th the fire continued; shells fell thickly on our +batteries, and in the village of Rosny. The roof of the station was +knocked in, and several Mobiles were killed in the main street. The +evacuation of the church, which had been converted into an ambulance, +was thought advisable. All this, however, was nothing in comparison with +the fire which was poured in during the night. The plateau of Avron was +literally inundated with shells, many of them of far larger size than +had previously been fired. The range of the guns was too great, and it +was evident that the Prussians had rectified their aim. Their +projectiles no longer fell wide in the field; they almost all burst +close to the trenches. Two guns in battery No. 2 were struck; the same +thing soon occurred in battery No. 3. Every moment the wheels of some +ammunition waggon were struck, or one of the horses killed. Several men +were wounded in the trenches, which were so shallow as to afford little +protection. Two shells bursting at the same moment killed a naval +officer and three men at one of the guns. All who were so imprudent as +to venture to attempt to cross the plateau were struck down. It was a +sad and terrible spectacle to see these sailors coolly endeavouring to +point their guns, undisturbed by the rain of fire; while their officers, +who were encouraging them, were falling every moment, covering those +round them with their blood. The infantry and the Mobiles were, too, +without shelter; for the Krupp guns swept the portion of the plateau on +which they were drawn up within supporting distance. Most of them made +the best of it, and laughed when they heard the shells whistling above +their heads and bursting near them. Many, however, were so terrified, +that they fell back, and spread abroad in their rear disquieting +reports, which the terrified air of the narrators rendered still more +alarming. The National Guard were drawn up on the heights in advance of +the village of Rosny; a few shells reached their ranks. An officer and a +soldier of the 114th were slightly wounded; but they remained firm. +Every hour the Prussian cannonade became heavier. On our side our fire +slackened; then ceased entirely. An <i>estafette</i> came with an order to +evacuate the plateau, and to save the artillery. No time was lost. +Fortunately, at this moment the enemy's fire also slackened; and the +preparations for a retreat were hurriedly made. The guns were taken from +their carriages, the baggage was laden on the carts, and the munition on +the waggons. The soldiers strapped on their knapsacks, struck their +tents, and harnessed the horses. All this was not accomplished without +difficulty, for it had to be done noiselessly and in the dark, for all +the fires had been put out. General Trochu, seated on a horse, issued +his directions, and every moment received information of what was taking +place. Notwithstanding the expostulations of his staff, the General +refused to withdraw from this exposed point. 'No, gentlemen,' he said, +'I shall not withdraw from here until the cannon are in safety.' At two +in the morning all was ready; the long train began to move; the cannon +of 7 and the mitrailleuses of Commandant Pothier took the lead. Then +followed the heavy naval guns, then the munition and baggage waggons; +the troops of the Line, the Marines, and the National Guard were ordered +to cover the retreat. It was no easy matter to descend from the plateau +to Rosny. The frost had made the road a literal ice-hill. The drivers +walked by the side of their animals, holding the reins and pulling them +up when they stumbled. Until four o'clock, however, everything went +well. The march slowly continued, and the Prussian batteries were +comparatively calm. Their shells fell still occasionally where our guns +had been. The noise of the wheels, however, and the absence of all +cannonade on our parts, at length awakened the suspicions of the enemy. +Their fire was now directed on the fort of Rosny, and the road from the +plateau leading to it. At this moment the line of guns and waggons was +passing through the village, and only carts with baggage were still on +the plateau. At first the shells fell wide; then they killed some +horses; some of the drivers were hit; a certain confusion took place. +That portion of our line of march which was in Rosny was in imminent +danger. Fortunately, our chiefs did not lose their heads. The guns whose +horses were untouched passed those which were obliged to stop. Some of +them took to the fields; the men pushed the wheels, and, thanks to their +efforts, our artillery was saved. As soon as the guns had been dragged +up the hill opposite the plateau, the horses started off at a gallop, +and did not stop until they were out of the range of the enemy's fire. +The guns were soon in safety at Vincennes and Montreuil. The troops held +good, the men lying down on their stomachs, the officers standing up and +smoking their cigars until the last waggon had passed. Day had broken +when they received orders to withdraw. The National Guard went back +into Paris, and the Line, after a short halt at Montreuil, camped in the +barracks of St. Maur. At eight o'clock, the evacuation of the plateau +was complete; but the Prussian shells still fell upon the deserted +houses and some of the gun-carriages which had been abandoned. The enemy +then turned their attention to the forts of Rosny and Noisy. It hailed +shot on these two forts, and had they not been solidly built they would +not have withstood it. The noise of this cannonade was so loud that it +could be heard in the centre of Paris. Around the Fort of Noisy the +projectiles sank into the frozen ground to a depth of two and a half +metres, and raised blocks of earth weighing 30lbs. Shells fell as far as +Romainville. In the Rue de Pantin a drummer had his head carried off; +his comrades buried him on the spot. In the court of Fort Noisy three +men, hearing the hissing of a shell, threw themselves on the ground. It +was a bad inspiration; the shell fell on the one in the middle, and +killed all three. These were the only casualties in the fort, and at ten +o'clock the enemy's batteries ceased firing on it. All their efforts +were then directed against the Fort of Rosny. The shells swept the open +court, broke in the roof of the barracks, and tore down the peach-trees +whose fruit is so dear to the Parisians. From eleven o'clock, it was +impossible to pass along the road to Montreuil in safety. In that +village, the few persons who are still left sought shelter in their +cellars. At three o'clock the sun came out, and I passed along the +strategical road to Noisy. I met several regiments—Zouaves, Infantry, +and Marines—coming from Noisy and Bondy. I could distinctly see the +enemy's batteries. Their centre is in Rancy, and the guns seem to be in +the houses. The destruction in Bondy commenced by the French artillery +has been completed by the Prussians. From three batteries in the park of +Rancy they have destroyed the wall of the cemetery, behind which one +battery was posted and an earthwork. What remained of the church has +been literally reduced to dust. Except sentinels hid in the interior of +the houses, all our troops had been withdrawn. Some few persons, out of +curiosity, had adjourned to the Grande Place; their curiosity nearly +cost them dear, and they had to creep away. At three o'clock the enemy's +fire had redoubled; some of our Mobiles, in relieving guard, were +killed; and from that hour no one ventured into the streets. 9 P.M. The +moon has risen, and shines brightly—the ground is covered with snow, +and it is almost like daylight. The Prussian positions can distinctly be +seen. The cannon cannot be distinguished, but all along the line between +Villenomble and Gagny tongues of fire appear, followed by long columns +of smoke. The fire on Rosny is increasing in violence; the village of +Noisy is being bombarded."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XVI.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Paris,</span> <i>January 1st, 1871.</i></p> + +<p>Our forts still, like breakwaters before a coast, keep back the storm +which the Prussians are directing against us. I went out yesterday by +the Vincennes gate to see how matters were looking. In the Bois de +Vincennes there were troops of every description, and a large number of +guns. The usual scenes of camp life were going on, although, owing to +the cold, everyone seemed gloomy and depressed. I confess that if I were +called upon to camp out in this weather under a <i>tente d'abri</i>, and only +given some very smoky green wood to keep me warm, I should not be quite +so valorous as I should wish to be. Passing through the Bois, which is +rapidly becoming a treeless waste, I went forward in the direction of +Fontenay. As the Prussian bombs, however, were falling thickly into the +village, I executed a strategical movement to the left, and fell back by +a cross road into Montreuil. In this village several regiments were +installed. It is just behind Fort Rosny, and on the upper portion, +towards the fort, the Prussian shells fell. It is very singular what +little real danger there is to life and limb from a bombardment. Shells +make a hissing noise as they come through the air. Directly this warning +hiss is heard, down everyone throws himself on the ground. The shell +passes over and falls somewhere near, it sinks about two feet into the +hard ground, and then bursts, throwing up great clouds of earth, like a +small mine. The Prussians are unmasking fresh batteries every day, and +approaching nearer and nearer to the forts. Their fire now extends from +behind Le Bourget to the Marne, and at some points reaches to within a +mile of the ramparts. Bondy is little more than a heap of ruins. As for +the forts, we are told that, with the exception of their barracks having +been made untenable, no harm has been done. Standing behind and looking +at the shells falling into them, they certainly do not give one the idea +of places in which anyone would wish to be, unless he were obliged; and +they seemed yesterday to be replying but feebly to the fire of the +enemy. I suppose that the Prussians know their own business, and that +they really intend wholly to destroy Fort Rosny. Before you get this +letter the duel between earth and iron will be decided, so it is useless +my speculating on the result. If Rosny or Nogent fall, there will be +nothing to protect Belleville from a bombardment. Many military sages +imagine that this bombardment is only a prelude to an attack upon Mont +Valérien. About 3,500 metres from that fort there is a very awkward +plateau called La Bergerie. It is somewhat higher than the hill on which +Valérien stands. The Prussians are known to have guns on it in position, +and as Valérien is of granite, if bombarded, the value of granite as a +material for fortifications will be tested.</p> + +<p>Since the Prussians have opened fire, there have been numerous councils +of war, and still more numerous proclamations. General Trochu has issued +an appeal to the city to be calm, and not to believe that differences of +opinion exist among the members of the Government. General Clément +Thomas has issued an address to the National Guards, telling them that +the country is going to demand great sacrifices of them. In fact, after +the manner of the Gauls, everybody is addressing everybody. <i>Toujours +des proclamations et rien que cela</i>, say the people, who are at last +getting tired of this nonsense. Yesterday there was a great council of +all the generals and commanders. General Trochu, it is said, was in +favour of an attempt to pierce the Prussian lines; the majority being in +favour of a number of small sorties. What will happen no one seems to +know, and I doubt even if our rulers have themselves any very definite +notion. The Ultra journals clamour for a sortie <i>en masse</i>, which of +course would result in a stampede <i>en masse</i>. One and all the newspapers +either abuse Trochu, or damn him with faint praise. It is so very much a +matter of chance whether a man goes down to posterity as a sage or a +fool, that it is by no means easy to form an opinion as to what will be +the verdict of history on Trochu. If he simply wished to keep the +Prussians out of Paris, and to keep order inside until the provisions +were exhausted, he has succeeded. If he wished to force them to raise +the siege he has failed. His military critics complain that, admitting +he could not do the latter, he ought, by frequent sorties, to have +endeavoured to prevent them sending troops to their covering armies. One +thing is certain, that all his sorties have failed not only in the +result, but in the conception. As a consequence of this, the French +soldiers, who more than any other troops in the world require, in order +to fight well, to have faith in their leader, have lost all confidence +in him.</p> + +<p>We have had no pigeon for the last eighteen days, and the anxiety to +obtain news from without is very strong. A few days ago a messenger was +reported to have got through the Prussian lines with news of a French +victory. The next day a Saxon officer was said, with his last breath, to +have confided to his doctor that Frederick Charles had been defeated. +Yesterday Jules Favre told the mayor that there was a report that +Chanzy had gained a victory. Everything now depends upon what Chanzy is +doing, and, for all we know, he may have ceased to exist for the last +week.</p> + +<p>A census which has just been made of the population within the lines, +makes the number, exclusive of the Line, Mobiles, and sailors, +2,000,500. No attempt has yet been made to ration the bread, but it is +to be mixed with oats and rice. The mayor of this quarter says that in +this arrondissement—the richest in Paris—he is certain that there is +food for two months. Should very good news come from the provinces, and +it appear that by holding out for two months more the necessity for a +capitulation would be avoided, I think that we should hold on until the +end of February, if we have to eat the soles of our boots. If bad news +comes, we shall not take to this food; but we shall give in when +everything except bread fails, and we shall then consider that our +honour is saved if nothing else is. M. Louis Blanc to-day publishes a +letter to Victor Hugo, in which he tells the Parisians that if they do +capitulate they will gain nothing by it, for the Prussians will neither +allow them to quit Paris, nor, if the war continues, allow food to enter +it.</p> + +<p>As yet there are no signs of a real outbreak; and if a successful one +does occur, it will be owing to the weakness of the Government, which +has ample means to repress it. The Parisian press is always adjuring the +working men not to cut either each others' or their neighbours' throats, +and congratulating them on their noble conduct in not having done so. +This sort of praise seems to me little better than an insult. I see no +reason why the working men should be considered to be less patriotic +than others. That they are not satisfied with Trochu, and that they +entertain different political and social opinions to those of the +bourgeoisie, is very possible. Opinions, however, are free, and they +have shown as yet that they are willing to subordinate the expression +of theirs to the exigencies of the national defence. I go a good deal +among them, and while many of them wish for a general system of +rationing, because they think that it will make the provisions last +longer, they have no desire to pillage or to provoke a conflict with the +Government. I regard them myself, in every quality which makes a good +citizen, as infinitely superior to the journalists who lecture them, and +who would do far better to shoulder a musket and to fall into the ranks, +than to waste paper in reviling the Prussians and bragging of their own +heroism. As soldiers, the fault of the working men is that they will not +submit to discipline; but this is more the fault of the Government than +of them. As citizens, no one can complain of them. To talk with one of +them after reading the leading article of a newspaper is a relief. A +French journalist robes himself in his toga, gets upon a pedestal, and +talks unmeaning, unpractical claptrap. A French workman is, perhaps, too +much inclined to regard every one except himself, and some particular +idol which he has set up, as a fool; but he is by no means wanting in +the power to take a plain practical view, both of his own interests, and +those of his country. Since the commencement of the siege, forty-nine +new journals have appeared. Many of them have already ceased to exist, +but counting old and new newspapers, there must at least be sixty +published every day. How they manage to find paper is to me a mystery. +Some of them are printed upon sheets intended for books, others upon +sheets which are so thick that I imagine they were designed to wrap up +sugar and other groceries. Those which were the strongest in favour of +the Empire, are now the strongest in favour of the Republic. Editors and +writers whose dream it was a few months ago to obtain an invitation at +the Tuileries or to the Palais Royal, or to merit by the basest of +flatteries the Legion of Honour, now have become perfect Catos, and +denounce courts and courtiers, Bonapartists and Orleanists. War they +regard as the most wicked of crimes, and they appear entirely to have +forgotten that they welcomed with shouts of ecstacy in July last the +commencement of the triumphal march to Berlin.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 2nd.</i></p> + +<p>Yesterday evening, notwithstanding the cold, there were groups on the +Boulevards shouting "<i>à bas Trochu</i>." It is understood that henceforward +no military operation is to take place before it has been discussed by a +Council of War, consisting of generals and admirals. As the moment +approaches when we shall, unless relieved, be obliged to capitulate, +everyone is attempting to shift from himself all responsibility. This is +the consequence of the scapegoat system which has so long prevailed in +France. Addresses are published from the commanders outside +congratulating the National Guard who have been under their orders. The +<i>Vérité</i>, in alluding to them, asks the following questions:—"Why are +battalions which are accused by General Thomas, their direct superior, +of chronic drunkenness, thus placed upon a pinnacle by real military +men? Why do distinguished generals, unless forced by circumstances, +declare the mere act of passing four or five cold nights in the trenches +heroic? Why is so great a publicity given to such contradictory orders +of the day?"</p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> contains a long address to the Parisians. Beyond +the statement that no news had been received since the 14th ult., this +document contains nothing but empty words. Between the lines one may, +perhaps, read a desire to bring before the population the terrible +realities of the situation.</p> + +<p>The deaths for the last week amount to 3,280, an increase on the +previous week of 552. I am told that these bills of mortality do not +include those who die in the public hospitals. Small-pox is on the +increase—454 as against 388 the previous week.</p> + +<p>Nothing new outside. The bombardment of the eastern forts still +continues. It is, however, becoming more intermittent. Every now and +then it almost ceases, then it breaks out with fresh fury. The Prussians +are supposed to be at work at Chatillon. If they have heavy guns there, +it will go hard with the Fort of Vanves. The rations are becoming in +some of the arrondissements smaller by degrees and beautifully less. In +the 18th (Montmartre) the inhabitants only receive two sous worth of +horse-flesh per diem. The rations are different in each arrondissement, +as the Mayor of each tries to get hold of all he can, and some are more +successful than others. These differences cause great dissatisfaction. +The feeling to-day seems to be that if Trochu wishes to avoid riots, he +must make a sortie very shortly.</p> + +<p>The <i>Gaulois</i> says:—</p> + +<p>"How sad has been our New Year's-day! Among ourselves we may own it, +although we have bravely supported it, like men of sense, determined to +hold good against bad fortune, and to laugh in the face of misery. It is +hard not to have had the baby brought to our bedside in the morning; not +to have seen him clap his hands with pleasure on receiving some toy; not +to have pressed the hands of those we love best, and not to have +embraced them and been able to say—'The year which has passed has had +its joys and its sorrows, sun and shadow—but what matters it? We have +shared them together. The year which is commencing cannot bring with it +any sorrows that by remaining united we shall not be able to support?' +Most of us breakfasted this morning—the New Year's breakfast, usually +so gay—alone and solitary; a few smoky logs our only companions. There +are sorrows which no philosophy can console. On other days one may +forget them, but on New Year's-day our isolation comes home to us, and, +do what we may, we are sad and silent. Where are they now? What are they +doing now? is the thought which rises in every breast. The father's +thoughts are with his children; he dimly sees before him their rosy +faces, and their mother who is dressing them. How weary, too, must the +long days be for her, separated from her husband. Last year she had +taught the baby to repeat a fable, and she brought him all trembling to +recite it to the father. She, too, trembles like a child. She follows +him with her looks, she whispers to him a word when he hesitates, but so +low that he reads it on her lips, and the father hears nothing. Poor +man! Sorry indeed he would have been to have had it supposed that he had +perceived the mother's trick. He was himself trembling, too, lest the +child should not know his lesson. What a disappointment it would have +been to the mother! For a fortnight before she had taken baby every +night on her knees and said, 'Now begin your fable.' She had taught it +him verse by verse with the patience of an angel, and she had encouraged +him to learn it with many a sugarplum. 'He is beginning to know his +fable,' she said a hundred times to her husband. 'Really,' he answered, +with an air of doubt. The honest fellow was as interested in it as his +wife, and he only appeared to doubt it in order to make her triumph +greater. He knew that baby would know the fable on New Year's morn. You +Prussian beggars, you Prussian scoundrels, you bandits, and you Vandals, +you have taken everything from us; you have ruined us; you are starving +us; you are bombarding us; and we have a right to hate you with a royal +hatred. Well, perhaps one day we might have forgiven you your rapine and +your murders; our towns that you have sacked; your heavy yokes; your +infamous treasons. The French race is so light of heart, so kindly, that +we might perhaps in time have forgotten our resentments. What we never +shall forget will be this New Year's Day, which we have been forced to +pass without news from our families. You at least have had letters from +your Gretchens, astounding letters, very likely, in which the melancholy +blends with blue eyes, make a wonderful literary salad, composed of +sour-krout, Berlin wool, forget-me-nots, pillage, bombardment, pure +love, and transcendental philosophy. But you like all this just as you +like jam with your mutton. You have what pleases you. Your ugly faces +receive kisses by the post. But you kill our pigeons, you intercept our +letters, you shoot at our balloons with your absurd <i>fusils de rempart</i>, +and you burst out into a heavy German grin when you get hold of one of +our bags, which are carrying to those we love our vows, our hopes, our +remembrance, our regrets, and our hearts. It is a merry farce, is it +not? Ah, if ever we can render you half the sufferings which we are +enduring, you will see <i>des grises</i>. Perhaps you don't know what the +word means, and, like one of Gavarni's children, you will say, 'What! +<i>des grises?</i>' You will, I trust, one of these days learn what is the +signification of the term at your own cost. One of your absurd +pretensions is to be the only people in the world who understand how to +love, or who care for domestic ties. You will see, by the hatred which +we shall ever bear to you, that we too know how to love—our time will +come some day, be assured. This January 1 of the year 1871 inaugurates a +terrible era of bloody revenge. Poor philosophers of universal peace, +you see now the value of your grand phrases and of your humanitarian +dreams! Vainly you imagined that the world was entering into a period of +everlasting peace and progress. A wonderful progress, indeed, has 1870 +brought us! You never calculated on the existence of these Huns. We are +back again now in the midst of all the miseries of the 13th and 14th +centuries. The memory of to-day will be written on the hearts of our +children. 'It was the year,' they will say, 'when we received no +presents, when we did not kiss our father, because of the Prussians. +They shall pay for it!' Let us hope that the payment will commence this +very day. But if we are still to be vanquished, we will leave to our +children the memory of our wrongs, and the care to avenge them."</p> + +<p>The following article is from the <i>Vérité</i>:—</p> + +<p>"What troubles would not have been spared to our unhappy country if only +it had been told the truth. If only anyone had been courageous enough to +tell us what were our resources when Grammont made his famous +declaration from the tribune, the war would not have taken place. On the +4th of September, many members of the new Government were under no +delusions, but as it was necessary to say that we were strong, in order +to be popular, they did not hesitate to proclaim that the Republic would +save France. To-day the situation has not changed. On the faith of the +assertions of their rulers, the population of Paris imagines that +ultimate victory is certain, and that our provisions can never be +exhausted. They have no idea that if we are not succoured we must +eventually succumb. What a surprise—and perhaps what a catastrophe—it +will be when they learn that there is no more bread, and no chance of +victory. The people will complain that they have been deceived, and they +will be right. They will shout 'treason,' and seek for vengeance. Will +they be entirely in the wrong? If the Government defends itself, what +future awaits us! If it does not defend itself, through what scenes +shall we pass before falling into the hands of the Prussians! The +Republic, like the Empire, has made mendacity the great system of +government. The Press has chosen to follow the same course. Great +efforts are being made to destroy the reciprocal sentiments of union and +confidence, to which we owe it that Paris still resists, after 100 days +of siege. The enemy, despairing to deliver over Paris to Germany, as it +had solemnly promised, on Christmas, adds now the bombardment of our +advanced posts and our forts to the other means of intimidation by which +it has endeavoured to enervate the defence. Use is being made, before +public opinion, of the deceptions which an extraordinary winter and +infinite sufferings and fatigues are causing us. It is said, indeed, +that the members of the Government are divided in their views respecting +the great interests the direction of which has been confided to them. +The army has suffered great trials, and it required a short repose, +which the enemy endeavours to dispute by a bombardment more violent than +any troops were ever exposed to. The army is preparing for action with +the aid of the National Guards, and all together we shall do our duty. I +declare that there are no differences in the councils of the Government, +and that we are all closely united in the presence of the agonies and +the perils of the country, and in the thought and the hope of its +deliverance."</p> + +<p><i>La Patrie</i>, of Jan. 2, says:—</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Bourbaki has gone to meet General von Werder. If he is +victorious, the road to Paris by the valley of the Seine will be open to +him, or the road to Southern Germany by Besançon and Belfort, and the +bridge of Bâle, the neutrality of which we are not obliged to respect +any more than that of Belgium, since Europe has allowed Bismarck to +violate that of Luxemburg. Ah! if Bourbaki were a Tortensen, a Wrangel, +or a Turenne—perhaps he is—what a grand campaign we might have in a +few weeks on the Danube, the Lech, and the Saar."</p> + +<p>The <i>Liberté</i>, of Jan. 2, says:—</p> + +<p>"A great manifestation is being organised against the Government. The +object is to substitute in its place the college of Mayors of Paris and +their adjuncts. The manifestation, if it occurs, will not get further +than the Boulevards. General Trochu is in no fear from Mayor Mothe, but +he must understand that the moment for action has arrived. His +proclamation has only imperfectly replied to the apprehensions of Paris. +A capitulation, the very idea of which the Government recoils from, and +which would only become possible when cold, hunger, and a bombardment +have made further resistance impossible, besieges the minds of all, and +presses all the hearts which beat for a resistance <i>à outrance</i> in a +vice of steel. Trochu should reply to these agonies no longer by +proclamations, but by acts."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 4th.</i></p> + +<p>It is said, I know not with what truth, that there always are, on an +average, 5000 families who are in destitute circumstances, because their +chiefs never would play out their trumps at whist until it became too +late to use them effectively. If Trochu really was under the impression +that he had trumps in his hand good enough to enable him to win the game +he is playing against the Prussians, he has kept them back so long that +they are worthless. If he could not break through the Prussian lines a +month ago, <i>à fortiori</i>, he will not be able to do so now. They are +stronger, and he is weaker; for the inaction of the last few weeks, and +the surrender of Avron, would have been enough to damp the ardour of far +more veteran troops than those which he has under his command. The +outcry against this excellent but vain man grows stronger every day, and +sorry, indeed, must he be that he "rushed in where others feared to +tread." "Action, speedy action," shout the newspapers, much as the +Americans did before Bull's Run, or as M. Felix Pyat always calls it, +Run Bull. The generals well know that if they yield to the cry, there +will most assuredly be a French edition of that battle. In fact, the +situation may be summed up in a very few words. The generals have no +faith in their troops, and the troops have no faith in their generals. +Go outside the walls and talk to the officers and the soldiers who are +doing the real fighting, and who pass the day dodging shells, and the +night freezing in their tents. They tell you that they are prepared to +do their duty, but that they are doubtful of ultimate success. Come +inside, and talk to some hero who has never yet got beyond the ramparts, +Cato at Utica is a joke to him, Palafox at Saragossa a whining coward. +Since the forts have been bombarded, he has persuaded himself that he is +eating, drinking, and sleeping under the fire of the enemy. "Human +nature is a rum 'un," said Mr. Richard Swiveller; and most assuredly +this is true of French nature. That real civil courage and spirit of +self-sacrifice which the Parisians have shown, in submitting to hardship +and ruin rather than consent to the dismemberment of their country, they +regard as no title to respect. Nothing which does not strike the +imagination has any value in their eyes. A uniform does not make a +soldier; and although they have all arrayed themselves in uniform, they +are far worse soldiers than the peasantry who have been enrolled in the +Mobiles. To tell them this, however, would make them highly indignant. +Military glory is their passion, and it is an unfortunate one. To admire +the pomp and pride of glorious war no more makes a warrior than to +admire poetry makes a poet. The Parisian is not a coward; but his +individuality is so strongly developed that he objects to that +individuality being destroyed by some stray shot. To die with thousands +looking on is one thing; to die obscurely is another. French courage is +not the same as that of the many branches of the great Saxon family. A +Saxon has a dogged stubbornness which gives him an every-day and +every-hour courage. That of the Frenchman is more dependent upon +external circumstances. He must have confidence in his leader, he must +have been encouraged by success, and he must be treated with severity +tempered with judicious flattery. Give him a sword, and let him prance +about on a horse like a circus rider, and, provided there are a +sufficient number of spectators, he will do wonders, but he will not +consent to perish obscurely for the sake of anything or anyone. Trochu +has utterly failed in exciting enthusiasm in those under his command; he +issues many proclamations, but they fail to strike the right chord. +Instead of keeping up discipline by judicious severity, he endeavours to +do so by lecturing like a schoolmaster. And then, since the commencement +of the siege he has been unsuccessful in all his offensive movements. I +am not a military man, but although I can understand the reasons against +a sortie <i>en masse</i>, it does appear to me strange that the Prussians are +not more frequently disquieted by attacks which at least would oblige +them to make many a weary march round the outer circle, and would +prevent them from detaching troops for service elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Not an hour passes without some new rumour respecting the armies of the +Provinces being put in circulation. A letter in which General Chanzy is +said to be playing with Frederick Charles as a cat plays with a mouse, +and which is attributed to Mr. Odo Russell, English Under-Secretary of +State, and Correspondent of the <i>Times</i>, has been read by some one, and +this morning all the newspapers are jubilant over it. A copy of the +<i>Moniteur de Versailles</i> of the 1st has found its way in; there is +nothing in it about Frederick Charles, but this we consider evidence +that he has sustained a defeat. Then somebody has found a bottle in the +Seine with a letter in it; this letter alludes to a great French +victory. Mr. Washburne has the English papers up to the 22nd, but he +keeps grim guard over them, and allows no one to have a glimpse of them; +since our worthy friend Otto von Bismarck sent in to him an extract from +a letter of mine, in which I alluded to the contents of some of them +which had reached us. He passes his existence, however, staving off +insidious questions. His very looks are commented on. "We saw him +to-day," says an evening paper I have just bought; "he smiled! Good +sign! Our victory must have been overwhelming if John Bull is obliged to +confess it." Another newspaper asks him whether, considering the +circumstances, he does not consider it a duty to violate his promise to +Count Bismarck, and to hand over his newspapers to the Government. In +this way, thinks this tempter, the debt which America owes to France for +aiding her during her revolution will be repaid. "We gave you Lafayette +and Rochambeau, in return we only ask for one copy of an English paper." +The anxiety for news is weighing heavier on the population than the +absence of provisions or the cold. Every day, and all day, there are +crowds standing upon the elevated points in the city, peering through +glasses, in the wild hope of witnessing the advent of Chanzy, who is +apparently expected to prick in with Faidherbe by his side, each upon a +gorgeously caparisoned steed, like the heroes in the romances of the +late Mr. G.P.R. James. Many pretend to distinguish, above the noise of +the cannon of our forts and the Prussian batteries, the echoes of +distant artillery, and rush off to announce to their friends that the +army of succour has fallen on the besiegers from the rear. In the +meantime the bombardment of the forts and villages to the east of the +city is continuing, and with that passion for system in everything which +distinguishes the Germans, it is being methodized. A fixed number of +shells are fired off every minute, and at certain hours in the day there +are long pauses. What is happening in the forts is, of course, kept very +secret. The official bulletins say that no damage in them has yet been +done. As for the villages round them, they are, I presume, shelled +merely in order to make them untenable.</p> + +<p>The Government appears now as anxious to find others to share +responsibility with it as heretofore it has been averse to any division +of power. The Mayors of the city are to meet with their deputies once a +week at the Hôtel de Ville to express their opinions respecting +municipal matters, and once a week at the Ministry of the Interior to +discuss the political situation. As there are twenty mayors and forty +adjuncts, they, when together, are almost numerous enough to form a +species of Parliament. The all important food question remains <i>in statu +quo</i>. It is, however, beginning to be hinted in semi-official organs, +that perhaps the bread will have to be rationed; I may be wrong, but I +am inclined to think that the population will not submit to this. +Government makes no statement with respect to the amount of corn in +store. Some say that there is not enough for two weeks, others that +there is enough for two months' consumption; M. Dorien assured a friend +of mine yesterday that, to the best of his belief, there is enough to +carry us into March. Landlords and tenants are as much at loggerheads +here as they are in Ireland; the Government has issued three decrees to +regulate the question. By the first is suspended all judicial +proceedings on the part of landlords for their rent; by the second, it +granted a delay of three months to all persons unable to pay the October +term; by the third, it required all those who wished to profit by the +second to make a declaration of inability to pay before a magistrate. +To-day a fourth decree has been issued, again suspending the October +term, and making the three previous decrees applicable to the January +term, but giving to landlords a right to dispute the truth of the +allegation of poverty on the part of their tenants; the question is a +very serious one, for on the payment of rent depends directly or +indirectly the means of livelihood of half the nation. Thus the +landlords say that if the tenants do not pay them they cannot pay the +interest of the mortgages on their properties. If this interest be not +paid, however, the shareholders of the Crédit Foncier and other great +mortgage banks get nothing. Paris, under the fostering care of the +Emperor, had become, next to St. Petersburgh, the dearest capital in +Europe. Its property was artificial, and was dependent upon a long chain +of connecting links remaining unbroken. In the industrial quarters money +was made by the manufacture of <i>Articles de Paris</i>, and for these, as +soon as the communications are reopened, there will be the same market +as heretofore. As a city of pleasure, however, its prosperity must +depend, like a huge watering-place, upon its being able to attract +strangers. If they do not return, a reduction in prices will take place, +which will ruin most of the shopkeepers, proprietors of houses, and +hotel keepers; but this, although unpleasant to individuals, would be to +the advantage of the world at large. Extravagance in Paris makes +extravagance the fashion everywhere; under the Empire, to spend money +was the readiest road to social distinction. The old <i>bourgeoisie</i> still +retained the careful habits of the days of Louis Philippe, and made +fortunes by cheeseparing. Imperial Paris was far above this. Families +were obliged to spend 20 per cent, of their incomes in order to lodge +themselves; shops in favoured quarters were let for fabulous prices, and +charged fabulous prices for their wares. <i>Cocodettes</i> of the Court, +<i>cocottes</i> of the Bois, wives of speculators, shoddy squaws from New +York, Calmues recently imported from their native steppes, doubtful +Italian Princesses, gushing Polish Countesses, and foolish Englishwomen, +merrily raced along the road to ruin. Good taste was lost in tinsel and +glitter; what a thing cost was the only standard of its beauty. Great +gingerbread palaces were everywhere run up, and let even before they +were out of the builder's hands. It was deemed fashionable to drive +about in a carriage with four horses, with perhaps a black man to drive, +and an Arab sitting on the box by his side. Dresses by milliners in +vogue gave a ready currency to their wearers. The Raphael of his trade +gave himself all the airs of a distinguished artist; he received his +clients with vulgar condescension, and they—no matter what their +rank—submitted to his insolence in the hope that he would enable them +to outshine their rivals. Ambassadors' wives and Court ladies used to +go to take tea with the fellow, and dispute the honour of filling his +cup or putting sugar into it. I once went into his shop—a sort of +drawing-room hung round with dresses; I found him lolling on a chair, +his legs crossed before the fire. Around him were a bevy of women, some +pretty, some ugly, listening to his observations with the rapt attention +of the disciples of a sage. He called them up before him like school +girls, and after inspecting them, praised or blamed their dresses. One, +a pretty young girl, found favour in his eyes, and he told her that he +must dream and meditate several days over her, in order to find the +inspiration to make a gown worthy of her. "Why do you wear these ugly +gloves?" he said to another, "never let me see you in gloves of that +colour again." She was a very grand lady, but she slipped off her +gloves, and put them in her pocket with a guilty look. When there was +going to be a ball at Court, ladies used to go down on their knees to +him to make them beautiful. For some time he declined to dress any +longer the wife of a great Imperial dignitary who had not been +sufficiently humble towards him; she came to him in tears, but he was +obdurate, and he only consented at last to make a gown for her on +condition that she would put it on for the first time in his shop. The +Empress, who dealt with him, sent to tell him that if he did not abate +his prices she would leave him. "You cannot," he replied, and in fact +she could not, for she stood by him to the last. A morning dress by this +artist, worth in reality about 4l., cost 30l.; an evening dress, tawdry +with flounces, ribbons, and bad lace could not be had under 70. There +are about thirty shops in Paris where, as at this man-milliner's, the +goods are not better than elsewhere, but where they cost about ten +times their value. They are patronised by fools with more money than +wits, and chiefly by foreign fools. The proprietor of one of these +establishments was complaining to me the other day of what he was losing +by the siege; I told him that I sympathised with him about as much as I +should with a Greek brigand, bewailing a falling off of wealthy +strangers in the district where he was in the habit of carrying on his +commercial operations. Whenever the communications are again open to +Paris, and English return to it, I would give them this piece of +advice—never deal where <i>ici on parle Anglais</i> is written up; it means +<i>ici on vole les Anglais</i>. The only tradesmen in Paris who are making a +good thing out of their country's misfortunes are the liquor sellers and +the grocers; their stores seem inexhaustible, but they are sold at +famine prices. "I who speak to you, I owe myself to my country. There is +no sacrifice I would not make rather than capitulate to those Huns, +those Vandals," said a grocer to me, with a most sand-the-sugar face, +this morning, as he pocketed about ten times the value of a +trifle—candles, in fact, which have risen twenty-five per cent. in the +last two days—and folding his arms, scowled from under his kepi into +futurity, with stern but vacuous resolution.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 6th.</i></p> + +<p>I have just returned from Point-du-Jour, where I went with Mr. Frank +Lawley in order to see myself what truth there was in the announcement +that we were being bombarded. Point-du-Jour is the point where the Seine +issues from Paris. The circular railroad passes over the river here on a +high brick viaduct, which makes a species of fortification. The hills +outside the city form a sort of amphitheatre, in which are situated the +towns of Sèvres and Meudon. To the right of the river is Mont Valérien +and the batteries in the Bois de Boulogne; to the left the Fort of +Issy. The noise of the cannonade was very loud; but very little could be +seen, owing to the sun shining on the hills outside. Speculators, +however, with telescopes, were offering to show the Prussian +artillerymen for one sou—one of them offered to let me see a general +for two sous. When I got within about half a mile of the ramparts I +began to hear the whistling of the shells. Here the sightseers were not +so numerous. Whenever a shell was heard, there was a rush behind walls +and houses. Some people threw themselves down, others seemed to imagine +that the smallest tree would protect them, and congregated behind the +thinnest saplings. Boys were running about picking up pieces of shells, +and offering them for sale. Women were standing at their doors, and +peeping their heads out: "Brigands, bandits, they dare to bombard us; +wait till to-morrow, we will make them rue it." This, and expressions of +a similar nature, was the tone of the small talk. My own impression is, +that the Prussians were firing at the ramparts, and that, as often +occurs, their projectiles overshot the mark. I did not see anyone either +killed or wounded, and it seems to me that the most astonishing thing in +a bombardment is the little damage it does to life and limb. I saw a bit +of iron cut away a branch from one of the trees, and one shell I saw +burst on the road by the river. In 15 minutes we counted 11 shells +whizzing through the air, over our heads, which fell I presume somewhere +behind us. The newspaper which I have just bought, I see, says that two +shells have fallen close by the Invalides, and that they have been +coming in pretty thickly all along the zone near the southern ramparts. +This may or may not be the case. Like Herodotus in Egypt, I make a +distinction between what I am told and what I see, and only guarantee +the authenticity of the latter. The only house which as far as I could +perceive had been struck was a small one. A chimney-stack had been +knocked over; an old lady who inhabited it pointed this out to me. She +seemed to be under the impression that this was the result of design, +and plaintively asked me what she had done to "William" and to Bismarck +that they should knock over her chimney. On the ramparts no damage +seemed to have been done. The National Guard on duty were in the +casemates. The noise, however, was tremendous. Issy, Valérien, the guns +of the bastions and those of the cannon-boats were firing as hard as +they could, and the Prussian batteries were returning their fire with a +will. After the sun went down the dark hills opposite were lit up with +the flashes of light which issued every second from the batteries.</p> + +<p>The Government has issued a proclamation; in it is announced that we are +to be relieved by the Army of the North. Another proclamation has been +posted, purporting to proceed from the "delegates of the twenty +arrondissements," calling upon the population to turn out Trochu. It has +attracted little notice. Several mayors, too, it is reported, have +threatened to resign unless more energetic counsels prevail in high +places. Frenchmen, however, as one of their statesmen said, cannot grasp +two ideas at a time, and for to-day at least the bombardment is the +all-absorbing idea. Whether Frederick Charles has been really defeated I +do not know, but we are all assured that he has been. Paris journals +state that he has been wounded, and that 45,000 of his army have +surrendered. It is asserted, too, that the prisoners who were taken +yesterday admit that one of their armies has had a very serious reverse. +The bombardment of the forts still continues, and it has extended to the +southern ones. With respect to its effect, I will say nothing, lest I be +accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. <i>La Vérité</i> of yesterday +already calls upon the Government to open and either suppress or +expurgate the letters of English correspondents.</p> + +<p>The vin ordinaire is giving out. It has already risen nearly 60 per +cent. in price. This is a very serious thing for the poor, who not only +drink it, but warm it and make with bread a soup out of it. Yesterday, I +had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two +elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I +do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can +get beef or mutton. Many of the restaurants are closed owing to want of +fuel. They are recommended to use lamps; but although French cooks can +do wonders with very poor materials, when they are called upon to cook +an elephant with a spirit lamp the thing is almost beyond their +ingenuity. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other +parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb. It is a good +deal warmer to-day, and has been thawing in the sun; if the cold and the +siege had continued much longer, the Prussians would have found us all +in bed. It is a far easier thing to cut down a tree than to make it +burn. Proverbs are not always true; and I have found to my bitter +experience of late that the proverb that "there is no smoke without a +fire" is untrue. The Tupper who made it never tried to burn green wood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XVII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 7th.</i></p> + +<p>The attempt of the "Ultras" to force Trochu to resign has been a +failure. On Friday bands issuing from the outer Faubourgs marched +through the streets shouting "No capitulation!" A manifesto was posted +on the walls, signed by the delegates of the 20 arrondissements, calling +on the people to rise. At the weekly meeting of the Mayors M. +Delescluze, the Mayor of the 19th arrondissement, proposed that Trochu +and Le Flô should be called upon to resign, and that a supreme council +should be established in which the "civil element should not be +subordinated to the military element." M. Gustave Flourens published a +letter from his prison suggesting that the people should choose as their +leader a young energetic Democrat—that is to say himself. M. Felix +Pyat, on the other hand, explained that generals are tyrants, and that +the best thing would be to carry on the operations of the siege without +one. The "bombardment" is, however, still the absorbing question of the +day; and all these incipient attempts at revolution have failed. Trochu +issued a proclamation, in which he said, "The Governor of Paris will +never capitulate." M. Delescluze has resigned, and several arrests have +been made. The Government, however, owes its triumph, not so much to its +own inherent merits, as to the demerits of those who wished to supplant +it. Everyone complains of Trochu's strange inaction, and distrusts his +colleagues, who seem to be playing fast-and-loose with the Commune, and +to be anxious by a little gentle violence to be restored to private +life. The cry still is, "We will not capitulate!" and the nearer the +moment approaches that the provisions must fail, the louder is it +shouted. Notwithstanding the bitter experience which the Parisians have +had of the vanity of mere words to conjure disaster, they still seem to +suppose that if they only cry out loud enough that the Prussians cannot, +will not, shall not, enter Paris, their men of war will be convinced +that the task is beyond their powers, and go home in despair. We are +like a tribe of Africans beating tom-toms and howling in order to avert +a threatening storm. Yesterday a great council of war was held, at which +not only the generals of division and admirals, but even generals of +brigade, were present. Although it is a military dictum that "councils +of war never fight," I think that in a few days we shall have a sortie, +as that anonymous general "public opinion" insists upon it.</p> + +<p>We are still without news from the provinces. The <i>Gazette Officiale</i> +to-day publishes an extract from a German paper which hardly seems to +bear out the assertion of the Government that the Army of the North is +advancing to our succour. As evidence that our affairs are looking up in +the provinces <i>La France</i> contains the following: "A foreigner who knows +exactly the situation of our departments said yesterday, 'These damned +French, in spite of their asinine qualities, are getting the better of +the Prussians.'" We are forced to live to-day upon this crumb of comfort +which has fallen from the lips of a great unknown. Hope is the last +feeling which dies out in the human breast, and rightly or wrongly nine +persons out of ten believe that Chanzy will shortly force the Prussians +to raise the siege. The bombardment is supposed to mask their having +been obliged to send heavy reinforcements to Frederick Charles, who +regularly every morning is either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.</p> + +<p>It is almost needless to say that the newspapers are filled with +wondrous tales respecting the bombardment; with denunciations against +the Prussians for their sacrilege in venturing upon it; and with +congratulations to the population on their heroism in supporting it. The +number of persons who have been all but hit by shells is enormous. I +went to the left bank of the Seine in order to see myself the state of +affairs. At Point-du-Jour there is a hot corner sparsely inhabited. The +Prussians are evidently here firing at the viaduct which crosses the +river. From there I followed the ramparts as close as I could as far as +Montrouge. I heard of many shells which had fallen, but except at +Point-du-Jour I did not myself either see any fall, or hear any whiz +through the air. I then went to the Observatory, where according to the +<i>Soir</i> the shells were falling very freely. A citizen who was sweeping +before the gate told me that he knew nothing about them. In the Rue +d'Enfer, just behind, there was a house which had been struck during the +night, and close by there was a cantinière, on her way to be buried, who +had been killed by one. At the garden of the Luxembourg and at the +artesian well near the Invalides I heard of shells, but could not find +out where they had struck. As far as I can make out, the Prussians aim +at the bastions, and occasionally, but rarely, at some public building. +Probably about 50 shells have been sent with malice prepense inside the +town. Just behind a bastion it is a little dangerous; but in Grenelle, +Vaugirard, and Montrouge, the risk to each individual is not so great as +it would be to go over a crowded crossing in London. In these quarters I +saw a few people moving away with their goods and chattels; but the +population generally seemed rather pleased than otherwise with what was +going on. Except close in by the ramparts, there was no excitement. +Almost the whole of the portion of the town on the left bank of the +Seine is now under fire; but even should it be seriously bombarded, I +doubt if the effect will be at all commensurate with the expense of +powder and projectiles. When shells fall over a very large area, the +odds against each separate person being hit by them are so large that no +one thinks that—happen what may to others—he will be wounded.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 11th.</i></p> + +<p>The spy mania, which raged with such intensity at the commencement of +the siege, has again broken out. Every day persons are arrested because +they are supposed, by lighted candles and other mysterious devices, to +be in communication with the enemy. Sergeant Hoff, who used to kill his +couple of brace of Germans every day, and who disappeared after +Champigny, it is now said was a spy; and instead of mourning over his +wife, who had been slain by the Prussians, kept a mistress in splendour, +like a fine gentleman. Foreigners are looked upon suspiciously in the +streets. Very black looks are cast upon the Americans who have +established and kept up the best ambulance there is in Paris at their +own cost. Even the French ambulances are suspected, since some of their +members, during a suspension of arms, broke bread with the Prussians; +for it is held that any one who does not hate a German must be in the +pay of Bismarck. But this is not all: the newspapers hint that there are +spies at headquarters. General Schmitz has a valet who has a wife, and +this wife is a German. What more clear than that General Schmitz +confides what passes at councils of war to his valet—generals usually +do; that the valet confides it to his wife, who, in some mysterious +manner, confides it to Bismarck. Then General Trochu has an +aide-de-camp, a Prince Bibesco. He is a Wallachian, and a son of an +ex-Hospodar—I never yet heard of a Wallachian who was not more or less. +Can a doubt exist in the mind of any reasonable being that this young +gentleman, a harmless lad, who had passed the greater part of his +existence dancing cotillons at Paris, is in direct communication with +the Prussians outside? A day or two ago two National Guards were +exchanging their strategical views in a café, when they observed a +stranger write down something. He was immediately arrested, as he +evidently intended to transmit the opinions of these two military sages +to General Moltke. I was myself down at Montrouge yesterday, when I was +requested by two National Guards to accompany them to the nearest +commissary. I asked why, and was told that a woman had heard me speak +German. I replied that I was English. "Zat ve saal soon zee," said one +of my captors. "I spek Anglish like an Anglishman, address to me the +vord in Anglish." I replied that the gentleman spoke English with so +perfect an accent that I thought he must be a fellow-countryman. The +worthy fellow was disarmed by the compliment, and told a crowd which had +collected round us to do prompt justice on the spy, that I not only was +an Englishman, but <i>un Cockné</i>; that is to say, he explained, an +inhabitant of London. He shook me by the hand; his friend shook me by +the hand; and several ladies and gentlemen also shook me by the hand; +and then we parted. Yesterday evening on the Boulevards there were +groups discussing "the traitors." Some said that General Schmitz had +been arrested; others that he ought to be arrested. A patriot observed +to me that all foreigners in Paris ought, as a precautionary measure, to +be extirpated. "Parbleu," I replied, and you may depend upon it I rolled +my eyes and shrugged my shoulders in true Gallic fashion. This morning +General Trochu has published a proclamation, denouncing all attacks upon +his staff, and making himself responsible for its members. It is an +honest, manly protest, and by far the best document which this prolific +writer has issued for some time. Another complaint is made against the +generals who damp the popular enthusiasm by throwing doubts upon +ultimate victory. In fact, we have got to such a condition that a +military man dares not venture to express his real opinion upon military +matters for fear of being denounced. We are, indeed, still in a most +unsurrendering mood. I was talking to-day to a banker—a friend who +would do anything for me except cash my bill. In business he is a +clear-headed, sensible man. I asked him what would occur if our +provisions gave out before the armies of the provinces arrived to our +succour. He replied that the Government would announce the fact, and +call upon all able-bodied men to make a dash at the Prussian lines; that +300,000 at least would respond to that call, and would either be killed +or force their way out. This will give you an idea of the present tone +of the population. Nine men out of ten believe that we have enough +provisions to last at least until the end of February. The only official +utterance respecting the provisions is contained in a paragraph in the +<i>Journal Officiel</i> to-day, in which we are informed that there are +15,000 oxen and 40,000 sheep in Bordeaux waiting for marching orders to +Paris. This is much like telling a starving man in the Strand that figs +are plentiful in Palestine, and only waiting to be picked.</p> + +<p>The bombardment has diminished in intensity. The Government has put the +Prussian prisoners in the ambulances on the left bank of the Seine. It +appears to me that it would have been wiser to have moved the ambulances +to the right bank. By day few shells fall into the town beyond the +immediate vicinity of the ramparts. At night they are more plentiful, +and seem to be aimed promiscuously. I suppose about ten people are hit +every twenty-four hours. Now as above fifty people die every day in +Paris of bronchitis, there is far more danger from the latter than from +the batteries of the disciples of Geist outside. It is not worse to die +by a bomb than of a cold. Indeed I am by no means sure that of two evils +the latter is not the least; yet a person being suddenly struck down in +the streets of a capital by a piece of iron from a cannon will always +produce a more startling effect upon the mind than a rise in the bills +of mortality from natural causes. Those who are out of the reach of the +Prussian guns are becoming accustomed to the bombardment. "You naughty +child," I heard a woman who was walking before me say to her daughter, +"if you do not behave better I will not take you to see the +bombardment." "It is better than a vaudeville," said a girl near me on +the Trocadero, and she clapped her hands. A man at Point-du-Jour showed +me two great holes which had been made in his garden the night before by +two bombs close by his front door. He, his wife, and his children seemed +to be rather proud of them. I asked him why he did not move into the +interior of the town, and he said that he could not afford it. In a +German paper which recently found its way in, it was stated that the +bombardment of Paris would commence when the psychological moment had +arrived. We are intensely indignant at this term; we consider it so +cold-blooded. It is like a doctor standing by a man on the rack, and +feeling his pulse to see how many more turns of the screw he can bear. +All the forts outside are still holding their own against the Prussian +batteries. Issy has had as yet the greatest amount of attention paid to +it by the besiegers. There is a battery at Meudon which seems never to +tire of throwing shells into it. It is said, however, that the enemy is +endeavouring to establish breaching guns at a closer range, in order to +make his balls strike the ground and then bound into the fort—a mode of +firing which was very successful at Strasburg.</p> + +<p>The sensation news of to-day is that Faidherbe has driven Manteuffel +across the Belgian frontier, and that Frederick Charles, who always +seems to come to life after being killed, has been recalled from Orleans +to Paris. The funds rose to-day one per cent. upon these rumours. Our +chief confidence, however, just now is in Bourbaki; we think that he has +joined Garibaldi, and that these two will force the Prussians to raise +the siege by throwing themselves on their communications. I only hope +they may.</p> + +<p>Mr. Washburne has not been allowed to send out his weekly bag. I +presume, however, that this embargo will not be kept up. The Government +has not yet announced its intention with respect to M. Jules Favre +proceeding to London to represent France in the conferences on the +Eastern Question. Most of the newspapers seem to be of opinion that +until the Republic has been officially recognised, it is not consistent +with her dignity to take part in any European Conference. The +diplomatists, who have been a little thrown in the background of late, +by wars and generals, must be delighted to find their old friend, the +"Eastern Question," cropping up. The settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein +question was a heavy blow to them; but for many a year they will have an +opportunity to prose and protocol over Turkey. An Austrian wit—indeed the +only wit that Austria ever produced—used to say that Englishmen could only +talk about the weather, and that if by some dispensation of Providence +there ever should be no such thing as weather, the whole English nation +would become dumb. What the weather is to Englishmen the Eastern Question +is to diplomatists. For their sakes, let us hope that it never will be +satisfactorily settled. Diplomatists, like many other apparently useless +beings, must live.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 15th.</i></p> + +<p>Yesterday we were made comparatively happy by a report that the Prussian +funds had fallen 3 per cent. at Berlin. To-day we are told that Bourbaki +has gained a great victory, raised the siege of Belfort, and is about +to enter Germany. German newspapers up to the 7th have been seized at +the advanced posts, but whatever in them tells against us we put down to +a general conspiracy on the part of Europe to deceive us. It is somewhat +curious to watch the transmutations of the names of English statesmen +after they have passed through a German and a French translation. Thus +the latest news from London is that Mr. Hackington is made Irish +Secretary, and that Mr. Floresko is Minister of Commerce.</p> + +<p>The diplomatists and consuls still at Paris have sent a collective note +to Count Bismarck, complaining that the notice of the bombardment was +not given, and asking him to afford them the means to place the persons +and the property of their respective countrymen out of danger. The +minnows sign with the whales. Mr. Washburne's name is inserted between +that of the representative of Monaco and that of the Chargé d'Affaires +of Honduras.</p> + +<p>The bombardment still continues. The cannon now make one continuous +noise. Each particular discharge cannot be distinguished. The shells +fall on the left bank to a distance of about a mile from the ramparts. A +return of the <i>Official Journal</i> gives 138 wounded and 51 killed up to +the 13th. Among the killed are 18 children and 12 women; among the +wounded, 21 children and 45 women. Waggons and hand-carts packed with +household goods are streaming in from the left to the right bank. In the +bombarded quarters many shops are closed. Some householders have made a +sort of casemate reaching to the first story of their houses; others +sleep in their cellars. The streets are, however, full of people, even +in the most exposed districts; and all the heights from which a view is +to be had of the Prussian batteries are crowded with sightseers. Every +now and then one comes across some house through which a shell has +passed. The public buildings have, as yet, suffered very slightly. The +dome of the Panthéon, which we presume is used as a mark for the aim of +the Prussian artillerymen, has been hit once. The shell has made a round +hole in the roof, and it burst inside the church. In the Jardin des +Plantes all the glass of the conservatories has been shattered by the +concussion of the air, and the orchids and other tropical plants are +dying. Although war and its horrors are thus brought home to our very +doors, it is even still difficult to realise that great events are +passing around us which history will celebrate in its most solemn and +dignified style. Distance in battles lends grandeur to the view. Had the +charge of Balaclava taken place on Clapham Common, or had our gallant +swordsmen replaced the donkeys on Hampstead Heath, even Tennyson would +have been unable to poetise their exploits. When one sees stuck up in an +omnibus-office that omnibuses "will have to make a circuit from <i>cause +de bombardement</i>;" when shells burst in restaurants and maim the +waiters; when the trenches are in tea-gardens; and when one is invited +for a sou to look through a telescope at the enemy firing off their +guns, there is a homely domestic air about the whole thing which is +quite inconsistent with "the pomp and pride of glorious war."</p> + +<p>On Friday night there was an abortive sortie at Clamart. Some of the +newspapers say that the troops engaged in it were kept too long waiting, +and that they warmed their feet by stamping, and made so much noise that +the Prussians caught wind of the gathering. Be this as it may, as soon +as they got into Clamart they were received with volleys of musketry, +and withdrew. I am told that the marching battalions of the National +Guard, now in the trenches, are doing their work better than was +expected. The generals in command are satisfied with them, but whether +they will be of any great use for offensive operations, is a question +yet to be solved. The clubs still keep up their outcry for "La Commune," +which they imagine will prove a panacea for every evil. In the club of +the Rue Arras last night, a speaker went a step still further, and +demanded "the establishment of anarchy as the ruling power." Trochu is +still either attacked, or feebly defended, in the newspapers. The French +are so accustomed to the State doing everything for them, that their +ruler is made responsible for everything which goes wrong. The demand +for a sortie <i>en masse</i> is not so strong. Every one is anxious not to +surrender, and no one precisely knows how a surrender is to be avoided. +Successes on paper have so long done duty for successes in the field, +that no one, even yet, can believe that this paper currency has been so +depreciated that bankruptcy must ensue. Is it possible, each man asks, +that 500,000 armed Frenchmen will have to surrender to half the number +of Germans? And as they reply that it is impossible, they come to the +conclusion that treason must be at work, and look round for the traitor. +Trochu, who is as honest and upright as a man as he is incompetent as a +general, will probably share the fate of the "Man of Sedan" and the "Man +of Metz," as they are called. "He is a Laocoon," says M. Felix Pyat in +his newspaper, with some confusion of metaphor, "who will strangle the +Republic."</p> + +<p>We hear now that Government is undertaking an inquiry to discover +precisely how long our stock of provisions will last. Matters are +managed so carelessly, that I doubt whether the Minister of Commerce +himself knows to within ten days the precise date when we shall be +starved out. The rations of meat now amount to 1-27th of a pound per +diem for each adult. At the fashionable restaurants the supply is +unlimited, and the price as unlimited. Two cutlets of donkey cost 18 +francs, and everything else in the way of animal food is in proportion. +The real vital question, however, is how long the bread will last. In +some arrondissements the supply fails after 8 o'clock in the morning; +at others, each resident receives 1 lb. upon production of a <i>carte de +subsistance</i>. The distribution has been thrown into disorder by the +people from the bombarded quarters flocking into the central ones, and +wanting to be fed. The bread itself is poor stuff. Only one kind is +allowed to be manufactured; it is dark in colour, heavy, pasty, and +gritty. There is as little corn in it as there is malt in London beer +when barley is dear. The misery among the poorer classes is every day on +the increase. Most of the men manage to get on with their 1fr. 50c. a +day. In the morning they go to exercise, and afterwards loll about until +night in cafés and pothouses, making up with liquids for the absence of +solids. As for doing regular work, they scoff at the idea. Master +tailors and others tell me that it is almost impossible to get hands to +do the few orders which are now given. They are warmly clad in uniforms +by the State, and except those belonging to the marching battalions +really doing duty outside, I do not pity them. With the women and +children the case is different. The latter, owing to bad nourishment and +exposure, are dying off like rotten sheep; the former have but just +enough food to keep body and soul together, and to obtain even this they +have to stand for hours before the doors of the butchers and bakers, +waiting for their turn to be served. And yet they make no complaints, +but patiently suffer, buoyed up, poor people, by the conviction that by +so doing they will prevent the Prussians from entering the town. If one +of them ventures to hint at a capitulation, she is set on by her +neighbours. Self-assertion, however, carries the day. Jules and Jaques +will hereafter quaff many a petit verre to their own heroism; and many a +story will they inflict upon their long-suffering friends redounding to +their own special glory. Their wives will be told that they ought to be +proud to have such men for husbands. But Jules and Jacques are in +reality but arrant humbugs. Whilst they boozed, their wives starved; +whilst they were warmly clad, their wives were in rags; whilst they were +drinking confusion to their enemies in some snug room, their wives were +freezing at the baker's door for their ration of bread. In Paris the +women—I speak of those of the poorer classes—are of more sterling +stuff than the men. They suffer far more, and they repine much less. I +admire the crowd of silent, patient women, huddling together for warmth +every morning, as they wait until their pittance is doled out to them, +far more than the martial heroes who foot it behind a drum and a trumpet +to crown a statue, to visit a tomb, and to take their turn on the +ramparts; or the heroes of the pen, who day after day, from some cosy +office, issue a manifesto announcing that victory is certain, because +they have made a pact with death.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 16th.</i></p> + +<p>If I am to believe the Paris papers, the Fort of Issy is gradually +extinguishing the guns of the Prussian batteries which bear on it. If I +am to believe my eyes, the Fort of Issy is not replying at all to these +said guns; and if I am to believe competent military authorities, in +about eighteen days from now at the latest the Fort of Issy will cease +to be a fort. The batteries at Meudon appeared to-day to be of opinion +that its guns were effectually silenced; shells fell thick and fast on +the bastions at Point-du-Jour; and so well aimed were they, that between +the bastions a looker-on was in comparative safety. The noise, however, +of the duel between the bastions and the batteries was so deafening, +that it was literally impossible for two persons to hear each other +speak at a few feet distance; the shells, too, which were passing to the +right and left, seemed to give the whole air a tremulous motion. At the +bastions the artillerymen were working their guns, but the National +Guards on duty were under cover. The houses, on both sides of the +Seine, within the city, for about half a mile from the viaduct are +deserted; not above a dozen of them, I should imagine, are still +inhabited. Outside, in the villages of Vanvres and Issy, several fires +have broken out, but they have been promptly extinguished, and there has +been no general conflagration. The most dangerous spot in this direction +is a road which runs behind the Forts of Vanvres and Montrouge; as +troops are frequently marching along it the Prussians direct their guns +from Clamart and Chatillon on it. In the trenches the danger is not +great, and there are but few casualties; the shells pass over them. If +anyone, however, exposes himself, a ball about the size of an egg, from +a <i>canon de rampart</i>, whizzes by him, as a gentle reminder to keep under +cover. The area of the bombardment is slightly extending, and will, I +presume, very soon reach the right bank. More people are killed in the +daytime than at night, because they will stand in groups, +notwithstanding every warning, and stare at any house which has been +damaged.</p> + +<p>The bill of mortality for the week ending January 13th, gives an +increase on the previous week of 302; the number of deaths registered is +3982. This is at the rate of above twenty per cent. per annum, and it +must be remembered that in this return those who die in the public +hospitals, or of the direct effect of the war, are not included. +Small-pox is about stationary, bronchitis and pneumonia largely on the +increase.</p> + +<p>Bourbaki, we are told to-day, is at Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of +Baden. The latest German papers announce that Mézières has fallen, and +it seems to occur to no one that Gambetta's last pigeon despatch +informed us that the siege of this place had been raised. <i>La Liberté</i> +thus sums up the situation:—"Nancy menaced; Belfort freed; Baden +invaded; Hamburg about to be bombarded. This is the reply of France to +the bombardment of Paris. The hour has arrived; the Prussians brought +to bay, hope to find refuge in Paris. This is their last hope; their +last resource."</p> + +<p>In order to encourage us to put up with our short commons, we are now +perpetually being told that the Government has in reserve vast stores of +potted meats, cheese, butter, and other luxuries, of which we have +almost forgotten the very taste; and that when things come to the worst +we shall turn the corner, and enter into a period of universal +abundance. These stores seem to me much like the mirage which lures on +the traveller of the desert, and which perpetually recedes as he +advances. But the great difficulty of the moment is to procure fuel. I +am ready, as some one said, to eat the soles of my boots for the sake of +my country; but then they must be cooked. All the mills are on the +Marne, and cannot be approached. Steam mills have been put up, but they +work slowly; and whatever may be the amount of corn yet in store, it is +almost impossible to grind enough of it to meet the daily requirements.</p> + +<p>A good deal of discussion is going on as to the time which it will take +to revictual Paris; it is thought that it can be done in seven days, but +I do not myself see how it is to be done in anything like this time. One +of the principal English bankers here has, I understand, sent an agent +by balloon to buy boats of small draught in England, in order to bring +provisions up the Seine. As a speculation, I should imagine that the +best plan would be to amass them on the Belgian or Luxemburg frontier. +About two-thirds of the population will be without means to buy food, +even if the food were at their doors. Trade and industry will not revive +for some time; they will consequently be entirely dependent upon the +State for their means of subsistence. Even if work is offered to them, +many of them not be able at once to reassume their habits of daily +industry; the Bohemian life which they have led for the last four +months, and which they are still leading, is against it. A siege is so +abnormal a condition of things, that the State has been obliged to pay +them for doing practically nothing, as otherwise they would have fallen +into the hands of the anarchists; but this pottering about from day to +day with a gun, doing nothing except play at billiards and drink, has +been very demoralising, and it will be long before its effect ceases to +be felt.</p> + +<p>The newspapers are somewhat irreverent over the diplomatic protest +against the bombardment. They say that while Paris is deserted by the +Great European Powers, it is a source of pleasure to think that the +Principality of Monaco and the Republics of San Marino and Honduras +still stand by her. They suggest that M. Jules Favre should go to +Andorre to endeavour to induce that republic also to reason with the +Prussians upon the bombardment. I am told that the "proud young porter," +who now the sheep is dead, represents alone the Majesty of England at +the British Embassy is indignant at not having been invited to add his +signature to the protest. He considers—and justly I think—that he is a +far more important personage than the Plenipotentiary of his Highness of +Monaco; a despot who exercises sway over about 20 acres of orange trees, +60 houses, and two roulette tables. The diplomatists are not, however, +alone in their protest. Everybody has protested, and is still +protesting. If it is a necessity of war to throw shells into a densely +populated town like this; it is—to say the least—a barbarous +necessity; but it seems to me that it is but waste of time and paper to +register protests against it; and if it be thought desirable to do so, +it would be far more reasonable to protest against human beings—women +and children—being exposed to its effects, than to indite plaintive +elegies about the possibility of the Venus de Milo being damaged, or the +orchids in the hot-houses being killed. I know that, for my part, I +would rather that every statue and every plant in the world were smashed +to atoms by shells, than that I were. This, in an æsthetical point of +view, is selfish; but it is none the less true. <i>Chacun pour soi.</i> The +Panthéon was struck yesterday. What desecration! everyone cries; and I +am very sorry for the Panthéon, but very glad that it was the Panthéon, +and not me. The world at large very likely would lose more by the +destruction of the Panthéon than of any particular individual; but each +particular individual prefers his own humble self to all the edifices +that architects have raised on the face of the globe.</p> + +<p>I have been endeavouring to discover, whether in the councils of our +rulers, the question as to what is to be done in the possible +contingency of a capitulation becoming necessary, has been raised. As +far as I can hear, the contingency is not yet officially recognised as +within the realms of possibility, and it has never been alluded to. +General Trochu has officially announced "that the Governor of Paris will +never capitulate." His colleagues have periodically said much the same +thing. The most practical of them, M. Ernest Picard, has, I believe, +once or twice endeavoured to lead up to the subject, but he has failed +in the attempt. Newspaper articles and Government proclamations tell the +population every day that they only have to persevere in order +ultimately to triumph. If the end must come, it is difficult to see how +it will come. I have asked many intelligent persons what they think will +happen, but no one seems to have a very distinct notion respecting it. +Some think the Government will issue some day a notice to say that there +are only provisions for a week longer; and that at the end of this time +the gates of the city will be opened, and the Prussians told that, if +they insist upon entering, there will be nothing to prevent them. Others +think that the Government will resign their power into the hands of the +mayors, as the direct representatives of Paris. Trochu rides about a +good deal outside, and says to the soldiers, "Courage, my children, the +moment is coming." But to what moment he alludes no one is aware. No +word is more abused in the French language than "sublime." To call a +folly a sublime folly is considered a justification of any species of +absurdity. We call this refusal to anticipate a contingency which +certainly is possible, if not probable, sublime. We are proud of it, and +sleep on in our fool's paradise as though it were to last for ever.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XVII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 17th.</i></p> + +<p>The papers publish reports of the meetings of the clubs. The following +is from the <i>Débats</i> of to-day:—</p> + +<p>"At the extremity of the Rue Faubourg St. Antoine is a dark passage, and +in a room which opens into this passage is the Club de la Revendication. +The audience is small, and consists mainly of women, who come there to +keep warm. The club is peaceable—hardly revolutionary—for Rome is Rome +no more, and the Faubourg St. Antoine, formerly so turbulent, has +resigned in favour of Belleville and La Villette. Yesterday evening the +Club de la Revendication was occupied, as usual, in discussing the +misery of the situation, and the necessity of electing a Commune. An +orator, whose patriotic enthusiasm attained almost to frenzy, declared +that as for himself he scorned hams and sausages in plenty, and that he +preferred to live on the air of liberty. (The women sigh.) Another +speaker is of opinion that if there were a Commune there would also be +hams and sausages in plenty. We still pay, he says, the budget of the +clergy, as though Bonaparte were still on the throne, instead of having +rationed the large appetites and forced every one to live on 1fr. 50c. a +day. In order to make his meaning clear the orator uses the following +comparison. Suppose, he says, that I am a peasant, and that I have +fattened a chicken. (Excitement.) Were I obliged to give the wings to +the clergy, the legs to the military, and the carcass to civil +functionaries, there would be nothing of my chicken left for me. Well, +this is our case. We fatten chickens; others eat them. It would be far +wiser for us to keep them for ourselves. (Yes, yes.) A Pole, the Citizen +Strassnowski, undertakes to defend the Government. He obtains a hearing, +but not without difficulty. You complain that the Government, he says, +has not cast more cannon. Where were the artillerymen? (Ourselves.) But +three months ago you were citizens, you were not soldiers. In making you +march and counter-march in the streets and on the ramparts you have been +converted into soldiers. The Government was right therefore to wait. +(Murmurs.) The orator is not angry with the German nation; he is angry +only with the potentates who force the people to kill each other; and he +hopes that the day will come when the European nations will shake hands +over the Pyrenées, the Alps, the Balkan, and the mountains of Carpathia. +(Feeble applause and murmurs.) A citizen begs the audience to have +patience with the Citizen Strassnowski, who is a worthy man and a +volunteer; but the citizen then reproaches the worthy man for having +attempted to defend a Government whose incapacity is a matter of +notoriety. Come now, Citizen Strassnowski, he says, what has the +Government done to merit your praise? It has armed us and exercised us; +but why? To deliver us over with our guns and our cannons to the +Prussians after we have all caught cold on the ramparts. Has it tried to +utilise us? No, it has passively looked on whilst the Prussians +surrounded Paris with a triple circle of citadels. We are told every day +that the armies of the provinces will deliver us. We do not see them. We +are not even secure in Paris. Every kind of story is afloat. Yesterday +it was reported that General Schmitz had betrayed us; to-day it is an +actress who has arrested a spy whose cook was on intimate terms with a +cook of the member of the Government. Why these reports? Because the +Government has no moral support, and no one feels confidence in it. In +the meantime the food gets less and less, and this morning at eight +o'clock all the bakers in this arrondissement had closed their shops. +(True, true; we waited five hours at the closed doors.) When we get the +bread, it is more like plaster than bread. In the third arrondissement, +on the other hand, it is good and plentiful. So much for the organising +spirit of the Government. We have to wait hours for bread, hours for +wood, and hours for meat; and frequently we do not get either bread, +meat, or wood. Things cannot last long like this, my worthy +Strassnowski. The speaker concludes by urging the people to take the +direction of their affairs into their own hands. (Cries of "Vive la +Commune.") The President urges his hearers to subscribe towards a +society, the object of which is civic instruction. The club breaks up, +the President is applauded."</p> + +<p>Here is another description of a club meeting from the same journal:—</p> + +<p>"The laurels of Belleville prevented La Villette from sleeping. La +Villette, therefore, determined to have, like her rival, a central +democratic and social club, and yesterday she inaugurated in the Salle +Marseillaise an opposition to the "Club Favié." In some respects the +Marseillaise club is even more democratic than her parent. The Salle is +a sort of barn, and the <i>sans culottes</i> themselves, notwithstanding +their horror of all luxury, hardly found its comforts sufficient for +them. The Club Favié, with its paintings on the walls and its lustres, +has a most aristocratic air in comparison with this new hall of +democracy. To judge by its first séance, the Club Marseillaise promises +well. Last night enough treasons were unveiled to make the fortune of +most other clubs for a week at least. From the commencement of the war +we have been in the meshes of a vast network of treason; and these +meshes can only be broken through by the Commune and the Republic. The +conspiracy was hatched long ago between the Emperors and the Kings, and +the other enemies of the people. The war had been arranged amongst them, +and it is an error to suppose that we were beaten at Rhichshofen or +Sedan. "No," cried an orator, with conviction, "we have never been +defeated; but we have been betrayed." ("True." Applause. "We are still +betrayed.") The men of the Hôtel de Ville imitate Bonaparte, and, like +him, they have an understanding with the Prussians, to enslave the +people, after having betrayed the country. To whom then must we turn to +save the country? To the Legitimists? To the Orleanists?" (No, no.) The +orator does not hesitate to avow that he would turn to them if they +could save France. (Impossible.) Yes, it is impossible for them. The +orator admits it; and all the more because Legitimists and Orleanists +are enrolled in the conspiracy against the nation. The people can be the +only saviours of the people, by the establishment of the commune; and +this is why the men of the Hôtel de Ville and the Reactionists are +opposed to its establishment. A second speaker abandons the question of +the Commune and of the conspiracy, in order to call attention to the +resignation of Citizen Delescluze, late mayor of the nineteenth +arrondissement. While this orator thinks that it would be unjust to +accuse the patriot Delescluze of treason, he ought not the less to be +blamed for having abandoned a post to which he had been called by his +fellow citizens. The people elected him, and he had no right to put his +resignation in the hands of the men of the Hôtel de Ville in the +critical circumstances in which we find ourselves—at a moment when the +tide of misery is mounting—when the mayors have a great mission to +fulfil. What has been the consequence of this act of weakness? The men +of the Hôtel de Ville have named a commission to administer the +nineteenth arrondissement exactly as was done under Bonaparte. This is +what we citizens of Belleville have gained by the desertion of +Delescluze. (Applause.) A citizen pushes his way to the tribune to +justify the mayor. He admits that at first sight it is difficult to +approve of a magistrate who has been elected by the people resigning his +office at the very moment when the people have the greatest need of him, +but—and again we get into the dark mystery of the conspiracy—if he +gave in his resignation, it was because he would not be an accomplice of +treason. In a meeting presided over by Jules Favre, what do you suppose +the mayors were asked to do? (Here the orator pauses a moment to take +breath. The curiosity of the audience is intense.) They were asked to +take part in the capitulation. (Violent murmurs—Infamous.) Well +yes—Delescluze would have nothing to do with this infamy, and he +withdrew. Besides, there was another reason. In the division of the +succour afforded to necessitous citizens the nineteenth arrondissement +was only supposed to have 4000 indigent persons, whilst in reality the +number is 50,000, and by this means it was hoped that the popularity of +this pure Republican would suffer, and perhaps riots break out which +would be put down—(the divulgation of this plot against the mayor of +the nineteenth arrondissement is received in different ways. A person +near us observes—"All the same, he ought not to have resigned.") This +incident over, the discussion goes back to the treasons of the Hôtel de +Ville. It is well known, says a speaker, that a sortie had been +determined on in a Council composed of four generals, presided over by +Trochu, and that the next morning the Prussians were informed of it. Who +told them, who betrayed us. Was it Schmitz, or another general. (A +voice: "It was the man who eats pheasants." Indignation.) In any case, +Trochu is responsible, even if he was not the traitor himself. ("Yes, +yes; it was Trochu!") Another citizen, not personally known to the +audience, but who announces that he lives in the Rue Chasson, says that +he has received by accident a confidential communication which, perhaps, +may throw some light on the affair. This citizen has some friends who +are the friends of Ledru Rollin and of the citizen Tibaldi; and one of +these friends heard a friend say that either Ledru Rollin or Tibaldi had +heard Trochu say that it was impossible to save Paris; but that he would +have 30,000 men killed, and then capitulate. (Murmurs of indignation.) +The citizen of the Rue Chasson has received a second confidential +communication, which corroborates the first. He has been told by one of +his neighbours that everything is ready for a capitulation, and he +thinks that he will soon be enabled to communicate something still more +important on this subject; but in the meanwhile he entreats the +energetic citizens of Belleville—(indignation "This is not +Belleville")—pardon, of La Villette and of the other Republican +faubourgs, to keep their eyes on the Government. They must have no +confidence in the <i>quartiers</i> inside the town. The Rue Chasson, in which +he lives, is utterly demoralised. La Villette, with Belleville and +Montmartre, must save Paris. (Applause.) Another citizen says that he +has of late frequently heard the odious word capitulation. How can it be +otherwise? Everything is being done to make it necessary. We, the +National Guard, who receive 1fr. 50c. a-day, are called the indigent. +What do the robbers and the beggars who thus insult us do? They indulge +in orgies in the fashionable restaurants. The Zoological Gardens have +been shut. Why? Because the elephants, the tigers, and other rare +animals have been sold in order to enable wretches who laugh at the +public misery to gorge themselves. What can we, the indigent, as they +call us, do with 30 sous, when a few potatoes cost 30fr., and a piece of +celery 2fr. And they talk now of capitulating, because they have grown +rich on the war. Every one knows that it was made in order that +speculators should make fortunes. As long as they had goods to sell at +ten times their value they were for resistance to the death. Now that +they have nothing more to sell, they talk of capitulating. Ah! when one +thinks of these scandals one is almost inclined to blow one's brains +out. (Laughter and applause.) A fourth citizen takes up the same theme +with the same energy and conviction. He knows, he says, a restaurant +which is frequented by bank clerks, and where last week there were eaten +two cows and a calf, whilst the ambulance opposite was without fresh +meat. (Violent murmurs.) This is a part of the system, of Trochu and his +colleagues. They starve us and they betray us. Trochu, it is true, has +said that he would not capitulate, but we know what that means. When we +are worn out and demoralised he will demand a fresh plebiscite on the +question of a capitulation, and then he will say that the people, and +not he, capitulated. ("True, he is a Jesuit.") We must make an end of +these speculators and traitors. ("Yes, yes, it is time,") We must have +the Commune. We have not more than eighteen days of provisions, and we +want fifteen of them, to revictual. If the Commune is not proclaimed in +three days we are lost ("True. La Commune! La Commune!") The orator +explains how the Commune will save Paris. It will establish domiciliary +visits not only among the shopkeepers, but among private persons who +have stores of provisions. Besides, he adds, when all the dogs are eaten +we will eat the traitors. (Laughter and applause.) The Commune will +organise at the same time a sortie <i>en masse</i>, the success of which is +infallible. From statistics furnished by Gambetta it results that at +this moment there are not above 75,000 Prussians round Paris. And shall +our army of 500,000 men remain stationary before this handful of +Germans? Absurd. The Commune will burst through this pretended circle of +iron. It will put an end to treason. It will place two commissaries by +the side of each general. (The evening before, at the club in the Rue +Blanche, one commissary with a revolver had been proposed. At the +Marseillaise two were thought requisite. This evening, probably at the +Club Favié, in order to beat La Villette, three will be the number. The +position of a general of the Commune will not be an easy one.) These +commissaries, continues the orator, will watch all the movements of the +general. At the first sign he gives of yielding, they will blow his +brains out. Inexorably placed between victory and death, he will choose +the former. (General approbation.) The hour is getting late, but before +concluding the sitting, the President announces that the moment is +approaching when Republicans must stand shoulder to shoulder. Patriots +are invited to give in their names and addresses, in order to be found +when they are wanted. This proposal is adopted by acclamation. A certain +number of citizens register their names, and then the meeting breaks up +with a shout of "Vive la Commune de Paris!"</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 19th.</i></p> + +<p>All yesterday artillery was rolling and troops were marching through +Paris on their way to the Porte de Neuilly. The soldiers of the line +were worn and ragged; the marching battalions of the National Guards, +spick and span in their new uniforms. All seemed in good spirits, the +soldiers, after the wont of their countrymen, were making jokes with +each other, and with everyone else—the National Guards were singing +songs. In some instances they were accompanied by their wives and +sweethearts, who carried their muskets or clung to their arms. Most of +them looked strong, well-built men, and I have no doubt that in three or +four months, under a good general, they would make excellent soldiers. +In the Champs Elysées, there were large crowds to see them pass. +"Pauvres garçons," I heard many girls say, "who knows how many will +return!" And it was indeed a sad sight, these honest bourgeois, who +ought to be in their shops or at their counters, ill-drilled, unused to +war, marching forth with stout hearts, but with little hope of success, +to do battle for their native city, against the iron legions which are +beleaguering it. They went along the Avenue de la Grande Armée, crossed +the bridge of Neuilly over the Seine, and bivouacked for the night in +what is called the "Peninsula of Genevilliers." This peninsula is formed +by a loop in the Seine. Maps of the environs of Paris must be plentiful +in London, and a glance at one will make the topography of to-day's +proceedings far clearer than any description. The opening of the loop is +hilly, and the hills run along the St. Cloud side of the loop as far as +Mont Valérien, and on the other side as far as Rueil. About half a mile +from Mont Valérien following the river is St. Cloud; and between St. +Cloud and the Park of the same name is Montretout, a redoubt which was +commenced by the French, but which, since the siege began, has been held +by the Prussians. The enemy's line extends across the loop from +Montretout through Garches to La Malmaison. The latter lies just below +Rueil, which is a species of neutral village. The troops passed the +night in the upper part of the loop. In numbers they were about 90,000, +as far as I can ascertain, and they had with them a formidable field +artillery. The object of the sortie was a vague idea to push forward, if +possible, to Versailles. Most of the generals were opposed to it, and +thought that it would be wiser to make frequent sudden attacks on the +enemy's lines; but General Public Opinion insisted upon a grand +operation; and this anonymous but all powerful General, as usual, +carried the day. The plan appears to have been this: one half the army +was under General Vinoy, the other half under General Ducrot. The former +was to attack Montretout and Garches, the latter was to push forward +through Rueil and La Malmaison, carry the heights of La Jonchère, and +then unite with Vinoy at Garches. General Trochu, from an observatory in +Mont Valérien, commanded the whole movement. At 7 o'clock troops were +pushed forward against Montretout. This redoubt was held by about 200 +Poles from Posen; and they made so determined a resistance that the +place was not taken until 9.30. No guns were found in the redoubt. At +the same time General Bellemare, who commands one of Vinoy's divisions, +advanced on Garches, and occupied the wood and park of Buzenval, driving +in the Prussian outposts. Here several battalions of the National Guards +were engaged. Although their further advance was arrested by a stone +wall, from behind which the Prussians fired, they maintained themselves +in the wood and the park. The Prussians now opened a heavy fire along +the line. At Montretout it was impossible to get a single gun into +position. This went on until a little after three o'clock. By this time +reinforcements had come up from Versailles, and were pushed forward +against the centre of the French line. At the same time shells fell upon +the reserves, which consisted of National Guards, and which were drawn +up upon the incline of the heights looking towards Paris. They were +young troops, and for young troops nothing is so trying as being shelled +without being allowed to move. They broke and fell back. Their +companions who were in advance, and who held the crest of the heights, +saw themselves deserted, and at the same time saw the attacking column +coming forward, and they too fell back. The centre of the position was +thus lost. A hurried consultation was held, and Montretout and Buzenval +were evacuated. As night closed the French troops were falling back to +their bivouacs of the previous night, and the Prussians were recrossing +the trench which formed their advanced posts in the morning. The day was +misty, the mud was so deep that walking was difficult, and I could not +follow very clearly the movements of the troops from the house in which +I had ensconced myself. What became of General Ducrot no one seemed to +know. I have since learnt that he advanced with little resistance +through Rueil and La Malmaison, and that he then fought during the day +at La Jonchère, detaching a body of troops towards the Park of Buzenval. +He appears, however, to have failed in taking La Celle St. Cloud, and +from thence flanking La Bergerie, and marching on Garches. Everything is +consequently very much where it was this morning before the engagement +took place. It has been the old story. The Prussians did not defend +their first line, but fell back on their fixed batteries, there keeping +up a heavy fire until reinforcements had had time to be brought up. More +troops are ordered out for to-morrow; so I presume that the battle is to +be renewed. If it ends in a defeat, the consequences will be serious, +for the artillery can only be brought back to Paris by one bridge. The +wounded are numerous. In the American ambulance, which is close by in +the Champs Elysées, there are about seventy. In the Grand Hotel they are +arriving every moment. The National Guard at Buzenval behaved very +fairly under fire. Many of them had not been above a few days in +uniform. Their officers were in many cases as inexperienced as the men. +During the fight entire companies were wandering about looking for their +battalions, and men for their companies. As citizen soldiers they did +their best, and individually they were made of good stuff; but the moral +is—do not employ citizen soldiers for offensive operations. When I +returned into the town at about 5 o'clock this afternoon, the peninsula +of Gennevilliers resembled the course at Epsom on a wet Derby Day. To my +civilian eyes, cavalry, artillery, and infantry, seemed to be in +inextricable confusion.</p> + +<p>This morning the bread was rationed all over the city. No one is to have +more than 300 grammes per diem; children only 150. I recommend anyone +who has lived too high to try this regime for a week. It will do him +good. No costermonger's donkey is so overloaded as the stomachs of most +rich people. The Government on December 12 solemnly announced that the +bread never would be rationed. This measure, therefore, looks to me very +much like the beginning of the end. A perquisition is also being made in +search of provisions in the apartments of all those who have quitted +Paris. Another sign of the end. But it is impossible to know on how +little a Frenchman can live until the question has been tested. I went +yesterday into the house of a friend of mine, in the Avenue de +l'Impératrice, which is left in charge of a servant, and found three +families, driven out of their homes by the bombardment, installed in +it—one family, consisting of a father, a mother, and three children, +were boiling a piece of horse meat, about four inches square, in a +bucket full of water. This exceedingly thin soup was to last them for +three days. The day before they had each had a carrot. The bread is +scarce because the supply ceases before the demand in most quarters, so +that those who come last get none. My friend's servant was giving a +dinner to the English coachman. The sole dish was a cat with mice round +it. I tasted one of the latter, crunching the bones as if it had been a +lark. I can recommend mice, when nothing more substantial is to be +obtained.</p> + +<p>I hear that a pigeon has arrived this evening. Its despatch has not yet +been published. The "traitor-mania" still rages. Last night at the +Belleville Club an orator announced an awful discovery—the bread was +being poisoned by traitors. The Correspondent of one of your +contemporaries, having heard that he had been accused of being a +Prussian spy, went to-day to the Prefect of the Police. This august +being told him that he did not suspect him, and then showed him a file +of papers duly docketed relating to each London paper which is +represented here. For my part, although I have not failed to blame what +I thought blameable, and although I have not gone into ecstacies over +the bombastic nonsense which is the legacy of the vile despotism to +which the French were foolish enough to submit for twenty years, and +which has vitiated the national character, I have endeavoured in my +correspondence to be, as far as was consistent with truth, "to all their +virtues very kind, to all their faults a little blind."</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 20th.</i></p> + +<p>This morning several fresh regiments of National Guards were ordered to +march out to the Peninsula of Gennevilliers. I accompanied one of them; +but when we got into Neuilly a counter-order came, and they were marched +back. Every house in Neuilly and Courbevoie was full of troops, and +regiments were camping out in the fields, where they had passed the +night without tents. Many of the men had been so tired that they had +thrown themselves down in the mud, which was almost knee-deep, and thus +fallen asleep with their muskets by their sides. Bitter were the +complaints of the commissariat. Bread and <i>eau de vie</i> were at a high +premium. Many of the men had thrown away their knapsacks, with their +loaves strapped to them, during the action, and these were now the +property of the Prussians. It is impossible to imagine a more forlorn +and dreary scene. Some of the regiments—chiefly those which had not +been in the action—kept well together; but there were a vast number of +stragglers wandering about looking for their battalions and their +companies. At about twelve o'clock it became known that the troops were +to re-enter Paris, and that the battle was not to be renewed; and at +about one the march through the gate of Neuilly commenced, colours +flying and music playing, as though a victory had been won. I remained +there some time watching the crowd that had congregated at each side of +the road. Most of the lookers on appeared to be in a condition of blank +despair. They had believed so fully that the grand sortie must end in a +grand victory, that they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw +their heroes returning into Paris, instead of being already at +Versailles. There were many women anxiously scanning the lines of +soldiers as they passed by, and asking every moment whether some +relative had been killed. As I came home down the Champs Elysées it was +full of knots of three and four soldiers, who seemed to consider that it +was a waste of time and energy to keep up with their regiments.</p> + +<p>In the evening papers the despatch announcing the defeat of Chanzy has +been published, and a request from Trochu to General Schmitz to apply at +once for an armistice of two days to bury the dead. "The fog," he adds, +"is very dense," and certainly this fog appears to have got into the +worthy man's brain. Almost all the wounded have already been picked up +by the French and the Prussian ambulances. Nearly all the dead are in +what are now the Prussian lines, and will no doubt be buried by them. In +the afternoon, as a suspension of arms for two hours was agreed to, our +ambulances pushed forward, and brought back a few wounded, but not many. +Most of those who had fallen in the Prussian lines had already been +moved, their officers said, to St. Germain and St. Cloud, where they +would be cared for. At three <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> Jules Favre summoned the +Mayors to a consultation, and General Trochu also came in to the +Ministry of Foreign Affairs for half an hour, and then returned to +Valérien. The feeling against him is very strong. It is said that he has +offered to resign; and I think it very probable that he will be the +Jonah thrown out to the whale. But will this sacrifice save the ship? +All the Generals are roundly abused. Indeed, in France there is no +medium between the Capitol and the Tarpeian Rock. A man who is not a +victor must be a traitor. That undisciplined National Guards fresh from +their shops, should be unable to carry by assault batteries held by +German troops, is a thing which never can be admitted. If they fail to +do this, it is the fault of their leaders. Among those who were killed +yesterday is M. Regnault, the painter who obtained at the last salon, +the gold medal for his picture of "Salome." He went into action with a +card on his breast, on which he had written his name and the address of +the young lady to whom he was engaged to be married. When the +brancardiers picked him up, he had just strength to point to this +address. Before they could carry him there he was dead. But the most +painful scene during the battle was the sight of a French soldier who +fell by French balls. He was a private in the 119th Battalion, and +refused to advance. His commander remonstrated. The private shot him. +General Bellemare, who was near, ordered the man to be killed at once. A +file was drawn up and fired on him; he fell, and was supposed to be +dead. Some brancardiers soon afterwards passing by, and thinking that he +had been wounded in the battle, placed him on a stretcher. It was then +discovered that he was still alive. A soldier went up to him to finish +him off, but his gun missed fire. He was then handed another, when he +blew out the wretched man's brains. From all I can learn from the people +connected with the different ambulances, our loss yesterday does not +amount to above 2000 killed and wounded. Most of the newspapers estimate +it far higher. At Buzenval, where the only really sharp fighting took +place, an officer who was in command tells me that there were about 300 +killed. For the sake of humanity, it is to be hoped that we shall have +no more of these blind sorties. The French get through the first +Prussian lines; they are then arrested by the fire of the batteries from +the second line; reinforcements are brought up by the enemy; and the +well-known movement to the rear commences. "Our losses," say the +official reports the next morning, "are great; those of the enemy +enormous. Our troops fought with distinguished valour, but——"</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 21st.</i></p> + +<p>It was so wet last night that there were but few groups of people on the +Boulevards. At the clubs Trochu was universally denounced. Almost every +one is now in despair. Of what use, they say, are the victories of +Bourbaki; he cannot be here in time. We had pinned our faith on Chanzy, +and the news of his defeat, coupled with our own, has almost +extinguished every ray of hope in the breasts even of the most hopeful. +The Government, it is thought, is preparing the public mind for a +capitulation. <i>La Liberté</i>, until now its strongest supporter, bitterly +complains that it should publish the truth! Chandordy's despatch went +first to Jules Favre. He stood over the man who was deciphering it. When +he read the opening sentence, "Un grand malheur," he refused to read +more, and sent it undeciphered to Trochu. When it reached the Governor, +no one on his staff could decipher it, so it had to be returned to the +Foreign-office. The moment for the quacks is at hand. A "General" offers +to raise the siege if he be given 50,000 men. A magician offers a shell +which will destroy the Prussians root and branch. M. Felix Pyat, in his +organ, observes that Sparta never was taken, and that the Spartans used +to eat in common. He proposes, therefore, as a means to free Paris, that +a series of public suppers should be inaugurated. I can only say that I +hope that they may be, for I certainly shall attend. Even Spartan broth +would be acceptable. The bread is all but uneatable. If you put it in +water, straw and bits of hay float about. A man, who ought to know, +solemnly assured me this morning that we had only food for six days; but +then men who ought to know are precisely those who know nothing. I do +not think that we are so badly off as this; but the end is a question no +longer of months, but of days, and very soon it will be of hours. Those +who desire a speedy capitulation are called <i>les capitulards</i>, and they +are in a majority of nine to one. There are still many who clamour for a +grand sortie, but most of those who do so, are persons who, by no +possibility, can themselves share in the operation. The street orators +are still at poor Jonah Trochu, and their hearers seem to agree with +them. These sages, however, do not explain who is to replace him. Some +of the members of the Government, I hear, suggest an admiral; but what +admiral would accept this <i>damnosa hæreditas</i>? Among the generals, each +has his partisans, and each seems to be of opinion that he himself is a +mighty man of war, and all the others fools. Both Vinoy and Ducrot +declined to attend the Council of War which sat before the late sortie. +They were generals of division, they said, and they would obey orders, +but they would accept no further responsibilities. Ducrot, who was the +<i>fidus Achates</i> of Trochu, is no longer in his good graces. The <i>Réveil</i> +of this afternoon, which is usually well-informed on all matters which +concern our Mayors, gives the following account of the meeting of +yesterday: "At three o'clock the meeting took place in the presence of +all the members of the Government. M. Trochu declared formally that he +would fight no more. M. Favre said that the Government was +'disappearing.' M. Favre proposed that the Government should give up its +power to the Mayors. The Mayors refused. The discussion was very +violent. Several propositions, one more absurd than another, were +brought forward by some of the members of the Government. They were not +discussed. As usual, the meeting broke up without any result." The best +man they have is Vinoy; he is honest, disinterested, and determined. It +is to be hoped that if Trochu resigns, he will take his place.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 22nd.</i></p> + +<p>So poor Jonah has gone over, and been swallowed up by the whale. He +still remains the head of the civil government, but it only is as a +figure-head. He is an upright man; but as a military chief he has proved +himself a complete failure. He was a man of plans, and never could alter +the details of these plans to suit a change of circumstances. What his +grand plan was, by which Paris was to be saved, no one now, I presume, +ever will know. The plans of his sorties were always elaborately drawn +up; each divisional commander was told in the minutest details what he +was to do. Unfortunately, General Moltke usually interfered with the +proper development of these details—a proceeding which always surprised +poor Trochu—and in the account the next day of his operations, he would +dwell upon the fact as a reason for his want of success. That batteries +should be opened upon his troops, and that reinforcements should be +brought up against them, were trifles—probable as they might seem to +most persons—which filled him with an indignant astonishment. At the +last sortie Ducrot excuses himself for being late at La Malmaison +because he found the road by which he had been ordered to advance +occupied by a long line of artillery, also there by Trochu's orders. +General Vinoy, who has replaced him, is a hale old soldier about seventy +years old. He has risen from the ranks, and in the Crimea was a very +intimate friend of Lord Clyde. When the latter came, a few years before +his death, to Paris, the English Ambassador had prepared a grand +breakfast for him, and had gone to the station to meet him. On the +platform was also Vinoy, who also had prepared breakfast for his old +comrade in arms; and this breakfast, very much to the disgust of the +diplomatist, Lord Clyde accepted. General Vinoy has to-day issued a +proclamation to the troops, which in its plain, simple, modest language +contrasts very favourably with the inflated bombast in which his +predecessor was so great an adept.</p> + +<p>The newspapers are already commencing to prove to their own satisfaction +that the battle of last Thursday was not a defeat, but an "incomplete +victory." As for the National Guard, one would suppose that every one of +them had been in the action, and that they were only prevented from +carrying everything before them by the timidity of their generals. The +wonderful feats which many of these heroes have told me they performed +would lead one to suppose that Napoleon's old Guard was but a flock of +sheep in comparison with them. I cannot help thinking that by a certain +indistinctness of recollection they attribute to themselves every +exploit, not only that they saw, but that their fertile imaginations +have ever dreamt to be possible. In all this nonsense they are supported +by the newspapers, who think more of their circulation than of truth. To +read the accounts of this battle one would suppose that neither the Line +nor the Mobiles had been in it. A caricature now very popular represents +a lion in the uniform of a National Guard held back by two donkeys in +the uniforms of generals, and vainly endeavouring to rush upon a crowd +of terrified Germans. As a matter of fact—about 5,000 National Guards +were in the thick of it—the men behaved tolerably well, and many of the +officers very well. The great majority of the marching battalions which +were in the peninsula "did not give," to use the French phrase; and some +of them, notwithstanding the efforts of their officers, were unable to +remain steady as soon as the Prussian bombs reached them. This <i>sic vos +non vobis</i> which, is meted out to the Mobiles and the Line makes me +indignant. As for the sailors, they are splendid fellows—and how we +always manage to beat them afloat increases my admiration of the British +tars. They are kept under the strictest discipline by their captains +and admirals, one of whom once said to me when I asked him whether his +men fraternized with the soldiers, "If I saw one of them associating +with such <i>canaille</i>, I would put him under arrest for twenty-four +hours." In the forts they are perfectly cool under the heaviest fire, +and both at Le Bourget and at Chatillon they fought like heroes. "Ten +thousand of them," observed a general to me the other day, "are worth +more than the whole National Guards."</p> + +<p>The bombardment still continues. Bombs fall into the southern part of +the town; but habit in this world is everything, and no one troubles +himself much about them. At night the Trocadero has become a fashionable +lounge for the <i>cocottes</i>, who still honour us with their presence. The +line of the Prussian batteries and the flash of their guns can be seen. +The hissing, too, of the bombs can be heard, when the <i>cocottes</i> crouch +by their swains in affected dread. It is like Cremorne, with its ladies +and its fireworks. Since yesterday morning, too, St. Denis has been +bombarded. Most of its inhabitants have taken refuge in Paris, but it +will be a pity if the cathedral, with the tombs of all the old French +Kings, is damaged. St. Denis is itself a species of fort. Its guns are +not, a friend tells me who has just come from there, replying with +vigour. The Prussians are firing on it from six separate batteries, and +it is feared that it will fall. Our attention to-day has been diverted +from the Prussians outside by a little domestic quarrel at home, and we +have been shooting each other, as though the Prussian missiles were not +enough for our warlike stomachs, and death were not raging around our +prison.</p> + +<p>Between twelve and one this morning a band of armed patriots appeared +before the prison of Mazas, and demanded the release of Flourens and the +political prisoners who were shut up there. The director, instead of +keeping the gate shut, allowed a deputation to enter. As soon as the +gate was opened, not only the deputation, but the patriots rushed in, +and bore off Flourens and his friends in triumph. With the Mayor at +their head, they then went to the Mairie of the 20th Arrondissement, and +pillaged it of all the rations and bread and wine which they found +stored up there. Then they separated, having passed a resolution to go +at twelve o'clock to the Hôtel de Ville, to assist their "brothers" in +turning out the Government. I got myself to the Place of the Hôtel de +Ville at about two o'clock. There were then about 5000 persons there. +The gates were shut. Inside the rails before them were a few officers; +and soldiers could be seen at all the windows. Some few of the 5000 were +armed, but most of them were unarmed. Close in by the Hôtel de Ville +there seemed to be some sort of military order in the positions occupied +by the rioters. I took up my stand at the corner of the Rue de Rivoli. +Every moment the crowd increased. It was composed partly of sightseers, +for on Sunday every one is out of doors; partly of sympathisers. These +sympathisers were not, as on October 31, working men, but mainly what +Count Bismarck would call the populace. Their political creed may be +summed up by the word "loot;" their personal appearance by the word +"hangdog." I found myself in the midst of a group of hangdogs, who were +abusing everyone and everything. On one side of me was a lady of +expansive figure, whose breath showed that she had partaken lately of +ardent spirits, and whose conversation showed that if she was a "matron +of Cornelia's mien," her morals were better than her conversation. "The +people are slaves," she perpetually yelled, "they will no longer submit +to traitors; I say it to you, I, the mother of four children." The +maternal vantage ground which she assumed evidently gave her opinions +weight, for her neighbours replied, "Oui, elle a raison, la mère." A +lean, bilious-looking fellow, who looked as though through life he had +not done an honest day's work, and whose personal charms were not +heightened by a grizzled beard and a cap of cat-skin, close by the +matron, was bawling out, "The Hôtel de Ville belongs to us, I am a +taxpayer;" whilst a youth about fifteen years old, hard by, explained in +a shrill treble the military errors which Trochu and the generals had +committed. At a little after three o'clock, a fresh band, all armed, +with a drum, beating the charge, appeared, and as they neared the chief +entrance of the Hôtel de Ville, just one shot, and then a number of +shots were fired. Everybody who had a gun then shot it off with an eager +but general idea of doing something, as he fled, like a Parthian bowman. +The stampede soon became general; numbers of persons threw themselves on +the ground. I saw the mother of four children sprawling in the mire, and +the bilious taxpayer fall over her, and then I followed the youthful +strategist into an open door. Inside were about twenty people. The door +was shut to, and for about twenty minutes we heard muskets going off. +Then, as the fight seemed over, the door was opened and we emerged. The +Place had been evacuated by the mob, and was held by the troops. Fresh +regiments were marching on it along the quay and the Rue de Rivoli. +Wounded people were lying about or crawling towards the houses. Soon +some <i>brancardiers</i> arrived and picked up the wounded. One boy I saw +evidently dying—the blood was streaming out of two wounds. The windows +of the Hôtel de Ville were broken, and the façade bore traces of balls, +as did some of the houses round the Place. I remained until dusk. Even +when I left the streets were full of citizens. Each man who had rolled +in the mire, and whose clothes showed traces of it, was the centre of a +group of sympathisers and non-sympathisers, to whom he was explaining +how the Breton brigands had fired on him, a poor innocent lamb, who had +done no harm. The non-sympathisers, however, were in the majority, and +"served him right" seemed to be the general verdict on those who had +been shot, or who had spoilt their clothes. Every now and then some +window would slam or a cart would rumble by, when there would be a +general scamper for a few yards. After dinner I again returned to the +Hôtel de Ville. The crowd had dispersed, and the Place was militarily +occupied; so we may suppose that this little domestic episode is over.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 23rd, morning.</i></p> + +<p>The clubs are closed, and the <i>Réveil</i> and the <i>Combat</i> suppressed. +Numbers of people are coming in from St. Denis, where the bombardment is +getting very hot. Bombs last night fell in one of the islands on the +Seine; so the flood is mounting, and our dry ground is every day +diminishing. I see in an extract from a German paper, that it has been +telegraphed to England that the village of Issy has been entirely +destroyed by the Prussian fire. This is not the case. I was there the +other day, and the village is still there. It is not precisely the spot +where one would wish one's property to be situated, but most of the +houses are, as yet, intact.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XVIII.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 27th.</i></p> + +<p>I write this, as I hear that the last balloon is to start to-night. How +lucky for the English public that, just when the siege of Paris ceases, +the conscript fathers of the nation will furnish them with reading at +their breakfast tables. The light, airy wit of Professor Fawcett, and +the pleasant fancy of Mr. Newdegate, will be served up for them with +their hot rolls every morning instead of the bulletins of Count +Moltke—lucky public!</p> + +<p>Most of us here are much like heirs at a rich man's funeral. We have +long faces, we sigh and we groan, but we are not quite so unhappy as we +look. The <i>Journal Officiel</i> of this morning announces that Paris will +not be occupied, and that the National Guard will not go to Germany. +This is, we say, very different from a capitulation—it is a political +incident; in a few days I expect to hear it called a victory. The editor +of the <i>Liberté</i>—why is this gentleman still alive? for the last three +months he has been making pacts with death—explains that Paris never +would have and never will capitulate, but that an armistice is a very +different sort of thing. Last night, notwithstanding the cold which has +again set in, the Boulevard was blocked up with groups of patriots and +wiseacres discussing the state of things, and explaining what Paris +would agree to and what she would not agree to. Occasionally some +"pure"—a "pure" is an Ultra—threw out that the Parisians themselves +were only reaping what they had sown; but the pure, I need hardly say, +was soon silenced, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Paris has +been sublime and heroic, but that if she has been neither, it has been +the fault of the traitors to whom she has confided her destinies. Some +said that the admirals had stated that they would blow up their forts +rather than surrender them; but if the worthies who vouched for this had +been informed by the admirals of their intentions, I can only say that +these honest tars had chosen strange confidants.</p> + +<p>Paris, as I have already said more than once, has been fighting as much +for her own supremacy over the provinces as for victory over the +Prussians. The news—whether true or false I know not—that Gambetta, +who is regarded as the representative of Paris, has been replaced by a +sort of Council of Regency, and that this Council of Regency is +treating, has filled everyone here with indignation. Far better, +everyone seems to think, that Alsace should be lost to France, than that +France should be lost to Paris. The victories of Prussia have been +bitter to Frenchmen, because they had each of them individually assumed +a vicarious glory in the victories of the First Empire; but the real +patriotism of the Parisians does not extend farther than the walls of +their own town. If the result of this war is to cause France to +undertake the conduct of its own affairs, and not to allow the +population of Paris and the journalists of Paris to ride roughshod over +her, the country will have gained more than she has lost by her defeats, +no matter what may be the indemnity she be called upon to pay. The +martial spirit of the National Guard has of course been lauded to the +skies by those newspapers which depend for their circulation on these +braves. The question what they have done may, however, be reduced to +figures. They number above 300,000. According to their own statements +they have been fighting for nearly five months, and I venture to say +that during the whole campaign they have not lost 500 men. They have +occasionally done duty in the trenches, but this duty has been a very +brief one, and they have had very long intervals of repose. I do not +question that in the National Guard there are many brave men, but one +can only judge of the fighting qualities of an army by comparison, and +if the losses of the National Guard be statistically compared with those +of the Line, of the Mobiles, and of the sailors, it will be shown +that—to use an Americanism—their record is a bad one. The soldiers and +the sailors have fought, and the women have suffered during the siege. +The male population of Paris has done little more than bluster and drink +and brag.</p> + +<p>To-day there is no firing, and I suppose that the last shell has fallen +into Paris. I went out yesterday to St. Denis. Along the road there were +a few people coming into Paris with their beds and tables in hand-carts. +In the town the bombardment, although not so heavy as it had been, was +far too heavy to be pleasant. Most of the people still remaining have +established themselves in their cellars, and every moment one came +against some chimney emerging from the soil. Some were still on the +ground-floor of their houses, and had heaped up mattresses against their +windows. The inhabitants occasionally ran from one house to another, +like rabbits in a warren from hole to hole. All the doors were open, and +whenever one heard the premonitory whistle which announced the arrival +of one of the messengers of our psychological friends outside, one had +to dodge into some door. I did not see any one hit. The houses were a +good deal knocked about; the cathedral, it was said, had been hit, but +as shells were falling in the Place before it, I reserved investigations +for a more quiet moment. Some of the garrison told me that the forts had +been "scratched," but as to how far this scratching process had been +carried I cannot say from personal observation, as I thought I might be +scratched myself if I pushed my reconnaissance farther. I am not a +military man, and do not profess to know anything about bombs +technically, but it seems to me, considering that it is their object to +burst, and considering the number of scientific persons who have devoted +their time to make them burst, it is very strange how very few do burst. +I am told that one reason for this is the following:—when they lose the +velocity of the impelling force they turn over in the air, and as the +percussion cap is on the lighter end, the heavier one strikes the +ground. Many of these, too, which have fallen in the town, and which +have burst, have done no mischief, because the lead in which they are +enveloped has kept the pieces together. The danger, indeed, to life and +limb of a bombardment is very slight. I would at any time prefer to be +for 24 hours in the most exposed portion of a bombarded town, than walk +24 times across Oxford Street in the middle of the day. A bomb is a joke +in comparison with those great heavy wagons which are hurled at +pedestrians by their drivers in the streets of London.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 28th.</i></p> + +<p>The Government has not yet made up its mind to bell the cat, and to let +us know the terms of the armistice or capitulation, whichever it is to +be called. We hear that it is expected that trains will run to England +on Tuesday or Wednesday, and by the first train I for one shall +endeavour to get out of this prison. It will be such a relief to find +oneself once more among people who have glimpses of common sense, who +are not all in uniform, and who did not insist so very strongly on their +sublime attitude. Yesterday evening there were a series of open-air +clubs held on the Boulevards and other public places. The orators were +in most instances women or aged men. These Joans of Arc and ancient +Pistols talked very loudly of making a revolution in order to prevent +the capitulation; and it seemed to me that among their hearers, +precisely those who whilst they had an opportunity to fight thought it +wise not to do so, were most vociferous in their applause. The language +of the National Guard is indeed most warlike. Several hundred of their +officers have indulged in the cheap patriotism of signing a declaration +that they wish to die rather than yield. This morning many battalions of +the National Guard are under arms, and are hanging about in the streets +with their arms stacked before them. Many of the men, however, have not +answered to the rappel, and are remaining at home, as a mode of +protesting against what is passing. General Vinoy has a body of troops +ready to act, and as he is a man of energy I do not anticipate serious +disturbances for the moment. As for the soldiers and the Mobiles, they +are wandering about in twos and threes without arms, and do not affect +to conceal that they are heartily glad that all is over. Poor fellows, +their torn and tattered uniforms contrast with the spick and span +military gear of the National Guard. They have had during the siege hard +work, and they have done good duty, with but little thanks for it. The +newspapers are one and all down on the Government. It is of course held +to be their fault that the lines of the besiegers have not been forced. +General Trochu is not a military genius, and his colleagues have not +proved themselves better administrators than half a dozen lawyers who +have got themselves elected to a legislative assembly by the gift of the +gab were likely to be; but still this system of sacrificing the leaders +whenever any disaster takes place, and accusing them of treachery and +incompetence, is one of the worst features in the French character. If +it continues, eventually every man of rank will be dubbed by his own +countrymen either a knave or a fool.</p> + + +<p class="right"><i>January 31st.</i></p> + +<p><i>Finita la Comedia.</i> Let fall the curtain. The siege of Paris is over; +the last balloon has carried our letters through the clouds; the last +shot has been fired. The Prussians are in the forts, and the Prussian +armies are only not in the streets because they prefer to keep watch and +guard outside the vanquished city. What will be the verdict of history +on the defence? Who knows! On the one hand the Parisians have kept a +powerful army at bay far longer than was anticipated; on the other hand, +every sortie that they have made has been unsuccessful—every attempt to +arrest the approach of the besiegers has failed. Passively and inertly +they have allowed their store of provisions to grow less and less, until +they have been forced to capitulate, without their defences having been +stormed, or the cannon silenced. The General complains of his soldiers, +the soldiers complain of their General; and on both sides there is cause +of complaint. Trochu is not a Todleben. His best friends describe him as +a sort of military Hamlet, wise of speech, but weak and hesitating in +action—making plans, and then criticising them instead of accomplishing +them. As a commander, his task was a difficult one; when the siege +commenced he had no army; when the army was formed, it was encompassed +by earthworks and redoubts so strong that even better soldiers would +have failed to carry them. As a statesman, he never was the master of +the situation. He followed rather than led public opinion, and +subordinated everything to the dread of displeasing any section of a +population, which, to be ruled—even in quiet times—must be ruled with +a rod of iron. Success is the criterion of ability in this country, and +poor Trochu is as politically dead as though he never had lived. His +enemies call him a traitor; his friends defend him from the charge by +saying that he is only a vain fool.</p> + +<p>As regards the armed force, the sailors have behaved so well that I +wonder at the ease with which our own tars have always beaten them. They +have been kept under a rigid discipline by their naval commanders. The +line, composed of depôt battalions, and of the regiments which Vinoy +brought back from Mézières, without being equal to old seasoned troops, +have fought creditably. Their great defect has been an absence of strict +discipline. The Mobiles, raw peasants fresh from their homes, have shown +themselves brave in action, and have supported the hardship of lengthy +outpost duty without a murmur. Unfortunately they elected their own +officers, and this weakened their efficiency for offensive purposes. +When the siege commenced, every citizen indiscriminately assumed the +uniform of the National Guard. Each battalion of this motley force +elected its officers, and both men and officers united in despising +discipline as a restraint to natural valour. The National Guard mounted +guard occasionally on the ramparts, and the rest of their time they +passed in parading the streets, drinking in the pothouses, and +discussing the conduct of their military superiors. General Trochu soon +discovered that this force was, for all purposes of war, absolutely +useless. He called for volunteers, and he anticipated that 100,000 men +would answer to the appeal; not 10,000 did so. He then ordered a +marching company to be formed from each battalion. Complaints +innumerable arose. Instead of a generous emulation to fight, each man +sought for an excuse to avoid it. This man had a mother, that man a +daughter; one had weak lungs, and another weak legs. At length, by dint +of pressure and coaxing, the marching battalions were formed. Farewell +suppers were offered them by their comrades. They were given new coats, +new trousers, and new saucepans to strap on their haversacks. They have +done some duty in the trenches, but they were always kept away from +serious fighting, and only gave a "moral support" to those engaged in +the conflict, until the fiasco in the Isthmus of Gennevilliers a +fortnight ago. Then, near the walls of Buzanval, the few companies which +were in action fought fairly if not successfully, whilst in another part +of the field of battle, those who formed the reserves broke and fled as +soon as the Prussian bombs fell into their ranks. The entire National +Guard, sedentary and marching battalions, has not, I imagine, lost 500 +men during its four months' campaign. This can hardly be called fighting +to the death <i>pro aris et focis</i>, and sublimity is hardly the word to +apply to these warriors. If the 300 at Thermopylæ had, after exhausting +their food, surrendered to the Persian armies, after the loss of less +than one per cent. of their number—say of three men, they might have +been very worthy fellows, but history would not have embalmed their act. +Politically, with the exception of the riot on October 31, the +Government of National Defence has met with no opposition since +September last. There are several reasons for this. Among the +bourgeoisie there was little of either love or confidence felt in Trochu +and his colleagues, but they represented the cause of order, and were +indeed the only barrier against absolute anarchy. Among the poorer +classes everyone who liked was clothed, was fed, and was paid by +Government for doing nothing, and consequently many who otherwise would +have been ready to join in a revolt, thought it well not to disturb a +state of things so eminently to their satisfaction. Among the Ultras, +there was a very strong distaste to face the fire either of Prussians or +of Frenchmen. They had, too, no leaders worthy of the name, and many of +them were determined not to justify Count Bismarck's taunt that the +"populace" would aid him by exciting civil discord. The Government of +September, consequently, is still the Government of to-day, although its +chief has shown himself a poor general, and its members, one and all, +have shown themselves wretched administrators. In unblushing mendacity +they have equalled, if not surpassed, their immediate predecessor, the +virtuous Palikao. The only two of them who would have had a chance of +figuring in England, even as vestrymen, are M. Jules Favre and M. Ernest +Picard. The former has all the brilliancy and all the faults of an able +lawyer—the latter, although a lawyer, is not without a certain modicum +of that plain practical common sense, which we are apt to regard as +peculiarly an English characteristic.</p> + +<p>The sufferings caused by the dearth of provisions and of fuel have +fallen almost exclusively on the women and children. Among the +well-to-do classes, there has been an absence of many of those luxuries +which habit had made almost necessaries, but this is all. The men of the +poorer classes, as a rule, preferred to idle away their time on the 1fr. +50c. which they received from the Government, rather than gain 4 or 5fr. +a day by working at their trades; consequently if they drank more and +ate less than was good for them, they have had only themselves to thank +for it. Their wives and children have been very miserable. Scantily +clad, ill fed, without fuel, they have been obliged to pass half the day +before the bakers' doors, waiting for their pittance of bread. The +mortality and the suffering have been very great among them, and yet, it +must be said to their credit, they have neither repined nor complained.</p> + +<p>Business has, of course, been at a standstill since last September. At +the Bourse the transactions have been of the most trifling description, +much to the disgust of the many thousands who live here by peddling +gains and doubtful speculations in this temple of filthy lucre. By a +series of decrees payment of rent and of bills of exchange has been +deferred from month to month. Most of the wholesale exporting houses +have been absolutely closed. In the retail shops nothing has been sold +except by the grocers, who must have made large profits. Whether the +city has a recuperative power strong enough to enable it to recover +from this period of stagnation, and to pay its taxation, which +henceforward will be enormous, has yet to be seen. The world is the +market for <i>articles de Paris</i>, but then to preserve this market, the +prices of these articles must be low. Foreigners, too, will not come +here if the cost of living is too exorbitant, and yet I do not see how +it is to be otherwise. The talk of the people now is, that they mean to +become serious—no longer to pander to the extravagances of strangers, +and no longer to encourage their presence amongst them. If they carry +out these intentions, I am afraid that, however their morals may be +improved, their material interests will suffer. Gambling tables may not +be an advantage to Europe, but without them Homburg and Baden would go +to the wall. Paris is a city of pleasure—a cosmopolitan city; it has +made its profit out of the follies and the vices of the world. Its +prices are too high, its houses are too large, its promenades and its +public places have cost too much for it to be able to pay its way as the +sober, decent capital of a moderate-sized country, where there are few +great fortunes. If the Parisians decide to become poor and respectable, +they are to be congratulated upon the resolve, but the present notion +seems to be that they are to become rich and respectable—a thing more +difficult. Paris—the Paris of the Empire and of Haussmann—is a house +of cards. Its prosperity was a forced and artificial one. The war and +the siege have knocked down the cards, and it is doubtful whether they +will ever serve to build a new house.</p> + +<p>As regards public opinion, I cannot see that it has changed one iota for +the better since the fall of the Empire, or that common sense has made +any headway. There are of course sensible men in Paris, but either they +hold their tongues, or their voices are lost in the chorus of blatant +nonsense, which is dinned into the public ears. <i>Mutatis mutandis</i> the +newspapers, with some few exceptions, are much what they were when they +worshipped Cæsar, chronicled the doings of the <i>demi-monde</i>, clamoured +for the Rhine, and invented Imperial victories. Their ignorance +respecting everything beyond the frontiers of France is such, that a +charity-schoolboy in England or Germany would be deservedly whipped for +it. <i>La Liberté</i> has, I am told, the largest circulation at present. +Every day since the commencement of the siege I have invested two sous +in this journal, and I may say, without exaggeration, that never +once—except one evening when it was burnt on the boulevard for +inadvertently telling the truth—have I been able to discover in its +columns one single line of common sense. Its facts are sensational—its +articles gross appeals to popular folly, popular ignorance, and popular +vanity. Every petty skirmish of the National Guard has been magnified +into a stupendous victory; every battalion which visited a tomb, crowned +a statue, or signed some manifesto pre-eminent in its absurdity, has +been lauded in language which would have been exaggerated if applied to +the veterans of the first Napoleon. The editor is, I believe, the author +of the "pact with death," which has been so deservedly ridiculed in the +German newspapers. The orators of the clubs have not been wiser than the +journalists. At the Ultra gatherings, a man who says that he is a +republican is regarded as the possessor of every virtue. The remedy for +all the ills of France has been held to be, to copy exactly what was +done during the First Revolution. "Citizens, we must have a <i>Commune</i>, +and then we shall drive the Prussians out of France," was always +received with a round of sympathetic applause, although I have never yet +found two persons to agree in their explanation of what is meant by the +word "<i>Commune</i>." At the Moderate clubs, the speeches generally +consisted of ignorant abuse of Germany, attempts to disprove +well-established facts, and extravagant self-laudation. I have attended +many clubs—Ultra and Moderate—and I never heard a speaker at one of +them who would have been tolerated for five minutes by an ordinary +English political meeting.</p> + +<p>The best minister whom the Parisians have, is M. Dorian. He is a +manufacturer, and as hard-headed and practical as a Scotsman. Thanks to +his energy and business qualities, cannon have been cast, old muskets +converted into breechloaders, and ammunition fabricated. He has had +endless difficulties to overcome, and has overcome them. The French are +entirely without what New Englanders call shiftiness. As long as all the +wheels of an administration work well, the administrative coach moves +on, but let the smallest wheel of the machine get out of order, and +everything stands still. To move on again takes a month's discussion and +a hundred despatches. A redoubt which the Americans during their civil +war would have thrown up in a night has taken the Parisians weeks to +make. Their advanced batteries usually were without traverses, because +they were too idle to form them. Although in modern sieges the spade +ought to play as important a part as the cannon, they seem to have +considered it beneath their dignity to dig—500 navvies would have done +more for the defence of the town than 500,000 National Guards did do. At +the commencement of October, ridiculous barricades were made far inside +the ramparts, and although the generals have complained ever since that +they impeded the movements of their troops, they have never been +removed.</p> + +<p>I like the Parisians and I like the French. They have much of the old +Latin <i>urbanitas</i>, many kindly qualities, and most of the minor virtues +which do duty as the small change of social intercourse. But for the +sake of France, I am glad that Paris has lost its <i>prestige</i>, for its +rule has been a blight and a curse to the entire country; and for the +sake of Europe, I am glad that France has lost her military prestige, +for this prestige has been the cause of most of the wars of Europe +during the last 150 years. It is impossible so to adapt the equilibrium +of power, that every great European Power shall be co-equal in strength. +The balance tips now to the side of Germany. That country has attained +the unity after which she has so long sighed, and I do not think she +will embroil the continent in wars, waged for conquest, for an "idea," +or for the dynastic interests of her princes. The Germans are a brave +race, but not a war-loving race. Much, therefore, as I regret that +French provinces should against the will of their inhabitants become +German, and strongly as I sympathise with my poor friends here in the +overthrow of all their illusions, I console myself with the thought that +the result of the present war will be to consolidate peace. France will +no doubt look wistfully after her lost possessions, and talk loudly of +her intention to re-conquer them. But the difficulty of the task will +prevent the attempt. Until now, to the majority of Frenchmen, a war +meant a successful military promenade, a plentiful distribution of +decorations, and an inscription on some triumphal arch. Germany was to +them the Germany of Jena and Austerlitz. Their surprise at seeing the +Prussians victors at the doors of Paris, is much that which the +Americans would feel if a war with the Sioux Indians were to bring these +savages to the suburbs of New York. The French have now learnt that they +are not invincible, and that if war may mean victory, it may also mean +defeat, invasion, and ruin. When, therefore, they have paid the bill for +their <i>à Berlin</i> folly, they will think twice before they open a fresh +account with fortune.</p> + +<p>I would recommend sightseers to defer their visit to Paris for the +present, as during the armistice it will not be a very pleasant +residence for foreigners. I doubt whether the elections will go off, and +the decisions of the National Assembly be known without disturbances. +The vainest of the vain, irritable to madness by their disasters, the +Parisians are in no humour to welcome strangers. The world has held +aloof whilst the "capital of civilisation" has been bombarded by the +"hordes of Attila," and there is consequently, just now, no very +friendly feeling towards the world.</p> + +<p>Of news, there is very little. We are in a state of physical and moral +collapse. The groups of patriots which invested the Boulevards on the +first announcement of the capitulation have disappeared; and the +gatherings of National Guards, who announced their intention to die +rather than submit, have discontinued their sittings, owing it, as they +said, to their country to live for her. No one hardly now affects to +conceal his joy that all is over. Every citizen with whom one speaks, +tells you that it will be the lasting shame of Paris that with its +numerous army it not only failed to force the Prussians to raise the +siege, but also allowed them whenever they pleased to detach corps +d'armée against the French generals in the provinces. This, of course, +is the fault of the Government of Trochu and of the Republic, and having +thus washed his hands of everything that has occurred, the citizen goes +on his way rejoicing. The Mobiles make no secret of their delight at the +thought of getting back to their homes. Whatever the Parisians may think +of them, they do not think much of the Parisians. The army, and more +particularly the officers, are very indignant at the terms of the +armistice. They bitterly say that they would far rather have preferred +to have been made prisoners of war at once, and they feel that they are +in pawn in Paris, a pledge that peace will be made. M. Jules Ferry was +treated so coldly the other day by General Vinoy's staff, when he went +upon some business to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, that +he asked the cause, and was told in plain terms that he and his +colleagues had trifled with the honour of the army. The armistice was, +as you are aware, concluded by M. Jules Favre in person. It was then +thought necessary to send a General to confer with Count Moltke on +matters of detail. General Trochu seized upon this occasion to assert +himself, and requested to be allowed to send a General of his choice, +saying that his book which he published in 1867 must be so well known at +the German headquarters, that probably his envoy would meet with +peculiar respect. To this General Vinoy acceded, but Count Moltke +refused to treat with Trochu's General, who was drunk, and the chief of +General Vinoy's staff had to be substituted. General Ducrot is still +here. He resigned his command, not as is generally supposed, because the +Prussians insisted upon it in consequence of his evasion from Sedan, but +because General Vinoy on assuming the command of the army gave him a +very strong hint to do so. "I did not"' observed Vinoy, "think your +position sufficiently <i>en règle</i> to serve under <i>you</i>, and so——"</p> + +<p>The question of the revictualling is the most important one of the +moment. The railroad kings, who had an interview with Count Bismarck at +Versailles, seem to be under the impression that this exceedingly +wide-awake statesman intends to throw impediments in the way of Paris +getting provisions from England, in order that the Germans may turn an +honest penny by supplying the requirements of the town. He has thrown +out hints that he himself can revictual us for a short time, if it +really be a question of life and death. Even when the lines are opened +to traffic and passengers, the journey to England, <i>viâ</i> Amiens, Rouen, +and Dieppe will be a tedious one. The Seine, we learn, has been rendered +impassable by the boats which have been sunk in it.</p> + +<p>We have as yet had no news from outside. The English here find the want +of a consul more than ever. The Foreign Office has sent in an acting +commission to Mr. Blount, a gentleman who may be an excellent banker, +but knows nothing of consular business, notwithstanding his courtesy. As +whenever any negotiation is to take place at a foreign court a Special +Envoy is sent, and, as it now appears, whenever a Consul is particularly +wanted in a town a Special Consul is appointed, would it not be as well +at once to suppress the large staff of permanent ambassadors, ministers, +and consuls who eat their heads off at a heavy cost to the country. I +should be curious to know how many years it would take to reduce the +intelligence of an ordinary banker's clerk to the level of a Foreign +Office bureaucrat. How the long-suffering English public can continue to +support the incompetency and the supercilious contempt with which these +gentry treat their employers is to me a mystery. Bureaucrats are bad +enough in all conscience, but a nest of fine gentleman bureaucrats is a +public curse, when thousands are subjected to their whims, their +ignorance, and their airs.</p> + +<p>The Republic is in very bad odour just now. It has failed to save +France, and it is rendered responsible for this failure. Were the Comte +de Paris a man of any mark, he would probably be made King. As it is, +there is a strong feeling in favour of his family, and more particularly +in favour of the Duc d'Aumale. Some talk of him as President of the +Republic, others suggest that he should be elected King. The +Bonapartists are very busy, but as regards Paris there is no chance +either for the Emperor or the Empress Regent. As for Henri V., he is, in +sporting phraseology, a dark horse. Among politicians, the general +opinion is that a moderate Republic will be tried for a short time, and +that then we shall gravitate into a Constitutional Monarchy.</p> + +<p>Little heed is taken of the elections which are so close at hand. No one +seems to care who is elected. As it is not known whether the National +Assembly will simply register the terms of peace proposed by Germany, +and then dissolve itself, or whether it will constitute itself into an +<i>Assemblée Constituante</i>, and decide upon the future form of government, +there is no Very great desire among politicians to be elected to it. +Several Electoral Committees have been formed, each of which puts +forward its own list—that which sits under the Presidency of M. +Dufaure, an Orleanist, at the Grand Hotel, is the most important of +them. Its list is intended to include the most practical men of all +parties; the rallying cry is to be France, and in theory its chiefs are +supposed to be moderate Republicans.</p> + +<p>The ceremony of the giving up of the forts has passed over very quietly. +The Prussians entered them without noise or parade. At St. Denis, the +mayor of which said that no Prussian would be safe in it, friends and +foes, I am told by a person who has just returned, have fraternised, and +are pledging each other in every species of liquor. The ramparts are +being dismantled of their guns; the National Guard no longer does duty +on them, and crowds assemble and stare vaguely into the country outside. +During the whole siege Paris has not been so dismal and so dreary as it +is now. There is no longer the excitement of the contest, and yet we are +prisoners. The only consolation is that a few weeks will put an end to +this state of things.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XIX.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><i>February 1st.</i></p> + +<p>The Government of National Defence has almost disappeared from notice. +It has become a Committee to preside over public order. The world may +calumniate us, they said in a proclamation the other day. It would be +impossible, replied the newspapers. Trochu and Gambetta, once the idols +of the Parisians, are now the best abused men in France. Trochu (a +friend of his told me to-day) deserted by all, makes speeches in the +bosom of his family. No more speeches, no more lawyers; is the cry of +the journals. And then they spin out phrases of exaggerated Spartanism +by the yard, and suggest some lawyer as the rising hope of the country.</p> + +<p>The cannon have been taken from the ramparts. The soldiers—Line and +Mobile—wander about unarmed, with their hands in their pockets, staring +at the shop-windows. They are very undemonstrative, and more like +peaceful villagers than rough troopers. They pass most of their time +losing their way and trying to find it again; and the Mobiles are +longing to get back to their homes. It appears now that there was an +error in the statistics published by the Government respecting the stock +of grain in hand. Two accounts, which were one and the same, were added +together. The bread is getting less like bread every day. Besides peas, +rice, and hay, starch is now ground up with it. In the eighth +arrondissement yesterday, there were no rations. The Northern Company do +not expect a provision train from Dieppe before Friday, and do not think +they will be able to carry passengers before Saturday. We are in want of +fuel as much as of food. A very good thing is to be made by any +speculator who can manage to send us coal or charcoal.</p> + +<p>More than 23,000 persons have applied for permits to quit Paris, on the +ground that they are provincial candidates for the Assembly. Of course +this is a mere pretext. A commission, as acting British Consul, has been +sent to Mr. Blount, a banker. Will some M.P. move that the Estimates be +reduced by the salary of the Consul, who seems to consider Paris <i>in +partibus infidelium</i>?</p> + +<p>The only outsider who has penetrated through the double cordon of +Prussians and French, is your Correspondent at the Headquarters of the +Crown Prince of Saxony. He startled us quite as much as Friday did +Robinson Crusoe. He was enthusiastically welcomed, for he had English +newspapers in one pocket, and some slices of ham in the other.</p> + + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Versailles</span>, <i>February 6th</i>.</p> + +<p>I am not intoxicated, but I feel so heavy from having imbibed during the +last twenty-four hours more milk than I did during the first six months +which I passed in this planet, that I have some difficulty in collecting +my thoughts in order to write a letter. Yesterday I arrived here in +order to breathe for a moment the air of freedom. In vain my hospitable +friends, who have put me up, have offered me wine to drink, and this and +that delicacy to eat—I have stuck to eggs, butter, and milk. Pats of +butter I have bolted with a greasy greediness which would have done +honour to Pickwick's fat boy; and quarts of milk I have drunk with the +eagerness of a calf long separated from its maternal parent.</p> + +<p>Although during the last few months I have seen but two or three numbers +of English papers, I make no doubt that so many good, bad, and +indifferent descriptions of every corner and every alley in this town +have appeared in print, that Londoners are by this time as well +acquainted with it as they are with Richmond or Clapham. Versailles +must, indeed, be a household word—not to say a household nuisance—in +England. It has been a dull, stupid place, haunted by its ancient +grandeurs; with too large a palace, too large streets, and too large +houses, for many a year; and while the presence of a Prussian army and a +Prussian Emperor may render it more interesting, they fail to make it +more lively. Of the English correspondents, some have gone into Paris in +quest of "phases" and impressions; many, however, still remain here, +battening upon the fat of the land, in the midst of kings and princes, +counts and Freiherrs. I myself have seldom got beyond a distant view of +such grand beings. What I know even of the nobility of my native land, +is derived from perusing the accounts of their journeys in the +fashionable newspapers, and from the whispered confidences of their +third cousins. To find myself in familiar intercourse with people who +habitually hobnob at Royal tables, and who invite Royal Highnesses to +drop in promiscuously and smoke a cigar, almost turns my head. To-morrow +I shall return to Paris, because I feel, were I to remain long in such +grand company, I should become proud and haughty; and, perhaps, give +myself airs when restored to the society of my relatives, who are honest +but humble. There is at present no difficulty in leaving Paris. A pass +is given at the Prefecture to all who ask for one, and it is an "open +sesame" to the Prussian lines. I came by way of Issy, dragged along by +an aged Rosinante, so weak from low living that I was obliged to get out +and walk the greater part of the way, as he positively declined to draw +me and the chaise.</p> + +<p>This beast I have only been allowed to bring out of Paris after having +given my word of honour that I would bring him back, in order, if +necessary, to be slain and eaten, though I very much doubt whether a +tolerably hungry rat would find meat enough on his bones for a dinner.</p> + +<p>I have been this morning sitting with a friend who, under the promise of +the strictest secrecy, has given me an account of the condition of +affairs here. I trust, therefore, that no one will mention anything that +may be found in this letter, directly or indirectly relating to the +Prussians. The old King, it appears, is by no means happy as an Emperor. +He was only persuaded to accept this title for the sake of his son, "Our +Fritz," and he goes about much like some English squire of long descent, +who has been induced to allow himself to be converted into a bran new +peer, over-persuaded by his ambitious progeny. William is one of that +numerous class of persons endowed with more heart than brains. Putting +aside, or regarding rather as the delusion of a diseased brain, his +notion that he is an instrument of Heaven, and that he is born to rule +over Prussian souls by right divine, the old man is by no means a bad +specimen of a good-natured, well-meaning, narrow-minded soldier of the +S.U.S.C. type; and between Bismarck and Moltke he has of late had by no +means an easy time. These two worthies, instead of being, as we imagined +in Paris, the best of friends, abominate each other. During the siege +Moltke would not allow Bismarck to have a seat at any council of war; +and in order to return the compliment, Bismarck has not allowed Moltke +to take any part in the negotiations respecting the armistice, except on +the points which were exclusively military. Bismarck tells the French +that had it not been for him, Paris would have been utterly destroyed, +while Moltke grumbles because it has not been destroyed; an achievement +which this talented captain somewhat singularly imagines would fittingly +crown his military career. But this is not the only domestic jar which +destroys the harmony of the happy German family at Versailles. In +Prussia it has been the habit, from time immemorial, for the heir to the +throne to coquet with the Liberals, and to be supposed to entertain +progressive opinions. The Crown Prince pursues this hereditary policy of +his family. He has surrounded himself with intelligent men, hostile to +the present state of things, and who understand that in the present age +110 country can be great and powerful, where all who are not country +gentlemen, chamberlains, or officers, are excluded from all share in its +government. Bismarck, on the other hand, is the representative, or +rather the business man, of the squirearchy and of the Vons—much in the +same way as Mr. Disraeli is of the Conservatives in England; and, like +the latter, he despises his own friends, and scoffs at the prejudices, a +pretended belief in which has served them as a stepping-stone to power. +The consequence of this divergency of opinion is, that Bismarck and "Our +Fritz" are very nearly what schoolboys call "cuts," and consequently +when the old King dies, Bismarck's power will die with him, unless he is +wise enough to withdraw beforehand from public life. "Our Fritz," I +hear, has done his best to prevent the Prussian batteries from doing any +serious damage to Paris, and has not concealed from his friends that he +considers that the bombardment was, in the words of Fouché, worse than a +crime—an error.</p> + +<p>I find many of the Prussian officers improved by success. Those with +whom I have come in personal contact have been remarkably civil and +polite, but I confess that—speaking of course generally—the sight of +these mechanical instruments of war, brought to the highest state of +perfection in the trade of butchery, lording it in France, is to me most +offensive. I abhor everything which they admire. They are proud of +walking about in uniform with a knife by their side. I prefer the man +without the uniform and without the knife. They despise all who are +engaged in commercial pursuits. I regard merchants and traders as the +best citizens of a free country. They imagine that the man whose +ancestors have from generation to generation obscurely vegetated upon +some dozen acres, is the superior of the man who has made himself great +without the adventitious aid of birth; I do not. When Jules Favre met +Bismarck over here the other day, the latter spoke of Bourbaki as a +traitor, because he had been untrue to his oath to Napoleon. "And was +his country to count for nothing?" answered Favre. "In Germany king and +country are one and the same," replied Bismarck. This is the abominable +creed which is inculcated by the military squires who now hold the +destinies of France and of Germany in their hands; and on this +detestable heresy they dream of building up a new code of political +ethics in Europe. Liberalism and common sense are spreading even in the +army; but take a Tory squire, a Groom of the Chamber, and a +Life-guardsman, boil them down, and you will obtain the ordinary type of +the Prussian officer. For my part, I look with grim satisfaction to the +future. The unity of Germany has been brought about by the union of +Prussian Feudalists and German Radicals. The object is now attained, and +I sincerely hope that the former will find themselves in the position of +cats who have drawn the chestnuts out of the fire for others to eat. If +"Our Fritz," still following in the steps of his ancestors, throws off +his Liberalism with his Crown Princedom, his throne will not be a bed of +roses; it is fortunate, therefore, for him, that he is a man of good +sense. I am greatly mistaken if the Germans will long submit to the +horde of squires, of princes, of officers, and of court flunkeys, who +together, at present, form the ruling class. Among the politicians here +there is a strong feeling of dislike to the establishment of a Republic +in France. If they could have their own way they would re-establish the +Empire. But those who imagine that this is possible understand very +little of the French character. The Napoleonic legend was the result of +an epoch of military glory; the capitulation of Sedan not only scotched +it, but killed it. A Frenchman still believes in the military +superiority of his race over every other race, as firmly as he believes +in his own existence. If a French army is defeated, it is owing to the +treachery or the incapacity of the commander. If a battle be lost, the +General must pay the penalty for it; for his soldiers are invincible. It +is Napoleon, according to the received theory, who has succumbed in the +present war; not the French nation. If Napoleon be restored to power, +the nation will accept the responsibility which they now lay to his +door. The pride and vanity of every Frenchman are consequently the +strongest securities against an Imperial Restoration. Were I a betting +man, I would bet twenty to one against the Bonapartes; even against a +Republic lasting for two years; and I would take five to one against the +Comte de Paris becoming King of the French, and three to one against the +Duc d'Aumale being elected President of the Republic. This would be my +"book" upon the political French Derby.</p> + +<p>The Prussians are making diligent use of the armistice to complete their +engineering work round Paris, and they appear to consider it possible +that they may yet have trouble with the city. If this be their opinion I +can only say that they are badly served by their spies. The resistance +<i>à outrance</i> men in Paris, who never did anything but talk, will very +possibly still threaten to continue the struggle; but they will not +fight themselves, and most assuredly they will not find others to fight +for them. If the preliminaries of peace be signed at Bordeaux, Paris +will not protest; if they are rejected, Paris will not expose itself to +certain destruction by any attempt at further resistance, but will +capitulate, not as the capital of France, but as a besieged French town. +General Vinoy is absolute master of the situation; he is a calm, +sensible man, and will listen to no nonsense either from the "patriots," +or his predecessors, or from Gambetta. From the tone of the decree of +the latter of the 3rd instant, he seems to be under the impression that +he is still the idol of the Parisians. Never did a man labour under so +complete a delusion. Before by a lucky speech he was pitchforked into +the Corps Législatif, he was a briefless lawyer, who used to talk very +loudly and with vast emphasis at the Café de Madrid. He is now regarded +as a pothouse politician, who ought never to have been allowed to get +beyond the pothouse.</p> + +<p>The Germans appear to be carrying on the war upon the same principles of +international law which formed many thousand years ago the rule of +conquest among the Israelites. They are spoiling the Egyptians with a +vengeance. Even in this town, under the very eyes of the King, there is +one street—the Boulevard de la Reine—in which almost every house is +absolutely gutted. This, I hear, was done by the Bavarians. The German +army may have many excellent qualities, but chivalry is not among them. +War with them is a business. When a nation is conquered, there is no +sentimental pity for it, but as much is to be made out of it as +possible. Like the elephants, which can crush a tree or pick up a +needle, they conquer a province and they pick a pocket. As soon as a +German is quartered in a room he sends for a box and some straw; +carefully and methodically packs up the clock on the mantelpiece, and +all the stray ornaments which he can lay his hands on; and then, with a +tear glistening in his eye for his absent family, directs them either to +his mother, his wife, or his lady-love. In vain the proprietor protests; +the philosophical warrior utters the most noble sentiments respecting +the horrors of war; ponderously explains that the French do not +sufficiently appreciate the blessings of peace; and that he is one of +the humble instruments whose mission it is to make these blessings clear +to them. Then he rings the bell, and in a mild and gentle voice, orders +his box of loot to be carried off by his military servant. Ben Butler +and his New Englanders in New Orleans might have profitably taken +lessons from these all-devouring locusts. Nothing escapes them. They +have long rods which they thrust into the ground to see whether anything +of value has been buried in the gardens. Sometimes they confiscate a +house, and then re-sell it to the proprietor. Sometimes they cart off +the furniture. Pianos they are very fond of. When they see one, they +first sit down and play a few sentimental ditties, then they go away, +requisition a cart, and minstrel and instrument disappear together. They +are a singular mixture of bravery and meanness. No one can deny that +they possess the former quality, but they are courageous without one +spark of heroism. After fighting all day, they will rifle the corpses of +their fallen foes of every article they can lay their hands on, and will +return to their camp equally happy because they have won a great victory +for Fatherland, and stolen a watch from one of the enemies of +Fatherland. They have got now into such a habit of appropriating other +people's property, that I confess I tremble when one of them fixes his +cold glassy eye upon me. I see that he is meditating some new +philosophical doctrine, which, some way or other, will transfer what is +in my pocket into his. His mind, however, fortunately, works but slowly, +and I am far away from him before he has elaborated to his own +satisfaction a system of confiscation applicable to my watch or +purse.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>February 7th</i>.</p> + +<p>Rosinante has brought me back with much wheezing from Versailles to +Paris; and with me he brought General Duff, U.S.A., and a leg of mutton. +At the gate of Versailles we were stopped by the sentinels, who told us +that no meat could be allowed to leave the town. I protested; but in +vain. Mild blue-eyed Teutons with porcelain pipes in their mouths bore +off my mutton. The General protested too, but the protest of the citizen +of the Free Republic fared like mine. I followed my mutton into the +guard-house, where I found a youthful officer, who looked so pleasant +that I determined to appeal to the heart which beat beneath his uniform. +I attacked the heart on its weak side. I explained to him that it was +the fate of all to love. The warrior assented, and heaved a great sigh +to his absent Gretchen. I pursued my advantage, and passed from +generalities to particulars. "My lady love," I said, "is in Paris. Long +have I sighed in vain. I am taking her now a leg of mutton. On this leg +hang all my hopes of bliss. If I present myself to her with this token +of my affection, she may yield to my suit. Oh, full-of-feeling, +loved-of-beauteous-women, German warrior, can you refuse me?" He "gazed +on the joint that caused his shame; gazed and looked, then looked +again." The battle was won; the vanquished victor stalked forth, +forgetting the soldier in the man, and gave order that the General, the +Englishman, and the leg of mutton should be allowed to go forth in +peace. Rosinante toiled along towards Paris; we passed through St. +Cloud, now a heap of ruins, and we arrived at the Bridge of Neuilly. +Here our passes were examined by a German official, who was explaining +every moment to a French crowd in his native language that they could +not be allowed to pass into Paris without permits. The crowd was mainly +made up of women, who were carrying in bags, pocket handkerchiefs, and +baskets of loaves, eggs, and butter to their beleaguered friends. "Is it +not too bad of him that he will pretend not to understand French?" said +an old lady to me. "He looks like a fiend," said another lady, looking +up at the good-natured face of the stolid military gaoler. The contrast +between the shrieking, gesticulating, excited French, and the calm, +cool, indifferent air of the German, was a curious one. It was typical +of that between the two races. Having reached Paris, I consigned poor +old long Rosinante to his fate—the knackers, and, with my leg of mutton +under my arm, walked down the Boulevard. I was mobbed, positively +mobbed. "Sir," said one man, "allow me to smell it." With my usual +generosity I did so. How I reached my hotel with my precious burthen in +safety is a perfect mystery. N.B. The mutton was for a friend of mine; +Gretchen was a pious fraud; all being fair in love and war.</p> + +<p>In the quarter in which I live I find that the rations have neither been +increased nor diminished. They still remain at 3-5ths lb. of bread, and +1-25th lb. of meat per diem. In some other districts a little beef has +been distributed. Some flour has come in from Orleans, and it is +expected that in the course of a few days the bread will cease to be +made of the peas, potatoes, and oats which we now eat. In the +restaurants, beef—real beef—is to be obtained for little more than +three times its normal price. Fish, too, in considerable quantities has +been introduced by some enterprising speculator. The two delegates, +also, of the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund have arrived with provisions, &c. +This evening they are to telegraph to London for more. These gentlemen +are somewhat at sea with respect to what is wanted, and by what means it +is to be distributed. One of them did me the honour to consult me this +afternoon on these two points. With respect to the first, I recommended +him to take the advice of Mr. Herbert—to whose energy it is due that +during the siege above one thousand English have not been starved—and +of the Archbishop of Paris, who is a man of sterling benevolence, with a +minimum of sectarianism. With respect to the latter, I recommended +Liebig, milk, and bacon. The great point appears to me to be that the +relief should be bestowed on the right persons. The women and children +have been the greatest sufferers of late. The mortality is still very +great among them; not because they are absolutely without food, for the +rations are distributed to all; but because they are in want of +something more strengthening than the rations. Coal is wanted here as +much as food. The poorer classes are without the means of cooking +whatever meat they may obtain, and it is almost impossible for them, on +account of the same reason, to make soup. If I might venture a +suggestion to the charitable in England, it would be to send over a +supply of fuel.</p> + +<p>I had some conversation with a gentleman connected with the Government +this evening respecting the political situation. He tells me that Arago, +Pelletan, and Garnier Pagès were delighted to leave Paris, and that it +was only the absolute necessity of their being as soon as possible at +Bordeaux, that induced General Vinoy to consent to their departure. As +for Gambetta, he says, it is not probable that he has now many adherents +in the provinces; and it is certain that he has very few here. When a +patient is given up by the faculty a quack is called in; if the quack +effects a cure he is lauded to the skies; if he fails, he is regarded as +a <i>charlatan</i>, and this is now the case with M. Gambetta. My informant +is of opinion that a large number of Ultra-Radicals will be elected in +Paris; this will be because the Moderates are split up into small +cliques, and each clique insists upon its own candidates being +supported, whereas the <i>Internationale</i> commands 60,000 votes, which +will all be cast for the list adopted by the heads of that society, and +because the National Guard are averse to all real work, and hope that +the Ultras will force the National Assembly to continue to pay them the +1f. 50c. which they now receive, for an indefinite period. Gambetta, in +his desire to exclude from political power a numerous category of his +fellow-citizens, has many imitators here. Some of the journals insist +that not only the Bonapartists, but also the Legitimists and the +Orleanists should be disfranchised. They consider that as a preliminary +step to electing a National Assembly to decide whether a Republic is +henceforward to be the form of government of the country, it is +desirable, as well as just, to oblige all candidates to swear that it +shall be. The fact is, the French, no matter what their opinions may be, +seem to have no idea of political questions being decided by a majority; +or of a minority submitting to the fiat of this majority. Each citizen +belongs to a party; to the creed of this party, either through +conviction or personal motives, he adheres, and regards every one who +ventures to entertain other views as a scoundrel, an idiot, or a +traitor. I confess that I have always regarded a Republican form of +government as the best, wherever it is possible. But in France it is not +possible. The people are not sufficiently educated, and have not +sufficient common sense for it. Were I a Frenchman a Republic would be +my dream of the future; for the present I should be in favour of a +Constitutional Monarchy. A Republic would soon result in anarchy or in +despotism; and without any great love for Kings of any kind, I prefer a +Constitutional Monarch to either Anarchy or a Cæsar. One must take a +practical view of things in this world, and not sacrifice what is good +by a vain attempt to attain at once what is better.</p> + +<p>Will the Prussians enter Paris? is the question which I have been asked +by every Frenchman to whom I have mentioned that I have been at +Versailles. This question overshadows every other; and I am fully +convinced that this vain, silly population would rather that King +William should double the indemnity which he demands from France than +march with his troops down the Rue Rivoli. The fact that they have been +conquered is not so bitter to the Parisians as the idea of that fact +being brought home to them by the presence of their conquerors even for +half-an-hour within the walls of the sacred city. I have no very great +sympathy with the desire of the Prussians to march through Paris; and I +have no great sympathy with the horror which is felt by the Parisians at +their intention to do so. The Prussian flag waves over the forts, and +consequently to all intents and purposes Paris has capitulated. A +triumphal march along the main streets will not mend matters, nor mar +matters. "Attila, without, stands before vanquished Paris, as the +Cimbrian slave did before Marius. The sword drops from his hand; awed by +the majesty of the past, he flees and dares not strike," is the way in +which a newspaper I have just bought deals with the question. It is +precisely this sort of nonsense which makes the Prussians determined +that the Parisians shall drink the cup of humiliation to its last dregs.</p> + +<p>I was told at Versailles that St. Cloud had been set on fire on the +morning after the last sortie, and that although many houses were still +burning when the armistice was signed, none had subsequently been either +pillaged or burnt. This act of vandalism has greatly incensed the +French, and I understand that the King of Prussia himself regrets it, +and throws the blame of it on one of his generals, who acted without +orders. A lady who was to-day at St. Cloud tells me that she found +Germans eating in every room of her house. Both officers and men were +very civil to her. They told her that she might take away anything that +belonged to her, and helped to carry to her carriage some valuable +china; which, by good luck, had not been smashed. With respect to the +charge of looting private property, which is brought by the French +against their invaders, no unprejudiced person can, after looking into +the evidence, doubt that whilst in the German Army there are many +officers, and even privates, who have done their best to prevent +pillage, many articles of value have disappeared from houses which have +been occupied by the German troops, and much wanton damage has been +committed in them. I assert the fact, without raising the question +whether or not these are the necessary consequences of war. It is absurd +for the Germans to pretend that the French Francs-tireurs are the +culprits and not they. Francs-tireurs were never in the Boulevard de la +Reine at Versailles, and yet the houses in this street have been gutted +of everything available.</p> + +<p>I venture to repeat a question which I have already frequently +asked—Where is the gentleman who enjoys an annual salary as British +Consul at Paris? Why was he absent during the siege? Why is he absent +now? Why is a banker, who has other matters to attend to, discharging +his duties? I am a taxpayer and an elector; if "my member" does not +obtain a reply to these queries from the official representative of the +Foreign Office in the House of Commons, I give him fair notice that he +will shake me by the hand, ask after my health, and affect a deep +interest in my reply, in vain at the next general election; he will not +have my vote.</p> + +<p>The <i>Electeur Libre</i>, the journal of M. Picard, has put forth a species +of political programme, or rather a political defence of the wing of the +Government of National Defence to which that gentleman belongs. For a +French politician to praise himself in his own organ, and to say under +the editorial "we" that he intends to vote for himself, and that he has +the greatest confidence in his own wisdom, is regarded here as nothing +but natural.</p> + + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>February 9th</i>.</p> + +<p>"We have been conquered in the field, but we have gained a moral +victory." What this phrase means I have not the remotest idea; but as it +consoles those who utter it, they are quite right to do so. For the last +two days long lines of cannon have issued from the city gates, and have +been, without noise or parade, handed over to the Prussians at Issy and +Sevran. Few are aware of what has taken place, or know that their +surrender had been agreed to by M. Jules Favre. Representations having +been made to Count Bismarck that 10,000 armed soldiers were insufficient +for the maintenance of the peace of the capital, by an additional secret +clause added to the armistice the number has been increased to 25,000. +The greatest ill-feeling exists between the Army and the National Guards +in the most populous quarters. A general quartered in one of the outer +faubourgs went yesterday to General Vinoy, and told him that if he and +his men were to be subjected to insults whenever they showed themselves +in the streets, he could not continue to be responsible for either his +or their conduct. Most persons of sense appear to consider that the +armistice was an error, and that the wiser policy would have been to +have surrendered without conditions. M. Jules Favre is blamed for not +having profited by the occasion, to disarm the National Guards. Many of +their battalions, as long as they have arms, and receive pay for doing +nothing, will be a standing danger to order. The sailors have been paid +off; and the fears that were entertained of their getting drunk and +uproarious have not been confirmed. They are peaceably and sentimentally +spending their money with the "black-eyed Susans" of their affections. +The principal journalists are formally agitating the plan of a combined +movement to urge the population to protest against the Prussian +triumphal march through the city, by absence from the streets through +which the invading army is to defile. Several are, however, opposed to +any action, as they fear that their advice will not be followed. +Curiosity is one of the strongest passions of the Parisians, and it will +be almost impossible for them to keep away from the "sight." Even in +Coventry one Peeping Tom was found, and here there are many Peeping +Toms. Mr. Moore and Colonel Stuart Wortley, the delegates of the London +Relief Fund, have handed over 5,000l. of provisions to the Mayors to be +distributed. They could scarcely have found worse agents. The Mayors +have proved themselves thoroughly inefficient administrators, and most +of them are noisy, unpractical humbugs. Colonel Stuart Wortley and Mr. +Moore are very anxious to find means to approach what are called here +<i>les pauvres honteux</i>; that is to say, persons who are in want of +assistance, but who are ashamed to ask for it. From what they told me +yesterday evening, they are going to obtain two or three names of +well-known charitable persons in each arrondissement, and ask them to +make the distribution of the rest of their provisions in store here, and +of those which are expected shortly to arrive. Many families from the +villages in the neighbourhood of Paris have been driven within its walls +by the invaders, and are utterly destitute. In the opinion of these +gentlemen they are fitting objects for charity. The fact is, the +difficulty is not so much to find people in want of relief, but to find +relief for the thousands who require it. Ten, twenty, or thirty thousand +pounds are a mere drop in the ocean, so wide spread is the distress. "I +have committed many sins," said a Bishop of the Church of England, "but +when I appear before my Maker, and say that I never gave to one single +beggar in the streets they will be forgiven." There are many persons in +England who, like this prelate, are afraid to give to beggars, lest +their charity should be ill applied. No money, no food, no clothes, and +no fuel, if distributed with ordinary discretion, can be misapplied at +present in Paris. The French complain that all they ever get from +England is good advice and sterile sympathy. Now is the moment for us to +prove to them that, if we were not prepared to go to war in order to +protect them from the consequences of their own folly, we pity them in +their distress; and that our pity means something more than words and +phrases which feed no one, clothe no one, and warm no one.</p> + +<p>The Prussian authorities appear to be deliberately setting to work to +render the armistice as unpleasant to the Parisians as possible, in +order to force them to consent to no matter what terms of peace in order +to get rid of them; and I must congratulate them upon the success of +their efforts. They refuse now to accept passes signed by the Prefect of +the Police, and only recognise those bearing the name of General Valdan, +the chief of the Staff. To-morrow very likely they will require some +fresh signature. Whenever a French railroad company advertises the +departure of a train at a particular hour, comes an order from the +Prussians to alter that hour. Every Frenchman who quits Paris is +subjected to a hundred small, teasing vexations from these military +bureaucrats, and made to feel at every step he takes that he is a +prisoner on leave of absence, and only breathes the air of his native +land by the goodwill of his conquerors. The English public must not +forget that direct postal communications between Paris and foreign +countries are not re-established. Letters from and to England must be +addressed to some agent at Versailles or elsewhere, and from thence +re-addressed to Paris. As in a day or two trains will run pretty +regularly between Paris and London, had our diplomatic wiseacres been +worth in pence what they cost us in pounds, by this time they would have +made some arrangement to ensure a daily mailbag to England leaving +Paris.</p> + +<p>News was received yesterday that Gambetta had resigned, and it has been +published this morning in the <i>Journal Officiel</i>. A witness of the +Council at which it was agreed to send the three old women of the +Government to Bordeaux to replace him, tells me that everybody kissed +and hugged everybody for half an hour. The old women were ordered to +arrest Gambetta if he attempted resistance. It was much like telling a +street-sweeper to arrest a stalwart Guardsman. "Do not be rash," cried +Trochu. "We will not," replied the old women; "we will remain in one of +the suburbs of Bordeaux, until we learn that we can enter it with +safety." This reply removed from the minds of their friends any fear +that they would incur unnecessary risks in carrying out their mission.</p> + +<p>Provisions are arriving pretty freely. All fear of absolute famine has +disappeared. To-day the bread is far better than any we have had of +late. Some sheep and oxen were seen yesterday in the streets.</p> + +<p>The walls are covered with the professions of faith of citizens who +aspire to the honour of a seat in the National Assembly. We have the +candidate averse to public affairs, but yielding to the request of a +large number of supporters; the candidate who feels within himself the +power to save the country, and comes forward to do so; the candidate who +is young and vigorous, although as yet untried; the candidate who is +old and wise, but still vigorous; the man of business candidate; the man +of leisure candidate, who will devote his days and nights to the service +of the country; then there is the military candidate, whose name, he +modestly flatters himself, has been heard above the din of battle, and +typifies armed France. I recommend to would-be M.P.'s at home, the plan +of M. Maronini. He has as yet done nothing to entitle him to the +suffrages of the electors beyond making printing presses, which are +excellent and very cheap; so he heads his posters with a likeness of +himself. Why an elector should vote for a man because he has an ugly +face, I am not aware; but the Citizen Maronini seems to be under the +impression that, from a fellow-feeling at least, all ugly men will do +so; and perhaps he is right. Another candidate commences his address: +"<i>Citoyens, je suis le representant du</i> go ahead." In the clubs last +night everyone was talking, and no one was listening. Even the Citizen +Sans, with his eternal scarlet shawl girt round his waist, could not +obtain a hearing. The Citizen Beaurepaire in vain shouted that, if +elected, he would rather hew off his own arm than sign away Alsace and +Lorraine. This noble figure of rhetoric, which has never been uttered by +a club orator during the siege without eliciting shouts of applause, was +received with jeers. The absurdity of the proceedings at this electoral +gathering is, that a candidate considers himself insulted if any elector +ventures to ask him a question. The president, too, loses his temper +half a dozen times every hour, and shakes his fist, screams and jabbers, +like an irate chimpanzee, at the audience. If the preliminary electoral +meetings are ridiculous, the system of voting, on the other hand, is +perfect in comparison with ours. Paris to-day in the midst of a general +election is by far more orderly than any English rotten village on the +polling-day. Three days ago each elector received at his own house a +card, telling him where he was to vote. Those who were entitled to the +suffrage, and by accident did not get one of these cards, went the next +day to their respective mairies to obtain one. I have just come from one +of the rooms in which the votes are taken. I say rooms; for the +Parisians do not follow our silly example, and build up sheds at the +cost of the candidate. At one end of this room was a long table. A box +was in the middle of it, and behind the box sat an employé. To his right +sat another. The elector went up to this latter, gave in his electoral +card, and wrote his name; he then handed to the central employé his list +of names, folded up. This the employé put into the box. About thirty +National Guards were on duty in or about the room. The box will remain +on the table until to-night, and the National Guards during this time +will not lose sight of it; they will then carry it to the Hôtel de +Ville, where it, and all other voting boxes, will be publicly opened, +the votes counted up, and the result, as soon as it is ascertained, +announced. How very un-English, some Briton will observe. I can only say +that I regret it is un-English. Our elections are a disgrace to our +civilisation, and to that common-sense of which we are for ever boasting +that we possess so large a share. Last year I was in New York during a +general election; this year I am in Paris during one; and both New York +and Paris are far ahead of us in their mode of registering the votes of +electors.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Several complaints having been received from Germans +respecting these charges against the German armies, the following +extract from an Article—quoted by the <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>—in his new +paper <i>Im Neuen Reich</i>, by the well-known German author, Herr Gustav +Freytag, will prove that they are not unfounded:—"Officers and +soldiers," he says, "have been living for months under the bronze +clocks, marble tables, damask hangings, artistic furniture, +oil-paintings, and costly engravings of Parisian industry. The +musketeers of Posen and Silesia broke up the velvet sofas to make soft +beds, destroyed the richly inlaid tables, and took the books out of the +book-cases for fuel in the cold winter evenings.... It was lamentable to +see the beautiful picture of a celebrated painter smeared over by our +soldiers with coal dust, a Hebe with her arms knocked off, a priceless +Buddhist manuscript lying torn in the chimney grate.... Then people +began to think it would be a good thing to obtain such beautiful and +tasteful articles for one's friends. A system of 'salvage' was thus +introduced, which it is said even eminent and distinguished men in the +army winked at. Soldiers bargained for them with the Jews and hucksters +who swarm at Versailles; officers thought of the adornment of their own +houses; and such things as could be easily packed, such as engravings +and oil-paintings, were in danger of being cut out of their frames and +rolled up for home consumption." Herr Freytag then points out that these +articles are private property, and that the officers and soldiers had no +right to appropriate them to their own use. "We are proud and happy," he +concludes, addressing them, "at your warlike deeds; behave worthily and +honourably also as men. Come back to us from this terrible war with pure +consciences and clean hands."</p></div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>CHAPTER XX.</h4> + + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Calais</span>, <i>February 10th</i>.</p> + +<p>At 4 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday I took my departure from Paris, leaving, +much with the feelings of Daniel when he emerged from the lions' den, +its inhabitants wending their way to the electoral "urns;" the many +revolving in their minds how France and Paris were to manage to pay the +little bill which their creditor outside is making up against them; the +few—the very few—still determined to die rather than yield, sitting in +the cafés on the boulevard, which is to be, I presume, their "last +ditch." Many correspondents, "special," "our own," and "occasional," had +arrived, and were girding up their loins for the benefit of the British +public. Baron Rothschild had been kind enough to give me a pass which +enabled me to take the Amiens train at the goods station within the +walls of the city, instead of driving, as those less fortunate were +obliged to do, to Gonesse. My pass had been signed by the proper +authorities, and the proper authorities, for reasons best known to +themselves—I presume because they had elections on the brain—had +dubbed me "Member of the House of Commons, rendering himself to England +to assist at the conferences of the Parliament." I have serious thoughts +of tendering this document to the doorkeeper of the august sanctuary of +the collective wisdom of my country, to discover whether he will +recognise its validity.</p> + +<p>The train was drawn up before a shed in the midst of an ocean of mud. It +consisted of one passenger carriage, and of about half a mile of empty +bullock vans. The former was already filled; so, as a bullock, I +embarked—I may add, as an ill-used bullock; for I had no straw to sit +on. At St. Denis, a Prussian official inspected our passes, and at +Gonesse about 200 passengers struggled into the bullock vans. We reached +Creil, a distance of thirty miles, at 11.30. I and my fellow-bullocks +here made a rush at the buffet. But it was closed. So we had to return +to our vans, very hungry, very thirsty, very sulky, and very wet; for it +was raining hard. In this pleasant condition we remained until 9 o'clock +on Thursday; occasionally slowly progressing for a few miles; then +making a halt of an hour or two. Why? No one—not even the guard—could +tell. All he knew was, that the Prussians had hung out a signal ordering +us, their slaves, to halt, and therefore halt we must. We did the forty +miles between Creil and Breteuil in ten hours. There, in a small inn, we +found some eggs and bread, which we devoured like a flight of famished +locusts. It was very cold, and several of us sought shelter in a room at +the station, where there was a fire. In the middle of this room there +were two chairs, on one of them sat a Prussian soldier, on the other +reposed his legs. He was a big red-haired fellow, and evidently in some +corner of his Fatherland passed as a man of wit and humour. He was good +enough to explain to us, with a pleasant smile, that in his eyes we were +a very contemptible sort of people, and that if we did not consent to +all the terms of peace which were proposed by "the Bismarck," he and his +fellow warriors would burn our houses over our heads, and in many other +ways make things generally uncomfortable to us. "Ah! speak to me of +Manteuffel," he occasionally said: and as no one did speak to him of +Manteuffel, he did so himself, and narrated to us many tales of the +wondrous skill and intelligence of that eminent general. As he called, +after the manner of his nation, a <i>batterie</i> a <i>paderie</i>, and otherwise +Germanized the French language, much of his interesting conversation was +unintelligible.</p> + +<p>We had been at Breteuil about an hour when a Prussian train came puffing +up. I managed to induce an official to allow me to get into the luggage +van; and thus, having started from Paris as a bullock, I reached Amiens +at twelve o'clock as a carpet-bag. The Amiens station, a very large one +covered in with glass, was crowded with Prussian soldiers; and for one +hour I stood there the witness of and sufferer from unmitigated +ruffianism. The French were knocked about, and pushed about. Never were +negro slaves treated with more contempt and brutality than they were by +their conquerors. I could not stand on any spot for two minutes without +being gruffly ordered to stand on another by some officer. Twice two +soldiers raised their muskets with a general notion of staving in my +skull "pour passer le temps." Frenchmen, whatever may be their faults, +are always extremely courteous in all their relations with each other, +and with strangers. In their wildest moments of excitement they are +civil. They may poison you, or run a hook through you; but they will do +it, as Isaac Walton did with the worm, "as though they loved" you. They +were perfectly cowed with the rough bullying of their masters. It is +most astonishing—considering how good-natured Germans are when at home, +that they should make themselves so offensive in France, even during a +truce. At one o'clock I left this orgie of German terrorism in a train, +and from thence to Calais all was straight sailing. At Abbeville we +passed from the Prussian into the French lines. Calais we reached at +seven p.m., and right glad was I to eat a Calais supper and to sleep in +a Calais bed.</p> + + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + +<h4>BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.<br /><br /></h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class='center'><i>Now published</i>,</p> + +<h4>NEW COPYRIGHT EDITIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AND POEMS.</h4> + + +<h3><i>Shakespeare's Plays and Poems.</i></h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">EDITED BY</span></h4> + +<h3>CHARLES <span class="smcap">AND</span> MARY COWDEN CLARKE</h3> + +<p class='center'>In Four Volumes, Demy Octavo, price £1 11s. 6d.</p> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Also</span>,</p> + +<h4><i>The Same Text.</i></h4> + +<p class='center'>In One Volume, Royal Octavo, price 12s.</p> + + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Publishers</span> have much pleasure in announcing the publication +of the above Editions of Shakespeare's Plays and Poems. Mrs Cowden +Clarke's Edition of Shakespeare, recently published by Messrs Appleton & +Co. of New York, has been made the basis of Mr and Mrs Cowden Clarke's +joint labours. The original Edition, produced after long and careful +preparation, has met with great and deserved success in America. As the +present issue, in addition to the careful revision of Mrs Cowden Clarke, +has had the benefit of the labours of Mr Charles Cowden Clarke, one of +the most zealous and successful illustrators of the great Dramatist now +living, they believe they are presenting Editions of Shakespeare's Works +distinguished by an amount of mature judgment in collating the earlier +copies which will vindicate their claim to the rank of <span class="smcap">Standard +Editions</span>.</p> + +<p>In projecting Editions of Shakespeare without note or comment, the +<span class="smcap">Publishers</span> believe that they will be acceptable to the general +public who desire to become acquainted with the writings of the author, +free from the distraction which a multiplicity of notes is so apt to +produce, and to those also who prefer being their own interpreters of +the meaning of the passages which appear obscure.</p> + +<p>As the value of these Editions will lie in the discrimination exercised +in the selection of the text by the Editors, it will be conceded that +the life-long devotion of Mr and Mrs Cowden Clarke to the study of +Shakespeare, their thorough knowledge of the various readings, and their +ability to adopt in all cases the reading which appears to be in keeping +with the style and general treatment of his subject by the author, form +a guarantee that the Editions will present, as nearly as possible, a +pure text.</p> + +<p>Both Editions will include reprints from the American Edition, of Mrs +Cowden Clarke's valuable Introductory Essay, Glossary, &c., carefully +revised and amplified. The Four-volume Edition will be printed from a +new fount of Longprimer Ancient type, on fine toned paper, and will form +four compact and handsome volumes. The One-volume edition will be +printed from a new fount of Brevier Ancient type, on toned paper, and +will be the most compact and readable edition of Shakespeare ever issued +in a single volume. The <span class="smcap">Publishers</span> are confident that no +Copyright Editions of Shakespeare, of corresponding value and +importance, have ever been offered to the public at such moderate +prices.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 2em;">London</span>, <i>November</i> 1863.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class='center'>Complete in Eight Vols., Demy Octavo, published at £4, 4s.,</p> + +<h3><i>The Poetical and Prose Works of John Milton.</i></h3> + +<h4>CAREFULLY REPRINTED FROM THE AUTHOR'S ORIGINAL COPIES.</h4> + +<blockquote><p>Including a Facsimile of the Agreement for the Sale of <span class="smcap">Paradise +Lost</span> to <span class="smcap">Samuel Symmons</span> for the sum of £20; together with a +Pedigree of the Family of Milton; and a complete History of the Poet's +Life by the Rev. <span class="smcap">John Mitford</span>.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>The Poet's own peculiar orthography and punctuation have been carefully +preserved, and every care has been exercised to render this the most +attractive, as it is the most complete Edition extant. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris + +Author: Henry Labouchere + +Release Date: September 13, 2006 [EBook #19263] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIARY OF THE BESIEGED *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Blenkinship, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net + + + + + + +DIARY + +OF + +THE BESIEGED RESIDENT + +IN PARIS. + + + + +DIARY + +OF + +THE BESIEGED RESIDENT + +IN PARIS. + + + + +REPRINTED FROM "THE DAILY NEWS," + +WITH + +SEVERAL NEW LETTERS AND PREFACE. + + + + +IN ONE VOLUME. + + + + +Second Edition, Revised. + + + + +LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. +1871. + +_The Right of Translation is Reserved_. + +LONDON: BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + ++-------------------------------------------------------------+ +|Transcriber's note: In this book there are inconsistencies in| +|accentation and capitalisation; these have been left as in | +|the original. This book contains two chapters labeled XVII. | ++-------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The publishers of these letters have requested me to write a preface. In +vain I have told them, that if prefaces have not gone out of date, the +sooner they do, the better it will be for the public; in vain I have +despairingly suggested that there must be something which would serve +their purpose, kept in type at their printers, commencing, "At the +request of--perhaps too partial--friends, I have been induced, against +my own judgment, to publish, &c., &c., &c.;" they say that they have +advertised the book with a preface, and a preface from me they must and +will have. Unfortunately I have, from my earliest childhood, religiously +skipped all introductions, prefaces, and other such obstructions, so +that I really do not precisely know how one ought to be written; I can +only, therefore, say that-- + +These letters are published for the very excellent reason that a +confiding publisher has offered me a sum of money for them, which I was +not such a fool as to refuse. They were written in Paris to the _Daily +News_ during the siege. I was residing there when the war broke out; +after a short absence, I returned just before the capitulation of +Sedan--intending only to remain one night. The situation, however, was +so interesting that I stayed on from day to day, until I found the +German armies drawing their lines of investment round the city. Had I +supposed that I should have been their prisoner for nearly five months, +I confess I should have made an effort to escape, but I shared the +general illusion that--one way or the other--the siege would not last a +month. + +Although I forwarded my letters by balloon, or sent them by messengers +who promised to "run the blockade," I had no notion, until the armistice +restored us to communications with the outer world, that one in twenty +had reached its destination. This mode of writing, as Dr. William +Russell wittily observed to me the other day at Versailles, was much +like smoking in the dark--and it must be my excuse for any inaccuracies +or repetitions. + +Many of my letters have been lost _en route_--some of them, which +reached the _Daily News_ Office too late for insertion, are now +published for the first time. The reader will perceive that I pretend to +no technical knowledge of military matters; I have only sought to convey +a general notion of how the warlike operations round Paris appeared to a +civilian spectator, and to give a fair and impartial account of the +inner life of Paris, during its isolation from the rest of Europe. My +bias--if I had any--was in favour of the Parisians, and I should have +been heartily glad had they been successful in their resistance. There +is, however, no getting over facts, and I could not long close my eyes +to the most palpable fact--however I might wish it otherwise--that their +leaders were men of little energy and small resource, and that they +themselves seemed rather to depend for deliverance upon extraneous +succour, than upon their own exertions. The women and the children +undoubtedly suffered great hardships, which they bore with praiseworthy +resignation. The sailors, the soldiers of the line, and levies of +peasants which formed the Mobiles, fought with decent courage. But the +male population of Paris, although they boasted greatly of their +"sublimity," their "endurance," and their "valour," hardly appeared to +me to come up to their own estimation of themselves, while many of them +seemed to consider that heroism was a necessary consequence of the +enunciation of advanced political opinions. My object in writing was to +present a practical rather than a sentimental view of events, and to +recount things as they were, not as I wished them to be, or as the +Parisians, with perhaps excusable patriotism, wished them to appear. + +For the sake of my publishers, I trust that the book will find favour +with the public. For the last three hours I have been correcting the +proofs of my prose, and it struck me that letters written to be +inserted in separate numbers of a daily paper, when published in a +collected form, are somewhat heavy reading. I feel, indeed, just at +present, much like a person who has obtained money under false +pretences, but whose remorse is not sufficiently strong to induce him to +return it. + + + + +DIARY +OF THE +BESIEGED RESIDENT IN PARIS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +PARIS, _September 18th._ + +No one walking on the Champs Elysees or on the Boulevards to-day would +suppose that 300,000 Prussians are within a few miles of the city, and +intend to besiege it. Happy, said Laurence Sterne, in his "Sentimental +Journey," the nation which can once a week forget its cares. The French +have not changed since then. To-day is a fete day, and as a fete day it +must be kept. Every one seems to have forgotten the existence of the +Prussians. The Cafes are crowded by a gay crowd. On the Boulevard, +Monsieur and Madame walk quietly along with their children. In the +Champs Elysees honest mechanics and bourgeois are basking in the sun, +and nurserymaids are flirting with soldiers. There is even a lull in the +universal drilling. The regiments of Nationaux and Mobiles carry large +branches of trees stuck into the ends of their muskets. Round the statue +of Strasburg there is the usual crowd, and speculators are driving a +brisk trade in portraits of General Uhrich. "Here, citizens," cries one, +"is the portrait of the heroic defender of Strasburg, only one sou--it +cost me two--I only wish that I were rich enough to give it away." +"Listen, citizens," cries another, "whilst I declaim the poem of a lady +who has escaped from Strasburg. To those who, after hearing it, may wish +to read it to their families, I will give it as a favour for two sous." +I only saw one disturbance. As I passed by the Rond Point, a very tall +woman was mobbed, because it was thought that she might be a Uhlan in +disguise. But it was regarded more as a joke than anything serious. So +bent on being happy was every one that I really believe that a Uhlan in +the midst of them would not have disturbed their equanimity. "Come what +may, to-day we will be merry," seemed to be the feeling; "let us leave +care to the morrow, and make the most of what may be our last fete day." + +Mr. Malet, the English secretary, who returned yesterday from Meaux, had +no small difficulty in getting through the Prussian lines. He started on +Thursday evening for Creil in a train with a French officer. When they +got to Creil, they knocked up the Mayor, and begged him to procure them +a horse. He gave them an order for the only one in the town. Its +proprietor was in bed, and when they knocked at his door his wife cried +out from the window, "My husband is a coward and won't open." A voice +from within was heard saying, "I go out at night for no one." So they +laid hands on the horse and harnessed it to a gig. All night long they +drove in what they supposed was the direction of the Prussian outposts, +trumpeting occasionally like elephants in a jungle. In the morning they +found themselves in a desert, not a living soul to be seen, so they +turned back towards Paris, got close in to the forts, and started in +another direction. Occasionally they discerned a distant Uhlan, who rode +off when he saw them. On Friday night they slept among the +Francs-tireurs, and on the following morning they pushed forward again +with an escort. Soon they saw a Prussian outpost, and after waving for +some time a white flag, an officer came forward. After a parley Mr. +Malet and his friend were allowed to pass. At three o'clock they arrived +at Meaux. Count Bismarck was just driving into the town; he at once +recognised Mr. Malet, whom he had known in Germany, and begged him to +call upon him at nine o'clock. From Mr. Malet I know nothing more. I +tried to "interview" him with respect to his conversation with Count +Bismarck, but it takes two to make a bargain, and in this bargain he +declined to be the number two. About half an hour afterwards, however, I +met a foreign diplomatist of my acquaintance who had just come from the +British Embassy. He had heard Mr. Malet's story, which, of course, had +been communicated to the Corps Diplomatique, and being slightly +demoralised, without well thinking what he was doing, he confided it to +my sympathising ear. + +Mr. Malet, at nine o'clock, found Count Bismarck seated before a table +with wine and cigars. He was in high spirits and very sociable. This I +can well believe, for I used to know him, and, to give the devil his +due, he is one of the few Prussians of a sociable disposition. The +interview lasted for more than two hours. Count Bismarck told Mr. Malet +that the Prussians meant to have Metz and Strasburg, and should remain +in France until they were obtained. The Prussians did not intend to +dismantle them, but to make them stronger than they at present are. "The +French," he said, "will hate us with an undying hate, and we must take +care to render this hate powerless." As for Paris, the German armies +would surround it, and with their several corps d'armee, and their +70,000 cavalry, would isolate it from the rest of the world, and leave +its inhabitants to "seethe in their own milk." If the Parisians +continued after this to hold out, Paris would be bombarded, and, if +necessary, burned. My own impression is that Count Bismarck was not such +a fool as to say precisely what he intended to do, and that he will +attack at once; but the event will prove. He added that Germany was not +in want of money, and therefore did not ask for a heavy pecuniary +indemnity. Speaking of the French, Count Bismarck observed that there +were 200,000 men round Metz, and he believed that Bazaine would have to +capitulate within a week. He rendered full justice to the courage with +which the army under Bazaine had fought, but he did not seem to have a +very high opinion of the French army of Sedan. He questioned Mr. Malet +about the state of Paris, and did not seem gratified to hear that there +had been no tumults. The declaration of the Republic and its peaceful +recognition by Paris and the whole of France appeared by no means to +please him. He admitted that if it proved to be a moderate and virtuous +Government, it might prove a source of danger to the monarchical +principle in Germany. + +I do trust that Englishmen will well weigh these utterances. Surely they +will at last be of opinion that the English Government should use all +its moral influence to prevent a city containing nearly two million +inhabitants being burnt to the ground in order that one million +Frenchmen should against their will be converted into Germans. It is our +policy to make an effort to prevent the dismemberment of France, but the +question is not now so much one of policy as of common humanity. No one +asks England to go to war for France; all that is asked is that she +should recognise the _de facto_ Government of the country, and should +urge Prussia to make peace on terms which a French nation can honourably +accept. + +General Vinoy, out reconnoitering with 15,000 men, came to-day upon a +Prussian force of 40,000 near Vincennes. After an artillery combat, he +withdrew within the lines of the forts. There have been unimportant +skirmishes with the enemy at several points. The American, the Belgian, +the Swiss, and the Danish Ministers are still here. Mr. Wodehouse has +remained to look after our interests. All the secretaries were anxious +to stay. I should be glad to know why Mr. Falconer Atlee, the British +Consul at Paris, is not like other consuls, at his post. He withdrew to +Dieppe about three weeks ago. His place is here. Neither a consul, nor a +soldier, should leave his post as soon as it becomes dangerous. + +Victor Hugo has published an address to the nation. You may judge of its +essentially practical spirit by the following specimen:--"Rouen, draw +thy sword! Lille, take up thy musket! Bordeaux, take up thy gun! +Marseilles, sing thy song and be terrible!" I suspect Marseilles may +sing her song a long time before the effect of her vocal efforts will in +any way prevent the Prussians from carrying out their plans. "A child," +say the evening papers, "deposited her doll this afternoon in the arms +of the statue of Strasburg. All who saw the youthful patriot perform +this touching act were deeply affected." + + +_September 19th._ + +I don't know whether my letter of yesterday went off or not. As my +messenger to the post-office could get no authentic intelligence about +what was passing, I went there myself. Everybody was in military +uniform, everybody was shrugging his shoulders, and everybody was in the +condition of a London policeman were he to see himself marched off to +the station by a street-sweeper. That the Prussian should have taken the +Emperor prisoner, and have vanquished the French armies, had, of course, +astonished these worthy bureaucrats, but that they should have ventured +to interfere with postmen had perfectly dumbfounded them. "Put your +letter in that box," said a venerable employe on a high stool. "Will it +ever be taken out?" I asked. "Qui sait?" he replied. "Shall you send off +a train to-morrow morning?" I asked. There was a chorus of "Qui sait?" +and the heads disappeared still further with the respective shoulders to +which they belonged. "What do you think of a man on horseback?" I +suggested. An indignant "Impossible" was the answer. "Why not?" I asked. +The look of contempt with which the clerks gazed on me was expressive. +It meant, "Do you really imagine that a functionary--a postman--is going +to forward your letters in an irregular manner?" At this moment a sort +of young French Jefferson Brick came in. Evidently he was a Republican +recently set in authority. To him I turned. "Citizen, I want my letter +to go to London. It is a press letter. These bureaucrats say that they +dare not send it by a horse express; I appeal to you, as I am sure you +are a man of expedients." "These people," he replied, scowling at the +clerks, "are demoralised. They are the ancient valets of a corrupt +Court; give me your letter; if possible it shall go, 'foi de citoyen.'" +I handed my letter to Jefferson, but whether it is on its way to +England, or still in his patriotic hands, I do not know. As I passed out +through the courtyard I saw postmen seated on the boxes of carts, with +no horses before them. It was their hour to carry out the letters, and +thus mechanically they fulfilled their duty. English Government +officials have before now been jeered at as men of routine, but the most +ancient clerk in Somerset House is a man of wild impulse and boundless +expedient compared with the average of functionaries great and small +here. The want of "shiftiness" is a national characteristic. The French +are like a flock of sheep without shepherds or sheep-dogs. Soldiers and +civilians have no idea of anything except doing what they are ordered to +do by some functionary. Let one wheel in an administration get out of +order, and everything goes wrong. After my visit to the post-office I +went to the central telegraph office, and sent you a telegram. The clerk +was very surly at first, but he said that he thought a press telegram +would pass the wires. When I paid him he became friendly. My own +impression is that my twelve francs, whoever they may benefit, will not +benefit the British public. + +From the telegraph-office I directed my steps to a club where I was +engaged to dine. I found half-a-dozen whist tables in full swing. The +conversation about the war soon, however, became general. "This is our +situation," said, as he dealt a hand, a knowing old man of the world, a +sort of French James Clay: "generally if one has no trumps in one's +hand, one has at least some good court cards in the other suits; we've +got neither trumps nor court cards." "Et le General Trochu?" some one +suggested. "My opinion of General Trochu," said a General, who was +sitting reading a newspaper, "is that he is a man of theory, but +unpractical. I know him well; he has utterly failed to organise the +forces which he has under his command." The general opinion about Trochu +seemed to be that he is a kind of M'Clellan. "Will the Garde Nationale +fight?" some one asked. A Garde National replied, "Of course there are +brave men amongst us, but the mass will give in rather than see Paris +destroyed. They have their families and their shops." "And the Mobiles?" +"The Mobiles are the stuff out of which soldiers are made, but they are +still peasants, and not soldiers yet." On the whole, I found the tone in +"fashionable circles" desponding. "Can any one tell me where Jules Favre +has gone?" I asked. Nobody could, though everybody seemed to think that +he had gone to the Prussian headquarters. After playing a few rubbers, I +went home to bed at about one o'clock. The streets were absolutely +deserted. All the cafes were shut. + +Nothing in the papers this morning. In the _Figaro_ an article from that +old humbug Villemessant. He calls upon his fellow-citizens in Paris to +resist to the death. + +"One thing Frenchmen never forgive," he says,--"cowardice." + +The _Gaulois_ contains the most news. It represents the Prussians to be +all round Paris. At Versailles they have converted the Palais into a +barrack. Their camp fires were seen last night in the forest of Bondy. +Uhlans have made their appearance at St. Cloud. "Fritz" has taken up his +quarters at Ferrieres, the chateau of Baron Rothschild. "William"--we +are very familiar when we speak of the Prussian Royal family--is still +at Meaux. "No thunderbolt," adds the correspondent, "has yet fallen on +him." The Prussian outposts are at the distance of three kilometres from +St. Denis. Near Vitry shots have been heard. In the environs of +Vincennes there has been fighting. It appears General Ambert was +arrested yesterday. He was reviewing some regiments of Nationaux, and +when they cried, "Vive la Republique" he told them that the Republic did +not exist. The men immediately surrounded him, and carried him to the +Ministry of the Interior, where I presume he still is. The _Rappel_ +finds faults with Jules Favre's circular. Its tone, it says, is too +humble. The _Rappel_ gives a list of "valets of Bonaparte, _ce coquin +sinistre_," who still occupy official positions, and demands that they +shall at once be relieved from their functions. The _Rappel_ also +informs its readers that letters have been discovered (where?) proving +that Queen Victoria had promised before the war to do her best to aid +Germany. + +Butler of a friend of mine, whose house is close by the fortifications, +and who has left it in his charge, has just been to see me. The house is +a "poste" of the National Guard. Butler says the men do not sleep on the +ramparts, but in the neighbouring houses. They are changed every +twenty-four hours. He had rather a hard time of it last night with a +company from the Faubourg St. Antoine. As a rule, however, he says they +are decent, orderly men. They complain very much that their business is +going to rack and ruin; when they are away from their shops, they say, +impecunious patriots come in to purchase goods of their wives, and +promise to call another day to pay for them. On Saturday night the +butler reports 300 National Guards were drawn up before his master's +house, and twenty-five volunteers were demanded for a service of danger. +After some time the twenty-five stepped forward, but having heard for +what they were wanted, eighteen declined to go. + +A British coachman just turned up offers to carry letters through--seems +a sharp plucky fellow. I shall employ him as soon as the Post-office is +definitely closed. British coachman does not think much of the citizen +soldiers in Paris. "Lor' bless you, sir, I'd rather have 10,000 +Englishmen than the lot of them. In my stable I make my men obey me, but +these chaps they don't seem to care what their officers says to them. I +seed them drill this morning; a pretty green lot they was. Why, sir, +giving them fellow Chassepots is much like giving watches to naked +savages." + +The Breton Mobiles are making pilgrimages to the churches. I hope it may +do them good. I hear the cures of Paris have divided the ramparts +between them, and are on the fortifications--bravo! cures. By-the-bye, +that fire-eater, Paul de Cassagnac, has not followed the example of his +brother Imperial journalists. He enlisted as a Zouave, fought well, and +was taken prisoner at Sedan. He is now employed by his captors in making +bread. I hope his bread will be better than his articles. + + +1.30 P.M. + +Been sitting with a friend who commands a company of National Guards. +The company is now outside the fortifications. Friend tells me that the +men in his company are mostly small shopkeepers. At first it was +difficult to get them to come to drill, but within the last few days +they have been drilling hard, and he is convinced that they will fight +well. Friend tells me that a large number of National Guards have run +away from Paris, and that those who remain are very indignant with them. +He requests me to beg my countrymen, if they see a sturdy Monsieur +swelling it down Regent Street, to kick him, as he ought to be defending +his country. I fulfil his request with the greatest pleasure and endorse +it. I have just seen a Prussian spy taken to prison. I was seated before +a cafe on the Boulevard des Capucines. Suddenly there was a shout of "un +Prussien;" every one rushed towards the Place de l'Opera, and from the +Boulevard Haussmann came a crowd with a soldier, dressed as an +artilleryman, on a horse. He was preceded and followed by about one +hundred Mobiles. By his side rode a woman. No one touched them. Whether +he and his "lady friend" were Germans I do not know; but they certainly +looked Germans, and extremely uncomfortable. + + +3 P.M. + +Been to Embassy. Messenger Johnson arrived this morning at 12 o'clock. +He had driven to Rouen. At each post station he was arrested. He drove +up to the Embassy, followed by a howling mob. As he wore an unknown +uniform they took him for a Prussian. Messenger Johnson, being an old +soldier, was belligerently inclined. "The first man who approaches," &c. +The porter of the Embassy, however, dragged him inside, and explained to +the mob who he was. He had great difficulty in calming them. One man +sensibly observed that in these times no one should drive through Paris +in a foreign uniform, as the mass of the people knew nothing of Queen's +messengers and their uniforms. Messenger Johnson having by this time got +within the Embassy gates, the mob turned on his postilion and led him +off. What his fate has been no one has had time to ask. + +When I went upstairs I found Wodehouse sitting like patience on a stool, +with a number of Britons round him, who wanted to get off out of Paris. +Wodehouse very justly told them that Lord Lyons had given them due +notice to leave, and that they had chosen at their own risk to remain. +The Britons seemed to imagine that their Embassy was bound to find them +a road by which they might safely withdraw from the town. One very +important Briton was most indignant--"I am a man of wealth and position. +I am not accustomed to be treated in this manner. What is the use of +you, sir, if you cannot ensure my safe passage to England? If I am +killed the world shall ring with it. I shall myself make a formal +complaint to Lord Granville," said this incoherent and pompous donkey. +Exit man of position fuming; enter unprotected female. Of course she was +a widow, of course she had lost half-a-dozen sons, of course she kept +lodgings, and of course she wanted her "hambassader" generally to take +her under his wing. I left Wodehouse explaining to her that if she went +out of Paris even with a pass, she might or might not be shot according +to circumstances. I will say for him that I should not be as patient as +he is, were I worried and badgered by the hour by a crowd of shrieking +women and silly men. + + +4 P.M. + +Fighting is going on all round Paris. There are crowds on the Boulevard; +every one is asking his neighbour for news. I went to one of the Mairies +to hear the bulletins read. The street was almost impassable. At last I +got near enough to hear an official read out a despatch--nothing +important. The commanders at Montrouge and Vincennes announce that the +Prussians are being driven back. "Et Clamart?" some one cries. "A bas +les alarmistes," is the reply. Every one is despondent. Soldiers have +come back from Meudon demoralised. We have lost a position, it is +whispered. I find a friend, upon whose testimony I can rely, who was +near Meudon until twelve o'clock. He tells me that the troops of the +line behaved badly. They threw away their muskets without firing a shot, +and there was a regular _sauve qui peut_. The Mobiles, on the other +hand, fought splendidly, and were holding the position when he left. I +am writing this in a cafe. It is full of Gardes Nationaux. They are +saying that if the troops of the line are not trustworthy, resistance is +hopeless. A Garde National gives the following explanation of the +demoralisation of the army. He says that the Imperial Government only +troubled itself about the corps d'elite; that the object in the line +regiments was to get substitutes as cheaply as possible; consequently, +they are filled with men physically and morally the scum of the nation. +Semaphore telegraphs have been put up on all the high public buildings. +There are also semaphores on the forts. I see that one opposite me is +exchanging signals. The crowd watch them as though by looking they would +discover what they mean. "A first success," says a National next to me, +"was absolutely necessary for us, in order to give us confidence." "But +this success we do not seem likely to have," says another. The attempt +to burn down the forests seems only partially to have succeeded. The +Prussians appear to be using them, and the French to the last carrying +on war without scouts. + + +6 P.M. + +Evening papers just out. Not a word about Clamart. The _Liberte_ says +the Minister of the Interior refers journalists to General Trochu, who +claims the right to suppress what he pleases. When will French +Governments understand that it is far more productive of demoralisation +to allow no official news to be published than to publish the worst? +Rochefort has been appointed President of a Committee of Barricades, to +organise a second line of defence within the ramparts. + + +7 P.M. + +The cannon can be distinctly heard. The reports come from different +quarters. Jules Favre, I hear from a sure source, is at the Prussian +headquarters. + + +7.30 P.M. + +I live _au quatrieme_ with a balcony before my room. I can see the +flashes of cannon in the direction of Vincennes. There appears to be a +great fire somewhere. + + +12 P.M. + +Have driven to the Barriere de l'Enfer. Nothing there. On the Champ de +Mars I found troops returned from Clamart. They complain that they never +saw their officers during the engagement, that there were no scouts in +the Bois de Clamart, and that the Prussians succeeded by their old game +of sticking to the cover. At first they fell back--the French troops +pressed on, when they were exposed to a concentric fire. From the Champs +Elysees I drove to the Buttes de Montmartre. Thousands of people +clustered everywhere except where they were kept off by the Nationaux, +who were guarding the batteries. The northern sky was bright from the +reflection of a conflagration--as the forest of St. Germain was burning. +It was almost light. We could see every shot and shell fired from the +forts round St. Denis. At ten o'clock I got back to the Boulevard des +Italiens. Every cafe was closed. It appears that at about nine o'clock +the Cafe Riche was full of Gardes Mobiles, officers, and _lorettes_. +They made so much noise that the public outside became indignant, and +insisted on their giving up their orgie. The National Guard joined in +this protest, and an order was sent at once to close every cafe. Before +the Maison Doree I saw a few _viveurs_, gazing at its closed windows as +though the end of the world had come. This cafe has been opened day and +night for the last twenty years. From my balcony I can no longer hear +the cannon; the sky, however, is even brighter from the conflagration +than it was. + + +_September 20th._ + +The firing has recommenced. We can hear it distinctly. General Ambert +has been cashiered. _Figaro_ announces that Villemessant has returned. +We are given a dozen paragraphs about this humbug of humbugs, his +uniform, &c., &c. I do not think that he will be either killed or +wounded. The latest telegram from the outer world announces that "Sir +Campbell"--medecin Anglais--has arrived at Dieppe with despatches to the +Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Marine. + + +11 A.M. + +Paris very quiet and very despondent. Few soldiers about. The Line is +reviled, the Mobile extolled. From all accounts the latter seem to have +behaved well--a little excited at first, but full of pluck. Let the +siege only last a week and they will be capital soldiers, and then we +shall no longer be called upon, to believe the assertions of military +men, that it takes years of drill and idling in a barrack to make a +soldier. + +My own impression always has been that Malet brought back a written +answer from Bismarck offering to see Jules Favre. Can it be that, after +all, the Parisians, at the mere sound of cannon, are going to cave in, +and give up Alsace and Lorraine? If they do, I give them up. If my +friends in Belleville descend into the streets to prevent this ignominy, +I descend with them. + + +4 P.M. + +I got, about an hour ago, some way on the road to Charenton, when I was +turned back, and a couple of soldiers took possession of me, and did not +leave me until I was within the city gate. I could see no traces of any +Prussians or of any fighting. Two English correspondents got as far as +St. Denis this morning. After having been arrested half-a-dozen times +and then released, they were impressed, and obliged to carry stones to +make a barricade. They saw no Prussians. I hear that a general of +artillery was arrested last night by his men. There is a report, also, +that the Government mean to decimate the cowards who ran away yesterday, +_pour encourager les autres_. The guns of the Prussians which they have +posted on the heights they took yesterday it is said will carry as far +as the Arc de Triomphe. + +There have been two deputations to the Hotel de Ville to interview the +Government with respect to the armistice. One consisted of about 100 +officers of the National Guard, most of them from the Faubourgs of St. +Antoine and the Temple. They were of course accompanied by a large +crowd. Having been admitted into the Salle du Trone, they were received +by the Mayor of Paris and M. Jules Ferry. The reply of the latter is not +very clear. He certainly said that no shameful peace should be +concluded; but whether, as some assert, he assured the officers that no +portion of French soil should be ceded is not equally certain. Shortly +after this deputation had left, another arrived from the Republican +clubs. It is stated that M. Jules Ferry's answer was considered +satisfactory. The walls have been placarded with a proclamation of +Trochu to the armed force. He tells them that some regiments behaved +badly at Clamart; but the assertion that they had no cartridges is +false. He recommends all citizens to arrest soldiers who are drunk or +who propagate false news, and threatens them with the vigorous +application of the Articles of War. Another proclamation from Keratry +warns every one against treating soldiers or selling them liquor when +they already have had too much. I went to dine this evening in an +estaminet in the Faubourg St. Antoine. It was full of men of the +people, and from the tone of their observations I am certain that if M. +Jules Favre concludes an armistice involving any cession of territory, +there will be a rising at once. The cafes are closed now at 10 o'clock. +At about 11 I walked home. One would have supposed oneself in some dull +great provincial town at 3 in the morning. Everything was closed. No +one, except here and there a citizen on his way home, or a patrol of the +National Guard, was to be seen. + + +_September 21st._ + +I suppose that you in England know a good deal more of what is passing +at the Prussian headquarters than we do here. M. Jules Favre's departure +was kept so close a secret, that it did not ooze out until yesterday. +The "ultras" in the Government were, I understand on good authority, +opposed to it, but M. Jules Favre was supported by Picard, Gambetta, and +Keratry, who, as everything is comparative, represent the moderate +section of our rulers. We are as belligerent and cheery to-day as we +were despondent on Monday evening. When any disaster occurs it takes a +Frenchman about twenty-four hours to accustom himself to it. During this +time he is capable of any act of folly or despair. Then follows the +reaction, and he becomes again a brave man. When it was heard that the +heights at Meudon had been taken, we immediately entered into a phase of +despair. It is over now, and we crow as lustily as ever. We shall have +another phase of despondency when the first fort is taken, and another +when the first shells fall into the town; but if we get through them, I +really have hopes that Paris will not disgrace herself. Nothing of any +importance appears to have taken place at the front yesterday. The +commanders of several forts sent to Trochu to say that they have fired +on the Prussians, and that there have been small outpost engagements. +During the day the bridges of St. Cloud, Sevres, and Billancourt were +blown up. I attempted this morning to obtain a pass from General Trochu. +Announcing myself as a "Journaliste Anglais," I got, after some +difficulty, into a room in which several of his staff were seated. But +there my progress was stopped. I was told that aides-de-camp had been +fired on, and that General Trochu had himself been arrested, and had +been within an inch of being shot because he had had the impudence to +say that he was the Governor of Paris. I suggested that he might take me +with him the next time he went out, and pointed out that correspondents +rode with the Prussian staffs, but it was of no use. From Trochu I went +to make a few calls. I found every one engaged in measuring the distance +from the Prussian batteries to his particular house. One friend I found +seated in a cellar with a quantity of mattresses over it, to make it +bomb-proof. He emerged from his subterraneous Patmos to talk to me, +ordered his servant to pile on a few more mattresses, and then +retreated. Anything so dull as existence here it is difficult to +imagine. Before the day is out one gets sick and tired of the one single +topic of conversation. We are like the people at Cremorne waiting for +the fireworks to begin; and I really do believe that if this continues +much longer, the most cowardly will welcome the bombs as a relief from +the oppressive ennui. Few regiments are seen now during the day marching +through the streets--they are most of them either on the ramparts or +outside them. From 8 to 9 in the morning there is a military movement, +as regiments come and go, on and off duty. In the courtyard of the +Louvre several regiments of Mobiles are kept under arms all night, ready +to march to any point which may be seriously attacked. A good many +troops went at an early hour this morning in the direction of St. Cloud. + +The weather is beautiful--a lovely autumn morning. They say that +Rochefort and his friends are busily employed at Grenelle. + +1.30 _o'clock_. + +The cannonade has been audible for the last half-hour. It is getting +every moment louder. The people are saying that Mont Valerien _donne_. I +am going up to the Avenue de l'Imperatrice, where I shall be able to see +what is going on. + +2.30 _o'clock_. + +Come back; heavy firing--but I could not make out whether it came from +Mont Valerien. Jules Favre has returned. They say the Prussians will +only treat in Paris. Just seen an American who tried to get with a +letter to General Sheridan. He got into the Prussian lines, but could +not reach headquarters. On his return he was nearly murdered by the +Mobiles; passed last night in a cell with two drunkards, and has just +been let out, as all his papers were found _en regle_. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +_September 22nd._ + +I sent off a letter yesterday in a balloon; whether it reaches its +destination, or is somewhere in the clouds, you will know before I do. +The difficulties of getting through the lines are very great, and will +become greater every day. The Post-office says that it tries to send +letters through, but I understand that the authorities have little hope +of succeeding. Just now I saw drawn up in the courtyard of the Grand +Hotel a travelling carriage, with hampers of provisions, luggage, and an +English flag flying. Into it stepped four Britons. Their passports were +vised, they said, by their Embassy, and they were starting for England +_via_ Rouen. Neither French nor Prussians would, they were convinced, +stop them. I did not even confide a letter to their hands, as they are +certain, even if they get through the French outposts, to be arrested by +the Prussians and turned back. Yesterday on the return of Jules Favre he +announced that the King of Prussia required as a condition of Peace the +cession of Alsace and Lorraine, and as the condition of an armistice +immediate possession of Metz, Strasburg, and Mont Valerien. The +Government immediately met, and a proclamation was at once posted on the +walls signed by all the members. After stating it had been reported that +the Government was inclined to abandon the policy to which it owed its +existence, it goes on in the following words:--"Our policy is this. +Neither an inch of our territory nor a stone of our fortresses. The +Government will maintain this until the end." + +Yesterday afternoon we "manifested" against peace. We "manifest" by +going, if we are in the National Guard, with bouquets at the ends of our +muskets to deposit a crown of _immortelles_ before the statue of +Strasburg. If we are unarmed, we walk behind a drum to the statue and +sing the "Marseillaise." At the statue there is generally some orator on +a stool holding forth. We occasionally applaud him, but we never listen +to him. After this we go to the Place before the Hotel de Ville, and we +shout "Point de Paix." We then march down the Boulevards, and we go home +satisfied that we have deserved well of our country. As yesterday was +the anniversary of the proclamation of the First Republic, we were in a +very manifesting mood. M. Gambetta issued proclamations every half hour, +calling upon us, in more or less flowery language, to die for our +country. M. Arago, the Mayor, followed suit, heading his manifestoes +with the old, rallying cry, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite." I suppose +the French are so constituted that they really cannot exist without +processions, bouquets to statues, and grand phrases. Notwithstanding all +this humbug, a large portion of them mean, I am sure, to fight it out. +They have taken it into their heads that Paris can be successfully +defended, and if it is not, they are determined that it shall not be +their fault. It is intended, I understand, to keep well beneath the +cover of the forts, not to risk engagements more than is +necessary--gradually to convert the splendid raw material of the Mobiles +into good soldiers, by accustoming them to be under fire, and then, if +things go well, to fall on one or other of the Prussian armies. It is +hoped, too, that the Prussian communications will be menaced. Such is +the plan, and every one pretends to believe that it will succeed; +whether they are right or wrong time will show. + +The Government, an ex-diplomatist, who has been talking to several of +its members this morning, tells me, is a "unit." There was a party ready +to accept the dismantling of Metz and Strasburg, but as this concession +will not disarm the Prussians, they have rallied to the "not a stone of +one fortress" declaration. + +Of course I cannot be expected to give aid and comfort to our besiegers +by telling them, if they seize this letter, what is being done inside to +keep them out. But this I think it will do them no harm to know. The +National Guard man the ramparts. In the angles of the bastions there are +Mobiles. At points close by the ramparts there are reserves of Mobiles +and National Guards, ready at a moment's notice both by day and night to +reinforce them. In the centre of the town there are reserves under arms. +Outside the gates, between the forts and the ramparts, troops are massed +with artillery, and the forts are well garrisoned. A gentleman who has +lately been under a cloud, as he was the inventor of the Orsini bombs, +has several thousand men at work on infernal machines. This magician +assures me that within a week he will destroy the German armies as +completely as were the Assyrians who besieged Samaria under Sennacherib. +He is an enthusiast, but an excellent chemist, and I really have hopes +that he will before long astonish our friends outside. He promises me +that I shall witness his experiments in German corpore vili; and though +I have in mind a quotation about being hoisted with one's own petard, I +shall certainly keep him to his word. On the whole the King of Prussia, +to use Mr. Lincoln's phrase, will find it a big job to take Paris if the +Parisians keep to their present mood. Mr. Washburne told me yesterday +that he does not think he shall leave. There is to be a consultation of +the Corps Diplomatique to-morrow, under the presidency of the Nuncio, +to settle joint action. I admire the common sense of Mr. Washburne. He +called two days ago upon the Government to express his sympathy with +them. Not being a man of forms and red tape, instead of going to the +Foreign-office, he went to the Hotel de Ville, found a Council sitting, +shook hands all round, and then withdrew. I have serious thoughts of +taking up my quarters at the English Embassy. It belongs to me as one of +the nation, and I see no reason why I should not turn my property to +some account. + +Yesterday's papers contained an official announcement that a company of +mutual assurance against the consequences of the bombardment has been +formed. Paris is divided into three zones, and according to the danger +proprietors of houses situated in each of them are to be admitted into +the company on payment of one, two, or three per cent. It comforts me, +comparatively, to find that I am in the one per cent. zone, and, unless +my funds give way, I shall remain there. + +Spies are being arrested every half hour. Many mistakes are made from +over zeal, but there is no doubt that a good many Germans are in the +town disguised in French uniforms. The newspapers ask what becomes of +them all, and suggest that they should be publicly shot. It is beautiful +weather, and as I sit writing this at my open window I have great +difficulty in believing that we are cut off from the rest of the world +by a number of victorious armies, who mean to burn or starve us out. M. +John Lemoinne in the _Journal des Debats_ this morning has a very +sensible article upon the position of the Government. He says that +between the first and the second of these two ultimatums there is a vast +difference, and he exhorts the Government to stand by the first, but not +to refuse peace if it can be obtained by the dismantling of Metz and +Strasburg. The _Temps_ of this evening takes the same view of the +proclamation. The ultra Republican journals, on the other hand, support +the policy of the Government. M. Felix Pyat, in his organ, _Le Combat_, +urges war to the death, and proposes that we should at once have Spartan +banquets, at which rich and poor should fare alike. A proposal has been +made to start a national subscription for a musket of honour to be given +to the man who shoots the King of Prussia. There are already 2,000 +subscribers of one sou each to the testimonial. The latest proclamation +I have seen on the walls is one from the Mayor of Paris, informing the +public that the coachmen of Paris are not to be ill-treated by their +fares because they are not on the ramparts. As the coachmen of Paris are +usually excessively insolent, I shall not be sorry to hear that they +have at length met with their deserts. A coachman who was driving me +yesterday told me in the strictest confidence that he was a man who +never meddled in politics, and, consequently, it was a matter of +absolute indifference to him whether Napoleon or a "General Prussien" +lived in the Tuileries; and this, I suspect, is the view that many here +take, if they only dared say it. + +It is amusing to observe how every one has entered into the conspiracy +to persuade the world that the French nation never desired war--to hear +them, one would suppose that the Rhine had never been called the +national frontier of France, and that the war had been entered into by +Badinguet, as they style the late Emperor, against the wishes of the +army, the peasantry, and the bourgeoisie. Poor old Badinguet has enough +to answer for already, but even sensible Frenchmen have persuaded +themselves that he, and he alone, is responsible for the war. He is +absolutely loathed here. I sometimes suggest to some Gaul that he may +possibly be back again some day; the Gaul immediately rolls his eyes, +clenches his fists, and swears that if ever Badinguet returns to Paris +he (the Gaul) will himself shoot him. + +An American, who took an active part in the Confederate defence of +Richmond, has just been in to see me. He does not believe that the town +will hold out long, and scoffs at the mode in which it is being +defended. I reserve my opinion until I have seen it under fire. +Certainly they "do protest too much." The papers contain lists of +citizens who have sworn to die rather than surrender. The bourgeois, +when he goes off to the ramparts, embraces his wife in public, and +assumes a martial strut as though he were a very Curtius on the way to +the pit. Jules is perpetually hugging Jacques, and talking about the +altar of his country on which he means to mount. I verily believe that +the people walking on the Boulevards, and the assistants of the shops +who deal out their wares, in uniform, are under the impression that they +are heroes already, perilling life and limb for their country. Every +girl who trips along thinks that she is a Maid of Saragossa. It is +almost impossible for an Englishman to realise the intense delight which +a Frenchman has in donning a uniform, strutting about with a martial +swagger, and listening to a distant cannonade. As yet the only real +hardships we have suffered have been that our fish is a little stale, +and that we are put on short allowance of milk. The National Guards on +the ramparts, I hear, grumble very much at having to spend the night in +the open air. The only men I think I can answer for are the working men +of the outer faubourgs and a portion of the Provincial Gardes Mobiles. +They do mean to fight. Some of the battalions of the National Guards +will fight too, but I should be afraid to trust the greater portion of +them, even behind earthworks. "Remember," says the _Figaro_ to them +to-day, "that you have wives and children; do not be too venturesome." +This advice, I think, was hardly needed. As for the regular troops, they +are not to be trusted, and I am not sorry to think that there are 10,000 +sailors in the forts to man the guns. + +We have been manifesting again to-day. I was in hopes that this nonsense +was over. On the Place de la Concorde there was a crowd all the +afternoon, applauding orators, and companies of National Guards were +bringing bouquets to the statue of Strasburg. At the Hotel de Ville a +deputation of officers of the National Guards came to urge the +Government to put off the elections. After a short parley this was +promised. Another demonstration took place to urge the Government not to +make peace, to accept as their colleagues some "friends of the people," +and to promise not to re-establish in any form a police force. An +evasive answer was given to these demonstrators. It seems to me that the +Government, in its endeavours to prevent a collision between the +moderates and the ultras, yield invariably to the latter. What is really +wanted is a man of energy and determined will. I doubt if Trochu has +either. + +The bold Britons who tried to run the blockade have returned. They +managed to get over the bridge of Neuilly, but were arrested a few yards +beyond it and brought back to General Ducrot. One of them was taken in +with the passports of the five. "I cannot understand you English," the +General said; "if you want to get shot we will shoot you ourselves to +save you trouble." After some parley, General Ducrot gave them a pass to +go through the French lines, but then he withdrew it, and said he must +consult General Trochu. When the spokesman emerged, he found his friends +being led off by a fresh batch of patriots for having no passports, but +they at length got safely back to the Grand Hotel. Their leader, who is +an intelligent man in his way, gives a very discouraging account of what +he saw outside. The Mobiles were lying about on the roads, and everyone +appeared to be doing much what he pleased. This afternoon I went up to +the Trocadero to look at the heights on which they say that there are +already Prussian guns. They appear most uncomfortably near. Those who +had telescopes declared that they could see both guns and Prussians. We +were always told until within a few days that Mont Valerien would +protect all that side of Paris. How can the engineers have made such a +mistake? + +This evening I went to call upon one of the chiefs of '48, and had an +interesting conversation with him. He says that many think that he and +his friends ought to be in the Government, and that eventually they all +will be; he added "the Reds are determined to fight, and so long as the +Government does not make a humiliating peace they will support it." I +tried to get out what he considered a humiliating peace, but he rather +fenced with the question. He tells me that at the Folies Bergeres, the +headquarters of the ultras, great dissatisfaction is felt with the +Committees of the "Clubs" for having gone yesterday to the Hotel de +Ville, and endeavoured to force the Government to declare that it would +not treat with the Prussians whilst they were on French soil, and to +allow them to establish a "Commune" as an _imperium in imperio_. "The +army of the Loire," said my friend, "will soon fall on the rear of the +Prussians; we have only to hold out for a few weeks, and this, depend +upon it, we shall do." Now, to the best of my belief, the army of the +Loire only exists on paper, but here was a sensible man talking of it as +though it consisted of some 200,000 seasoned troops; and what is more +strange, he is by no means singular in his belief. A fortnight ago it +was the army of Lyons, now it is the army of the Loire. How reasonable +men can allow themselves to put their faith in these men of buckram, I +cannot imagine. + + +_September 23rd._ + +Firing has been going on since three o'clock this morning. The +newspapers contain accounts more or less veracious respecting fights +outside the forts, in which great numbers of Prussians have been killed. +M. Jules Favre publishes an account of his interview with Count Bismarck +in the _Journal Officiel_. M. Villemessant in the _Figaro_ informs the +world that he has left his wife outside, and would willingly allow one +of his veins to be opened in exchange for a letter from her. We are +still engaged in our old occupation--vowing to die for our country. I +hear that there has been serious fighting in the neighbourhood of St. +Denis. This morning I saw another of the '48 Republicans--he seemed +inclined to upset the Government more on the ground that they are +incapable than because he differs with them in politics. I give this +letter to a friend who will get it into the balloon, and go off to the +Trocadero, to see how things are getting on. + +The Solferino Tower on the Buttes Montmartre has been pulled down. No +one is to be allowed to hoist the Geneva flag unless the house contains +at least six beds for wounded. We have now a bread as well as a meat +maximum. + + +_September 24th._ + +We are as despondent to-day as we were jubilant yesterday. The success +at the front seems to have dwindled down to an insignificant artillery +combat. The _Electeur Libre_ gives the following account of it. On the +previous evening 8,000 Prussians had taken the redoubt of _Villejuif_. +At one in the morning some regiments advanced from there towards Vitry, +and occupied the mill of Saqui, while on the left about 5,000 +established themselves on the plateau of Hautes-Bruyeres. The division +of General Maud'huy re-took these positions. At five o'clock in the +morning the Prussians tried to occupy them a second time, but failed, +and at half-past seven o'clock they fell back. At nine they attacked +again, when a column of our troops, issuing from the Porte d'Italie, +arrived. The fray went on until ten o'clock, when the Prussians +retreated towards Sceaux. This tallies to a great extent with what I was +told by an officer this morning who had taken part in the engagement. + +The _Gazette Officielle_ contains a decree cashiering M. Devienne, +President of the Cour de Cassation, and sending him to be judged by his +own court, for having been the intermediary between Badinguet and his +mistress, Marguerite Bellanger. Two letters are published which seem to +leave no doubt that this worthy judge acted as the go-between of the two +lovers. + +Mr. George Sanders, whilom United States Consul in London, and one of +the leaders of the ex-Confederacy, is here; he is preparing plans for a +system of rifle pits and zigzags outside the fortifications, at the +request of General Trochu. Mr. Sanders, who took an active part in the +defence of Richmond, declares that Paris is impregnable, if it be only +well defended. He complains, however, that the French will not use the +spade. + + +4 _o'clock_ P.M. + +We have been in a state of wild enthusiasm all this afternoon. At about +1 o'clock it was rumoured that 20,000 Prussians and 40 cannon had been +taken. There had been a heavy firing, it was said, this morning, and a +Prussian force had approached near the forts of Ivry and Bicetre. +General Vinoy had issued forth from Vincennes, and, getting behind them, +had forced them under the guns of the forts, where they were taken +prisoners. The Boulevards immediately were crowded; here a person +announcing that he had a despatch from the front, here another vowing he +had been there himself. Wherever a drum was heard there was a cry of +"Here come the prisoners!" Tired of this, at about 4 o'clock I drove to +Montrouge. It is a sort of Parisian Southwark. I found all the +inhabitants lining the streets, waiting, too, for news. A regiment +marched in, and there was a cry that it had come from the front; then +artillery filed by out of the city gate. I tried myself to pass, and had +got half-way through before I was stopped, then I was turned back. The +prisoners here, close by the scene of action, had dwindled down to +5,000. Imagine Southwark, with every man armed in it, and a battle going +on at Greenwich, and you will have an idea of the excitement of +Montrouge. + + +6 _o'clock_ P.M. + +The Boulevards almost impassable; the streets before the Mairies +absolutely impassable; no official confirmation of the victory. Everyone +who is not inventing news is waiting for it. A proclamation has been +issued by General Trochu conceived in a very sensible spirit, telling +the National Guard that the moment is ill chosen for pacific +demonstrations, with crowns and bouquets. I hear that some of the +soldiers who ran away at Clamart have been shot. + +Some of the papers discovered in the Tuileries are published. There is a +letter from Jecker to Conti, in which he says that De Morny had promised +him to get the Mexican Government to pay his claims on condition of +receiving 30 per cent. of profits. A letter signed Persigny complains +that an _employe_ in the Cabinet Noir is in want, and ought to be given +money to prevent his letting out secrets. A letter from the Queen of +Holland tells Napoleon that if he does not interfere in Germany his own +dynasty will suffer. A note of the Emperor, without date, says, "If +France boldly places itself on the terrain of the nationalities, it is +necessary to prove that the Belgian nationality does not exist. The +Cabinet of Berlin seeming ready to enter into negotiations, it would be +well to negotiate a secret _acte_, which would pledge both parties. This +act would have the double advantage of compromising Prussia and of being +for her a pledge of the sincerity of the Emperor." The note then goes on +to say that it is necessary to dissipate the apprehensions of Prussia. +"An _acte_ is wanted," it continues; "and one which would consist of a +regulation of the ulterior fate of Belgium in concert with Prussia +would, by proving at Berlin that the Emperor desires the extension which +is necessary to France since the events which have taken place in +Germany, be at least a relative certainty that the Prussian Government +would not object to our aggrandisement towards the North." + +I drove this morning through the fighting faubourgs with a member of the +Barricade Committee. Barricades are being erected everywhere, and they +are even stronger than the outer fortifications. There are, too, some +agreeable little chemical surprises for the Prussians if ever they get +into the town. In reply to some suggestions which I made, my friend +said, "Leave these people to form their own plans. They understand +street fighting better than any one in the world." At La Villette, +Crenelle, and other faubourgs inhabited by the blouses, there is no lack +of patriotism, and they will blow themselves and their homes up rather +than yield. + +The bold Britons started again in their Derby turn-out yesterday. +Nothing has been heard of them since. We do not know whether they have +been imprisoned or what has become of them. I have already entrusted my +letters to balloons, boatmen, peasants, and Americans, but I do not know +whether they have reached you or not. The last balloon was pursued by a +Prussian one, the newspapers say! + +Yesterday the Nuncio called together all the diplomatists still here, +and they determined to try to communicate with Bismarck. They seem to +imagine that a twenty-four hours' notice will be given before a +bombardment commences, when they will have time to get out. I send this +letter by a Government balloon. I shall send a copy to-morrow by a +private balloon, if it really does start as announced. + +The _Gazette Officielle_ "unites with many citizens in asking Louis +Blanc to go to England, to obtain the sympathies of the English nation +for the Republic." This is all very well, but how is he to get there? + + +_September 25th._ + +No news of any importance from the front. It is a fete day, but there +are few holiday makers. The presence of the Prussians at the gates, and +the sound of the cannon, have at last sobered this frivolous people. +Frenchmen, indeed, cannot live without exaggeration, and for the last +twenty-four hours they have taken to walking about as if they were +guests at their own funerals. It is hardly in their line to play the +_justum et tenacem_ of Horace. Always acting, they are now acting the +part of Spartans. It is somewhat amusing to see the stern gloom on the +face of patriots one meets, who were singing and shouting a few days +ago--more particularly as it is by no means difficult to distinguish +beneath this outward gloom a certain keen relish, founded upon the +feeling that the part is well played. One thing, however, is certain, +order has at length been evolved from disorder. Except in the morning, +hardly any armed men are to be seen in the streets, and even in the +central Boulevards, except when there is a report of some success or +during an hour in the evening, there are no crowds. In the fighting +faubourgs there is a real genuine determination to fight it out to the +last. The men there have arms, and they have not cared to put on +uniforms. Men, women, and children are all of one mind in the quarters +of the working men. I have been much struck with the difference between +one of these poor fellows who is prepared to die for the honour of his +country, between his quiet, calm demeanour, and the absurd airs, and +noisy brawls, and the dapper uniforms of the young fellows one meets +with in the fashionable quarters. It is the difference between reality +and sham, bravery and bombast. + +The newspapers are beginning to complain of the number of Chevaliers of +the Red Cross, who are daily becoming more numerous. Strong men, they +say, should not enrol themselves in a corps of non-combatants. It is +said, also, that at Clamart these chevaliers declined to go under fire +and pick up the wounded, and that the ambulances themselves made a +strategic movement to the rear at the commencement of the combat. The +flag of the Convention of Geneva is on far too many houses. From my +window I can count fifteen houses with this flag floating over them. + +We have most wonderful stories about the Prussians, which, although they +are generally credited, I take leave to doubt. Villagers who have +slipped through the lines, and who play the part of the intelligent +contraband of the American Civil War, are our informants. They represent +the Prussian army without food, almost without clothing, bitterly +repenting their advance into France, demoralised by the conviction that +few of their number will be again in their homes. We are treated every +day, too, to the details of deeds of heroism on the part of Mobiles and +Nationaux, which would make Achilles himself jealous. There is, we are +told, a wonderful artilleryman in the fort before St. Denis, the +perfection of whose aim carries death and destruction into the Prussian +ranks. + +I am not sorry to learn that the sale of the ultra papers is not large. +M. Blanqui's office was yesterday broken into by some National Guards, +who made it clear to this worthy that he had ill chosen his moment to +attack the Government. I have not myself the slightest dread of a +general pillage. The majority of the working men no doubt entertain +extreme Socialist ideas, but any one of them who declined to make any +distinction between his property and that of his richer neighbours would +be very roughly handled. So long as the Government sticks to its policy +of no surrender, it will be supported by the faubourgs; if, however, it +attempts to capitulate upon humiliating terms, it will be ejected from +the Hotel de Ville. A sharp bombardment may, perhaps, make a change in +public opinion, but I can only speak of the opinion of to-day. The +Government declares that it can never run short of ammunition; but it +seems to me that we cannot fire off powder and projectiles eternally, +and that one of these mornings we shall be told that we must capitulate, +as there is no more ammunition. Americans who are here, complain very +much of the Parisians for not using the spade more than they do. +Earthworks, which played so large a part in the defence both of +Sebastopol and Richmond, are unknown at Paris. Barricades made of paving +stones in the streets, and forts of solid masonry outside, are +considered the _ne plus ultra_ of defensive works. For one man who will +go to work to shovel earth, you may find a thousand who will shoulder a +musket. "Paris may be able to defend itself," the Americans say, "but it +is not defending itself after what our generals would consider the most +approved method." We have no intelligence of what is passing in France +beyond our lines. We presume that a great army is forming beyond the +Loire; but yesterday a friend of mine, who received this assurance from +M. Gambetta, could not discover that he had any reason to believe it, +except the hope that it was true. + +It is a somewhat singular thing that Rochefort, who was regarded even by +his friends as a vain, mad-brained demagogue, has proved himself one of +the most sensible and practical members of the Government. He has +entirely subordinated his own particular views to the exigencies of the +defence of the capital; and it is owing to his good sense that the +ultras have not indulged in any revolutionary excesses. + +I have already endeavoured to forward to you, by land, water, and air, +copies of the Tuileries papers which have been published. That poor old +pantaloon, Villemessant, the proprietor and editor of the _Figaro_, who +is somewhat roughly handled by them, attempts to defend himself in his +paper this morning, but utterly fails to do so. His interested +connection with the Imperial Government is proved without the shadow of +a doubt, and I trust that it will also prove the death of his newspaper, +which has long been a disgrace to the press of France. I went to look +after the proprietor of another paper yesterday, as he had promised me +that, come what may, he would get his own and my letters through the +Prussian lines. My friend, I found, had taken himself off to safe +quarters before the last road was closed. For my part I despise any +Parisian who has not remained here to defend his native city, whether he +be Imperialist or Republican, noble or merchant. + + +_Evening (Sunday)._ + +They could stand it no longer; the afternoon was too fine. Stern +patriotism unbent, and tragic severity of demeanour was forgotten. The +Champs Elysees and the Avenue de la Grande Armee were full of people. +Monsieur shone by his absence; he was at the ramparts, or was supposed +to be there; but his wife, his children, his _bonne_, and his kitchen +wench issued forth, oblivious alike of dull care and of bombarding +Prussians, to enjoy themselves after their wont by gossiping and lolling +in the sun. The Strasburg fetish had its usual crowd of admirers. Every +bench in the Champs Elysees was occupied. Guitars twanged, organs were +ground, merry-go-rounds were in full swing, and had it not been that +here and there some regiment was drilling, one would have supposed +oneself in some country fair. There were but few men; no fine toilets, +no private carriages. It was a sort of Greenwich-park. At the Arc de +Triomphe was a crowd trying to discover what was going on upon the +heights above Argenteuil. Some declared they saw Prussians, while others +with opera glasses declared that the supposed Prussians were only trees. +In the Avenue de l'Imperatrice was a large crowd gazing upon the Fort +of Mont Valerien. This fort, because I presume it is the strongest for +defence, is the favourite of the Parisians. They love it as a sailor +loves his ship. "If I were near enough," said a girl near me, "I would +kiss it." "Let me carry your kiss to it," replied a Mobile, and the pair +embraced, amid the cheers of the people round them. At Auteuil there +were _fiacres_ full of sightseers, come to watch the Prussian batteries +at Meudon, which could be distinctly seen. Occasionally, too, there came +a puff of smoke from one of the gunboats. + + +_September 26th._ + +Do the Prussians really mean to starve us out? The Government gave out a +fortnight ago that there was food then within the city for two months' +consumption for a population of two millions. It is calculated that, +including the Mobiles, there are not above 1,500,000 mouths at present +to feed, so that with proper care the supplies may be made to last for +three months. Prices are, however, already rising. We have a bread and a +meat maximum, but to force a butcher to sell you a cutlet at the tariff +price, one has to go with a corporal's guard, which cannot always be +procured. The _Gazette Officielle_ contains a decree regulating the sale +of horse-flesh. I presume if the siege lasts long enough, dogs, rats, +and cats will be tariffed. I have got 1000 francs with me. It is +impossible to draw upon England; consequently, I see a moment coming +when, unless rats are reasonable, I shall not be able to afford myself +the luxury of one oftener than once a week. When I am at the end of my +1000 francs, I shall become an advocate for Felix Pyat's public tables, +at which, as far as I understand his plan, those who have money pay, and +those who have not, eat. + +Yesterday was a quiet day. The forts occasionally fired to "sound the +enemy's lines," but that was all. But how is it all to end? In a given +time the Parisians will eat themselves out and fire themselves out. The +credulity of the public is as great as ever. We are told that "France is +rising, and that in a few weeks three armies will throw themselves on +the Prussians, who are already utterly disorganised." In vain I ask, +"But what if these three armies do not make their appearance?" I am +regarded as an idiot for venturing to discredit a notorious fact. If I +dared, I would venture to suggest to some of my warlike friends that a +town which simply defends itself by shutting its gates, firing into +space, and waiting for apocryphal armies, is not acting a very heroic +part. + +M.F. Pyat announces in the _Combat_ that the musket of honour which is +to be given to the man who shoots the King of Prussia is to have +inscribed upon it the word "Peacemaker." We have taken it into our heads +that the German army, Count Bismarck, the Crown Prince, and all the +Generals of the Corps d'Armee are in favour of peace, and the only +obstacle to its being at once concluded lies in the obstinacy of the +Monarch, whom we usually term "that mystic drunkard." + +The _Rappel_ contains the report of a meeting which was held last night +of all the Republican Committees. Resolutions were adopted blaming the +Government for putting off the municipal elections. The adjournment, +however, of these elections is, I am convinced, regarded as a salutary +measure by a majority even of the ultras. + +I dropped into the English Embassy this morning to see what was doing +there. Mr. Wodehouse, I understand, intends to leave before the +bombardment commences. He is a civilian, and cannot be blamed for this +precautionary measure. I cannot, however, but suppose that the military +attache, who is a colonel in the army, will remain. There is a notion +among the members of the Corps Diplomatique that the Prussians before +they bombard the town will summon it to surrender. But it seems to me +very doubtful whether they will do so. Indeed, I for one shall not +believe in a general bombardment before I see it. To starve us out seems +to me their safest game. Were they to fire on the town, the public +opinion of the civilised world would pronounce against them. + +The Mobiles, who receive 1 franc 50 centimes a day, complain that they +are unable to support themselves on this pittance. The conduct of these +peasants is above all praise. Physically and morally they are greatly +the superiors of the ordinary run of Parisians. They are quiet, orderly, +and, as a rule, even devout. Yesterday I went into the Madeleine, where +some service was going on. It was full of Mobiles listening to the +prayers of the priest. The Breton regiments are accompanied by their +priests, who bless them before they go on duty. If the Parisians were +not so thoroughly conceited, one might hope that the presence of these +villagers would have a beneficial effect upon them, and show them that +the Frenchmen out of Paris are worth more than those within it. The +generation of Parisians which has arrived at manhood during the +existence of the Empire is, perhaps, the most contemptible that the +world has ever seen. If one of these worthies is rich enough, his dream +has been to keep a mistress in splendour; if this has been above his +means, he has attempted to hang on to some wealthy _vaurien_. The number +of persons without available means who somehow managed to live on the +fat of the land without ever doing a single day's honest work had become +enormous. Most of them have, on some pretext or other, sneaked out of +Paris. One sees now very few ribbons of the Legion of Honour, +notwithstanding the reckless profusion with which this order was +lavished. The Emperor's flock, marked with the red streak, have +disappeared. + +We have received news through a carrier pigeon that one of the postal +balloons has reached Tours. I trust that it will have carried my letter +to you. I intend henceforward to confide my letter to the post every +second day, and as I have got a copying machine, to send copy by any +messenger who is attempting to run the blockade. We are told that +balloons are to leave every evening; but as the same announcement +informs us that they will not only take letters but officials appointed +to functions in the provinces, I am afraid that there is almost too much +promised to render it likely that the programme will be carried out. + + +_Afternoon._ + +I have just made an attempt to see what is going on between the forts +and the ramparts, which has been a failure. I had obtained an order to +circulate for the necessities of the defence from a member of the +Government, and with this in my pocket I presented myself at several of +the gates. In vain I showed my pass, in vain I insisted upon the serious +consequences to Paris in general, and to the officer whom I was +addressing in particular, if I were not allowed to fulfil my circulating +mission. I had to give it up at last, and to content myself with +circulating inside the ramparts. On them, however, I managed to get, +thanks to a tradesman with whom I had often dealt, who was in command. I +was told that a member of the Government, his name no one seemed to +know, had addressed the "poste" yesterday, and urged the men to resist +until one or other of the armies which were forming in the provinces +could arrive and crush the enemy. Everything appeared, where I was, +ready for an attack. The sentinels were posted at short intervals, the +artillerymen were lying about near their guns, and in the Rue des +Remparts there were several hundred National Guards. They seemed to be +taking things easily, complained that the nights were a little chilly +and that business at home was at a standstill. In the course of my walk +I saw a great many barricades in process of formation. Eventually, I +presume, we shall have a second line of defences within the outer walls. +This second line has already been divided, like the ramparts, into nine +sections, each with a separate commander. I met at least a dozen +_soi-disant_ Prussian spies being conducted to prison. Each of them was +surrounded by twelve men, with bayonets fixed. Coming home I saw nine +French soldiers with placards bearing the inscription, "Miserable +cowards." Of course, the usual crowd accompanied them. I heard that they +were on their way to be shot. + +The newspapers of this afternoon make a good deal of noise about the +exploits of the gunboat in the bend of the Seine between Point du Jour +and Boulogne. They claim that its gun has dismounted the Prussian +batteries on the terrace of Meudon, and that it successfully engaged +several field batteries which fired upon it from the Park of St. Cloud. +This may or may not be true. We are also called upon to believe that +five shots from Fort Ivry destroyed the Prussian batteries at Choisy le +Roi. + +The latest proclamation issued is one from General Trochu, in which he +says that it was the fault of no one that the redoubts which were in +course of construction when the Prussians arrived before the town were +not finished, and that they were abandoned for strategical reasons. + +The latest Ultra paper publishes the account of a meeting which was +remarkable, it observes, for the "excellent spirit which animated it, +and the serious character of the speeches which were delivered at it." +This is one of these serious orations--"The Citizen Arthur de Fonvielle +recommends all citizens to exercise the greatest vigilance as regards +the manoeuvres of the police, and more especially those of the Prefet of +the Police. This Ministry has passed from the hands of a Corsican into +those of one of the assassins of the Mexican Republic." I derive +considerable amusement from the perusal of the articles which are daily +published reviling the world in general for not coming to the aid of +Paris. I translate the opening paragraphs of one of them which I have +just read:--"In the midst of events which are overwhelming us, there is +something still more melancholy than our defeat: it is our isolation. +For a month the world has looked on with an impassibility, mingled with +shame and cynicism, at the ruin of a capital which possesses the most +exquisite gifts of sociability, the principal jewel of Europe, and the +eternal ornament of civilisation." Nothing like having a good opinion of +oneself. + + +_Evening._ + +I hear of some one going to try to-morrow to get through the lines, so I +give him a copy of this letter. My last letter went off--or rather did +not go off--by a private balloon. The speculator rushed in, just as I +expected him to be off, and said, "Celestine has burst." To my horror I +discovered that he was speaking of the balloon. He then added, +"Ernestine remains to us," and to Ernestine I confided my letter. I have +not seen the speculator since; it may be that Ernestine has burst too. + +The latest _canard_ is that 10,000 Prussians are in a wood near +Villejuif, where they have been driven by the French. As they in the +most cowardly manner decline to come out of it, the wily Parisian braves +are rubbing the outer circle of trees over with petroleum, as a +preparatory step to burn them out. This veracious tale is believed by +two-thirds of Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +_September 27th,_ 8 A.M. + +I have sent you numerous letters, but I am not aware whether you have +received them. As very probably they are now either in the clouds or in +the moon, I write a short resume of what has passed since we have been +cut off from the outer world, as I believe that I have a very good +chance this morning to communicate with you. + +When the town was first invested the greatest disorder existed. For a +few days officers, even generals, were shot at by regiments outside the +fortifications; the National Guards performed their service on the +ramparts very reluctantly, and, when possible, shirked it. The Mobiles +were little better than an armed mob of peasants. The troops of the line +were utterly demoralised. The streets were filled with troopers +staggering about half drunk, and groups of armed Mobiles wandering in +ignorance of the whereabouts of their quarters and of their regiments. +The Government was divided into two parties--one supported by the +Moderates, and anxious to make peace on reasonable terms; the other +supported by the Ultras, and determined to continue the contest at all +hazards. The Ministers were almost in despair at finding the utter +disorder in which everything had been left by their predecessors. Little +by little this condition of things has mended for the better. Since the +failure of the mission of M. Jules Favre, and the exorbitant demands +which were then put forward by Count Bismarck, both Moderates and Ultras +have supported the men who are in power. It is felt by all that if Paris +is to be defended with any prospect of success, there must be absolute +union among its defenders. The Deputies of Paris are not thought, +perhaps, to be endowed with any very great administrative ability, but +Mr. Lincoln's proverb respecting the difficulty of a person changing his +horse whilst he is crossing a stream is acted on, and so long as they +neither commit any signal act of folly, nor attempt to treat with +Prussia either for peace or a capitulation, I think that no effort will +be made to oust them. They are, I believe, doing their best to organise +the defence of this city, and if they waste a little time in altering +the names of the streets, and publishing manifestoes couched in grand +and bombastic phrases, it must be remembered that they have to govern +Frenchmen who are fond of this species of nonsense. With respect to the +military situation, the soldiers of all sorts are kept well together, +and appear to be under the command of their officers. The National +Guard, although it still grumbles a little, does its duty on the +ramparts. The soldiers of the line are kept outside the town. The +Mobiles have passed many hours in drill during the last ten days; they +are orderly and well conducted, and if not soldiers already, are a far +more formidable force than they were at the commencement of the siege. +Whether they will ever become available for operations in the open field +is, perhaps, questionable, for their regiments would probably be thrown +into confusion if called upon to act together. Within the line of the +forts, however, there is no reason to suppose that they will not fight +well. The forts are manned by sailors, who are excellent artillerists, +and the guns are formidable ones. On the Seine there is a flotilla of +gunboats. The city has food and ammunition for two months. Paris, +therefore, ought to be able to hold out for these two months. She has +her own population, a large portion of which consists of the working +men, who have never been backward in fighting. The provinces have been +drained of their best blood, which has been brought up to the capital. +All that remains of the French army is here. At the lowest average the +armed force in Paris amounts to 450,000 men, and there are about 500,000 +more from which this force can recruit itself. If, then, the capital +does not hold out for two months, she will deserve the contempt of the +world--if she does hold out for this period, she will at least have +saved her honour, and, to a certain extent, the military reputation of +France. + +The newspapers are still pursuing the very questionable policy of +exaggerating every little affair of the outposts into a victory, and +assuring those who read their lucubrations that powerful armies are on +the march to raise the siege. The only real military event of any +consequence which has taken place has resulted in a Prussian success. +The French were driven back from some half-finished redoubts at +Chatillon, and the Prussians now occupy the heights between Sevres and +Meudon, from whence, if they establish batteries, they will be able to +shell a portion of the town. In the second affair which took place, +absurd stories have been repeated respecting the advantages gained by +the French; but they are, to say the least, extremely apocryphal, and +even were they true they are of small importance. For the last few days +the forts have fired upon any Prussian troops that either were or were +supposed to be within shot; and the gunboats have attempted to prevent +the erection of batteries on the Sevres-Meudon plateau. In point of +fact, the siege has not really commenced; and until it is seen how this +vast population bears its hardships, how the forts resist the guns which +may be brought to bear upon them, and how the armed force conducts +itself under fire, it is impossible to speculate upon results. + +Considering the utter stagnation in trade, the number of working men out +of employment, and the irritation caused by defeat, it must be admitted +that the Parisians of all classes are behaving themselves well. The rich +residents have fled, and left to their poorer neighbours the task of +defending their native city. There have been no tumults or disorders, +except those caused by the foolish mania of supposing every one who is +not known must necessarily be a spy. Political manifestations have taken +place before the Hotel de Ville, but the conciliatory policy adopted by +the Government has prevented their degenerating into excesses. Public +opinion, too, has pronounced against them. From what I have heard and +observed, I am inclined to think that the majority of the bourgeoisie +are in favour of a capitulation, but that they do not venture to say so; +and that the majority of the working men are opposed to peace on any +terms. They do not precisely know themselves what would be the result of +holding out, but they vaguely trust to time, and to the chapter of +accidents. In the middle and upper classes there are also many who take +the same view of the situation. "Let us," they say, "hold out for two +months, and the condition of things will in all probability be altered, +and if so, as we cannot be worse off, any change must be to our +advantage." + +Shut up with the Parisians in Paris, I cannot help feeling a good deal +of sympathy for them, notwithstanding their childish vanity, their +mendacity, and their frivolity. I sincerely trust, therefore, if they do +seriously resist their besiegers, that the assurances of the Government +that there are ample supplies of food and of ammunition, are not part of +the system of official lying which was pursued by their predecessors; +and I hope that the grandiloquent boasts and brave words that one hears +from morning to night will be followed by brave deeds. + +This morning Messenger Johnson was sent off with despatches to England +from the British Embassy. He was provided with a safe-conduct, signed by +General Trochu, and a letter to the Commandant of the Fort of Vanves, +enjoining him to forward Mr. Johnson under a flag of truce to the +Prussian lines. At half-past nine Messenger Johnson, arrayed in a pair +of high boots with clanking spurs, the belongings, I presume, of a +Queen's messenger, stepped into his carriage, with that "I should like +to see any one touch me" air which is the badge of his tribe. His +coachman being already drunk, he was accompanied by a second man, who +undertook to drive until Jehu had got over the effect of his potations. +I myself have always regarded Queen's messengers as superior beings, to +be addressed with awe, and whose progress no one would venture to +arrest. Such, however, was not the opinion of the National Guards who +were on duty at the gate through which Messenger Johnson sought to leave +this beleagured town. In vain Messenger Johnson showed his pass; in vain +he stated that he was a free-born Briton and a Queen's messenger. These +suspicious patriots ignored the pass, and scoffed at the _Civis +Romanus_. In fact, I tremble as I write it, several of them said they +felt somewhat inclined to shoot any Briton, and more particularly a +Queen's Messenger, whilst others proposed to prod Messenger Johnson with +their bayonets in his tenderest parts. Exit under these circumstances +was impossible. For some time Messenger Johnson sat calm, dignified, and +imperturbable in the midst of this uproar, and then made a strategical +retreat to the Ministry of War. He was there given an officer to +accompany him; he again set forth, and this time he was more fortunate, +for he got through the gate, and vanished from our horizon. I called at +the Embassy this afternoon, and found our representative, Mr. +Wodehouse, confident that Messenger Johnson would arrive at his +destination. Mr. Wodehouse when I left him was engaged in pacifying a +lunatic, who had forced his way into the Embassy, and who insisted that +he was the British Ambassador. I was surprised to learn that there are +still at least 3000 of our countrymen and women in Paris. Most of them +are in a state of absolute destitution, some because they have no means, +others because they are unable to draw upon the funds in England. Mr. +Herbert has established a species of soup kitchen, so they will not +starve until we all do. Mr. Wallace, the heir of Lord Hertford, who had +already given the munificent donation of 12,000l. to the Ambulance fund, +has also provided funds for their most pressing wants. + +In to-day's _Journal des Debats_ M. John Lemoinne points out to his +readers that M. Bismarck, in his remarks to M. Jules Favre, expressed +the opinion of Germany, and that the expression of his views respecting +the necessity of Germany annexing Alsace and Lorraine is not necessarily +an insult to France. The war, says M. Lemoinne, never was a war of +monarchs, but a war of nations. France as well as the Emperor is +responsible for it. It must continue to be, he continues, a war _a +outrance_ between two races. The terms of peace proposed by M. Bismarck +cannot be accepted by France. The moderate tone and dignified melancholy +of this article contrast favourably with that of almost all the leaders +in the other papers, and more particularly in those of the +ultra-Republican press. In _La France_, a moderate and well-conducted +journal, I find the following remarks:--"Paris is the capital of France +and of the world. Paris besieged is a beautiful, a surprising spectacle. +The sky is blue, the atmosphere is pure, this is a happy augury, fifteen +days of patience on the part of the Parisians, fifteen days to arm in +the provinces, and the German army will be irreparably compromised. It +will then be unable to cut its way out of the circle of fire which will +surround it." When journals of the standing of _La France_ deal in this +sort of nonsense it is not surprising that the ex-Imperialist organs, +which are endeavouring to curry favour with the mob, are still more +absurd. The _Figaro_ concludes two columns of bombast with the following +flight:--"But thou, O country, never diest. Bled in all thy veins by the +butchers of the North, thy divine head mutilated by the heels of brutes, +the Christ of nations, for two months nailed on the cross, never hast +thou appeared so great and so beautiful, Thou neededst this martyrdom, O +our mother, to know how we love thee. In order that Paris, in which +there is a genius which has given her the empire of the world, should +fall into the hands of the barbarians, there must cease to be a God in +heaven. As God she exists, and as God she is immortal. Paris will never +surrender." When it is remembered that this ignorant, vain, foolish +population has for nearly twenty years been fed with this sort of stuff, +it is not surprising that even to this hour it cannot realise the fact +that Paris is in any danger of being captured. The ultra-Republican +press is becoming every day more virulent. M. Blanqui, in his organ, _La +Patrie en Danger_, after praising the act of a person of the name of +Malet, who last February shot an officer who refused to shout "Vive la +Republique," thus continues:--"I was reminded of this when the other day +I saw defile on the boulevards a regiment of rustic peasants. I raised +my hat to salute these soldiers of liberty, but there was no response +from them. Malet would have raised the kepi of one of the captains with +a bullet, and he would have done well. Let us be without pity. Vive +Marat! We will do justice ourselves...." The ultra-Republicans, of the +stamp of M. Blanqui and M. Felix Pyat, seem to be under the impression +that it is far more important to establish a Republican form of +Government in France than to resist the Prussians. In the meetings which +they hold every evening they clamour for the election at once of a +municipality, because they hope to become themselves members of it, and +then to absorb all the power which is now wielded by the Provisional +Government. Beyond discrediting themselves by these attempts to disturb +the harmony within the walls, which is of such vital importance at the +present moment, I do not think that they will do much. I have talked to +many working men, and whatever may be their political opinions, they are +far too sensible to play the game of the Prussians by weakening the +existing Government. After the Prussians perhaps the deluge; but as long +as they are before Paris, and the Provisional Government does not +capitulate, I do not dread any political disorders. What we may come to, +are bread riots. There is already an immense deal of misery, and, as the +siege continues and provisions rise in price, it will of course +increase. + +I was talking this morning to a gentleman who used at one time to play a +very important part in public life, who is well acquainted with most of +the members of the Government, and who is a man of calm judgment. 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. As for the +fortresses, they have not been taken, and yet they have not arrested the +Prussian advance on Paris; consequently their destruction would not +seriously weaken the defences of the country." I asked whether Paris +would now consent to these terms. "No," he said, "if the Government +offered them there would be a revolution. Paris, rightly or wrongly, +believes that she will be able to hold out for two months, and that +during this time there will be a _levee en masse_." "And do you share +this opinion?" I asked. "I am not of a very sanguine character" he +replied; "but I really am now inclined to believe that the Prussians +will never enter Paris unless they starve us into a surrender." "Then," +I said, "I suppose they will starve us out." "I am an old man," he said, +"and I always remember Philip's saying, 'Time and I are two,' In two +months many things may happen. Winter is coming on. The Prussian army is +composed of men engaged in business at home and anxious to return; the +North does not love the South, and divisions may arise. The King of +Prussia is an old man, and he may die. Without absolutely counting upon +a French army raising the siege, there are _levees_ forming in Lyons and +elsewhere, and the Germans will find their communications seriously +menaced. Russia, too, and Austria may interfere, so I think that we are +wise to resist as long as we can." "But if you have to capitulate, what +will happen?" I asked. "If we do capitulate, our disaster will be +complete," he answered. "I do not anticipate disorders; the population +of Paris is an intelligent one, it wishes the Government to resist as +long as it can, but not to prolong an impossible situation. Paris must +do her part in defending the country, she can do no more." "Well," I +said, "supposing that the Prussians were to withdraw, and peace were to +be concluded on reasonable terms, what do you think would take place?" +"Gambetta, Jules Favre, and the majority of the Parisian Deputies would +call a Constituent Assembly as soon as possible, and resign power into +its hands. They are moderate Republicans, but between a Red Republic and +a Constitutional Monarchy they would prefer the latter. As practical +men, from what I know of them, I am inclined to think that they would be +in favour of the Orleanist family--either the Comte de Paris or the Duc +d'Aumale." "And would the majority of the Constituent Assembly go with +them?" I asked. "I think it would" he replied. "The Orleanist family +would mean peace. Of late years Frenchmen have cared very little for +military glory; their dream has been to save money. One advantage of our +disasters is that it has limited the number of pretenders to the Throne, +for after the capitulation of Sedan, neither the army nor the peasants +will support a Bonaparte. There will be two parties--the +ultra-Republicans, and the advocates of a Constitutional Monarchy under +a Prince of the House of Orleans. Unless the friends of the Orleans +Princes commit some great fault, they are masters of the situation." + +I went down this morning to the Halles Centrales. There was very little +going on. _Bonnes_ were coming to market, but most of the booths were +untenanted, and the price of vegetables, eggs, and butter was +exorbitant. "Why do you complain of me?" said a dealer to a +customer--"is it my fault? Curse Badinguet and that wretch of a +Bismarck; they choose to fight, so you must pay double for these +carrots" The butchers yesterday published an appeal against the maximum; +they said that the cost of animals is so great that they positively are +losing upon every joint which they sell. A new proclamation of the Mayor +has just been issued, announcing that 500 oxen and 4,000 sheep will +daily be slaughtered and sold to the butchers at a price to enable them +to gain 20 per cent, by retailing meat at the official tariff. I find +that, come what may, we have coffee and sugar enough to last many +months, so that provided the bread does not fail, we shall take some +time to starve out. + +This afternoon a dense column of smoke was seen rising in the air in the +direction of La Villette, and it gradually covered the town with a dark +cloud. The pessimists among the Boulevard quidnuncs insisted that the +town had been set on fire by the Prussians; the optimists were convinced +that the 10,000, who for some reason or other are supposed to be in a +wood, patiently waiting to be roasted, were being burnt. It turns out +that some petroleum in the Buttes de Chaumont caught fire. After burning +about two hours, the fire was put out by heaping dirt on it. + +The Prussians still occupy the plateau of Meudon, and despatches from +the forts say that troops are supposed to be concentrating between +Meudon and Sevres. We have come to the conclusion that as the Prussians +do not fire upon Grenello and Auteuil, they have neither Krupp nor siege +guns. I trust this may prove true. News has been received from Tours; it +was brought by an officer who ran the blockade. We are much elated to +learn that the result of M. Jules Favre's interview has been posted up +throughout France. We believe that the effect of this measure "will be +equal to an army." The Post Office informs the public that a regular +system of balloons has been organised, and that letters will be received +and forwarded to the provinces and abroad, provided they do not weigh +above four grammes. A deputation of English and American correspondents +waited to-day on M. Jules Favre, to ask him to give them facilities to +send their letters by the balloons. This he promised to do. He also half +promised to let all correspondents have a pass, on stating who they are. +The worst of a pass is, that it is no protection against arrest, for, +say your captors, "Prussian spies are so cunning that they would be +precisely the persons to have papers, either forged or stolen." Another +trouble is, that if you are arrested, you are generally shut up, with +half-a-dozen thieves and drunkards, for about twenty-four hours, before +a Commissary condescends to inquire into your case. No one as yet has +ever troubled me; but the spy mania certainly does not add to the charm +of the residence of a stranger in Paris just now. I would rather run the +chance of being hit during a bombardment, than affront the certainty of +twenty-four hours in a filthy police cell. Suspicion is, no doubt, +carried to a ridiculous excess; but it is equally true that +unquestionable spies are arrested every day under every sort of +disguise. Mr. Washburne told me yesterday that he saw a _soi-disant_ +"Invalide" arrested, who turned out to be a regular "spectacled +Dutchman." + + +_September 28th._ + +Nothing new at the front. We suppose that the enemy are concentrating +troops on the Sevres-Meudon plateau, and that they intend to attack on +that side. We are confident that the guns of Mont Valerien will prevent +the success of this attack. On the opposite side of Paris they are +endeavouring to erect batteries; but they are unable to do so on account +of the fire of Fort Nogent. It seems to me that we are shouting before +we are quite out of the wood; but we are already congratulating +ourselves upon having sustained a siege which throws those of Saragossa +and Richmond into the shade. If we have not yet been bombarded, we have +assumed "an heroic attitude of expectation;" and if the Prussians have +not yet stormed the walls, we have shown that we were ready to repel +them if they had. Deprived of our shepherd and our sheep-dogs, we civic +sheep have set up so loud a ba-ba, that we have terrified the wolves who +wished to devour us. In the impossible event of an ultimate capitulation +we shall hang our swords and our muskets over our fire-places, and say +to our grandchildren, "I, too, was one of the defenders of Paris." In +the meantime, soldiers who have run away when attacked are paraded +through the streets with a placard on their breasts, requesting all good +citizens to spit upon them. Two courts-martial have been established to +judge spies and marauders, and in each of the nine sections there is a +court-martial to sit upon peccant National Guards. "The sentence," says +the decree, "will at once be executed by the detachment on duty." We are +preparing for the worst; in the Place of the Pantheon, and other +squares, it is proposed to take up the paving stones, because they will, +if left, explode shells which may strike them. The windows of the Louvre +and other public edifices are being filled with sand bags. This morning +I was walking along the Rue Lafayette, when I heard a cry "A bas les +cigares!" and I found that if I continued to smoke, it was thought that +I should set light to some ammunition waggons which were passing. + +Yesterday evening there was a report, which was almost universally +credited, that a revolution had broken out in London, because the +English Government had refused to aid Paris in driving back the +Prussians. The Parisians find it impossible to understand that the world +at large can see little distinction between a French army entering +Berlin and a Prussian army entering Paris. Their capital is to them a +holy city, and they imagine that the Christian world regards the +Prussian attack upon it much as the Mahometan world would regard a +bombardment of Mecca. No doubt it will be a shocking thing to bombard a +city such as this, filled with women and children; still, being an +Englishman, I cannot see that it would be worse than to bombard London. +The newspapers of this morning contain a _precis_ of a letter from "our +Fritz" to William "the mystic drunkard." Our Fritz writes to his papa to +say that he ought to have accepted peace when it was proffered by Jules +Favre. How the contents of the letter are known in Paris is not stated. +But here we know everything. We know that at a council of war held two +days ago at Versailles a majority declared that it was impossible to +take Paris. We know that the German soldiers are dying of starvation and +clothed in rags. We know that they are forced by their officers, against +their will, to attack their French brothers. Did not yesterday a +National Guard himself take five Prussian prisoners? They were starving, +and thankfully accepted a piece of bread. They had a wounded companion +in a wheelbarrow, who continually shook his fist in the direction of the +"mystic drunkard," and plaintively moaned forth the only French word he +knew, "Miserable, miserable!" Did not another National Guard go into a +house recently occupied by "Bavarians," and find the following words +written on a shutter--"Poor Frenchmen, we love you: they force us to +fight against you?" I believe all this, and many other strange facts, +because I see them in print in the newspapers. Can it possibly be that I +am over-credulous? Am I wrong, too, in believing that France is rising +_en masse_, that Moltke did not understand his business in advancing on +Paris, and that he will be crushed by the armies of the Loire and a +dozen other places--if, indeed, our gallant heroes congregated in Paris +give their brethren outside time to share in the triumph of defeating +him? _En attendant_, we eat, drink, and are reasonably merry; our +defenders mount guard, and drill when they are off guard. Our wary +Mobiles outside not only refuse to allow Prussians to pass, but such is +their vigilance, they generally arrest officers of any regiment except +their own who come within their ken. These worthy fellows will, I +believe, fight with bravery. The working men, too, are engaged in +heaping up barricades, and are ready to allow themselves to be killed +and their landlords' houses to be blown up rather than surrender. The +sailors in the forts are prepared to hold them like ships against all +comers. The "infantry of the marine" is commanded by an old tar who +stands no nonsense. A few days ago he published an order complaining +that the marines "undulated under fire." Some of his officers went to +him as a deputation to protest against this slur on them and their men; +but he cut their remonstrances short by immediately cashiering the +spokesman. To-day he announces that if his men are supplied with drink +within the limits of his command he will burn down all the pothouses. It +is greatly to be deplored that the determined spirit of this Admiral +does not animate all his brother commanders; they are perpetually +engaged in discussing with those who are under their orders, and appear +to be afraid to put down insubordination with a high hand. If ever they +venture upon any act of rigour, they are called upon by the Ultra press +to justify it, and they generally do so in a lengthy letter. + +I have been, as the Americans say, much exercised of late respecting +certain persons whom I have seen strolling about the streets, avoiding +as much as possible their species. Whenever anyone looked at them they +sneaked away with deprecating glances. They are dressed in a sort of +pea-jacket, with hoods, black trousers, and black caps, and their +general appearance was a cross between a sailor and a monk. I have at +length discovered with surprise that these retiring innocents are the +new sergents-de-ville of M. Keratry, who are daily denounced by the +Ultras as ferocious wolves eager to rend and devour all honest citizens. +If this be true, I can only say that they are well disguised in sheep's +clothing. + +Letters from Paris, if ever they do get to London, must necessarily be +so dull, that they can hardly repay the trouble of reading them. Life +here is about as lively as life on board a ship. The two main subjects +of conversation, the military preparations within the town, and the +amount of food, are in honour tabooed to correspondents. With respect to +the former I will only say, that if the Prussians do carry the forts and +the enceinte, they will not have taken Paris; with regard to the latter, +I can state that we shall not be starved out for some time. Besides the +cattle which have been accumulated, we have 90,000 horses; and although +a cab horse may not taste as good as Southdown mutton, I have no doubt +that Parisian cooking will make it a very palatable dish for hungry men; +there are, too, a great many dogs, and the rats have not yet left the +sinking ship. As for coffee and sugar we have enough to last for six +months; and, unless the statistics of the Government are utterly +worthless, come what may we shall not lack bread for many a day. + +The Rump of the Corps Diplomatique has held a second meeting, and a +messenger has been sent to Bismarck to know--1st, whether he means to +bombard the city; 2nd, whether, if he does, he intends to give the usual +twenty-four hours' notice. Diplomates are little better than old women +when they have to act on an emergency. Were it not for Mr. Washburne, +who was brought up in the rough-and-ready life of the Far West, instead +of serving an apprenticeship in Courts and Government offices, those who +are still here would be perfectly helpless. They come to him at all +moments, and although he cannot speak French, for all practical purposes +he is worth more than all his colleagues put together. Lord Lyons would, +I believe, have remained, had he not been over persuaded by timid +colleagues, who were ordered to do as he did. It is a great pity that he +did not act according to his own judgment; but Republics, we know, are +not in good odour with courtiers. As for that poor creature Metternich, +he was utterly demoralized. He was more of a Chamberlain of Badinguet +than an Ambassador, and, of course, when his friend disappeared, he +took the earliest opportunity to follow his example. + + +_September 29th._ + +We still are cut off from the outer world, but neither "the world +forgetting," nor, we imagine, "by the world forgot." The inhabitants of +the "Mecca of civilization" are still, like Sister Anne, looking out for +some one to come to their assistance. I am utterly sick and tired of the +eternal brag and bombast around me. Let the Parisians gain some success, +and then celebrate it as loudly as they please: but why, in the name of +common sense, will they rejoice over victories yet to come? "We are +preserving," they say, "a dignified expectative attitude." Mr. Micawber +put the thing in more simple vernacular when, he said that he was +waiting for something to turn up. "First catch your hare" is a piece of +advice which our patriots here would scoff at. They have not yet caught +the Prussians, but they have already, by a flight of imagination, cooked +and eaten them. Count Moltke may as well--if I am to believe one quarter +of what I hear--like the American coon, come down. In a question of +military strategy between the grocers of Paris and the Prussian generals +I should have thought that the odds were considerably in favour of the +latter, but I am told that this is not so, and that in laying siege to +Paris they are committing a mistake for which a schoolboy would be +deservedly whipped. If you eliminate the working-class element, which +has not been corrupted by the Imperial system, the population of this +town is much what I imagine that of Constantinople to have been when it +was taken by the Turks. They are Greeks of the lower empire. Monsieur +sticks his kepi on one side of his head, and struts and swaggers along +the Boulevard as though he were a bantam cock. We have lost the _petits +creves_ who formed so agreeable an element in society, but they have +been replaced by the military dandy, a being, if possible, still more +offensive. This creature mounts some sorry screw and parades the +Boulevard and the Champs Elysees, frowning dismally upon the world in +general, and twirling his moustache with the one hand, whilst he holds +on to the saddle with the other. His sword is of the longest, his waist +is of the tightest, and his boots are of the brightest. His like is only +to be seen in England when the _Battle of Waterloo_ is played at +Astley's, but his seat is not as good as that of the equestrian warriors +of that establishment. As he slowly paces along he gazes slyly to see +how many people are looking at him, and it must be owned that those who +do see him, vastly admire him. What manner of beings these admirers are +may be imagined from their idol. No contrast can be greater than that +which exists between the Parisian Bobadils and the Provincial Mobiles. +The latter are quiet and orderly, eager to drill and without a vestige +of bluster--these poor peasants are of a very different stuff from the +emasculated, conceited scum which has palmed itself off on Europe as +representative Frenchmen. The families with whom they lodge speak with +wonder of their sobriety, their decency, and their simple ways, and in +their hearts almost despise them because they do not ravish their +daughters or pillage their cellars; and neither swear every half-hour to +die for their country, nor yell the "Marseillaise." If Paris be saved, +it will be thanks to them and to the working men of the capital. But it +will be the old _sic vos non vobis_ story; their brave deeds and +undemonstrative heroism will be forgotten, and Jules and Alphonse, the +dandies and braggarts of the Boulevard, will swear to their own heroism. +I trust that the Prussians will fail to take Paris, because I think that +the French are right to fight on rather than submit to the dismemberment +of their country; and because I prefer a Republic to a Monarchy where a +King reigns by right divine. But when I read the bombastic articles in +the newspapers--when I see the insane conceit and the utter ignorance of +those with whom I am thrown--when I find them really believing that they +are heroes because they are going, they say, to win battles, it is +difficult to entertain any great sympathy for them. How utterly must +poor old Badinguet, before whom they cringed for years--who used them, +bought them, and made his market out of their vanity, their ignorance, +and their love of theatrical claptrap, despise them, as he dreams again +through life's dream in the gardens of his German prison. They call him +now a "sinister scoundrel" and a "lugubrious stage player." But he was +their master for many a long year, and they owe their emancipation from +his yoke to Prussian arms and not to themselves. + +A committee of "subsistence" has been established. The feud between the +butchers and the public still continues, and most of the meat stalls are +closed. The grocers, too, are charging absurd prices for their goods. +_La Liberte_ suggests that their clients should do themselves justice, +and one of these mornings, unless these gentry abate their prices, some +grocer will be found hanging before his door. Although provisions are +plentiful, the misery is very great. Beggars increase in number every +day--they are like one of the plagues of Egypt. I was taking a cup of +coffee this morning before a cafe, and I counted twenty-three beggars +who asked me for money whilst I was sitting there. We still derive much +comfort from caricaturing Badinguet, William, and Bismarck. The latest +effort represents Badinguet and William as Robert Macaire and Bertrand. +Another represents Badinguet eating an eagle. "Coquin," says William, +"what are you doing with your eagle?" "Eating it," replies Badinguet; +"what else can I do with it?" Little statuettes, too, of the "two +friends," Badinguet and William, are in great request. William, with an +immense moustache, scowls at Badinguet, who humbly kneels before him. + +M. Jules Favre, in reply to the English press deputation, sent last +night to say that each correspondent must make a personal application to +General Trochu. I know what that means already. All I ask is that my +letters should be put up in a balloon. As for passes, I have one +already, and it has not been of the slightest service to me. _Les +Nouvelles_ heads an article "English Spies," and proposes that to +simplify the question of whether they are spies or not, all English in +Paris should at once be shot. I cannot say that I personally have found +any ill-feeling to exist against me because I am an Englishman. +Yesterday afternoon I was in a crowd, and some one suggested that I was +a spy; I immediately mounted on a chair and explained that I was a +"journaliste Anglais," and pointed out to my friends that they ought to +be obliged to me for remaining here. "If any one doubts me," I added, +"let us go to the nearest commissary." No one did doubt me, and fifty +patriots immediately shook hands with me. The French people are apt to +form hasty judgments sometimes, and to act on them still more hastily, +but if one can get them to listen for a moment, they are reasonable, and +soon their natural good nature asserts itself. The zealous but +well-intended Mobiles are the most dangerous, for they shoot you first +and then apologise to your corpse. An order is placarded to-day of +Governor Trochu's, announcing that anyone trying to pass the lines will +be sent before the Courts Martial, or if he or she runs away when +ordered to stop, will be shot on the spot. This latter clause allows a +very great latitude for zeal, more particularly as the "lines" just now +are little more than a geographical expression. Their Emperor is a +prisoner, the enemy is thundering at their gates, they are shut up here +like rats in a hole; they have been vanquished in the only engagement +they have had with their besiegers, and yet the Parisians believe that, +compared with them, the Germans are an inferior race, and, like the +slave before Marius, will shrink abashed before the majesty of Paris. +"If we," say their newspapers, "the wisest, the best, the noblest of +human beings, have to succumb to this horde of barbarians that environ +us, we shall cease to believe in the existence of a Providence." + +The movement on the part of the "Ultras" to elect at once a municipality +is gaining strength. Yesterday several chiefs of the faubourg battalions +of the National Guard interviewed Jules Ferry on the subject. Ledru +Rollin has declared himself in favour of it, and this morning there are +evidences that the Government is inclined to give way to the pressure, +for a decree is published in the _Journal Officiel_ ordering a +registration of voters. The worst of Frenchmen is that, no matter how +patriotic each one may be, he is convinced that the interests of his +country require that he should be one of its rulers. The men of '48 who +have returned from exile are surprised that they are almost forgotten by +the present generation, which regards them as interesting historical +relics, and puts its faith in new gods. At the clubs every evening the +Government is denounced for refusing to admit into its ranks this or +that patriot, or adjourning the municipal elections, and for not sending +revolutionary agents into the provinces. A newspaper this morning makes +the excellent suggestion that M. Blanqui, M.F. Pyat, and their principal +adherents should be invited to proceed at once to the provinces in a +balloon, invested with the rank of Government agents. "They cannot," it +adds, "do so much harm there as they are doing here; and then, too, the +balloon may burst." Personally, I should be glad to see a moderate +Republic established here, for I regard a Court as a waste of public +money; but it seems to me that Republicans should remember that it is +for the nation, and not for them, to decide what shall henceforward be +the form of government. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +_September 30th._ + +We are still beating our tom-toms like the Chinese, to frighten away the +enemy, and our braves still fire off powder at invisible Uhlans. The +Prussians, to our intense disgust, will not condescend even to notice +us. We jeer at them, we revile them, and yet they will not attack us. +What they are doing we cannot understand. They appear to have withdrawn +from the advanced positions which they held. We know that they are in +the habit of making war in a thoroughly ungentlemanly manner, and we +cannot make up our minds whether our "attitude" is causing them to +hesitate, or whether they are not devising some new trick to take us by +surprise. That they are starving, that their communications with Germany +are cut off, that their leaders are at loggerheads, that the Army of the +Loire will soon be here to help us to demolish them, we have not the +slightest doubt. The question is no longer whether Paris will be +taken--that we have solved already--it is whether the Prussians will be +able to get back to the Rhine. We are thankful that Bismarck did not +accept Jules Favre's offer of a money indemnity. We would not give a +hundred francs now to ensure peace or an armistice. I went this morning +into a shop, the proprietor of which, a bootmaker, I have long known, +and I listened with interest to the conversation of this worthy man +with some of his neighbours who had dropped in to have a gossip, and to +congratulate him on his martial achievements, as he had been on guard in +a bastion. We first discussed why the Army of the Loire had not arrived, +and we came to the conclusion that it was engaged in rallying Bazaine. +"I should like to read your English newspapers now," said one; "your +_Tims_ told us we ought to cede Alsace and Lorraine, but its editor must +now acknowledge that Paris is invincible." I told him that I felt +convinced that he did so regularly every morning. "No peace," shouted a +little tailor, who had been prancing about on an imaginary steed, +killing imaginary Prussians, "we have made a pact with death; the world +knows now what are the consequences of attacking us." The all-absorbing +question of subsistence then came up, and some one remarked that beef +would give out sooner than mutton. "We must learn," observed a +jolly-looking grocer, "to vanquish the prejudices of our stomachs. Even +those who do not like mutton must make the sacrifice of their taste to +their country." I mildly suggested that perhaps in a few weeks the +stomachs which had a prejudice against rats would have to overcome it. +At this the countenance of the gossips fell considerably, when the +bootmaker, after mysteriously closing the door, whispered, "A secret was +confided to me this morning by an intimate friend of General Trochu. +There is a tunnel which connects Paris with the provinces, and through +it flocks and herds are entering the town." This news cheered us up +amazingly. My bootmaker's wife came in to help him off with his military +accoutrements; so, with a compliment about Venus disarming Mars, I +withdrew in company with an American, who had gone into the shop with +me. This American is a sort of transatlantic Bunsby. He talks little, +but thinks much. His sole observation to me as we walked away was this, +"They will squat, sir, mark my words, they will squat." I received this +oracular utterance with respect, and I leave it to others to solve its +meaning, I am myself a person of singular credulity, but even I +sometimes ask myself whether all I hear and read can be true. Was there +really, as all the newspapers this morning inform me, a meeting last +Sunday at London of 400,000 persons, who were addressed by eminent +M.P's, and by the principal merchants and owners of manufactories in +England, at which resolutions were adopted denouncing the Queen, and +calling upon Mr. Gladstone either to retire from office, or to declare +war against Prussia? + +The Tuileries correspondence, of which I gave a short summary yesterday, +reveals the fact that both M. de Cassagnac and Baron Jerome David were +regular pensioners on the Civil List. The cost of the Prince Imperial's +baptism amounted to 898,000fr. The cousins, male and female, of the +Emperor, received 1,310,975fr. per annum; the Duc de Persigny received +in two months, 60,000fr.; Prince Jablonowyski, Countess Gajan, Madame +Claude Vignon, Le General Morris, and many other ladies and gentlemen +who never did the State any service, are down for various sums. Among +other items is one of 1,200fr. to General de Failly for sugar plums. The +Duchess of Mouchy, whose name continually appears, received 2,000,000fr. +as a marriage portion. The son of the American Bonaparte had a pension +of 30,000fr.; Madame Ratazzi of 24,000fr.; her sister, Madame Turr, the +same; Marquis Pepoli, 25,000fr. But the poor relations do not appear to +have been contented with their pensions, for on some pretext or other +they were always getting extra allowances out of their rich cousin. As +for Prince Achille Murat, the Emperor paid his debts a dozen times. +Whatever he may have been to the outer world, poor old Badinguet seems +to have been a Providence to his forty-two cousins and to his personal +friends. He carried out Sidney Smith's notion of charity--put his hand +into someone else's pocket, and gave away what he stole liberally. + +_Figaro_, with its usual good taste, recommends the battalions of the +National Guard to choose celebrities of the _demi-monde_ for their +vivandieres. From what I hear every day, I imagine that the battalions +will be far more likely to hang the editor of this facetious paper than +to take his advice. I am told by the kiosque women that its sale is +falling off daily. + +The clubs and their organs have announced that the municipal elections +are to take place, with or without the consent of the Government, on +October 2, and that not only the inhabitants of Paris, but the Gardes +Mobiles and the peasants who have taken refuge within the walls of the +city are to vote. In the working men's quarters there is undoubtedly a +strong feeling in favour of these elections being held at once. But the +working men do not attend the clubs. I have dropped into several of +them, and the audience appeared to me principally to be composed of +strongminded women and demagogues, who never did an honest day's work in +their lives. The Government has, however, been "interviewed" on the +subject of the municipal elections by the chiefs of the battalions of +the National Guards of the Faubourgs, and, if only some men of position +can be found to put themselves at the head of the movement, it will +cause trouble. As yet, Ledru-Rollin is the only known politician who +avowedly favours it. The Government is, I believe, divided upon the +expediency of holding the elections at once, or rather I should say, +upon the possibility of putting them off without provoking disturbances. +I am inclined to think that, as is usually the case, the Moderates will +yield on this point to their Ultra colleagues. Very possibly they may +think that, if ever a capitulation becomes necessary, it will be as well +to make the nominees of the Faubourgs share in the responsibility. As +Jules Favre said of Rochefort, they are perhaps safer in the Government +than outside of it. + +The column of the Place Vendome is daily bombarded by indignant +patriots, who demand that it should be razed to the ground, and the +metal of which it is composed be melted down into cannon. The statue of +Napoleon I., in the cocked hat and great-coat, which used to be on its +summit, was removed a few years ago to a pedestal at the end of the +Avenue de la Grande Armee. It has been concealed to preserve it from the +iconoclasts. There has been a lull of late in M. Gambetta's +proclamations. Within the last twenty-four hours, not above two fresh +ones have appeared. The newspapers are beginning to clamour for a +sortie. Why, they ask, are we to allow ourselves to be besieged by an +army which does not equal in numbers our own? Why are we to allow them +quietly to establish their batteries? There is a certain amount of sense +in these complaints, though the vital question of how regiments, which +have never had an opportunity of being brigaded together, will be able +to vanquish in the open field the disciplined troops of Germany, is the +unknown [Greek: x] in the problem which has yet to be solved. It is +evident, however, that the question must be tested, unless we are to +remain within the fortifications until we have digested our last omnibus +horse. If the enemy attacks, there is fair ground to suppose that he +will be repelled; but then, perhaps he will leave us to make the first +move. Without entering into details, I may say that considerable +engineering skill has been shown of late in strengthening the defences, +that the Mobiles and the National Guard, if their words mean anything, +which has yet to be proved, are full of fighting, and that the armed +force at our disposal has at length been knocked into some sort of +shape. Every day that the Prussian attack is delayed diminishes its +chance of success. "If they do carry the town by assault," said a +general to me yesterday, "it will be our fault, for, from a military +point of view, it is now impregnable." What the effect of a bombardment +may be upon the morale of the inhabitants we have yet to see. In any +case, however, until several of those hard nuts, the forts, have been +cracked, a bombardment can only be partial. + +There was heavy firing last night, and it increased in intensity this +morning. At about one o'clock I saw above 100 wounded being brought to +the Palais de l'Industrie, and on going to Montrouge I found the church +near the fortifications full of them. The following is the official +account of what has happened: + + Our troops in a vigorous sortie, successively occupied Chevilly and + l'Hay, and advanced as far as Thiais and Choisy-le-Roi. All these + positions were solidly occupied, the latter with cannon. After a + sharp artillery and musketry engagement our troops fell back on + their positions with a remarkable order and _aplomb_. The Garde + Mobile were very firm. _En somme journee tres honorable_. Our + losses have been considerable. Those of the enemy probably as + considerable. TROCHU. + +I need not add that as usual we have had rumours all day of a great +victory and a junction with the Army of the Loire. General Trochu's +despatch, dated 10-30, Bicetre, reduces matters to their real +dimensions. + + +_October 1st._ + +Although the Government statistics respecting the amount of food in +Paris have been published, and are consequently, in all probability, in +the hands of the Prussians, I do not like to give them myself. It can, +however, do no harm to explain the system which is being adopted by the +authorities to make our stores hold out as long as possible. Every +butcher receives each morning a certain amount of meat, calculated upon +his average sales. Against this meat he issues tickets in the evening +to his customers, who, upon presentation of the ticket the next morning, +receive the amount for which they have inscribed themselves at the price +fixed by the tariff of the week. When tickets have been issued by the +butcher equivalent to the meat which he is to receive, he issues no +more. Yesterday a decree was promulgated, ordering all persons having +flour on sale to give it up to the Government at the current price. It +will, I presume, be distributed to the bakers, like the meat to the +butchers. As regards meat, the supply does not equal the demand--many +persons are unable to obtain tickets, and consequently have to go +without it. Restaurants cannot get enough for their customers. This +evening, for instance, at seven o'clock, on going into a restaurant, I +found almost everything already eaten up. I was obliged to "vanquish the +prejudices of my stomach," and make a dinner on sheeps' trotters, +pickled cauliflower, and peaches. My stomach is still engaged in +"vanquishing its prejudice" to this repast, and I am yet in the agonies +of indigestion. In connection, however, with this question of food, +there is another important consideration. Work is at a standstill. +Mobiles and Nationaux who apply _forma pauperis_ receive one franc and a +half per diem. Now, at present prices, it is materially impossible for a +single man to buy sufficient food to stave off hunger for this sum, how +then those who depend upon it for their sustenance, and have wives and +families to support out of it, are able to live, it is difficult to +understand. Sooner or later the population will have to be rationed like +soldiers, and, if the siege goes on, useless mouths will have to be +turned out. It was supposed that the peasants in the neighbourhood of +Paris, who were invited to take refuge within its walls, would bring +more than enough food with them for themselves and their families, but +they preferred to bring their old beds and their furniture. Besides our +stores of flour, of sheep, and of oxen, we have twenty-two million +pounds of horse-flesh to fall back upon, so that I do not think that we +shall be starved out for some time; still the misery among those who +have no money to buy food will, unless Government boldly faces the +question, be very great. Everything, except beef, mutton, and bread, is +already at a fancy price. Ham costs 7fr. the kilo.; cauliflowers, +1.50fr. a head; salt butter 9fr. the kilo, (a kilo, is about two +pounds); a fat chicken 10fr.; a thin one, 5fr.; a rabbit, 11fr.; a duck, +9fr.; a fat goose, 20fr. + +Rents, too, are as vexed a question as they are in Ireland. In a few +days the October term comes due. Few can pay it; it is proposed, +therefore, to allow no landlord to levy it either before the close of +the siege or before December. + +General Trochu, in his Rapport Militaire of yesterday's proceedings, +expands his despatch of yesterday evening. The object, he says, was, by +a combined action on both banks of the Seine, to discover precisely in +what force the enemy was in the villages of Choisy-le-Roi and Chevilly. +Whilst the brigade of General Giulham drove the enemy out of Chevilly, +the head of the column of General Blaise entered the village of Thiais, +and seized a battery of cannon, which, however, could not be moved for +want of horses. At this moment the Prussians were reinforced, and a +retreat took place in good order. General Giulham was killed. General +d'Exea, while this combat was going on, marched with a brigade on +Creteil, and inflicted a severe loss with his mitrailleuses on the +enemy. This report contrasts favourably with the florid, exaggerated +accounts of the engagement which are published in this morning's papers. +I am glad to find that France possesses at least one man who tells the +truth, and who can address his fellow-citizens in plain language. The +credulity of the Parisians, and their love of high-flown bombast, amount +to a disease, which, if this city is not to sink into a species of +Baden Baden, must be stamped out. Mr. O'Sullivan recently published an +account of his expedition to the Prussian headquarters in the _Electeur +Libre_. Because he said that the Prussians were conducting themselves +well in the villages they occupied, the editor of the paper has been +overwhelmed with letters reviling him for publishing such audacious +lies. Most Frenchmen consider anyone who differs from them to be either +a knave or a fool, and they fabricate facts to prove their theories. An +"intelligent young man" published a letter this morning saying that he +had escaped from Versailles, and that already 700 girls have been +ravished there by the Prussians. This intelligent young man's tale will +be credited, and Mr. O'Sullivan will be disbelieved by nine-tenths of +this population. They believe only what they wish to believe. + +M. Rochefort has issued a "poster" begging citizens not to construct +private barricades. There must, he justly observes, be "unity in the +system of interior defences." The _Reveil_ announces that the Ultras do +not intend to proceed to revolutionary elections of a municipality +to-morrow, because they have hopes that the Government intend to yield +on this question. The Prefect of the Police is actively engaged in an +attempt to throw light upon Pietri's connection with the plots which +periodically came to a head against the Empire. Documents have been +discovered which will show that most of these plots were got up by the +Imperial police. Pietri, Lagrange, and Barnier, a _juge d'instruction_, +were the prime movers. A certain Bablot received 20,000fr. for his +services as a conspirator. + +The complaints of the newspapers against the number of young men who +avoid military duty by hooking themselves on in some capacity or other +to an ambulance are becoming louder every day. For my part I confess +that I look with contempt upon any young Frenchman I meet with the red +cross on his arm, unless he be a surgeon. I had some thoughts of making +myself useful as a neutral in joining one of these ambulances, but I was +deterred by what happened to a fellow-countryman of mine who offered his +services. He was told that thousands of applicants were turned away +every day, and that there already were far more persons attached to +every ambulance than were necessary. + +Dr. Evans, the leading spirit of the American ambulance, the man whose +speciality it was to have drawn more royal teeth, and to have received +more royal decorations than any other human being, has left Paris. Mr. +Washburne informs me that there are still about 250 Americans here, of +whom about forty are women. Some of them remain to look after their +homes, others out of curiosity. "I regard," said an American lady to me +to-day, who had been in a southern city (Vicksburg, if I remember +rightly), when it was under fire, "a bombardment as the finest and most +interesting effort of pyrotechnical skill, and I want to see if you +Europeans have developed this art as fully as we have, which I doubt." + + +_October 2nd._ + +I wrote to General Trochu yesterday to ask him to allow me to accompany +him outside the walls to witness military operations. His secretary has +sent me a reply to-day regretting that the General cannot comply with my +request. The correspondent of the _Morning Post_ interviewed the +secretary yesterday on the same subject, but was informed that as no +_laisser passer_ was recognised by the Mobiles, and as General Trochu +had himself been arrested, the Government would not take upon itself the +responsibility of granting them. This is absurd, for I hear that neither +the General nor any of his staff have been fired upon or arrested during +the last week. The French military mind is unable to understand that the +world will rather credit the testimony of impartial neutrals than +official bulletins. As far as correspondents are concerned, they are +worse off under the Republic than even under the Empire. + +M. Louis Blanc's appeal to the people of England is declamatory and +rhetorical in tone, and I am inclined to think that the people of +England are but a Richard Doe, and that in reality it is addressed to +the Parisians. M. Blanc asks the English in Paris to bear witness that +the windows of the Louvre are being stuffed with sandbags to preserve +the treasures within from the risks of a bombardment. I do so with +pleasure. I cannot, however, bear him out in his assertions respecting +the menacing calm of Paris, and the indomitable attitude of its National +Guards. M. Blanc, like most of his countrymen, mistakes the wish for the +will, words for deeds, promises for performance. What has happened here, +and what is happening? The forts are manned with sailors, who +conscientiously fire off their cannon. A position has been lost. Two +sorties consisting of troops and armed peasants have been driven back. +The National Guards do duty on the ramparts, drill in the streets, offer +crowns to the statue of Strasburg, wear uniforms, and announce that they +have made a pact with death. I sincerely trust that they may distinguish +themselves, but they have not had an opportunity to do so. Not one of +them has as yet honoured his draft on death. Behind their forts, their +troops, their crowd of peasants, and their ramparts, they boast of what +they will do. If they do really bury themselves beneath the ruins of +their capital they will be entitled to the admiration of history, but as +yet they are civilians of the present and heroes of the future. Noisy +blusterers may be brave men. I have no doubt there are many in Paris +ready to die for their country. I can, however, only deal with facts, +and I find that the Parisians appear to rely for safety upon everything +except their own valour. One day it is the Army of the Loire; another +day it is some mechanical machine; another day dissensions among the +Prussian generals; another day the intervention of Russia or Austria. In +the meantime, clubs denounce the Government; club orators make absurd +and impracticable speeches, the Mayor changes the names of streets, and +inscribes Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite on the public buildings. The +journals of all colours, with only one or two exceptions, are filled +with lies and bombast, and the people believe the one and admire the +other. The Minister of the Interior placards the walls with idle +proclamations, and arrests Bonapartists. Innocent neutrals are mobbed as +Prussian spies, and the only prisoners that we see are French soldiers +on their way to be shot for cowardice. Nothing is really done to force +the Prussians to raise the siege, although the defenders exceed in +number the besiegers. How can all this end? In a given time provisions +and ammunition will be exhausted, and a capitulation must ensue. I wish +with all my heart that the hosts of Germany may meet with the same fate +as befell the army of Sennacherib; but they are not likely to be killed +or forced to retreat by speeches, pacts with death, sentimental appeals, +and exaggerated abuse. + +The _Temps_ calculates that our loss on Friday amounted to about 500 +wounded and 400 killed. The object of the sortie was to blow up a bridge +over the Seine, and to rouse the courage of the Parisians by obtaining a +marked success at a point where the Prussians were not supposed to be in +force. Neither end was attained, and consequently we are greatly +depressed. Count Bismarck has not condescended to send a reply to the +Corps Diplomatique, requesting to be allowed to establish postal +communication with their Governments, much to the disgust of that +estimable body. + +The result of the pryings of the Government into the papers of their +predecessors has as yet only disclosed the facts, that most of the +conspiracies against the Empire were got up by the police, and that the +Emperor bribed porters and postmen to open letters. His main object +seems to have been to get hold of the letters of his Ministers to their +mistresses. The fourth livraison of the Tuileries papers contains the +report of a spy on the doings of the Russian Military Attache. This +gentleman lost some document, and observes that it can only be his +Prussian colleague who took it from him. Such is diplomacy. The weather +is beautiful. Women and children are making holiday in the streets. The +inner line of barricades is nearly finished. + + +_Evening._ + +The news of the fall of Strasburg and Toul was received by the +Government here this morning, and has just been made public. "In +falling," says M. Gambetta, "they cast a glance towards Paris to affirm +once more the unity and indivisibility of the Republic; and they leave +us as a legacy the duty to deliver them, the honour to revenge them." +The Boulevards were crowded, and everyone seemed as much astonished as +if they had never believed this double disaster to be possible. Many +refused to credit the news. _L'Electeur Libre_ proposes to meet the +emergency by sending "virile missionaries into the provinces to organise +a _levee en masse_, to drive from our territory the impious hordes which +are overrunning it." These missionaries would, I presume, go to their +posts in balloons. It never seems to occur to anyone here that the +authority of a Parisian dropping down from the clouds in a parachute in +any province would be contested. The right of Paris to rule France is a +dictum so unquestioned in the minds of the Parisians, that their +newspapers are now urging the Government to send new men to Tours to +oust those who were sent there before the commencement of the siege. It +strikes no one that the thirty-eight million of Frenchmen outside Paris +may be of opinion that the centralization of all power in the hands of +the most corrupt and frivolous capital in the universe has had its share +in reducing France to her present desperate condition, and may be +resolved to assert their claim to have a voice in the conduct of public +affairs. The Parisians regard all provincials as helots, whose sole +business it is to hear and to obey. If the result to France of her +disasters could be to free her at once from the domination of the +Emperor and of Paris, she would in the end be the gainer by them. + +I hear that General Vinoy expresses himself very satisfied with the +soldierly bearing of the Mobiles who were under fire on Friday. It was +far better, he says, than he expected. He ascribes the failure of his +sortie to the forts having forewarned the Prussians by their heavy +firing between three and four o'clock in the morning. M. de Rohan, +"delegate of the democracy of England," has written a long letter to M. +Jules Favre informing him that a friend who has arrived from London (!) +has brought news of an immense meeting which has been held in favour of +France, and that this meeting represents the opinion of the whole of +England. M. Jules Favre, in his reply, expresses his sincere thanks "for +the sentiments which have been so nobly expressed in the name of the +English nation." The correspondence occupies two columns in the _Journal +Officiel_. M. de Rohan's residence in England is, I should imagine, in +the vicinity of Tooley-street. + + +_October 3rd._ + +The _Journal Officiel_ contains a decree ordering the statue of +Strasburg, on the Place de la Concorde, to be replaced by one in bronze. +No war news. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +_October 5th._ + +From a military, or rather an engineering point of view, Paris is +stronger to-day than it was two weeks ago. The defences have been +strengthened. With respect, however, to its defenders, they are much +what they were. The soldiers of the line and the marines are soldiers; +the Mobiles and the Nationaux, with some few exceptions, remain armed +citizens. Each battalion is an _imperium in imperio_. The men ignore +every one except their own officers, and these officers exercise but +little influence except when they consent to act in strict accordance +with the feelings of those whom they are supposed to command. Some of +the battalions appear to be anxious to fight, but it unfortunately +happens that these are the very ones which are most undisciplined. The +battalions of the _bourgeois_ quarters obey orders, but there is no go +in them. The battalions of the artizan Faubourgs have plenty of go, but +they do not obey orders. General Trochu either cannot, or does not, +desire to enforce military discipline. Outside the enceinte, the hands +of the Mobiles are against every man, but no notice is taken when they +fire at or arrest officers of other corps. The Courts-martial which sit +are a mere farce. I see that yesterday a Franc-tireur was tried for +breaking his musket when ordered to march. He was acquitted because the +court came to the conclusion that he was "un brave garcon." The +application of military law to the Nationaux is regarded by these +citizens as an act of arbitrary power. Yesterday several battalions +passed the following resolution:--"In order to preserve at once +necessary discipline and the rights of citizens, no man shall +henceforward be brought before a council of war, or be awarded a +punishment, except with the consent of the family council of his +company." + +I am not a military man, but it certainly does appear to me strange that +the Prussians are allowed quietly to entrench themselves round the city, +and that they are not disturbed by feints and real sorties. We can act +on the inner lines, we have got a circular railroad, and we have armed +men in numbers. General Trochu has announced that he has a plan, the +success of which he guarantees; he declines to confide to a soul any of +its details, but he announces that he has deposited it with his notary, +Maitre Duclos, in order that it may not be lost to the world in the +event of his being killed. As yet no one has fathomed this mysterious +plan; it appears to contemplate defensive rather than offensive +operations. + +Mont Valerien now fires daily. Its commander has been changed; its +former one has been removed because the protests against the silence of +this fort were so loud and strong. His successor, with the fate of his +predecessor before him, bangs away at every Uhlan within sight. For the +commanders of forts to be forced to keep up a continual fire in order to +satisfy public opinion, is not an encouraging state of things. The +assertion of the Government, that no reports of what is going on in +France have been received from Tours, is discredited. They have got +themselves in a mess by their former declarations that communications +with the exterior were kept up; for if they know nothing, it is asked +what can these communications have been worth. Our last news from +outside is derived from a Rouen newspaper of the 29th ult., which is +published to-day. + +A few days ago it was announced that all pledges below the value of +20fr. would be returned by the Mont-de-Piete without payment. Since then +everyone has been pledging articles for sums below this amount, as a +second decree of the same nature is expected. It is not a bad plan to +give relief in this manner to those in want. As yet, however, there is +no absolute destitution, and as long as the provisions last I do not +think that there will be. So long as flour and meat last, everyone with +more or less trouble will get his share. As the amount of both these +articles is, however, finite, one of these days we shall hear that they +are exhausted. The proprietors have been deprived of their power to sue +for rents, consequently a family requires but little ready money to rub +on from hand to mouth. My landlord every week presents me with my bill. +The ceremony seems to please him, and does me no harm. I have pasted +upon my mantlepiece the decree of the Government adjourning payment of +rent, and the right to read and re-read this document is all that he +will get from me until the end of the siege. Yesterday I ordered myself +a warm suit of clothes; I chose a tailor with a German name, so I feel +convinced that he will not venture to ask for payment under the present +circumstances, and if he does he will not get it. If my funds run out +before the siege is over I shall have at least the pleasure to think +that this has not been caused by improvidence. + +Some acquaintances of mine managed in the course of yesterday to get out +to Villejuif without being arrested. I have not been so fortunate. I +have charged the _barrieres_ three times, and each time have had to +retire discomfited. My friends describe the soldiers of the line in the +front as utterly despising their allies the Mobiles. They camp out +without tents, in order to be ready at any moment to resist an attack. + + +_October 7th._ + +Paris would hardly be recognised under its present aspect by those +citizens of the Far West who are in the habit of regarding it as a place +where good Americans go when they die. In the garden of the Tuileries, +where _bonnes_ used to flirt with guardsmen, there is an artillery camp. +The guns, the pickets of horses, the tents, the camp-fires, and the +soldiers in their shirt-sleeves, have a picturesque effect under the +great trees. On the Place de la Concorde from morning to evening there +is a mob discussing things in general, and watching the regiments as +they defile with their crowns before the statue of Strasburg. In the +morning the guns of the forts can be heard heavily booming; but the +sound has now lost its novelty, and no one pays more attention to it +than the miller to the wheel of his mill. In the Champs Elysees there +are no private carriages, and few persons sitting on the chairs. The +Palais de l'Industrie is the central ambulance; the Cirque de +l'Imperatrice a barrack. All the cafes chantants are closed. Some few +youthful votaries of pleasure still patronise the merry-go-rounds; but +the business cannot be a lucrative one. Along the quays by the river +side there are cavalry and infantry regiments under tentes d'abri. The +Champ de Mars is a camp. In most of the squares there are sheep and +oxen. On the outer Boulevards lines of huts have been built for the +Mobiles, and similar huts are being erected along the Rue des Remparts +for the Nationaux on duty. Everywhere there are squads of Nationaux, +some learning the goose-step, others practising skirmishing between the +carts and fiacres, others levelling their guns and snapping them off at +imaginary Prussians. The omnibuses are crowded; and I fear greatly that +their horses will be far from tender when we eat them. The cabbies, +once so haughty and insolent, are humble and conciliatory, for Brutus +and Scaevola have taught them manners, and usually pay their fares in +patriotic speeches. At the Arc de Triomphe, at the Trocadero, and at +Passy, near the Point du Jour, there are always crowds trying to see the +Prussians on the distant hills, and in the Avenue de l'Imperatrice (now +the Avenue Uhrich), there are always numerous admirers of Mont Valerien +gazing silently upon the object of their worship. In the Faubourg St. +Antoine workmen are lounging about doing nothing, and watching others +drilling. In the outer faubourgs much the same thing goes on, except +where barricades are being built. Round each of these there is always a +crowd of men and women, apparently expecting the enemy to assault them +every moment. At the different gates of the town there are companies of +Mobiles and National Guards, who sternly repel every civilian who seeks +to get through them. On an average of every ten minutes, no matter where +one is, one meets either a battalion of Nationaux or Mobiles, marching +somewhere. The asphalt of the boulevards, that sacred ground of dandies +and smart dresses, is deserted during the daytime. In the evening for +about two hours it is thronged by Nationaux with their wives; Mobiles +who ramble along, grinning vaguely, hand in hand, as though they were in +their native villages; and loafers. There, and in the principal streets, +speculators have taken advantage of the rights of man to stop up the +side walks with tables on which their wares are displayed. On some of +them there are kepis, on others ointment for corns, on others statuettes +of the two inseparables of Berlin, William and his little Bismarck, on +others General Trochu and the members of the Government in gilt +gingerbread. The street-hawkers are enjoying a perfect carnival--the +last editions of the papers--the Tuileries' papers--the caricatures of +Badinguet--portraits of the heroic Uhrich, and infallible cures for the +small-pox or for worms, are offered for sale by stentorian lungs. +Citizens, too, equally bankrupt alike in voice and in purse, place four +lighted candles on the pavement, and from the midst of this circle of +light dismally croak the "Marseillaise" and other patriotic songs. As +for beggars, their name is legion; but as every one who wants food can +get it at the public cantines, their piteous whines are disregarded. +Lodgings are to be hired in the best streets for about one-tenth part of +what was asked for them two months ago, and even that need not be paid. +Few shops are shut; but their proprietors sit, hoping against hope, for +some customer to appear. The grocers, the butchers, and the bakers, and +the military tailors, still make money; but they are denounced for doing +so at the clubs as bad patriots. As for the hotels, almost all of them +are closed. At the Grand Hotel, there are not twenty persons. Business +of every kind is at a standstill. Those who have money, live on it; +those who have not, live on the State: the former shrug their shoulders +and say, "Provided it does not last;" the latter do not mind how long it +lasts. All are comparatively happy in the thought that the eyes of +Europe are on them, and that they have already thrown Leonidas and his +Spartans into the shade. + +The Government has placarded to-day a despatch from Tours. Two armies +are already formed, we are told--one at Lyons, and the other at----. The +situation of Bazaine is excellent. The provinces are ready. The +departments are organising to the cry of "Guerre a outrance, ni un pouce +de terrain, ni une pierre de nos forteresses!" I trust that the news is +true; but I have an ineradicable distrust of all French official +utterances. A partial attempt is being made to relieve the population. +At the Mairies of the arrondissements, tickets are delivered to heads of +families, giving them the right to a certain portion of meat per diem +until January. The restaurants are still fairly supplied; so that the +system of rationing is not yet carried out in its integrity. + +I am not entirely without hopes that the trial through which France is +passing will in the end benefit it. Although we still brag a good deal, +there is within the last few days a slight diminution of bluster. Cooped +up here, week after week, the population must in the end realise the +fact that the world can move on without them, and that twenty years of +despotism has enervated them and made other nations their equals, if not +their superiors. As Sydney Smith said of Macaulay, they have occasional +flashes of silence. They sit, now and then, silent and gloomy, and mourn +for the "Pauvre France." "Nous sommes bien tombes." This is a good sign, +but will it outlive a single gleam of success? Shall we not in that case +have the Gallic cock crowing as lustily as ever? The French have many +amiable and engaging qualities, and if adversity would only teach them +wisdom, the country is rich enough to rise from the ruin which has +overtaken it. M. Jules Simon has published a plan of education which he +says in twenty years will produce a race of virile citizens; but this is +a little long to wait for a social regeneration. At present they are +schoolboys, accustomed to depend on their masters for everything, and +the defence of Paris is little more than the "barring out" of a girls' +school. They cannot, like Anglo-Saxons, organise themselves, and they +have no man at their head of sufficient force of character to impose his +will upon them. The existing Government has, it is true, to a certain +extent produced administrative order, but they have not succeeded in +inspiring confidence in themselves, or in raising the spirit of the +Parisians to the level of the situation. The Ultras say justly, that +this negative system cannot last, and that prompt action is as much a +political as it is a military necessity. + +The sixth livraison of the Tuileries papers has just appeared. Its +contents are unimportant. There is a receipt from Miss Howard, the +Emperor's former mistress, showing that between 1850 and 1855 she +received above five million francs. This sum was not, however, a +sufficient remuneration in her opinion, for her services, as in July, +1855, she writes for more, and says "the Emperor is too good to leave a +woman whom he has tenderly loved in a false position." This and several +other of her letters are addressed to the Emperor's Secretary, whose +functions seem to have been of a peculiarly domestic character. Indeed, +the person who fulfilled them would everywhere, except at a Court, have +been called something less euphonious than "secretary." A report from M. +Duvergier, ex-Secretary-General of the Police, is published respecting +the _Cabinet Noir_. It is addressed to the then Minister of the +Interior. It is lengthy, and very detailed. It appears that occasionally +the Emperor's own letters were opened. + +I went to the Hotel de Ville this afternoon, to see whether anything was +going on there. Several battalions passed by, but they did not +demonstrate _en passant_. The place was full of groups of what in +England would be called the "dangerous classes." They were patiently +listening to various orators who were denouncing everything in general, +and the Government in particular. The principal question seemed to be +that of arms. Frenchmen are so accustomed to expect their Governments to +do everything for them, that they cannot understand why, although there +were but few Chassepots in the city, every citizen should not be given +one. It is indeed necessary to live here and to mix with all classes to +realise the fact that the Parisians have until now lived in an ideal +world of their own creation. Their orators, their statesmen, and their +journalists, have traded upon the traditions of the First Empire, and +persuaded them that they are a superior race, and that their +superiority is universally recognised. Utterly ignorant of foreign +languages and of foreign countries, they believe that their literature +is the only one in the world, and that a Frenchman abroad is adored as +something little less than a divinity. They regard the Prussians round +their city much as the citizens of Sparta would have regarded Helots, +and they are so astonished at their reverses, that they are utterly +unable to realise what is going on. As for trying to make them +comprehend that Paris ought to enjoy no immunity from attack which +Berlin or London might not equally claim, it is labour lost. "The +neutrals," I heard a member of the late Assembly shouting in a cafe, +"are traitors to civilisation in not coming to the aid of the Queen of +Europe." They did their very best, they declare, to prevent Napoleon +from making war. Yet one has only to talk with one of them for half an +hour to find that he still hankers after the Rhine, and thinks that +France wishes to be supreme in Europe. + + +_October 8th._ + +Yesterday I happened to be calling at the Embassy, when a young English +gentleman made his appearance, and quietly asked whether he could take +any letters to England. He is to start to-day in a balloon, and has paid +5,000f. for his place. I gave him a letter, and a copy of one which I +had confided on Wednesday to an Irishman who is trying to get through +the lines. I hear that to-morrow the Columbian Minister is going to the +Prussian Headquarters, and a friend of mine assures me that he thinks if +I give him a letter by one o'clock to-day this diplomatist will take it. +The Corps Diplomatique are excessively indignant with the reply they +have received from Count Bismarck, declining to allow any but open +despatches through the Prussian lines. They have held an indignation +meeting. M. Kern, the Swiss Minister, has drawn up a protest, which has +been signed by himself and all his colleagues. The Columbian Minister +is to be the bearer of it. It bombards Bismarck with copious extracts +from Puffendorf and Grotius, and cites a case in point from the siege of +Vienna in the 15th century. It will be remembered that Messenger +Johnson, at the risk of his life and at a very great expense to the +country, brought despatches to the Parisian Embassy on the second day of +the siege. I recommend Mr. Rylands, or some other M.P. of independent +character, to insist upon Parliament being informed what these important +despatches were. The revelation will be a curious one. + +Yesterday afternoon I made an excursion into the Bois de Boulogne under +the convoy of a friend in power. We went out by the Porte de Neuilly. +Anything like the scene of artificial desolation and ruin outside this +gate it is impossible to imagine. The houses are blown up--in some +places the bare walls are still standing, in others even these have been +thrown down. The Bois itself, from being the most beautiful park in the +world, has become a jungle of underwood. In the roads there are large +barricades formed of the trees which used to line them, which have been +cut down. Between the ramparts and the lake the wood is swept clean +away, and the stumps of the trees have been sharpened to a point. About +8,000 soldiers are encamped in the open air on the race-course and in +the Bois. Near Suresnes there is a redoubt which throws shell and shot +into St. Cloud. We are under the impression that the firing from this +redoubt, from Valerien, Issy, and the gunboat Farcy, which took place on +Thursday morning, between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., has destroyed the batteries +and earthworks which the Prussians were erecting on the heights of St. +Cloud and Meudon-Clamart. You, however, are better informed respecting +the damage which was done than we are. When I was in the Bois the +redoubt was not firing, and the sailors who man it were lounging about, +exactly as though they had been on board ship. Occasionally +Mont-Valerien fired a shot, but it was only a sort of visiting card to +the Prussians, for with the best glasses we could see nothing of them. +Indeed, the way they keep under cover is something wonderful. "I have +been for three weeks in a fort," said the aide-de-camp of one of the +commanders of a southern fort, "every day we have made reconnaissances, +and I have not seen one single Prussian." + +From what I learn, on good authority, the political situation is this. +The Government consists mainly of Orleanists. When they assumed the +direction of public affairs, they hoped to interest either Austria or +Russia in the cause of France. They were, therefore, very careful to +avoid as much as possible any Republican propagandism either at home or +abroad. Little by little they have discovered that if France is to be +saved it must be by herself. Some of them, however, still hanker after a +Russian intervention, and do not wish to weaken M. Thiers' prospects of +success at St. Petersburg. They have, however, been obliged to yield to +the Republicanism of the Parisian "men of action," and they have +gradually drifted into a Government charged not only with the defence of +the country, but also with the establishment of a Republic. As is usual +in all councils, the extreme party has gained the ascendancy. But the +programme of the Ultras of the "ins" falls far short of that of the +Ultras of the "outs." The latter are continually referring to '93, and +as the Committee of Public Safety then saved France, they are unable to +understand why the same organisation should not save it now. Their +leaders demand a Commune, because they hope to be among its members. The +masses support them, because they sincerely believe that in the election +of a Commune Paris will find her safety. The Government is accused of a +want of energy. "Are we to remain cooped up here until we are starved +out?" ask the Ultras. "As a military man, I decline to make a sortie," +replies General Trochu. "We are not in '93. War is waged in a more +scientific manner," whispers Ernest Picard. The plan of the Government, +if plan it has, appears to be to wear out the endurance of the besiegers +by a defensive attitude, until either an army from the provinces cuts +off their communications, or the public opinion of Europe forces them to +raise the siege. The plan of the Ultras is to save Paris by Paris; to +make continual sorties, and, every now and then, one in such force that +it will be a battle. I am inclined to think that theoretically the +Government plan is the best, but it ignores the material it has to do +with, and it will find itself obliged either to adopt the policy of the +Ultras, or to allow them to elect a "Commune," which would soon absorb +all power. The position appears to me to be a false one, owing to the +attempt to rule France from Paris through an occasional despatch by +balloon. What ought to have been done was to remove the seat of +Government to another town before the siege commenced, and to have left +either Trochu or some other military man here to defend Paris, as Uhrich +defended Strasburg. But the Government consisted of the deputies of +Paris; and had they moved the seat of Government, they would have lost +their _locus standi_. Everyone here sees the absurdity of Palikao's +declaration, that Bazaine was commander-in-chief when he was invested in +Metz, but no one seems to see the still greater absurdity of the supreme +civil and military Government of the whole country remaining in Paris +whilst it is invested by the German armies. Yesterday, for instance, a +decree was issued allowing the town of Roubaix to borrow, I forget how +much. Can anything be more absurd than for a provincial town to be +forced to wait for such an authorisation until it receives it from +Paris? It is true that there is a delegation at Tours, but, so long as +it is nothing but a delegation, it will be hindered in its operations by +the dread of doing anything which may conflict with the views of its +superiors here. Paris at present is as great an incubus to France as the +Emperor was. Yesterday M. Gambetta started in a balloon for Tours, and +in the interests of France I shall be glad to see his colleagues one and +all follow him. The day before a balloon had been prepared for him, but +his nerves failed him at the last moment, and he deferred his departure +for twenty-four hours. + +M. Rochefort was "interviewed" yesterday by a deputation of women, who +asked to be employed in the hospitals instead, of the men who are now +there. He promised to take their request into consideration. I was down +yesterday at the headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale, and I +cannot say that I think that the accusations of the Ultra-press +respecting the number of young Frenchmen there, is borne out by facts. +There have been, however, a vast number of _petits creves_ and others +who have shirked military service by forming themselves into amateur +ambulances. The "sergents de ville" have received orders to arrest +anyone wearing the Red Cross who is unable to produce his certificate as +an _infirmier_. This has thrown the _petits creves_--the pets of priests +and old ladies--those youths who are best described by the English +expression, "nice young men for a small tea-party"--into consternation. +I saw yesterday one of these emasculated specimens of humanity arrayed +in a suit of velvet knickerbockers, with a red cross on his arm, borne +off to prison, notwithstanding his whining protests. + +Another abuse which has been put an end to is that of ladies going about +begging for money for the "wounded." They are no longer allowed to do so +unless they have an authorisation. I have a lively recollection of an +old grandaunt of mine, who used to dun every one she met for a shilling +for the benefit of the souls of the natives of Southern Africa, and as I +know that the shillings never went beyond ministering to the wants of +this aged relative, warned by precocious experience, I have not allowed +myself to be caught by the "ladies." + +A singular remonstrance has been received at the British Embassy. In the +Rue de Chaillot resides a celebrated English courtezan, called Cora +Pearl, and above her house floats the English flag. The inhabitants of +the street request the "Ambassador of England, a country the purity and +the decency of whose manners is well known," to cause this bit of +bunting, which is a scandal in their eyes, to be hauled down. I left Mr. +Wodehouse consulting the text writers upon international law, in order +to discover a precedent for the case. Colonel Claremont is doing his +best to look after the interests of his fellow-countrymen. I had a +prejudice against this gentleman, because I was unable to believe that +any one hailing from the Horse Guards could under any circumstances make +himself a useful member of society. I find, however, that he is a man of +energy and good common sense, with very little of the pipeclay about +him. + +From Monday next a new system of the distribution of meat is to come +into force. Between 450 and 500 oxen and 3,500 sheep are to be daily +slaughtered. This meat is to be divided into twenty lots, one for each +arrondissement, the size of each lot to be determined by the number of +the inhabitants of the particular arrondissement. The lot will then be +divided between the butchers in the arrondissement, at twenty centimes +per kilogramme below the retail price. Each arrondissement may, however, +adopt a system of rations. I suspect most of the beef I have eaten of +late is horse; anyhow, it does not taste like ordinary beef. To obtain a +joint at home is almost impossible. In the first place, it is difficult +to purchase it; in the second place, if, when bought, it is spotted by +patriots going through the street, it is seized upon on the ground that +any one who can obtain a joint for love or money must be an aristocrat +who is getting more than his share. I met a lady early this morning, who +used to be most fashionable. She was walking along with a parcel under +her shawl, and six dogs were following her. She asked me to drive them +away, but they declined to go. I could not understand their sudden +affection for my fair friend, until she confided to me that she had two +pounds of mutton in her parcel. A tariff for horse-flesh is published +to-day; it costs--the choice parts, whichever they may be--1f 40c. the +kilo.; the rest, 80c. the kilo. + +_Figaro_ yesterday published a "correspondence from Orleans." The +_Official Gazette_ of this morning publishes an official note from the +Prefect of Police stating that this correspondence is "a lie, such as +those which the _Figaro_ invents every day." + + +_Afternoon._ + +I have just returned from the Place de l'Hotel de Ville. When I got +there at about two o'clock six or seven thousand manifesters had already +congregated there. They were all, as is the nature of Frenchmen in a +crowd, shouting their political opinions into their neighbours' ears. +Almost all of them were Nationaux from the Faubourgs, and although they +were not armed, they wore a kepi, or some other distinctive military +badge. As well as I could judge, nine out of ten were working men. Their +object, as a sharp, wiry artizan bellowed into my ear, was to force the +Government to consent to the election of a Commune, in order that the +Chassepots may be more fairly distributed between the bourgeois and the +ouvriers, and that Paris shall no longer render itself ridiculous by +waiting within its walls until its provisions are exhausted and it is +forced to capitulate. There appeared to be no disposition to pillage; +rightly or wrongly, these men consider that the Government is wanting in +energy, and that it is the representative of the bourgeoisie and not of +the entire population. Every now and then, some one shouted out "Vive +la Commune!" and all waved their caps and took up the cry. After these +somewhat monotonous proceedings had continued about half an hour, +several bourgeois battalions of National Guards came along the quay, and +drew up in line, four deep, before the Hotel de Ville. They were not +molested except with words. The leading ranks of the manifesters +endeavoured by their eloquence to convince them that they ought not to +prevent citizens peacefully expressing their opinions; but the grocers +stood stolidly to their arms, and vouchsafed no reply. At three o'clock +General Trochu with his staff rode along inside the line, and then +withdrew. General Tamisier then made a speech, which of course no one +could hear. Shortly afterwards there was a cry of "Voila Flourens--Voila +nos amis," and an ouvrier battalion with its band playing the +Marseillaise marched by. They did not halt, notwithstanding the +entreaties of the manifesters, for they were bound, their officers +explained, on a sacred mission, to deposit a crown before the statue of +Strasburg. When I left the Place the crowd was, I think, increasing, and +as I drove along the Rue Rivoli I met several bourgeois battalions +marching towards the Hotel de Ville. I presume, therefore, that General +Trochu had thought it expedient to send reinforcements. "We will come +back again with arms," was the general cry among the ouvriers, and +unless things mend for the better I imagine that they will keep their +word. The line of demarcation between the bourgeois and the ouvrier +battalions is clearly marked, and they differ as much in their opinions +as in their appearance. The sleek, well-fed shopkeeper of the Rue +Vivienne, although patriotic, dreads disorder, and does not absolutely +contemplate with pleasure an encounter with the Prussians. The wild, +impulsive working man from Belleville or La Villette dreads neither +Prussians without, nor anarchy within. If he could only find a leader he +would blow up himself and half Paris rather than submit to the +humiliation of a capitulation. Anything he thinks is better than this +"masterly inactivity." Above the din of the crowd the cannon could be +heard sullenly firing from the forts; but even this warning of how near +the foe is, seemed to convey no lesson to avoid civil strife. Unless +General Trochu is a man of more energy than I take him to be, if ever +the Prussians do get into the town they will find us in the condition of +the Kilkenny cats. + + +_October 9th._ + +The representative of the Republic of Columbia, to whom I had given my +letter of yesterday, has returned it to me, as he was afraid to cross +the lines with it. The Briton who has paid for a place in a balloon is +still here, and he imagines that he will start to-morrow, so I shall +give him my Columbian letter and this one. I understand that any one who +is ready to give assurances that he will praise everything and every one +belonging to the Government, is afforded facilities for sending out +letters by the Post-office balloons, but I am not prepared to give any +other pledge except that I shall tell the truth without fear or favour. + +The _Journal Officiel_ of this morning, and the Moderate papers, boast +that the Ultra manifestation of yesterday was a complete failure. As +usual, they cry before they are out of the wood. After I left the Place +it appears that there was a counter manifestation of bourgeois National +Guards, who arrived in military order with their arms. Jules Favre +addressed them. Now as far as I can make out, these battalions went to +the Hotel de Ville on their own initiative. No one, however, seems to +see any incongruity in the friends of the Government making an armed +demonstration as a protest against armed and unarmed demonstrations in +general. The question of the municipal elections will lie dormant for a +few days, but I see no evidence that those who were in favour of it have +altered their minds. As far as yesterday's proceedings were concerned, +they only go to prove the fact, which no one ever doubted, that the +bourgeoisie and their adherents are ready to support the Government, but +they have also proved to my mind conclusively that the working men as a +body have entirely lost all confidence in the men at the head of +affairs. + +On the pure merits of the question, I think that the working men have +reason on their side. They know clearly what they want--to make sorties +and to endeavour to destroy the enemy's works; if this fails--to make +provisions last as long as possible by a system of rationing--and then +to destroy Paris rather than surrender it. The Government and their +adherents are waiters on Providence, and, except that they have some +vague idea that the Army of the Loire will perform impossibilities, they +are contented to live on from day to day, and to hope that something +will happen to avert the inevitable catastrophe. I can understand a +military dictatorship in a besieged capital, and I can understand a +small elected council acting with revolutionary energy; but what I +cannot understand is a military governor who fears to enforce military +discipline, and a dozen respectable lawyers and orators, whose sole idea +of Government is, as Blanqui truly says, to issue decrees and +proclamations, and to make speeches. The only practical man among them +is M. Dorian, the Minister of Public Works, M. Dorian is a hard-headed +manufacturer, and utterly ignoring red tape, clerks, and routine; he has +set all the private ateliers to work, to make cannon and muskets. I have +not yet heard of his making a single speech, or issuing a single +proclamation since the commencement of the siege, and he alone of his +colleagues appears to me to be the right man in the right place. I do +not take my views of the working men from the nonsense which is printed +about them in official and semi-official organs. They are the only class +here which, to use an Americanism, is not "played out." The Government +dreads them as much as the Empire did; but although they are too much +carried away by their enthusiasm and their impulsiveness, they are the +only persons in Paris who appear to have a grain of common sense. "As +for the Army of the Loire," said one of them to me this morning, "no +one, except a fool or a Government employe, can believe that it will +ever be able to raise the siege, and as for all these bourgeois, they +consider that they are heroes because once or twice a week they pass the +night at the ramparts; they think first of their shops, then of their +country." "But how can you imagine that you and your friends would be +able to defeat the Prussians, who are disciplined soldiers?" I asked. +"We can at least try," he replied. I ventured to point out to my friend +that perhaps a little discipline in the ouvrier battalions might not be +a bad thing; but he insisted that the indiscipline was caused by their +distrust of their rulers, and that they were ready to obey their +officers. "Take," he said "Flourens' battalions. They do not, it is +true, march as regularly as the bourgeois, and they have nothing but +kepis and old muskets; but, as far as fighting goes, they are worth all +the bourgeois put together." I do not say that Trochu is not wise to +depend upon the bourgeois; all I say is, that as the Empire fell because +it did not venture to arm any except the regular soldiers, so will Paris +render itself the laughing stock of Europe, if its defence is to depend +upon an apocryphal Army of the Loire, marines from the Navy, peasants +from the provinces, and the National Guards of the wealthy quarters. To +talk of the heroic attitude of Paris, when the Parisians have not been +under fire, is simply absurd. As long as the outer forts hold out, it is +no more dangerous to "man the ramparts" than to mount guard at the +Tuileries. I saw to-day a company of mounted National Guards exercising. +Their uniforms were exquisitely clean, but I asked myself of what +earthly use they were. Their commander ordered them to charge, when +every horse butted against the one next to him. I believe a heavy gale +of wind would have disconnected all these warriors from their chargers. +I fully recognise the fact that the leaders of the ouvriers talk a great +deal of nonsense, and that they are actuated as much by personal +ambition as by patriotism; but it is certain that the individual working +man is the only reality in this population of corrupt and emasculated +humbugs; everyone else is a windbag and a sham. + +A decree has been issued, informing all who have no means of subsistence +that they will receive a certain amount of bread per diem upon +application at their respective mairies. We are also told that if we +wish to make puddings of the blood of oxen, we must mix pigs' blood with +it, otherwise it will be unwholesome. + +It has been showery to-day, and I never have witnessed a more dismal +Sunday in Paris. A pigeon from. Gambetta's balloon has returned, but +this foolish bird lost _en route_ the message which was attached to its +neck. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +_October 10th._ + +It is very curious how close, under certain conditions of wind and +temperature, the cannonade appears to be, even in the centre of the +town. This morning I was returning home at about two o'clock, when I +heard a succession of detonations so distinctly, that I literally went +into the next street, as I imagined that a house must be falling down +there. It is said that the palace of St. Cloud has been destroyed. + +As well as I can learn, General Burnside came into Paris mainly to +discuss with Mr. Washburne the possibility of the American families who +are still here being allowed to pass the Prussian lines. He saw Jules +Favre, but, if he attempted any species of negotiation, it could have +led to nothing, as we are so absolutely confident that the Army of the +Loire will in a few days cut off the Prussian supplies, and we are so +proud of our attitude, that I really believe if Jules Favre were to +consent to pay a war indemnity as a condition of peace, he and his +friends would be driven from power the next day. + +Having nothing particularly to boast of to-day, the newspapers request +the world to be good enough to turn its eyes upon Gambetta traversing +space in a balloon. A nation whose Minister is capable of this heroic +feat must eventually drive the enemy from its soil. The _Figaro_, in +fact, hints that in all probability peace will be signed at Berlin at no +very distant date. The _Gaulois_, a comparatively sensible newspaper, +thus deals with this aerial voyage:--"As the balloon passed above the +Prussian armies, amid the clouds and the birds, the old William probably +turned to Bismarck and asked, 'What is that black point in the sky?' 'It +is a Minister,' replied Bismarck; 'it is the heroic Gambetta, on his way +to the Loire. In Paris he named prefects; on the Loire he will assemble +battalions.' Favourable winds wafted the balloon on her course; perhaps +Gambetta landed at Cahors, his natal town, perhaps somewhere +else--perhaps in the arms of Cremieux, that aged lion. To-morrow the +provinces will resound with his voice, which will mingle with the +rattling of arms and the sound of drums. Like a trumpet, it will peal +along the Loire, inflaming hearts, forming battalions, and causing the +manes of St. Just and Desmoulins to rise from their graves." + +Yesterday a battalion of the National Guard was drawn up before the +Hotel de Ville, but there was no demonstration of the Ultras. M. Arago, +the Mayor of Paris, made a few speeches from a window, which are +described as inflaming the hearts of these heroic soldiers of the +country. The rain, however, in the end, sent the heroic soldiers home, +and obliged M. Arago to shut his window. A day never passes without one +or more of our rulers putting his head out of some window or other, and +what is called "delivering himself up to a fervid improvisation." The +Ultra newspapers are never tired of abusing the priests, who are +courageously and honestly performing their duty. Yesterday I read a +letter from a patriot, in which he complains that this caste of crows +are to decree the field of battle, and asks the Government to decree +that the last moments of virtuous citizens, dying for their country, +shall not be troubled by this new Horror. To-day a citizen writes as +follows:--"Why are not the National Guards installed in the churches? +Not only might they find in these edifices dedicated to an extinct +superstition, shelter from the weather, but orators might from time to +time in the pulpits deliver speeches. Those churches which are not +required by the National Guard might serve as excellent stables for the +oxen, the sheep, and the hogs, which are now parked out in the open +air." + +Next to the priests and the churches, the streets named after members +and friends of the late Imperial family excite the ire of patriots. The +inhabitants of the quartier Prince Eugene, have, I read to-day, decided +that the Boulevard Prince Eugene shall henceforward be called the +Boulevard Dussault, "the noble child of the Haute Vienne, who was +murdered by the aides of the infamous Bonaparte." + +We are not, as you might perhaps suppose, wanting in news. The French +journalists, even when communications with the rest of the world were +open, preferred to evolve their facts from their moral consciousness--their +hand has not lost its cunning. Peasants, who play the part here of the +intelligent contraband of the American civil war, bring in daily the most +wonderful stories of the misery which the Prussians are suffering, and the +damage which our artillery is causing them--and these tales are duly +published. Then, at least three times a week we kill a Prussian Prince, +and "an army" relieves Bazaine. A few days ago a troop of 1500 oxen marched +into our lines, "they were French oxen, and they were impelled by their +patriotism." This beats the ducks who asked the old woman to come and kill +them. + +The clubs appear to be divided upon the question of the "commune." In +most of them, however, resolutions have been passed reaffirming their +determination to hold the elections with or without the consent of the +Government. Rochefort to-day publishes a sensible reply to Flourens, who +called upon him to explain why he does not resign. "I have," he says, +"descended into the most impenetrable recesses of my conscience, and I +have emerged with the conviction that my withdrawal would cause a +conflict, and this would open a breach to the Prussians. You will say +that I am capitulating with my convictions; if it be so, I do not +necessarily capitulate with the Prussians. I silence my political +instincts; let our brave friends in Belleville allow theirs to sleep for +a time." I understand that in the council which was held to decide upon +the advisability of adjourning these elections, Rochefort, Simon, Ferry, +and Arago voted against the adjournment, and Pelletan, Garnier Pages, +Picard, and Favre in favour of it. Trochu then decided the question in +the affirmative by a threat that, if the elections were allowed to take +place, he would resign. + + +_October 11th._ + +The notions of a Pall Mall dandy respecting Southwark or the Tower +Hamlets are not more vague than those of the Parisian bourgeois or the +Professional French journalist respecting the vast Faubourgs peopled by +the working men which encircle this city. From actual observation they +know nothing of them. They believe them to be the homes of a dangerous +class--communistic and anarchical in its tendencies, the sworn foes +alike of law, order, and property. The following are the articles of +faith of the journalist:--France is the world. Paris is France. The +boulevards, the theatres, some fifty writers on the press, and the +bourgeoisie of the fashionable quarters of the city, are Paris. Within +this narrow circle he may reason justly, but he never emerges from it, +and consequently cannot instruct others about what he does not know +himself. Since the fall of the Emperor, the Parisian bourgeois has +vaguely felt that he has been surrounded by two hostile armies--the +Prussian without the walls, and the working men within. He has placed +his trust in Trochu, as twenty years ago he did in Cavaignac. The siege +had not lasted a week before he became convinced that the Prussians were +afraid of him, because they had not attacked the town; and within the +last few days he has acquired the conviction, upon equally excellent +grounds, that the working men also tremble before his martial attitude. +On Friday last he achieved what he considers a crowning triumph, and he +is now under the impression that he has struck terror into the breasts +of the advocates of the Commune by marching with his battalion to the +Hotel de Ville. "We"--and by "we" he means General Trochu and +himself--"we have shown them that we are not to be trifled with," is his +boast from morning to night. Now, if instead of reading newspapers which +only reflect his own views, and passing his time, whether on the +ramparts or in a cafe, surrounded by men who share his prejudices, the +worthy bourgeois would be good enough to accompany me to Belleville or +La Villette, he would perhaps realise the fact that, as usual, he is +making himself comfortable in a fool's paradise. He would have an +opportunity to learn that, while the working men have not the remotest +intention to pillage his shop, they are equally determined not to allow +him and his friends to make Paris the laughing-stock of Europe. With +them the "Commune" is but a means to an end. What they want is a +Government which will carry out in sober earnest M. Jules Favre's +rhetorical figure that "the Parisians will bury themselves beneath the +ruins of their town rather than surrender." The lull in the +"demonstrations" to urge the Government either to carry out this +programme, or to associate with themselves men of energy who are ready +to do so, will not last long; and when next Belleville comes to the +Hotel de Ville, it will not be unarmed. The bourgeois and the working +man worship different gods, and have hardly two ideas in common. The +bourgeois believes in the Army of the Loire; believes that in +sacrificing the trade profits of a few months, and in catching a cold by +keeping guard occasionally for a night on the ramparts, he has done his +duty towards his country, and deserves the admiration of all future +ages. As for burying himself, beneath, the ruins of his shop, it is his +shop as much as his country that he is defending. He is gradually +wearying of the siege; the pleasure of strutting about in a uniform and +marching behind a drum hardly compensates for the pecuniary losses which +he is incurring. He feels that he is already a hero, and he longs to +repose upon his laurels. When Bazaine has capitulated, and when the +bubble of the Army of the Loire has burst, he will, if left to himself, +declare and actually believe that Paris has surpassed in heroism and +endurance Troy and Saragossa; and he will accept what is inevitable--a +capitulation. The working man, on the other hand, believes in no Army of +the Loire, troubles himself little about Bazaine, and has confidence in +himself alone. Far from disliking the siege, he delights in it. He lives +at free quarters, and he walks about with a gun, that occupation of all +others which is most pleasing to him. He at least is no humbug; he has +no desire to avoid danger, but rather courts it. He longs to form one in +a sortie, and he builds barricades, and looks forward with grim +satisfaction to the moment when he will risk his own life in defending +them, and blow up his landlord's house to arrest the advance of the +Prussians. What will be the upshot of this radical divergence of opinion +between the two principal classes which are cooped up together within +the walls of Paris, it is impossible to say. The working men have, as +yet, no leaders in whom they place confidence, and under whose guidance +they would consent to act collectively. It may be that this will prevent +them from giving effect to their views before the curtain drops; they +are strongly patriotic, and they are disinclined to compromise the +success of the defence by internal quarrels. Very possibly, therefore, +they will be deceived by promises on the part of the Government, and +assurances that Paris will fight it out to the last ditch, until the +moment to act has passed. As for the bourgeois and the Government, their +most powerful ally is the cry, "No division; let us all be united." They +are both, however, in a radically false position. They have called upon +the world to witness how a great capital can die rather than surrender; +and yet, if no external agency prevents the surrender, they have no +intention to fulfil their boast of dying. Any loophole for escape from, +the alternative in which they have thrust themselves they would welcome. +"Our provisions will last three months," they say; "during this time +something must happen to our advantage." "What?" I inquire. "The Army of +the Loire will advance, or Bazaine will get out of Metz, or the +Prussians will despair of success, or we shall be able to introduce +convoys of provisions." "But if none of these prophecies are +realised.--what then?" I have asked a hundred times, without ever +getting a clear answer to my question. By some strange process of +reasoning in what, as Lord Westbury would say, they are pleased to call +their minds, they appear to have arrived at the conviction that Paris +never will be taken, because they are unable to realise the possibility +of an event which they seem to consider is contrary to that law of +nature, which, has made her the capital and the mistress of the world. A +victorious army is at their gates; they do not dare even to make a +formidable sortie; there is no regular army in the field outside; their +provisions have a limit; they can only communicate with the rest of the +world by an occasional balloon; and yet they regard the idea of a +foreign occupation of Paris much as we do a French invasion of +England--a thing so improbable as to be barely possible. + +Yesterday there were a few groups on the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, but +they were rather curious spectators than "manifesters." At about two +o'clock the rappel was beaten in the Place Vendome, and several +battalions of the National Guard of the quartier marched there and +broke up these groups. M. Jules Ferry's head then appeared from the +window, and he aired his eloquence in a speech congratulating the +friends of order on having rallied to the defence of the Government. It +is a very strange thing that no Frenchman, when in power, can understand +equal justice between his opponents and his supporters. The present +Government is made up of men who clamoured for a Municipal Council +during the Empire, and whose first step upon taking possession of the +Hotel de Ville was to decree the immediate election of a "Commune." +Since then, yielding to the demands of their own supporters, they have +withdrawn this decree, and now, if I go unarmed upon the Place de +l'Hotel de Ville and cry "Vive la Commune," I am arrested; whereas if +any battalion of the National Guard chooses, without orders, to go there +in arms and cry, "a bas la Commune," immediately it is congratulated for +its patriotism by some member of the Government. + +Nothing new has passed at the front since yesterday. I learn from this +morning's papers, however, that Moltke is dead, that the Crown Prince is +dying of a fever, that Bismarck is anxious to negotiate, but is +prevented by the obstinacy of the King, that 300 Prussians from the +Polish provinces have come over to our side, and that the Bavarian and +Wurtemberg troops are in a state of incipient rebellion. "From the fact +that the Prussian outposts have withdrawn to a greater distance from the +forts," the _Electeur Libre_, tells me, "it is probable that the +Prussians despair of success, and in a few days will raise the siege." +Most of the newspapers make merry over the faults in grammar in a letter +which has been discovered and published from the Empress to the Emperor, +although I doubt if there is one Frenchman in the world who could write +Spanish as well as the Empress does French. + + +_Evening._ + +It appears that yesterday the cheques signed by M. Flourens were not +recognised by the Etat Major of his "secteur." On this he declared that +he would beat the "generale" in Belleville and march on the Hotel de +Ville. The quarrel was, however, patched up--no disturbance occurred. +For some reason or other M. Flourens, until he gave in his resignation, +commanded five battalions of the National Guard; he has been told that +he can be re-elected to the command of any one of them, but that he +cannot be allowed to be at the head of more than one. This man is an +enthusiast, and, I am told, not quite right in his head. In personal +appearance he is a good-looking gentlemanly fellow. As long as +Belleville acts under his leadership there is no great fear that any +danger will arise, because his own men distrust, not his good faith, but +his sense. + +Gambetta has sent a despatch from Montdidier, by a pigeon. He says, +"Everywhere the people are rising; the Government of the National +Defence is universally acclaimed." + +The Papal Nuncio is going to try to get through on Thursday. He says he +is anxious about the Pope--no wonder. + + +_October 12th._ + +"What is truth?" said jesting Pilate, and would not wait for an answer; +the Parisians of 1870 are as indifferent about truth as this unjust +Roman judge was. It is strange that their own want of veracity does not +lead them to doubt that of others; they are alike credulous and +mendacious. A man comes into a cafe, he relates every detail of an +action in which he says he was engaged the day before; the action has +never taken place, but every one believes him; one of the auditors then +perhaps says that he has passed the night in a fort, and that its guns +destroyed a battery which the enemy was erecting; the fort has never +fired a shot, but the first speaker goes off convinced that a battery +has been dismounted. For my part I have given up placing the least faith +in anything I hear or read. As for the newspapers they give currency to +the most incredible stories, and they affect not only to relate every +shot that has been fired, but the precise damage which it has done to +the enemy, and the number of men which it has killed, and wounded. They +have already slain and taken prisoner a far greater number of Prussians +than, on any fair calculation, there could have been in the besieging +army at the commencement of the siege. Since the commencement of the war +the Government, the journalists, the generals, and the gossips have been +engaged apparently in a contest to test the limits of human credulity. +Under the Republic the game is still merrily kept up, and although the +German armies are but a few miles off, we are daily treated to as many +falsehoods respecting what goes on at the front as when they were at +Sedan, or huddled together in those apocryphal quarries of Jaucourt. "I +saw it in a newspaper," or "I was told it by an eye-witness," is still +considered conclusive evidence of the truth of no matter what fact. +To-day, I nearly had a dispute with a stout party, who sat near me as I +was breakfasting in a cafe, because I ventured, in the mildest and most +hesitating manner, to question the fact that an army of 250,000 men was +at Rouen, and would in the course of this week attack the Prussians at +Versailles. "It is here, sir," he said indignantly pointing to his +newspaper; "a peasant worthy of belief has brought the news to the +Editor; are we to believe no one?" There were a dozen persons +breakfasting at the same time, and I was the only one who did not +implicitly believe in the existence of this army. This diseased state of +mind arises mainly, I presume, from excessive vanity. No Parisian is +able to believe anything which displeases him, and he is unable not to +believe anything which flatters his _amour propre_. He starts in life +with a series of delusions, which all he has read and heard until now +have confirmed. No journal dares to tell the truth, for if it did its +circulation would fall to nothing. No Parisian, even if by an effort he +could realise to himself the actual condition of his country, would dare +to communicate his opinion to his neighbour, for he would be regarded as +a traitor and a liar. The Bostonians believe that Boston is the "hub of +the universe," and the Parisian is under the impression that his city is +a species of sacred Ark, which it is sacrilege to touch. To bombard +London or Berlin would be an unfortunate necessity of war, but to fire a +shot into Paris is desecration. For a French army to live at the expense +of Germany is in the nature of things; for a German army to live at the +expense of Frenchmen is a barbarity which the civilised world ought to +resent. If the result of the present campaign is to convince Frenchmen +that, as a nation, they are neither better nor worse than other nations, +and to convince Parisians that Paris enjoys no special immunity from the +hardships of war, and that if it sustains a siege it must accept the +natural consequences, it will not have been waged in vain, but will +materially conduce to the future peace of the world. As yet--I say it +with regret--for I abominate war and Prussians, and there is much which +I like in the French--this lesson has not been learnt. Day by day I am +becoming more convinced that a lasting peace can only be signed in +Paris, and that the Parisians must be brought to understand by hard +experience that, if victory means an accession of military glory, defeat +means humiliation, and that the one is just as possible as the other. If +the siege were raised to-morrow, the occupation of Alsace and Lorraine +by an enemy would be disbelieved within six months by this vain, +frivolous populace; and even if the German army does ever defile along +the Boulevards, I shall not be surprised if we are told, as soon as they +have withdrawn, that they never were there. Shut up in this town with +its inhabitants, my sympathies are entirely on their side, but my reason +tells me that Bismarck is right in insisting upon treating in Paris. Let +him, if he can, come in here; let him impose upon France such a war +indemnity, that every man, woman, and child in the country will curse +the folly of this war for the next fifty years; and let him give up his +scheme of annexation, and he will then have acted in the interests of +Europe, and ultimately in those of France herself. Prussia, after the +battle of Jena, was as low as France is now. Napoleon stripped her of +her provinces, and she acceded to the treaty of her spoliation, but at +the first favourable opportunity she protested her signature, and the +world has never blamed her for so doing. France, if she is deprived of +Alsace, will do the same. If she signs the treaty, it will only be +binding on her until she is strong enough to repudiate it. A treaty of +territorial spoliation imposed by force never has and never will bind a +nation. The peace of Europe will not be lasting if France hawks about +her alliance, and is ready to tender it to any Power who wishes to carry +out some scheme of aggrandisement, and who will aid her to re-conquer +the provinces which she has lost. I have always regarded the Prussians +as a disagreeable but a sensible nation, but if they insist upon the +annexation of Alsace, and consider that the dismemberment of France will +conduce to the unity of Germany, I shall cease to consider them as more +sensible than the Gauls, with whom my lot is now cast. The Austrians +used to say that their defensive system rendered it necessary that they +should possess the Milanese and Venetia; but the possession of these two +Italian provinces was a continual source of weakness to them, and in the +end dragged them into a disastrous war. The Prussians should meditate +over this, and over the hundred other instances in history of +territorial greed overreaching itself, and they will then perhaps be +more inclined to take a fair and impartial view of the terms on which +peace ought to be made. "Moderation in success is often more difficult +to practise than fortitude in disaster," says the copy-book. My lecture +upon European politics is, I am afraid, somewhat lengthy, but it must be +remembered that I am a prisoner, and that Silvio Pellico, under similar +circumstances, wrote one of the most dreary books that it ever was my +misfortune to read and to be required to admire. I return to the recital +of what is passing in my prison house. + +Last night and early this morning I had an opportunity to inspect the +bars of the cage in which I am confined. I happened to say before a +superior officer that I was very desirous to see what was going on on +the ramparts and in the forts at night, but that I had as yet been +foiled in my endeavours to do so, when he told me that he would take me +to both, provided in any account that I might give of them I would not +mention localities, which might get him into trouble, or in general +anything which might afford aid and comfort to the enemy. Of course I +accepted his offer, and at eleven o'clock P.M. we started on horseback. +We soon struck the Rue des Remparts, and dismounted. Along the top of +the ramparts there was a line of sentinels. They were so numerous in +some places that they almost touched each other. Every few minutes the +cry, "Sentinelles, prenez garde a vous," went along. Behind them grandes +gardes and other patrols were continually passing, and we could hardly +move a step without being obliged to give the password, with a bayonet +in close proximity to our chests. The National Guards were sleeping, in +some places in tents, in others in huts, and I found many more in the +neighbouring houses. Here and there there was a canteen, where warm +coffee and other such refreshments were sold, and in some places +casemates were already built. In the bastions there were camps of +Artillerymen, Mobiles, and Nationaux. All was very quiet, and I was +agreeably surprised to find with what order and method everything was +conducted. At about four o'clock this morning we passed through one of +the gates, outside there were patrols coming and going, and I could see +numerous regiments on each side of the road, some in tents, others +sleeping in the open air, or trying to do so, for the nights are already +very chilly. We were stopped almost every two minutes, and my friend had +to explain who and what he was. At last we reached a fort. Here we had a +long parley before we were admitted. When we got in, the day was +breaking. We were taken into the room of the Commandant, with whom my +friend had some business to transact. He was a sailor, and from his cool +and calm demeanour, I am convinced that he will give a good account of +himself if he is attacked. In the fort there were Mobiles and soldiers, +and by the guns stood the sailors. I talked to several of them as they +leant against their guns, or walked up and down as though they were +keeping watch on deck. None of them had left the fort for the last three +weeks, and they seemed to have no particular desire to go "on shore," as +they called Paris. Their fire, they said, had, they believed, done +considerable damage to the works which the Prussians had tried to erect, +within their range. The Commandant now came out with some of his +officers, and we tried to search with telescopes the distant woods which +were supposed to conceal the enemy. I confess that I saw absolutely +nothing except trees and some houses, which were in ruins, "Throw a +shell into those houses," cried the Commandant, and off went one of the +great guns. It fell wide. "Try again," he said. This time we could see +through the glasses that the house had been hit, for a portion of one of +the walls toppled over, and a column of dust arose. No Prussians, +however, emerged. A few shots were then fired promiscuously into the +woods, in order to sound the lines; and then Commandant, officers, +friend and I, withdrew to breakfast. I was, of course, cautious in my +conversation, and all that was said I do not care to repeat--the general +feeling, however, seemed to be that the prospects of Paris defending +itself successfully were considerably weakened by the "lot of lawyers" +who interfered with matters about which they knew nothing. The National +Guards, who I hear are to occupy the forts, were laughed at by these +warriors; as for the Mobiles, it was thought that in two months they +might become good soldiers, but that their discipline was most +defective. "When we get them in here," said a gruff old Captain, "we do +not stand their nonsense; but outside, when they are alone with their +officers, they do very much what they please." The soldiers of the +regular army, I was told, had recovered their _morale_, and if well led, +might be depended upon. As was natural, the sailors were greatly +extolled, and I think they deserved it; the best come from Brittany; and +like Joe Bagstock, they are tough, sir, very tough--what are called in +French, "wolves of the sea." Breakfast over, we returned to Paris in +company with two or three officers, who had been given leave of absence +for the day. This afternoon, hearing that egress was allowed at the +Barriere de Neuilly, I started out in a fiacre, to see what was to be +seen in that direction. Along the Avenue de Neuilly there were +encampments of soldiers of the line and Mobiles. At the bridge of +Neuilly my fiacre was stopped, but having explained to the commander of +the picket that I wanted to take a walk, and shown my papers, for some +reason best known to himself, he allowed me to go forward on foot. In +Courbevoie all the houses were shut up, except those occupied by troops, +and the windows of these were filled with sandbags. Right and left trees +were being cut down, and every moment some old poplar was brought to the +ground. I passed through Courbevoie, as no one seemed to notice me, and +held on to the right until I struck Asnieres. It is a species of French +Greenwich, full of hotels, tea-gardens, and restaurants. The last time I +had been there was on a Sunday, when it was crowded with Parisian +bourgeois, and they were eating, drinking, dancing, and making merry. +The houses had not been destroyed, but there was not a living soul in +the place. On the promenade by the river the leaves were falling from +the trees under which were the benches as of old. The gay signs still +hung above the restaurants, and here and there was an advertisement +informing the world that M. Pitou offered his hosts beer at so much the +glass, or that the more ambitious Monsieur Some One Else was prepared to +serve an excellent dinner of eels for 2fr., but I might as well have +expected to get beer or eels in Palmyra as in this village where a few +short weeks ago fish, flesh, and fowl, wine and beer were as plentiful +as at Greenwich and Richmond during the season. Goldsmith's "Deserted +Village," I said to myself, and I should have repeated some lines from +this admirable poem had I remembered any; as I did not, I walked on in +the direction of Colombes, vaguely ruminating upon Pompeii, Palmyra, +fish dinners at Greenwich, and the mutability of human things. I had +hardly left Asnieres, however, and was plodding along a path, when I was +recalled to the realities of life by half-a-dozen Mobiles springing up +from behind a low wall, and calling upon me to stop, while they enforced +their order by pointing their muskets at my head. I stood still, and +they surrounded me. I explained that I was an Englishman inhabiting +Paris, and that I had come out to take a walk. My papers were brought +out and narrowly inspected. My passport, that charter of the Civis +Romanus, was put aside as though it had been a document of no value. A +letter from one of the authorities, which was a species of unofficial +_laisser passer_, was read, and then a sort of council of war was held +about what ought to be done with me. They seemed to be innocent and well +meaning peasants; they said that they had orders to let no one pass, and +they were surprised that I had got so far without being stopped. I told +them that they were quite right to obey their _consigne_, and that I +would go back the way I had come. One of them suggested that I might be +a spy, but he accepted my assurance that I was not. Another proposed to +keep me as a captive until some officer passed; but I told them that +this was contrary to all law, human and divine, civil and military. +"Well, gentlemen," I at last said, "I will now wish you good day, my +mother will be anxious about me if I do not return, otherwise I should +have been happy to remain in such good society;" and with this speech I +turned back and went towards Asnieres; they did not follow me, but +remained with their mouths open, utterly unable to grasp the idea why an +Englishman should be taking a walk in the neighbourhood of Paris, and +why he should have an aged mother anxiously awaiting his return in the +city. (N.B.--If you want to inspire a Frenchman with a sort of +sentimental respect, always talk of your mother; the same effect is +produced on a German by an allusion to your bride.) At the bridge of +Neuilly the guard had been changed, and I had a lengthy discussion +whether I ought to be imprisoned or allowed to pass. I was inclined to +think that I owe the latter motion being carried, to a very eloquent +speech which I threw off, but this may perhaps be vanity on my part, as +Mont Valerien was also discoursing at the same time, and dividing with +me the attention of my auditors. + +M. de Keratry has resigned his post of Prefect of the Police, and has +been succeeded by M. Edmond Adam, who is said to be a man of energy. +Yesterday M. Jules Ferry went down to Belleville, and delivered several +speeches, which he informs us to-day in a letter were greatly +applauded. The _Official Gazette_ contains an intimation that M. +Flourens is to be prosecuted, but I greatly question whether it is more +than _brutum fulmen_. The Council of War has condemned five of the +soldiers who ran away at the fight of Chatillon. Several others who were +tried for the same offence have been acquitted. It is reported that an +engagement took place this afternoon at Villejuif, but no details are +yet known. There is no doubt that the Prussians have enlarged their +circle round Paris, and that they have massed troops near Choisy-le-Roi. +What these two manoeuvres portend, we are all anxiously discussing. + +Several balloons went off this morning. I have deluged the Post-office +with letters, but I doubt if they ever get any farther. Mr. Hore, the +naval attache of the British Embassy, also left this morning for Tours. +As the Parisian fleet consists of one gunboat, I presume that he +considers that his valuable services may be utilised elsewhere. + + +_October 13th._ + +Frenchmen have none of that rough and tumble energy which enables +Anglo-Saxons to shake themselves, no matter under what circumstances, +into some sort of shape. Left to themselves they are as helpless as +children, it takes a certain time to organize them, and to evolve order +from chaos, but when once the process is effected, they surpass us in +administrative mechanism, and in readiness to fall into new ways. The +organization of Paris, as a besieged city, is now in good working trim, +and it must be admitted that its results are more satisfactory than a +few weeks ago could have been anticipated. Except when some important +event is taking place at the front, there are no crowds in the streets, +and even the groups which used to impede circulation are now rare. The +National Guards go in turn to the ramparts, like clerks to their office. +In the morning the battalions are changed, and those who come off duty +march to their respective "quartiers" and quietly disband. Unless there +is some extraordinary movement, during the rest of the day and night +there is little marching of troops. In the evening the Boulevards are +moderately full from eight to ten o'clock, but now that only half the +number of street lamps are lit--they look gloomy even then--at half-past +ten every _cafe_ and shop is closed, and half-an-hour later every one +has gone home. There are no quarrels and no drunkards. Robberies +occasionally occur, but they are rare. "Social evils" have again made +their appearance, but they are not so insolently conspicuous as they +were under the paternal rule of the Empire. Paris, once so gay, has +become as dull as a small German capital. Its inhabitants are not in the +depths of despair, but they are thoroughly bored. They are in the +position of a company of actors shut up in a theatre night and day, and +left to their own devices, without an audience to applaud or to hiss +them. "What do you think they are saying of us in England?" is a +question which I am asked not less than a hundred times every day. My +interrogator usually goes on to say, that it is impossible that the +heroism of the population has not elicited the admiration of the world. +It seems to me that if Paris submits to a blockade for another month, +she will have done her duty by France; but I cannot for the life of me +see that as yet she has done anything to entitle her to boast of having +set the world an example of valour. + +Yesterday, it appears by the official report, there was a reconnaissance +in force under General Ducrot in the direction of Bougival and Rucil. +The Mobiles, we are told, behaved well, but the loss on either side was +insignificant. Our amateur strategists are divided as to the expediency +of taking Versailles, with the whole Prussian quartier-general, or +reopening communications with the provinces by the way of Orleans. The +relative advantages of these two schemes is hotly debated in the +newspapers and the pothouses. A more practical suggestion to form +mobilised regiments of National Guards by taking the most active men +from the existing battalions is being seriously considered by the +Government. This is all the news, except that a battalion of Amazons is +in course of formation. They are to wear trousers, kepis, and blouses, +and to be armed like the National Guard. The walls are covered with +large placards inviting enlistments. It is reported that the Government +are in possession of evidence to show that many of those female +ornaments of the Imperial Court who were called cocodettes, and who +spent in dress every year three times the annual income of their +husbands, were in the pay of Bismarck. This intelligent and unscrupulous +gentleman also, it is said, has a corps of spies recruited from all +nations, consisting of good-looking men of pleasant address and of a +certain social standing, whose business it was to insinuate themselves +into the good graces of the beauties of Parisian society, and then +endeavour to pick up the secrets of their husbands and friends. I am +inclined to think that there is a good deal of truth in this latter +allegation, because for several years I have known fascinating +foreigners who used to frequent the clubs, the Bois, and the salons of +the great world, and lead a joyous life without having any recognised +means of existence. I have been struck more than once with the anxiety +of these gentry to hook themselves on to the train of any lady who was +either the relative of a man in power or who was supposed to be on +intimate terms with a minister or a courtier. Every man, said Sir Robert +Walpole, has his price, and Bismarck might be justified in making the +same reflection as far as regards what is called European good society. + +The eighth _livraison_ of the Tuileries papers has appeared; it contains +two letters from General Ducrot to General Frossard, a despatch from the +French Foreign-office to Benedetti, a report on France by Magne, and a +letter from a prefect to Pietri. From the few papers of any importance +which have been discovered in the Imperial palaces, our friend Badinguet +must have had an inkling when he last left Paris that he might not +return, and must have put his papers in order, _i.e._, in the +fire-place. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +_Evening._ + +I am very much afraid that it will be some time before my letters reach +you, if indeed they ever do. I had entrusted one to Lord Lyons' butler, +a very intelligent man, who was to accompany Mr. Hore, our naval +attache, to Tours; but, alas, they did not get further than the Prussian +lines at Epinay, and they are back again at the Embassy. Mr. Hore had +with him a letter from the Nuncio to the Crown Prince, but the officer +in command of the outpost declined to take charge of it. The Columbian +Minister, too, who was charged with the protest of the Corps +Diplomatique to Bismarck on account of his refusal to allow their +despatches to go out, has also returned, to re-peruse Grotius and +Puffendorf, in order to find more precedents with which to overwhelm +Bismarck. The Greek Minister has managed to run the blockade. A son of +Commodore Lynch made an attempt to get out, but after being kept twelve +hours at the Prussian outposts, and fired on by the French, he has +returned to share our imprisonment. This morning I read in one of the +papers a wonderful account of what Mr. Lynch had seen when with the +Prussians. Meeting him this evening, I asked him whether it was true. He +told me that he had already been to the newspaper to protest against its +appearance, as every statement in it was destitute of foundation. He +could, however, get no redress; the editor or his _locum tenens_ told +him that one of their reporters had given it him, and that he knew +nothing more about it. This is an instance of the reckless mode in which +the business of journalism is conducted here. + +I made two visits this afternoon, one to a pothouse in Belleville, the +other to a countess in the Faubourg St. Germain. I went to the former in +order to find out what the Bellevillites thought of things in general. I +found them very discontented with the Government, and divided in opinion +as to whether it would be more in the interests of the country to turn +it out at present, or to wait, until the Prussians were defeated, and +then do so. They are all very angry at the counter-manifestation of the +bourgeois against them in the Commune. "The Government," said one of +them to me, "is weak and incapable, it means to deceive us, and is +thinking more of bringing back the Comte de Paris than of defending the +town. We do not wish it to be said that we compromise the success of the +defence by agitation, but either it must show more energy, or we will +drive it from the Hotel de Ville." I quoted to my friend Mr. Lincoln's +saying, about the mistake of changing a horse when half-way over a +river. "That is all very well," replied a citizen, who was discussing +some fiery compound at a table near me, "but we, unfortunately, have +only an ass to carry us over, and he will be swept away down the stream +with us on his back." Somebody now asked me what I was doing in Paris. I +replied that I was the correspondent of an English newspaper. Several +immediately shook me by the hand, and one of them said to me, "Pray tell +your countrymen that we men of Belleville are not what the bourgeois and +their organs pretend. We do not want to rob our neighbours; all we ask +is, to keep the Prussians out of Paris." He said a good deal more which +it is needless to repeat, but I willingly fulfil his request, to give +my testimony that he, and thousands like him, who are the bugbear of the +inhabitants of the richer districts of the city, are not by any means as +black as they are painted. They are impulsive and somewhat inclined to +exaggerate their own good qualities and the faults of others; they seem +to think that anyone who differs from them must be a knave or a fool, +and that the form of government which they prefer ought at once to be +established, whether it obtains the suffrages of the majority or not; +their knowledge, too, of the laws of political and social economy is, to +say the least, vague; but they are honest and sincere, mean what they +say, do not mistake words for deeds, and after the dreary inflated +nonsense one is compelled to listen to from their better educated +townsmen, it is refreshing to talk with them. From the Belleville +pothouse I went to the Faubourg St. Germain. In this solemn abode of a +fossil aristocracy I have a relative--a countess. She is, I believe, my +cousin about sixteen times removed, but as she is the only person of +rank with whom my family can claim the most distant relationship, we +stick to the cousinship and send her every year cheap presents, which +she reciprocates with still more meretricious _bonbons_. When I was +ushered into her drawing-room, I found her taking afternoon tea with two +old gentlemen, also a mild young man, and a priest. A "Lady of the +Faubourg," who has any pretensions to beauty, but who is of Cornelia's +mood, always has two or three old gentlemen, a mild young man, and a +priest, who drop in to see her almost every afternoon. "Are you come to +congratulate us?" said my cousin, as I entered. I kissed her hand. +"What," she continued, "have you not heard of the victory?" I opened my +eyes. "Madame," said one old gentleman, "alludes to the taking of Choisy +le Roy." I mildly hinted that the news of this important event had not +reached me. "Surprising!" said he, "I saw Vinoy myself yesterday." "It +does not follow," I suggested, "that he has taken Choisy to-day." +"Monsieur, perhaps, is not aware," jeered old gentleman No. 2, "that +60,000 men have broken through the Prussian lines, and have gone to the +relief of Bazaine." "I have not the slightest doubt of the fact; it is +precisely what I expected would occur," I humbly observed. "As for the +victory," struck in the mild young man, "I can vouch for it; I myself +have seen the prisoners." "Surely," added my cousin, "you must have +heard the cannon; ah! you English are all the same; you are all +Prussians, your Queen, your _'Tims'_, and all of you." I took refuge in +a cup of tea. One old gentleman came and stood before me. I knew well +what was coming--the old, old question. "Well, what does England think +of our attitude now?" I said that only one word could properly qualify +it--sublime. "We are sacrificing our lives," said the mild young man. I +looked at him, and I greatly fear that I smiled--"that is to say," he +continued, "we are prepared to sacrifice them." "Monsieur is in the +Garde Nationale?" I asked. "Monsieur is the only son of a widow," put in +my cousin. "But I mean to go to the ramparts for all that," added the +orphan. "You owe yourself to your mother," said the priest--"and to your +country," I suggested, but the observation fell very flat. "It is a +grand sight," observed one old gentleman, as he put a third lump of +sugar in his tea, and another into his pocket, "a glorious spectacle, to +see a population that was supposed to be given up to luxury, subsisting +cheerfully week after week upon the simplest necessaries of existence." +"I have not tasted game once this year, and the beef is far from good," +sighed old gentleman No. 2; "but we will continue to endure our +hardships for months, or for years if need be, rather than allow the +Prussians to enter Paris." This sort of Lacedemonian twaddle went on +during the whole time of my visit, and my cousin evidently was proud of +being surrounded by such Spartans. I give a specimen of it, as I think +these worthies ought to be gratified by their heroic sacrifices being +made public. "I'd rough it in a campaign as well as any linesman," said +the cornet of her Majesty's Life Guards; "give me a pint of claret and a +chicken every day, or a cut at a joint, and I would ask for nothing +more;" and the Belgravian knight's idea of the discomforts of war is +very like that of the beleaguered Gaul. Want may come, but as yet never +has a large city enjoyed greater abundance of bread and meat. The poor +are nourished by the State. The rich have, perhaps, some difficulty in +getting their supply of meat, but this is the fault of a defective +organization; in reality they are only deprived of those luxuries the +habitual use of which has impaired the digestions of half of them. It is +surely possible to exist for a few weeks on beef, mutton, flour, +preserved vegetables, wine, milk, eggs, and every species of sauce that +cook ever contrived. At about seven, provisions at the restaurants +sometimes run short. I dined to-day at a bouillon at six o'clock for +about half-a-crown. I had soup, salt cod, beef (tolerable, but perhaps a +shade horsey), rabbit, French beans, apple fritters, grapes, and coffee. +This bill of fare is a very long way from starvation. + + +_October 14th._ + +According to the official account of yesterday's proceedings, General +Trochu was anxious to discover whether the Prussians were in force upon +the plateau of Chatillon, or had withdrawn from that position. The +villages of Chatillon, Bagneux, and Clamart, were consequently attacked, +and after an artillery and musketry engagement, the Prussian reserves +were brought up, thus proving that the report that they had withdrawn +was unfounded. The retreat then commenced under the fire of the forts. +About 100 prisoners were taken; in the evening they were brought to the +Place Vendome. The newspapers are one and all singing peans over the +valour of the Mobiles--those of the Cote d'Or most distinguished +themselves. Although the whole thing was little more than a +reconnaissance, its effect has been electrical. The battalions of the +National Guard sing the Marseillaise as of old, and everyone is full of +confidence. Some of the officers who were engaged tell me that the +Mobiles really did show coolness under fire, and that they fought well +with the bayonet in the village of Bagneux. Between carrying an advanced +post and forcing the Prussian army to raise the siege, there is of +course a slight difference, but I see no reason why these strong, +healthy peasants should not become excellent troops. What they want are +commanders who are old soldiers, and would force them to submit to +regular discipline. The _Official Gazette_ contains the following +decree: "Every officer of the National Guard whose antecedents are of a +nature to compromise the dignity of the epaulette, and the consideration +of the corps in which he has been elected, can be revoked. The same +punishment may be inflicted upon those officers who render themselves +guilty of continuous bad conduct, or of acts wanting in delicacy. The +revocation will be pronounced by the Government upon a report of the +Minister of War." If the Government has enough determination to carry +out this decree, the National Guard will greatly profit by it. + +Yesterday evening at the Folies Bergeres a demonstration was made +against the Princes of the Orleans family, who are said to be in command +of an army at Rouen. It was determined to send a deputation to the +Government on the subject. This move is important, as the Folies +Bergeres is rather the rendezvous of the Moderate Republicans than of +the Ultras. + +A letter from Havre, dated October 4, has been received, in which it is +stated that the ex-Emperor has issued an address to the nation. I do not +know what his chances of restoration are in the provinces, but here +they are absolutely hopeless. The Napoleonic legend was founded upon +victories. Since the name of Napoleon has been coupled with the +capitulation of Sedan, it is loathed as much as it once was adulated. +Apart from his personal following, Napoleon III. has not 100 adherents +in Paris. + + +_October 15th._ + +Colonel Loyd Lindsay arrived here yesterday morning with L20,000 for the +ambulances, and leaves to-morrow with the Comte de Flavigny, the +President of the Ambulance Internationale. Mr. Herbert is getting +anxious respecting the future of the destitute English still here; and +with all due respect to our charitable friends at home, it appears to me +that Paris is rich enough to look after its own wounded. The flag of the +Cross of Geneva waves over several thousand houses, and such is the +desire of brave patriots to become members of an ambulance corps, that +the services of neutrals are declined. + + +_October 16th._ + +We are told that the ex-Emperor has issued a proclamation, _urbi +orbique_, and that his agents are engaged in London and elsewhere in +intriguing in his behalf. I cannot believe that they have any chance of +gaining adherents to their master's cause in England. That halo of +success which blinded a portion of the English press to the iniquities +which were concealed beneath the Imperial purple has now disappeared. +The publication of the papers discovered in the Tuileries has stripped +despotism of its tinsel, and has revealed the vile and contemptible arts +by which a gallant nation has been enslaved. The Government of Napoleon, +as Mr. Gladstone said of that of Bomba, "was a negation of God upon +earth." His councillors were bold bad men, ever plotting against each +other, and united alone in a common conspiracy to grow rich at the +expense of their country, _creverunt in exitio patriae_. His court was +the El Dorado of pimps and parasites, panders and wantons. For eighteen +long years he retained the power, which he had acquired through perjury +and violence, by pandering to the baser passions of his subjects, and by +an organized system of fraud, mendacity, and espionnage. Beneath his +blighting rule French women only sought to surpass each other in +reckless extravagance, and Frenchmen lost the courage which had half +redeemed their frivolity. Honest citizens there were, indeed, who +protested against these Saturnalia of successful villany and rampant +vice, but few listened to their warnings. They were jeered at by the +vulgar, fined, imprisoned, or banished by Ministers and Magistrates. All +that was good, noble, and generous in the nation withered in the +uncongenial atmosphere. The language of Pascal and of Corneille became +the medium of corrupting the minds of millions. The events of the day +were some actress who had discovered a new way to outrage decency, or +some new play which deified a prostitute or an adulteress. Paris became +the world's fair, to which flocked the vain, the idle, and the debauched +from all corners of the globe. For a man to be rich, or for a woman to +find favour in the eyes of some Imperial functionary, were ready +passports to social recognition. The landmarks between virtue and vice +were obliterated. The Court lady smiled in half-recognition on the +courtezan, and paid her homage by endeavouring to imitate her dress and +her manners. Cardsharpers and stockjobbers, disreputable adventurers and +public functionaries were intimate friends. No one, able to insult +modest industry by lavish ostentation, was asked how he had acquired his +wealth. Honour and honesty were prejudices of the past. What has been +the consequence? It is a comment upon despotism, which I hope will not +be lost upon those who extol the advantages of personal government, and +who would sacrifice the liberty of all to the concentrated energy of +one. The armies of France have been scattered to the winds; the +Emperor, who knew not even how a Caesar should die, is a prisoner; his +creatures are enjoying their booty in ignoble ease, not daring even to +fight for the country which they have betrayed. The gay crowd has taken +to itself wings; an emasculated bourgeoisie, grown rich upon fashionable +follies, and a mob of working men, unused to arms, and distrustful even +of their own leaders, are cowering beneath the ramparts of Paris, +opposing frantic boasts, pitiful lamentations, unskilled valour, to the +stern discipline of the legions of Germany, whose iron grasp is +contracting closer and closer every day round the vaunted capital of +modern civilization. You know better than we do what is passing in the +provinces, but I can answer for it that the Parisians, low as they have +fallen, are not so lost to every impulse of honour as to be ready to +welcome back in triumph the prime cause of their degradation, the man of +December and of Sedan. Titania, in the _Midsummer Night's Dream_, +idealizes the weaver, and invests him with every noble attribute, and +then as soon as she regains her senses, turns from him with disgust and +exclaims, "Oh, how mine eyes do loathe thee now." So it was and so it is +with Paris and Napoleon, "None so poor to do him honour now." + +The Government is daily becoming more and more military, and the +Parisian Deputies are becoming little more than lay figures. M. +Gambetta, the most energetic of them, has left for the provinces. MM. +Jules Favre, Picard, and Pelletan are almost forgotten. Rochefort +devotes himself to the barricades, and M. Dorian, a hard-headed +manufacturer, is occupying himself in stimulating the manufacture of +cannon, muskets, and munitions of war. These gentlemen, with the +exception of the latter, are rather men of words than of action. They do +neither harm nor good. Of General Trochu, into whose hands, by the mere +force of circumstances, all civil and military authority is +concentrating, _Bonum virum, facile dixeris, magnum libenter_. He is, I +believe, a good general and a good administrator. Although he awakens no +enthusiasm, confidence is felt by the majority in his good sense. It is +thought, however, that he is wanting in that energy and audacity which +are requisite in a leader, if victory is to be wrested from the Germans. +He forgets that time is not his ally, and that merely to hold Paris +until that surely inevitable hour arrives when the provisions are +exhausted will neither save France nor her capital. He is a man slow to +form a plan, but obstinate in his adherence to it; unwilling to move +until he has his forces perfectly under control, and until every +administrative detail is perfected--better fitted to defend Troy for ten +years than Paris for a few months--in fact, a species of French +M'Clellan. + +We are now in a position, according to our military authorities, to hold +out as long as our provisions last. If Paris does this, without being so +heroic as her citizens imagine that she already is, she will have done +her duty by France. Nicholas said, when Sebastopol was besieged, that +winter was his best ally; and winter will soon come to our aid. The +Prussians are a long way from their homes; if the provinces rise it will +be difficult for them to keep their lines of communication open, and to +feed their troops. It may also be presumed that they will be harassed by +the 300,000 armed men who are cooped up here, and who are acting on the +inner circle. Cannon are being cast which, it is expected, will render +the sorties far more effective. On the other hand, the question has not +yet been solved whether the Parisians will really support the hardships +of a siege when they commence, and whether there will not be internal +dissensions. At present the greatest confidence is felt in ultimate +success. The Parisians cannot realise to themselves the possibility of +their city being taken; they are still, in their own estimation, the +representative men of "la grande nation," and they still cite the +saying of Frederick the Great that, were he King of France, not a sword +should be drawn without his permission, as though this were a dictum +that a sage had uttered yesterday. They feed every day on the vaunts and +falsehoods which their newspapers offer them, and they digest them +without a qualm. While they expect the provinces to come to their aid, +they are almost angry that they should venture to act independently of +their guidance. They are childishly anxious to send out commissaries to +take the direction of affairs in Normandy and Touraine, for the +provincials are in their eyes slaves, born to serve and to obey the +capital. Indeed, they have not yet got over their surprise that the +world should continue to move now that it is deprived of its pivot. All +this folly may not prevent their fighting well. Fools and braggarts are +often brave men. The Parisians have an indomitable pride, they have +called upon the world to witness their achievements, and the thought of +King William riding in triumph along the Boulevards is so bitter a one, +that it may nerve them to the wildest desperation. If, however, Bazaine +capitulates, and the armies of the Loire and of Lyons are only the +figments of their own brains, it may be that they will bow to what they +will call destiny. "Heaven has declared against us," is an expression +that I already hear frequently uttered. It is indeed as impossible to +predicate here, as it is in London, what may be the mood of this fickle +and impulsive population a week hence. All I can positively say is, that +at the present moment they are in "King Cambyses' vein." We ought not to +judge a foreign nation by our own standard, but it is impossible not to +re-echo Lord Bolingbroke's "poor humanity" a hundred times a day, when +one reads the inflated bombast of the newspapers, and hears the nonsense +that is talked by almost everyone; when one sees the Gaul marching off +to the ramparts convinced, because he wears a kepi and a sword, that he +is a very Achilles; when regiments solemnly crown a statue with laurel +crowns, and sign round robins to die for their country. All these antics +ought not to make one forget that these men are fighting for the holiest +of causes, the integrity of their country, and that the worst of +Republics is better than the best of feudal monarchies; but I confess I +frequently despair of their ever attaining to the dignity of free men, +until they have been further tried in the school of adversity. + +Yesterday M. Jules Favre, in reply to a deputation from the Club of the +Folies Bergeres, stated that he was not aware that the Orleans Princes +were in France. "If the army of succour," he said, "comes to us, we will +extend our hands to it; but if it marches under the Orleans banner, the +Government will not recognise that banner. As a man, I deplore the law +which proscribes this family; as a citizen and a politician, I maintain +it. Even if these Princes were to abdicate their dynastic pretensions, +the Government will remember Bonaparte, and how he destroyed the +Republic in 1851, and energetically protest against their return." This +reply when reported to the Club was greatly applauded. Probably none of +its members had ever heard the proverb that beggars ought not to be +choosers. + +The event of the day has been the arrest of M. Portales, the editor of +the _Verite_. This newspaper, after asserting that the Government has +received news from the provinces, asks a series of questions. In the +afternoon the editor was arrested, and this morning the _Official +Gazette_ thus replies to the queries: No news has been concealed. The +last official despatch received is one from Gambetta, announcing his +safe arrival at Montdidier. The Government has received an old copy of +the _Standard_, but this journal, "notoriously hostile to France," +contained sensational intelligence, which appeared absolutely untrue. +To-day it has received a journal of Rouen of the 12th, and it hastens to +publish the news derived from this source. Bismarck never proposed an +armistice through Burnside. The General only unofficially informed +Trochu that Bismarck's views were not altered since he had met Favre at +Ferrieres, when he stated that "if he considered an armistice realizable +for the convocation of an Assembly, he would only grant it for +forty-eight hours; he would refuse to include Metz, or to permit +provisions to enter Paris, and exclude from the Assembly our brave and +unhappy compatriots of Alsace and Lorraine." The _Official Gazette_ then +gives extracts from the Rouen paper, which are very contradictory. Our +newspapers, however, in commenting on them, come to the conclusion that +there are two armies in the field well equipped, and that they have +already achieved important successes. The situation also of Bazaine is +proved to be excellent. _Quem Dem, &c._ + +Two of the mayors have ordered all crucifixes to be removed from the +ambulances in their arrondissements. Their conduct is almost universally +blamed. The enlistment of the Amazons, notwithstanding the efforts of +the Government, still continues. The pretty women keep aloof from the +movement; the recruits who have already joined are so old and ugly that +possibly they may act upon an enemy like the head of Medusa. + + +_October 17th._ + +The newspapers to-day almost universally blame the arrest of M. +Portales. This gentleman, with M.E. Picard, started, just before the +siege commenced, a paper called _L'Electeur Libre_. It was thought that +M. Picard's position as a member of the Government rendered it +impossible for him to remain the political director of a newspaper, so +he withdrew, but appointed his brother as his successor. This did not +please M. Portales, who with most of the staff left the _Electeur +Libre_, and founded _La Verite_. It is, therefore, somewhat suspicious +that this new paper should be the only one whose editor has been +imprisoned for circulating "falsehoods." In the first place, almost +every French newspaper of any circulation trades upon lies; in the +second place, it appears that in this particular case the _Verite_ only +put in the sensational form of questions a letter from the _Times_' +correspondent at Tours. This letter it publishes to-day, and appeals to +the public to judge between M. Portales and M. Picard. The fact is that +this population can neither tell nor hear the truth. The English papers +are one and all in bad odour because they declined to believe in the +Emperor's victories, and if a _Daily News_ comes in here with an account +of some new French reverse, I shall probably be imprisoned. Government +and people have laid down this axiom, "bad news false news." General +Trochu again appears in print in a long circular letter to the +commandants of the corps d'armee and the forts. He desires them each to +send him in a list of forty men who have distinguished themselves, and +their names and no others will appear in the order of the day. "We +have," says the General, "to cause this grand thought, which monarchies +decline to recognise but which the Republic should hold sacred, to +penetrate into the minds of our officers and soldiers--opinion alone can +worthily recompense the sacrifice of a life; remember that if you make a +bad choice of the men you recommend, you will gravely compromise your +responsibility towards me, and at the same time the great principle +which I would have prevail." The General is a very copious writer, and +it seems to me that he would do well to remember that if he can only +drive away the Prussians, he will have time enough afterwards to +introduce his "grand thoughts" into the army. Two things, says Thiers, +impose upon Frenchmen--military glory and profound silence. Trochu has +the first to win, and he apparently scorns the latter. He is a species +of military doctrinaire, and he finds it difficult to avoid lecturing +soldiers or civilians at least once a day. I was looking at him the +other day, and I never saw calm, serene, self-complacency more clearly +depicted upon the human countenance. Failure or success will find him +the same--confident in himself, in his plans, and his grand thoughts. If +he eventually has to surrender, he will console himself by coupling with +the announcement of his intention many observations--very wise, very +beautiful, very lengthy, and very stale. + +Mr. Herbert tells me that there are more English here than he had +imagined. He estimates their number at about 4000, about 800 of whom are +destitute. The funds at his disposal for them would have already run +short had not Mr. Wallace again largely contributed to them. They are +fed with rice and Liebig, but the great difficulty has been to find fat +to add to this mess. The beasts that are killed are so lean that it is +almost impossible to obtain it except at an extravagant price. Tallow +candles have been seriously suggested, but they too are scarce. The +English, as foreigners, cannot claim rations, and were it not for the +kindness of Mr. Herbert and Mr. Wallace, they would, I am afraid, really +starve. All their rich fellow-countrymen, with the exception of Mr. +Wallace, have left Paris, and even if they were here they would not be +able to do anything unless they had money with them, as it is impossible +to draw on London. Winter is coming on, and clothes and fuel as well as +food will be wanted. I would suggest to the charitable in England to +send contributions to Mr. Herbert. I can hardly suppose that Count +Bismarck would decline to let the money pass through the Prussian lines. +I hear that Mr. Washburne has obtained a half permission to send his +countrymen out of the town, if so, I think it would be well if the poor +English were also to leave; but this, of course, will require money. + +The Nuncio has managed to get away; he declined to take letters with +him. E. Washburne, United States Minister, Lopez de Arosemana, Charge +d'Affaires of Honduras, Duke Aquaviva, Charge d'Affaires of Monaco, and +the other members of the Corps Diplomatique still here, have signed and +published a protest against the refusal of Count Bismarck to let their +despatches to their respective Governments leave Paris sealed. That Mr. +Washburne should be indignant I can well understand; but although I do +not personally know either Lopez de Arosemana, or Aquaviva, Charge +d'Affaires of Monaco, I can understand Count Bismarck not being +absolutely satisfied with the assurance of these potent signors that +nothing except official despatches should pass under their seal. That +the Prince of Monaco should be debarred for a few months from receiving +communications from his representative in Paris, may perhaps be +unpleasant to him, but must be a matter of the most profound +indifference to the rest of the world. + +It is somewhat amusing to observe how justice is administered when any +dispute arises in the streets. The sergents-de-ville immediately +withdraw, in order not to prejudice the question by their presence. A +sort of informal jury is impanelled, each disputant states his case, and +the one who is thought by the tribunal to be in fault, is either taken +off to prison, or cuffed on the spot. I have bought myself a sugar-loaf +hat of the First Republic, and am consequently regarded with deference. +To-day a man was bullying a child, and a crowd gathered round him; I +happened just then to come up, room was immediately made for me and my +hat, and I was asked to give my opinion as to what ought to be done with +the culprit. I suggested kicking, and as I walked away, I saw him +writhing under the boots of two sturdy executioners, amid the applause +of the spectators. "The style is the man," said Buffon; had he lived +here now he would rather have said "the hat is the man." An English +doctor who goes about in a regulation chimney-pot has already been +arrested twenty-seven times; I, thanks to my revolutionary hat, have +not been arrested once. I have only to glance from under its brim at any +one for him to quail. + + +_October 18th._ + +A decree has been issued ordering a company of 150 men to be mobilised +in each battalion of the National Guard. Three of these companies are +together to form a mobilised battalion, and to elect their commander. +The _Journal Officiel_ contains two long reports upon the works of +defence which have been executed since the commencement of the siege. +They give the number of guns on each bastion, and the number of rounds +to each gun, the number of cartridges, and the amount of powder in +store. Unless these reports be patriotic fictions, it seems strange to +publish them in the newspapers, as they must inevitably fall into the +hands of the Prussians. Be this as it may, I do not feel at liberty to +quote from them. General Ducrot publishes a letter protesting against a +statement of the German journals that he escaped from Pont-a-Mousson +when on parole. He asserts that his safe-conduct had been given up, and +that he consequently was free to get away if he could. His evasion is +very similar to that of F. Meagher from Australia. M. Jules Favre +publishes a circular to the French Diplomatic Agents abroad, in reply to +Count Bismarck's report of the meeting at Ferrieres. You will probably +have received it before you get this letter. It is more rhetorical than +logical--goes over the old ground of the war having been declared +against Napoleon rather than against the French nation, and complains +that "the European Cabinets, instead of inaugurating the doctrine of +mediation, recommended by justice and their own interests, by their +inertness authorise the continuation of a barbarous struggle, which is a +disaster for all and an outrage on civilization." M. Jules Favre cannot +emancipate himself from the popular delusions of his country, that +France can go to war without, if vanquished, submitting to the +consequences, and that Paris can take refuge behind her ramparts without +being treated as a fortified town; at the same time he very rightly +protests against the Prussian theory of the right of conquest implying a +moral right to annex provinces against the wishes of their inhabitants. + +Few have been in Paris without having driven through the Avenue de +l'Imperatrice. What has been done there to render it impregnable to +attack will consequently give an idea what has been done everywhere. At +the Bois de Boulogne end of the avenue the gate has been closed up by a +wall and a moat; behind them there is a redoubt. Between this and the +Arc de Triomphe there are three barricades made of masonry and earth, +and three ditches. Along the grass on each side of the roadway, the +ground has been honey-combed, and in each hole there are pointed stakes. +In every house Nationaux are billeted; in two of them there are +artillerymen. In the Avenue de Neuilly, and in many other parts of the +town, the preparations against an assault are still more formidable. +Bagatelles, the villa of the late Lord Hertford, has been almost gutted +by 2,000 Mobiles, who make it their headquarters. We are exceedingly +proud of having burnt down St. Cloud, and we say that if this does not +convince the Prussians that we are in earnest, we will burn down +Versailles. I wonder whether the proverb about cutting off one's nose to +spite one's face has an equivalent in French. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +_October 19th._ + +A despatch is published this morning from M. Gambetta, giving a very +hopeful account of things in the provinces. As, however, this gentleman +on his arrival at Tours issued a proclamation in which he announced that +there were one-third more guns in Paris than it is even pretended by the +Government that there are, I look with great suspicion upon his +utterances. The latest declaration of the Government differs essentially +from that which was made at the commencement of the siege. A friend of +mine pointed out to one of its members this discrepancy, when he replied +that the Government had purposely understated their resources at first. +This may be all very fair in war, but it prevents a reasonable person +placing the slightest confidence in anything official. Dr. Johnson did +not believe in the earthquake at Lisbon for one year after the news +reached London, and I shall not believe in the resources of the +provinces until they prove their existence by raising the siege. I am +very curious to discover what is thought of Paris by the world. There is +but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. If really by holding +out for several months the situation can be altered for the better, the +Parisians are right to do so, but if the Government is only humbugging +them with false intelligence, if they are simply destroying their own +villages in the neighbourhood, and exhausting their resources within +the town, whilst a Prussian army is living at the cost of their country, +it seems to me that they are acting like silly schoolboys rather than +wise men, and that there really is something in the sneer of Bismarck +that the Deputies of Paris are determined, _coute qui coute_, to +preserve the power with which the hazards of a revolution invested them. + +The newspapers this morning are full of articles lauding M. Jules +Favre's circular, and reviling the proposals of Bismarck. The following +extract from the _Liberte_ will serve as an example of their usual +tone:--"A word of gratitude to the great citizen, to Jules Favre. Let +him know that his honest, eloquent, and brave words give us strength, +dry our tears, and cure our wounds. Poor and dear France! Provinces +crushed and towns blockaded, populations ruined, and thou, O Paris, once +the city of the fairies, now become the city of the grave times of +antiquity, raise thy head, be confident, be strong. It is thy heart that +has spoken, it is thy soul unconquered, invincible, the soul of thy +country that has appealed to the world and told it the truth." The +_Liberte_, after this preliminary burst, goes on to say, that it knew +before that Bismarck was everything that was bad, but that it has now +discovered that, besides possessing every other vice, he is a liar, and +if there is one thing that France and the _Liberte_ cannot endure, it is +a man who does not tell the truth. If the Prussians are not driven out +of France by words, it certainly will be a proof that mere words have +very little effect in shaping the destinies of nations. + +Each person now receives 100 grammes of meat per diem, the system of +distribution being that every one has to wait on an average two hours +before he receives his meat at the door of a butcher's shop. I dine +habitually at a bouillon; there horse-flesh is eaten in the place of +beef, and cat is called rabbit. Both, however, are excellent, and the +former is a little sweeter than beef, but in other respects much like +it; the latter something between rabbit and squirrel, with a flavour all +its own. It is delicious. I recommend those who have cats with +philoprogenitive proclivities, instead of drowning the kittens, to eat +them. Either smothered in onions or in a ragout they are excellent. When +I return to London I shall frequently treat myself to one of these +domestic animals, and ever feel grateful to Bismarck for having taught +me that cat served up for dinner is the right animal in the right place. + +I went last night to the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin; it has become +the rendezvous of the optimists, and speeches were delivered to prove +that everything was for the best in the best of worlds, and poetry was +recited to prove that the Prussians must eventually be defeated. The +chair was taken by M. Coquerel, who with great truth said that Paris had +fallen so low that the siege might be considered almost a blessing, and +that the longer it lasted, the more likely was it to aid in the work of +regeneration, which alone can make this world a globe of honourable men +and honest women. It will, indeed, do the Parisians all the good in the +world to keep guard on the ramparts instead of doing nothing but gossip +till one or two in the morning at cafes. + +General Trochu, that complete letter-writer, to-day replies to General +Ducrot, telling him that his proclamation respecting his evasion from +Pont-a-Mousson is most satisfactory. + +The military events of this week have been unimportant. The forts have +continued silent, and reconnaissances have been made here and there. The +faubourgs, too, have been quiet. Everything is being done to make the +siege weigh as little upon the population as possible. Thus, for +instance, few lamps are lit in the streets, but the shops and cafes are +still a blaze of light; they close, however, early. Here is rather a +good story; I can vouch for its truth. The Government recently visited +the Tuileries. They were received by the governor, whom they found +established in a suite of apartments. He showed them over the palace, +and then offered them luncheon. They then incidentally asked him who had +nominated him to the post he so ably filled. "Myself," he replied; "just +by the same authority as you nominated yourselves, and no less." There +was heavy firing all through the night in the direction of Vannes. + +M. Mottu, the mayor of the 11th arrondissement, who had entered into a +campaign against crucifixes, has been removed. The Government were +"interviewed" last night by the chiefs of thirty battalions of Gardes +Nationales of the 11th arrondissement on the subject. The deputation was +assured that M. Mottu would be reinstated in his mairie if he would +promise to moderate his zeal. + + +_October 20th._ + +"The clients of M. Poiret are informed that they can only have one plate +of meat," was the terrible writing which stared me on the wall, when I +went to dine at my favourite bouillon--and, good heavens, what a portion +it was! Not enough for the dinner of a fine lady who has previously +gorged herself at a private luncheon. If meat is, as we are told, so +plentiful that it will last for five weeks more, the mode in which it is +distributed is radically bad. While at a large popular restaurant, where +hundreds of the middle classes dine, each person only gets enough cat or +horse to whet his appetite for more; in the expensive cafes on the +Boulevards, feasts worthy of Lucullus are still served to those who are +ready to part with their money with the proverbial readiness of fools. +Far more practical, my worthy Republicans, would it be to establish +"liberte, egalite, fraternite" in the cook shops, than to write the +words in letters of gold over your churches. In every great city there +always is much want and misery; here, although succour is supposed to be +afforded to all who require it, many I fear are starving owing to that +bureaucrat love of classification which is the curse of France. After my +meagre dinner, I was strolling along the quays near the river, +_l'estomac_ as _leger_ as M. Ollivier's heart, when I saw a woman +leaning over the parapet. She turned as I was passing her, and the lamp +from the opposite gate of the Tuileries shone on her face. It was honest +and homely, but so careworn, so utterly hopeless, that I stopped to ask +her if she was ill. "Only tired and hungry'" she replied; "I have been +walking all day, and I have not eaten since yesterday." I took her to a +cafe and gave her some bread and coffee, and then she told me her story. +She was a peasant girl from Franche Comte, and had come to Paris, where +she had gone into service. But she had soon tired of domestic servitude, +and for the last year she had supported herself by sewing waistcoats in +a great wholesale establishment. At the commencement of the siege she +had been discharged, and for some days she found employment in a +Government workshop, but for the last three weeks she had wandered here +and there, vainly asking for work. One by one she had sold every article +of dress she possessed, except the scanty garments she wore, and she had +lived upon bread and celery. The day before she had spent her last sou, +and when I saw her she had come down to the river, starving and +exhausted, to throw herself into it. "But the water looked so cold, I +did not dare," she said. Thus spoke the grisette of Paris, very +different from the gay, thoughtless being of French romance, who lives +in a garret, her window shrouded with flowers, is adored by a student, +and earns enough money in a few hours to pass the rest of the week +dancing, gossiping, and amusing herself. As I listened to her, I felt +ashamed of myself for repining because I had only had one plate of meat. +The hopeless, desolate condition of this poor girl is that of many of +her class to-day. But why should they complain? Is not King William the +instrument of Heaven, and is he not engaged in a holy cause? That Kings +should fight and that seamstresses should weep is in the natural order +of things. Frenchmen and Frenchwomen only deserve to be massacred or +starved if they are so lost to all sense of what is just as to venture +to struggle against the dismemberment of their country, and do not +understand how meet and right it is that their fellow-countrymen in +Alsace should be converted into German subjects. + +General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea, and who takes a somewhat larger +view of things than the sententious Trochu, has been good enough to +furnish me with a pass, which allows me to wander unmolested anywhere +within the French outposts. "If you attempt to pass them," observes the +General, "you will be shot by the sentinels, in obedience to my orders." +A general order also permits anyone to go as far as the line of the +forts. Yesterday I chartered a cab and went to Boulogne, a village on +the Seine, close by the wood of the same name. We drove through a +portion of the Bois; it contained more soldiers than trees. Line and +artillerymen were camped everywhere, and every fifty yards a group was +engaged in skinning or cutting up a dead horse. The village of Boulogne +had been deserted by almost all the inhabitants. Across some of the +streets leading to the river there were barricades, others were open. In +most of the houses there were soldiers, and others were in rifle-pits +and trenches. A brisk exchange of shots was going on with the Prussians, +who were concealed in the opposite houses of St. Cloud. I cannot +congratulate the enemy upon the accuracy of their aim, for although +several evilly disposed Prussians took a shot at my cab, their bullets +whistled far above our heads, and after one preliminary kick, the old +cab-horse did not even condescend to notice them. As for the cabman, he +was slightly in liquor, and at one of the cross-streets leading to the +river he got off his box, and performed a war-dance to show his contempt +for the skill of the enemies of his nation. In the Grand Place there was +a long barricade, and behind it men, women, and children were crouching +watching the opposite houses, from which every now and then a puff of +smoke issued, followed by a sharp report. The soldiers were very orderly +and good-natured; as I had a glass, some of them took me up into the +garrets of a deserted house, from the windows of which we tried in vain +to espy our assailants. My friends fired into several of the houses from +which smoke issued, but with what effect I do not know. The amusement of +the place seemed to be to watch soldiers running along an open road +which was exposed to fire for about thirty yards. Two had been killed in +the morning, but this did not appear in any way to diminish the zest of +the sport. At least twenty soldiers ran the gauntlet whilst I was there, +but not one of them was wounded. As well as I could make out, the damage +done to St. Cloud by the bombs of Mont Valerien is very inconsiderable. +A portion of the Palace and a few houses were in ruins, but that was +all. There is a large barrack there, which the soldiers assured me is +lit up every night, and why this building has not been shelled, neither +they nor I could understand. The newspapers say that the Prussians have +guns on the unfinished redoubt of Brinborion; it was not above 1,000 +yards from where I was standing, but with my glass I could not make out +that there were any there. Several officers with whom I spoke said that +it was very doubtful. On my return, my cabman, who had got over his +liquor, wanted double his fare. "For myself," he said, "I am a +Frenchman, and I should scorn to ask for money for running a risk of +being shot by a _canaille_ of a German, but think of my horse;" and then +he patted the faithful steed, whom I may possibly have the pleasure to +meet again, served up in a sauce piquante. The newspapers, almost +without exception, protest against the mediation of England and Russia, +which they imagine is offered by these Powers. "It is too late," says +the organ of M. Picard. "Can France accept a mediation which will snatch +from her the enemy at the moment when victory is certain?" + + +_October 25th._ + +Has General Trochu a plan?--if so, what is it? It appears to me, as Sir +Robert Peel would have said, that he has only three courses to pursue: +first, to do nothing, and to capitulate as soon as he is starved out; +this would, I reckon, bring the siege to an end in about two months: +secondly, to fight a battle with all his disposable forces, which might +be prolonged for several days, and thus risk all upon one great venture: +thirdly, to cut his way out of Paris with the line and the Mobiles. The +two united would form a force of about 150,000 men, and supported by 500 +cannon, it may reasonably be expected that the Prussian lines would be +pierced. In this case a junction might be effected with any army which +exists in the provinces, and the combined force might throw itself upon +the enemy's line of communications. In the meantime Paris would be +defended by its forts and its ramparts. The former would be held by the +sailors and the mobilized National Guards of Paris, the latter by the +Sedentary Garde Nationale. Which of these courses will be adopted, it is +impossible to say; the latter, however, is the only one which seems to +present even a chance of ultimate success. With respect to the second, I +do not think that the Mobiles could stand for days or even for hours +against the artillery and musketry force of their opponents. They are +individually brave, but like all raw troops they become excited under +fire, shoot wildly, then rush forward in order to engage in a +hand-to-hand encounter, and break before they reach the Prussian lines. +In this respect the troops of the line are not much better. The +Prussian tactics, indeed, have revolutionized the whole system of +warfare, and the French, until they have learnt them, will always go to +the wall. + +Every day that this siege lasts, convinces me more and more that General +Trochu is not the right man in the right place. He writes long-winded +letters, utters Spartan aphorisms, and complains of his colleagues, his +generals, and his troops. The confidence which was felt in him is +rapidly diminishing. He is a good, respectable, honest man, without a +grain of genius, or of that fierce indomitable energy which sometimes +replaces it. He would make a good Minister of War in quiet times, but he +is about as fit to command in the present emergency as Mr. Cardwell +would be. His two principal military subordinates, Vinoy and Ducrot, are +excellent Generals of Division, but nothing more. As for his civilian +colleagues, they are one and all hardly more practical than Professor +Fawcett. Each has some crotchet of his own, each likes to dogmatize and +to speechify, and each considers the others to be idiots, and has a +small following of his own, which regards him as a species of divinity. +They are philosophers, orators, and legists, but they are neither +practical men nor statesmen. I understand that General Trochu says, that +the most sensible among them is Rochefort. + +We want to know what has become of Sergeant Truffet. As the Prussians +are continually dinning it into Europe that the French fire on their +flags of truce, the following facts, for the truth of which I can vouch, +may, perhaps, account for it; if, indeed, it has ever occurred. A few +days ago, some French soldiers, behind a barricade a little in advance +of the Moulin Saqui, saw a Bavarian crawl towards them, waving a white +flag. When he stopped, the soldiers called to him to come forward, but +he remained, still waving his flag. Sergeant Truffet then got over the +barricade, and went towards him. Several Germans immediately rushed +forward, and sergeant, flag, and Germans, disappeared within the enemy's +lines. The next day, General Vinoy sent an officer to protest against +this gross violation of the laws of war, and to demand that the sergeant +should be restored. The officer went to Creteil, thence he was sent to +Choisy le Roi, where General Jemplin (if this is how he spells his name) +declined to produce the sergeant, who, he said, was a deserter, or to +give any explanation as to his whereabouts. Now Truffet, as his +companions can testify, had not the remotest intention to desert. He was +a good and steady soldier. He became a prisoner, through a most odious +stratagem, and a Prussian general, although the facts have been +officially brought before him, has refused to release him. The Germans +are exceedingly fond of trumping up charges against the French, but they +have no right to expect to be believed, until they restore to us our +Truffet, and punish the Bavarians who entrapped him by means of a false +flag of truce. + +The subscription for the 1500 cannon hangs fire. The question, however, +whether both cannon and Chassepots can be made in Paris is solved, as +the private workshops are making daily deliveries of both to Government. +At the commencement of the siege it was feared that there would not be +enough projectiles; these, also, are now being manufactured. For the +last week, the forts have been firing at everything and anything. The +admirals in command say that the sailors bore themselves so, that they +are obliged to allow them to fire more frequently than is absolutely +necessary. + +I have been endeavouring to form an estimate of the absolute cost in +money of the siege, per diem. The National Guard receive in pay +24,000l., rations to themselves and families amount to about 10,000l., +the Mobiles do not cost less than 30,000l. Unproductive industries +connected with the war, about 15,000l. Rations to the destitute, 5000l. +When, in addition to these items, it is remembered that every +productive industry is at a standstill, it is no exaggeration to say +that Paris is eating its head off at the rate of 200,000l. per diem. + +Flourens has been re-elected commander-in-chief of five battalions of +Belleville National Guards. The Government, however, declines to +recognize this cumulative command. The "Major" writes a letter to-day to +the _Combat_ denouncing the Government, and demanding that the Republic +"should decree victory," and shoot every unsuccessful general. Blanqui +says that he lost his election as commander of a battalion, through the +intrigues of the Jesuits. It was proposed on Saturday, at a club, to +make a demonstration before the Hotel de Ville, in favour of M. Mottu, +the Mayor of the eleventh arrondissement, who was dismissed on account +of his crusade against crucifixes. An amendment, however, was carried, +putting it off until famine gives the friends of a revolution new +adherents. Crucifixes were denounced by an orator in the course of the +evening, as "impure nudities, which ought not to be suffered in public +places, on account of our daughters." + +The great meat question is left to every arrondissement to decide +according to its own lights. As a necessary consequence of this, while +in one part of Paris it takes six hours to get a beef-steak, in others, +where a better system of distribution prevails, each person can obtain +his ration of 100 grammes without any extraordinary delay. Butter now +costs 18fr. the pound. Milk is beginning to get scarce. The "committee +of alimentation" recommends mothers to nourish their babies from what +Mr. Dickens somewhere calls "nature's founts." + +I had a conversation yesterday with one of the best writers on the +French press, and I asked him to tell me what were the views of the +sensible portion of the population respecting the situation. He replied, +"We always were opposed to the Empire; we knew what the consequences +eventually would be. The deluge has overtaken us, and we must accept the +consequences. In Paris, few who really are able to form a just estimate +of our resources, can expect that the siege can have any but a +disastrous termination. Everyone, however, has lost so much, that he is +indifferent to what remains. We feel that Paris would be disgraced if at +least by a respectable defence she does not show that she is ready to +sacrifice herself for France." "But," I said, "you are only putting off +the inevitable hour at a heavy cost to yourself." "Perhaps," he replied, +"we are not acting wisely, but you must take into consideration our +national weaknesses; it is all very well to say that we ought to treat +now, and endeavour to husband our resources, so as to take our revenge +in twenty years, but during that twenty years we should not venture to +show ourselves abroad, or hold up our heads at home." "In the end, +however, you must treat," I said. "Never," he replied. "Germany may +occupy Alsace and Lorraine, but we will never recognise the fact that +they are no longer French." "I hardly see," I said, "that this will +profit you." "Materially, perhaps not," he answered, "but at least we +shall save our honour." "And what, pray, will happen after the +capitulation of Paris?" "Practically," he replied, "there is no +Government in France, there will not be for about two years, and then, +probably, we shall have the Orleans princes." The opinions enunciated by +this gentleman are those of most of the _doctrinaires_. They appear to +be without hope, without a policy, and without any very definite idea +how France is to get out of the singularly false position in which the +loss of her army, and the difficulty of her people to accept the +inevitable consequences, have placed her. My own impression is, that the +provinces will in the end insist upon peace at any cost, as a +preliminary step towards some regular form of government, and the +withdrawal of the German troops, whose prolonged occupation of +department after department must exhaust the entire recuperative +resources of the country. + + +_October 27th._ + +At an early hour yesterday morning, about 100 English congregated at the +gate of Charenton _en route_ for London. There were with them about 60 +Americans, and 20 Russians, who also were going to leave us. Imagine the +indignation of these "Cives Romani," when they were informed that, while +the Russians and the Americans would be allowed to pass the Prussian +outposts, owing to the list of the English wishing to go not having +reached Count Bismarck in time, they would have to put off their journey +to another day. The guard had literally to be turned out to prevent them +from endeavouring to force their way through the whole German army. I +spoke this morning to an English butler who had made one of the party. +This worthy man evidently was of opinion that the end of the world is +near at hand, when a butler, and a most respectable person, is treated +in this manner. "Pray, sir, may I ask," he said, with bitter scorn, +"whether her Majesty is still on the throne in England?" I replied, "I +believed that she was." "Then," he went on, "has this Count Bismarck, as +they call him, driven the British nobles out of the House of Lords? +Nothing which this feller does would surprise me now." Butler, Charge +d'Affaires, and the other _cives_, are, I understand, to make another +start, as soon as the "feller" condescends to answer a letter which has +been forwarded to him, asking him to fix a day for their departure. + +We are daily anticipating an attack on the Southern side of the city. +The Prussians are close into the forts on their line from Meudon to +Choisy-le-Roi. Two days ago it was supposed that they were dragging +their siege guns to batteries which they had prepared for them, +notwithstanding our fire, which until now we proudly imagined had +rendered it impossible for them to put a spade to the ground. Our +generals believe, I know not with what truth, that the Prussians have +only got twenty-six siege guns. If they are on the plateau of Meudon, +and if they carry, as is asserted, nine kilometres, a large portion of +the city on the left bank of the Seine will be under fire. On our side +we have approached so close to the villages along the Prussian line in +this direction that one side or the other must in self-defence soon make +an attack. The newspapers of yesterday morning having asserted that +Choisy-le-Roi was no longer occupied by the enemy, I went out in the +afternoon to inspect matters. I got to the end of the village of Vitry, +where the advanced posts, to whom I showed my pass, asked me where I +wanted to go. I replied, to Choisy-le-Roi. A corporal pointed to a house +at some distance beyond where we were standing. "The Prussians are in +that house," he said. "If you like, you can go forward and look at them; +they are not firing." So forward I went. I was within a hundred yards of +the house when some Francs-tireurs, hid in the field to the right of +the road, commenced firing, and the Fort d'Ivry from behind opened fire. +The Prussians on their side replied with their needle-guns. I got behind +a tree, feeling that my last hour was come. There I remained about half +an hour, for whenever I moved a bullet came whizzing near me. At last a +thought, a happy thought, occurred to me. I rolled myself into a ditch, +which ran alongside the road, and down this ditch I crept until I got +close to the barricade, over which I climbed with more haste than +dignity. The soldiers were greatly amazed at my having really believed a +statement which I had read in the newspapers, and their observations +respecting the Parisians and their "organs" were far from complimentary. +On my way back by Montrouge, I stopped to gossip with some Breton +Mobiles. They, too, spoke with the utmost scorn of the patriots within +the walls. "We are kept here," they said, "to defend these men, all of +whom have arms like us; they live comfortably inside the ramparts, +whilst the provinces are being ravaged." These Breton Mobiles are the +idols of the hour. They are to the Republic what the Zouaves were to the +Empire. They are very far, however, from reciprocating the admiration +which the Republicans entertain for them. They are brave, devout, +credulous peasants, care far more for Brittany than they do for Paris, +and regard the individuals who rule by the grace of Paris with feelings +the reverse of friendly. The army and the Mobiles, indeed, like being +cooped up here less and less every day, and they cannot understand why +the 300,000 National Guards who march and drill in safety inside the +capital do not come outside and rough it like them. While I was talking +to these Bretons one of them blew his nose with his handkerchief. His +companions apologised to me for this piece of affectation. "He is from +Finisterre," they said. In Finisterre, it appears, luxury is enervating +the population, and they blow their noses with handkerchiefs; in other +parts of Brittany, where the hardy habits of a former age still prevail, +a more simple method is adopted. + +The volunteering from the National Guard for active service has been a +failure. 40,000 men were required; not 7,000 have sent in their names. +The Ultras say that it is a scheme to get rid of them; the bourgeoisie +say nothing, but volunteer all the less. The fact is, the siege as far +as regards the Parisians has been as yet like hunting--all the pleasure +of war, with one per cent. of the danger; and so long as they can help +it they have no intention to increase that per-centage. As for the 1,500 +cannon, they have not yet been made; but many of them have already been +named. One is to be called the "Jules Favre," one the "Populace," "We +already hear them thunder, and see the Prussians decimated," says the +_Temps_, and its editor is not the first person who has counted his +chickens before they are hatched. + +All yesterday afternoon and evening the Fort of Issy, and the battery of +the Bois de Boulogne, fired heavily on Brinborion and Meudon, with what +result no one knows. Yesterday morning the _Combat_ announced that +Marshal Bazaine was treating for the surrender of Metz in the name of +Napoleon. The Government was interviewed, and denied the fact. In the +evening the _Combat_ was burnt on the Boulevards. The chief of General +Ducrot's staff has published a letter protesting against the assertions +of certain journals that the fight at Malmaison produced no results. On +the contrary, he says it gained us sixty square kilometres of ground in +the plain of Genevilliers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +_October 28th._ + +I see at a meeting of the mayors, the population of Paris is put down at +2,036,000. This does not include the regular army, or the Marines and +Mobiles outside and within the lines. The consumption of meat, +consequently, at the rate of 100 grammes per diem, must amount to +between 400,000 and 500,000lbs. per diem. Although mutton according to +the tariff is cheaper than beef, I rarely see any at the restaurants. +This tells its own tale, and I imagine that in three weeks from now at +the very latest fresh meat will have come to an end. + +I am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that there is no more fight in +the working men than in the bourgeois. The National Guard in Montmartre +and Batignolles have held an indignation meeting to protest against +their being employed in the forts. A law was passed on August 10 calling +under arms all unmarried men between 25 and 40. In Paris it has never +been acted on; it would, however, be far better to regularly enrol this +portion of the National Guard as soldiers than to ask for volunteers. As +long as these "sedentary" warriors can avoid regular service, or +subjecting themselves to the discipline and the hardships of real +soldiers, they will do so. Before the Pantheon, the mayor of an +arrondissement sits on a platform, writing down the names of volunteers. +Whenever one makes his appearance, a roll of drums announces to his +fellow-citizens that he has undertaken to risk his valuable life outside +the ramparts. It really does appear too monstrous that the able-bodied +men of this city should wear uniforms, learn the goose-step, and refuse +to take any part in the defence within shot of the enemy. That they +should object to be employed in a campaign away from their homes, is +hardly in accordance with their appeal to the provinces to rise _en +masse_ to defend France, but that they should decline to do anything but +go over every twelve days to the ramparts, is hardly fighting even for +their own homes. Surely as long as the siege lasts they ought to +consider that the Government has a right to use them anywhere within the +lines of investment They make now what they call military promenades, +that is to say, they go out at one gate, keep well within the line of +the forts, and come in at another gate. Some of the battalions are ready +to face the enemy, although they will not submit to any discipline. The +majority, however, do not intend to fight outside the ramparts. I was +reading yesterday the account of a court-martial on one of these heroes, +who had fallen out with his commanding officer, and threatened to pass +his sword through his body. The culprit, counsel urged, was a man of an +amiable, though excitable disposition; the father of two sons, had once +saved a child from drowning, and had presented several curiosities to a +museum. Taking these facts into consideration, the Court condemned him +to six days' imprisonment, his accuser apologised to him, and shook +hands with him. What is to be expected of troops when military offences +of the grossest kind are treated in this fashion? I know myself officers +of the Garde Nationale, who, when they are on duty at the ramparts, +quietly leave their men there, and come home to dinner. No one appears +to consider this anything extraordinary. Well may General Trochu look up +to the sky when it is overcast, and wish that he were in Brittany +shooting woodcocks. He has undertaken a task beyond his own strength, +and beyond the strength of the greatest general that ever lived. How can +the Parisians expect to force the Prussians to raise the siege? They +decline to be soldiers, and yet imagine that in some way or other, not +only is their city not to be desecrated by the foot of the invader, but +that the armies of Germany are to be driven out of France. + + +_October 30th._ + +We really have had a success. Between the north-eastern and the +north-western forts there is a plain, cut up by small streams. The high +road from Paris to Senlis runs through the middle of it, and on this +road, at a distance of about six kilometres from Paris, is the village +of Bourget, which was occupied by the Prussians. It is a little in +advance of their lines, which follow a small river called the Moree, +about two kilometres in the rear. At 5 A.M. last Friday Bourget was +attacked by a regiment of Francs-tireurs and the 9th Battalion of the +Mobiles of the Seine. The Prussians were driven out of it, and fell back +to the river Moree. During the whole of Friday the Prussian artillery +fired upon the village, and sometimes there was a sharp interchange of +shots between the advanced posts. On Friday night two attacks in +considerable force were directed against the position, but both of them +failed. At nine on Saturday morning, after a very heavy artillery fire +from the batteries at Stains and Dugny, which was replied to from the +forts of Aubervilliers and l'Est, La Briche and St. Denis, heavy masses +of infantry advanced from Staines and Gonesse. When they approached the +village the fire which was concentrated on them was so heavy that they +were obliged to fall back. At about twelve o'clock I went out by the +gate of La Villette. Between the ramparts and the Fort of Aubervilliers +there were large masses of troops held in reserve, and I saw several +battalions of National Guards among them, belonging, I heard, to the +Volunteers. I pushed on to an inn situated at the intersection of the +roads to Bourget and Courneuve. There I was stopped. It was raining +hard, and all I could make out was that Prussians and French were busily +engaged in firing, the former into Bourget, the latter into Stains and +Dugny. It appears to have been feared that the Prussians would make an +attack from Bourget upon either St. Denis or Aubervilliers; it was +discovered, however, that they had no batteries there. Whether we shall +be able to hold the position, or whether, if we do, we shall derive any +benefit from it beyond having a large area in which to pick up +vegetables, time alone will prove. On returning into Paris I came across +in the Rue Rivoli about 200 patriots of all ages, brandishing flags and +singing patriotic songs. These were National Guards, who had been +engaged in a pacific demonstration at the Hotel de Ville, to testify +their affection to the Republic, and to demonstrate that that affection +should be reciprocated by the Republic in the form of better arms, +better pay, and better food. They had been harangued by Rochefort and +Arago. I see by this morning's paper that the latter requested them to +swear that not only would they drive the Prussians out of France, but +that they would refuse to treat with any Government in Germany except a +Republican one. + +A decree of General Trochu converts the Legion of Honour into a military +decoration. The journalists of all colours are excessively indignant at +this, for they all expect, when the party which they support is in +power, to be given this red ribbon as a matter of course. It has been so +lavishly distributed that anyone who has not got it is almost obliged to +explain why he is without it, in the way a person would excuse himself +if he came into a drawing-room without a coat. + +The theatres are by degrees reopening. In order not to shock public +opinion, the programmes of their entertainments are exceedingly dull. +Thus the Comedie Francaise bill of fare for yesterday was a speech, a +play of Moliere's without costumes, and an ode to Liberty. I can +understand closing the theatres entirely, but it seems to me absurd +increasing the general gloom, by opening them in order to make the +audiences wish that they were closed. Fancy, for an evening's +entertainment, a speech from Mr. Cole, C.B.; the play of _Hamlet_ played +in the dresses of the present century; and an ode from Mr. Tupper. + +A few days ago the newspapers asserted that M. Thiers had entered Paris, +having been provided with a safe conduct by the King of Prussia. It is +now said that he is not here yet, but that he shortly will be. Of course +if Count Bismarck allows him to come in, he does so rather in the +interests of Prussia than of France. I cannot believe myself that, +unless Prussia has given up the idea of annexing Alsace and Lorraine to +Germany, negotiation will be productive of good results. If Metz can be +taken, if the armies of the provinces can be defeated, and if the +provisions within the city become less plentiful than they are now, then +perhaps the Parisians will accept the idea of a capitulation. At +present, however, the very large majority believe that France must +eventually conquer, and that the world is lost in wonder and admiration +of their attitude. The siege is one long holiday to the working classes. +They are as well fed as ever they were, and have absolutely nothing to +do except to play at soldiers. Although the troops are unable to hold +the villages within the fire of their forts, they are under the delusion +that--to use the favourite expression--the circle in which we are +inclosed is gradually but surely being enlarged. I was this morning +buying cigars at a small tobacconist's. "Well," said the proprietor of +the shop to me, "so we are to destroy the Prussians in twenty days." +"Really," I said. "Yes," he replied, "I was this morning at the Mairie; +there was a crowd before it complaining that they could not get meat. A +gentleman--a functionary--got upon a stool. 'Citizens and citizenesses,' +he said, 'be calm; continue to preserve the admirable attitude which is +eliciting the admiration of the world. I give you my honour that +arrangements have been made to drive the Prussians away from Paris in +twenty days.' Of course," added my worthy bourgeois, "this functionary +would not have spoken thus had the Government not revealed its plans to +him." At this moment a well dressed individual entered the shop and +asked for a subscription for the construction of a machine which he had +invented to blow up the whole Prussian army. I expected to see him +handed over to a policeman, but instead of this the bourgeois gave him +two francs! What, I asked, is to be expected of a city peopled by such +credulous fools? + +A dispute is going on as to the relative advantages of secular and +religious education. The Mayor of the 23rd arrondissement publishes +to-day an order to the teachers within his domains, forbidding them to +take the children under their charge to hear mass on Sundays. The +municipality has also published a decree doubling the amount contributed +by the city to the primary schools. Instead of eight million francs it +is to be henceforward sixteen millions. This is all very well, but +surely it would be better to put off questions affecting education until +the siege is over. The alteration in the nomenclature of the streets +also continues. The Boulevard Prince Eugene is to be called the +Boulevard Voltaire, and the statue of the Prince has been taken down, to +be replaced by the statue of the philosopher; the Rue Cardinal Fesch is +to be called the Rue de Chateaudun. The newspapers also demand that the +Rue de Londres should be rebaptised on the ground that the name of +Londres is detested even more than Berlin. "If Prussia" (says one +writer) "wages against us a war of bandits and savages, it is England +which, in the gloom of its sombre country houses, pays the Uhlans who +oppress our peasants, violate our wives, massacre our soldiers, and +pillage our provinces. She rejoices over our sufferings." + +The headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale are to move to-morrow +from the Palais de l'Industrie to the Grand Hotel. In the Palais it was +impossible to regulate the ventilation. It was always either too hot or +too cold. Another objection to it which was urged by the medical men +was, that one-half of it served as a store for munitions of war. + + +4 P.M. + +So we have been kicked neck and crop out of Bourget. I have got such a +cold that I have been lying up to-day. A friend of mine has just come +in, and tells me that at eight this morning a regiment on their way to +Bourget found the Mobiles who were in it falling back. Some Prussian +troops appeared from between Stains and Courneuve, and attempted to cut +off the retreat. Whether we lost any cannon my friend does not know. He +thinks not. Some of our troops were trapped, the others got away, and +fell back on the barricades in front of Aubervilliers. My friend +observes that if it was not a rout, it was extremely like one. He thinks +that we were only allowed to get into Bourget in order to be caught like +rats in a trap. When my friend left the forts were firing on Pierrefitte +and Etains, and the Prussians were established in front of Bourget. My +friend, who thinks he has a genius for military matters, observes that +we ought to have either left Bourget alone, or held it with more troops +and more artillery. The Mobiles told him that they had been starving +there for forty-eight hours, and only had two pieces of 12, two of 4, +and one mitrailleuse. The Prussians had brought up heavy guns, and +yesterday they established a battery of twenty-one cannon, which +cannonaded the village. + + +_October 31st._ + +Yesterday evening until eleven o'clock--a late hour now for Paris;--the +Boulevards were crowded. Although the news that Bourget had been retaken +by the Prussians had been _affiche_ at the Mairies, those who asserted +it were at first treated as friends of Prussia. Little by little the +fact was admitted, and then, every one fell to denouncing the +Government. To-day the official bulletin states that we retreated in +good order, leaving "some" prisoners. From what I hear from officers who +were engaged, the Mobiles fought well for some time, although their +ammunition was so wet that they could only fire twelve shots with their +cannon, and not one with their mitrailleuse. When they saw that they +were likely to be surrounded, there was a stampede to Aubervilliers and +to Drancy, the latter of which was subsequently evacuated. To-day we +have two pieces of news--that M. Thiers entered Paris yesterday, and +that Metz has fallen. The _Journal des Debats_ also publishes copious +extracts from a file of provincial papers up to the 26th, which it has +obtained. + +I hear that M. Thiers advises peace on any terms. The Government of +Paris is in a difficult position. It has followed in the course of +Palikao. By a long _suggestio falsi et suppressio veri_ it has led the +population of this city to believe that the position of France has +bettered itself every day that the siege has lasted. We have been told +that Bazaine could hold out indefinitely, that vast armies were forming +in the provinces, and would, before the middle of November, march to the +relief of Paris; that the investing army was starving, and that it had +been unable to place a single gun in position within the range of the +forts; that we had ample provisions until the month of February, and +that there would not be the slightest difficulty in introducing convoys. +Anyone who ventured to question these facts was held up to public +execration. General Trochu announced that he had a "plan," and that if +only he were left to carry it out, it must result in success. All this +time the General and the members of the Government, who were at +loggerheads with each other, privately confessed to their friends that +the situation was growing every day more critical. + +The attempt to obtain volunteers from the population of the capital for +active service outside the gates has resulted in a miserable failure, +and the Government does not even venture to carry out the law, which +subjects all between twenty-five and thirty-five to enrolment in the +army. With respect to public opinion, all are opposed to the entry of +the Prussians into Paris, or to a peace which would involve a cession of +territory; but many equally object to submitting either to real hardship +or real danger. They hope against hope that what they call their +"sublime attitude" will prevent the Prussians from attacking them, and +that they may pass to history as heroes, without having done anything +heroic. I had thought that the working men would fight well, but I think +so no longer. Under the Empire they got high wages for doing very +little. Since the investment of the capital, they have taken their 1fr. +50c. and their rations for their families, and done hardly anything +except drill, gossip, and about once a week go on the ramparts. So fond +they are of this idle existence, that although workshops offer 6fr. a +day to men, they cannot obtain hands. With respect to provisions, as yet +the poorer classes have been better off than they ever were before. +Every one gets his 50 or 100 grammes of meat, and his share of bread. +Those persons alone who were accustomed to luxuries have suffered from +their absence. Meat of some kind is, however, to be obtained by any +person who likes to pay for it about twice its normal value. So afraid +is the Government of doing anything which may irritate the population, +that, contrary to all precedent, the garrison and the wounded alone are +fed with salt meat. What the result of M. Thiers' mission will be, it +is almost impossible to say. The Government will be anxious to treat, +and probably it will put forward feelers to-morrow to see how far it may +dare go. Some of its members already are endeavouring to disconnect +themselves from a capitulation, and, if it does take place, will assert +that they were opposed to it. Thus, M. Jules Favre, in a long address to +the mayors of the banlieus yesterday, goes through the old arguments to +prove that France never desired war. + +This gentleman is essentially an orator, rather than a statesman. When +he went to meet Count Bismarck at Ferrieres, he was fully prepared to +agree to the fortresses in Alsace and Lorraine being rased; but when he +returned, the phrase, "_Ni un pouce du territoire, ni une pierre des +forteresses_," occurred to him, and he could not refrain from +complicating the situation by publishing it. + +To turn for a moment to less serious matters. I never shall see a donkey +without gratefully thinking of a Prussian. If anyone happens to fall out +with his jackass, let me recommend him, instead of beating it, to slay +and eat it. Donkey is now all the fashion. When one is asked to dinner, +as an inducement one is told that there will be donkey. The flesh of +this obstinate, but weak-minded quadruped is delicious--in colour like +mutton, firm and savoury. This siege will destroy many illusions, and +amongst them the prejudice which has prevented many animals being used +as food. I can most solemnly assert that I never wish to taste a better +dinner than a joint of a donkey or a _ragout_ of cat--_experto crede_. + + +_November 1st._ + +We have had an exciting twenty-four hours. The Government of the +National Defence has in the course of yesterday been deposed, +imprisoned, and has again resumed the direction of public affairs. I +went yesterday, between one and two o'clock, to the Hotel de Ville. On +the place before it there were about 15,000 persons, most of them +National Guards from the Faubourgs, and without arms, shouting, "Vive la +Commune! Point d'armistice!" Close within the rails along the facade +there were a few Mobiles and National Guards on duty. One of the two +great doorways leading into the hotel was open. Every now and then some +authority appeared to make a speech which no one could catch; and at +most of the windows on the first floor there was an orator +gesticulating. The people round me said that the mayors of Paris had +been summoned by Arago, and were in one room inside deliberating, whilst +in another was the Government. I managed to squeeze inside the rails, +and stood near the open door. At about 2.30 the Mobiles who guarded it +were pushed back, and the mob was forcing its way through it, when +Trochu appeared, and confronted them. What he said I could not hear. His +voice was drowned in cries of "A bas Trochu!" Jules Simon then got on a +chair, to try the effect of his eloquence; but in the midst of his +gesticulations a body of armed men forced their way through the +entrance, and with about 300 of the mob got inside the Hotel. Just then +three or four shots were fired. The crowd outside scampered off, yelling +"Aux armes!" and running over each other. I thought it more prudent to +remain where I was. Soon the mob returned, and made a rush at both the +doors; for the one which had been open had been closed in the interval. +This one they were unable to force, but the other, winch leads up a +flight of steps into the great covered court in the middle of the +building, yielded to the pressure, and through it I passed with the +crowd; whilst from the windows above slips were being thrown out with +the words "Commune decretee--Dorian president" on them. The covered +court was soon filled. In the middle of it there is a large double +staircase leading to a wide landing, from which a door and some windows +communicate with a long salle. + +This, too, was invaded, and for more than two hours I remained there. +The spectacle was a curious one--everybody was shouting, everybody was +writing a list of a new Government and reading it aloud. In one corner a +man incessantly blew a trumpet, in another a patriot beat a drum. At one +end was a table, round which the mayors had been sitting, and from this +vantage ground Felix Pyat and other virtuous citizens harangued, and, as +I understood, proclaimed the Commune and themselves, for it was +impossible to distinguish a word. The atmosphere was stifling, and at +last I got out of a window on to the landing in the courtyard. Here +citizens had established themselves everywhere. I had the pleasure to +see the "venerable" Blanqui led up the steps by his admirers. This +venerable man had, _horresco referens_, been pushed up in a corner, +where certain citizens had kicked his venerable frame, and pulled his +venerable white beard, before they had recognised who he was. By this +time it appeared to be understood that a Government had been +constituted, consisting of Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Delescluze, Louis +Blanc, Flourens, and others. Flourens, whom I now perceived for the +first time, went through a corridor, with some armed men, and I and +others followed him. We got first into an antechamber, and then into a +large room, where a great row was going on. I did not get farther than +close to the door, and consequently could not well distinguish what was +passing, but I saw Flourens standing on a table, and I heard that he was +calling upon the members of the Government of National Defence, who were +seated round it, to resign, and that Jules Favre was refusing to do so. +After a scene of confusion, which lasted half an hour, I found myself, +with those round me, pushed out of the room, and I heard that the old +Government had been arrested, and that a consultation was to take place +between it and the new one. Feeling hungry, I now went to the door of +the Hotel to get out, but I was told I could not do so without a +permission from the citizen Blanqui. I observed that I was far too +independent a citizen myself to ask any one for a permit to go where I +liked, and, as I walked on, the citizen sentinel did not venture to stop +me. As I passed before Trochu's headquarters at the Louvre I spoke to a +captain of the Etat-Major, whom I knew, and whom I saw standing at the +gate. When he heard that I had just come from the Hotel de Ville, he +anxiously asked me what was going on there, and whether I had seen +Trochu. General Schmitz, he said, had received an order signed by the +mayors of Paris to close the gates of the town, and not on any pretext +to let any one in or out. At the Louvre he said all was in confusion, +but he understood that Picard had escaped from the Hotel de Ville, and +was organizing a counter-movement at the Ministry of Finance. Having +dined, I went off to the Place Vendome, as the generale was beating. The +National Guards of the quarter were hurrying there, and Mobile +battalions were marching in the same direction. I found on my arrival +that this had become the headquarters of the Government; that an officer +who had come with an order to Picard to go to the Hotel de Ville, signed +by Blanqui, had been arrested. General Tamisier was still a prisoner +with the Government. Soon news arrived that a battalion had got inside +the Hotel de Ville and had managed to smuggle Trochu out by a back door. +Off I went to the Louvre. There Trochu, his uniform considerably +deteriorated, was haranguing some battalions of the Mobiles, who were +shouting "Vive Trochu!" Other battalions were marching down the Rue +Rivoli to the Hotel de Ville. I got into a cab and drove there. The +Hotel was lit up. On the "place" there were not many persons, but all +round it, in the streets, were Mobiles and Bourgeois National Guards, +about 20,000 in all. The Hotel was guarded, I heard, by a Belleville +battalion, but I could not get close in to interview them. This lasted +until about two o'clock in the morning, when the battalions closed in, +Trochu appeared with his staff, and in some way or other, for it was so +dark, nothing could be seen, the new Government was ejected; M. Jules +Favre and his colleagues were rescued. M. Delescluze, who was one of the +persons there, thus describes what took place: "A declaration was signed +by the new Government declaring that on the understanding that the +Commune was to be elected the next day, and also the Provisional +Government replaced by an elected one, the citizens designed at a public +meeting to superintend these elections withdrew." This was communicated +first to Dorian, who appears to have been half a prisoner, half a +friend; then to the members of the old Government, who were in +honourable arrest; then to Jules Ferry outside. A general sort of +agreement appears then to have been made, that bygones should be +bygones. The Revolutionists went off to bed, and matters returned to the +point where they had been in the morning. Yesterday evening a decree was +placarded, ordering the municipal elections to take place to-day, signed +Etienne Arago; and to-day a counter-decree, signed Jules Favre, +announces that this decree appeared when the Government was _garde a +vue_, and that on Thursday next a vote is to be taken to decide whether +there is to be a Commune or not. + +To-day the streets are full of National Guards marching and +counter-marching, and General Tamisier has held a review of about 10,000 +on the Place Vendome. Mobile battalions also are camped in the public +squares. I went to the Hotel de Ville at about one o'clock, and found +Mr. Washburne there. We both came to the conclusion that Trochu had got +the upper hand. Before the Hotel de Ville there were about 5,000 +Mobiles, and within the building everything appeared quiet. Had General +Trochu been a wise man he would have anticipated this movement, and not +rendered himself ridiculous by being imprisoned with his council of +lawyers and orators for several hours by a mob. The working men who +performed this feat seemed only to be actuated by a wild desire to fight +out their battle with the Prussians, and not to capitulate. They wished +to be led out, as they imagine that their undisciplined valour would be +a match for the German army. They showed their sense by demanding that +Dorian should be at the head of the new Government. He is not a +Demagogue, he has written no despatches, nor made any speeches, nor +decreed any Utopian reforms after the manner of his colleagues. But, +unlike them, he is a practical man of business, and this the working men +have had discernment enough to discover. They are hardly to be blamed if +they have accepted literally the rhetorical figures of Jules Favre. When +he said that, rather than yield one stone of a French fortress, Paris +would bury itself beneath its ruins, they believed it. I need hardly say +that neither the Government nor the bourgeoisie have the remotest +intention to sacrifice either their own lives or their houses merely in +order to rival Saragossa. They have got themselves into a ridiculous +position by their reckless vaunts, and they have welcomed M. Thiers, as +an angel from heaven, because they hope that he will be able to save +them from cutting too absurd a figure. He left yesterday at three +o'clock, and I understand he has full powers to negotiate an armistice +upon any terms which will save the _amour-propre_ of the Parisians. I +should not be surprised, however, if the Government continues to resist +until the town is in real danger or has suffered real privations. If the +Parisians take it into their heads that they will be able to palm +themselves off as heroes by continuing for a few weeks longer their +passive attitude of opposition, they will do so. What inclines them to +submit to conditions now, is not so much the capitulation of Bazaine, +as the dread that by remaining much longer isolated they will entirely +lose their hold on the Provincials. That these Helots should venture to +express their opinions, or to act except in obedience to orders from the +capital, fills them with indignation. + + +_November 2nd._ + +The Government has issued the following form, on which a vote is to be +taken to-morrow: "Does the population of Paris maintain, Yes or No, the +powers of the Government of National Defence?" + +The Ultras bitterly complain that the members of the Government agreed +to the election of a Commune, on the recommendation of all the mayors, +and that now they are going back from their concession, and are +following in the steps of the Empire and taking refuge in a Plebiscite. +They, therefore, recommend their friends to abstain from voting. The +fact is, that the real question at issue is, whether Paris is to resist +to the end, or whether it is to fall back from the determination to do +so, which it so boldly and so vauntingly proclaimed. The bourgeois are +getting tired of marching to the ramparts, and making no money; the +working-men are thoroughly enjoying themselves, and are perfectly ready +to continue the _status quo_. I confess I rather sympathise with the +latter. They may not be over wise, but still it seems to me that Paris +ought to hold out as long as bread lasts, without counting the cost. She +had invited the world to witness her heroism, and now she endeavours to +back out of the position which she has assumed. I have not been down to +Belleville to-day, but I hear that there and in the other outer +Faubourgs there is great excitement, and the question of a rising is +being discussed. Flourens and some other commanders of battalions have +been cashiered, but they are still in command, and no attempt is being +made to oblige them to recognise the decree. Rochefort has resigned his +seat in the Government, on the ground that he consented to the election +of the Commune. The general feeling among the shopkeepers seems to be to +accept an armistice on almost any terms, because they hope that it will +lead to peace. We will take our revenge, they say, in two years. A +threat which simply means that if the French army can fight then, they +will again shout "_a Berlin_!" M. Thiers is still at Versailles. There +appears to be a tacit truce, but none knows precisely what is going on. +A friend of mine saw General Trochu yesterday on business, and he tells +me that this worthy man was then so utterly prostrated, that he did not +even refer to the business which he had come to transact. Never was a +man more unfit to defend a great capital. "Why do you not act with +energy against the Ultras?" said my friend. "I wish," replied Trochu, +"to preserve my power by moral force." This is all very well, but can +the commander of a besieged town be said to have preserved his power +when he allows himself to be imprisoned by a mob for six hours, and then +does not venture to punish its leaders? Professor Fustel de Coulanges +has written a reply to Professor Mommsen. He states the case of France +with respect to Alsace very clearly. "Let Prussia double the war-tax she +imposes on France, and give up this iniquitous scheme of annexation," +ought to be the advice of every sincere friend of peace. In any case, if +Alsace and Lorraine are turned with the German Rhine Provinces into a +neutral State, I do hope that we shall have the common sense not to +guarantee either its independence or its neutrality. If we do so, within +ten years we shall infallibly be dragged into a Continental war. We have +a whim about Belgium, one day it will prove a costly one; we cannot, +however, afford to indulge in many of these whims. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +_November 3rd._ + +The vote is being taken to-day whether the population of Paris maintains +in power the Government of National Defence. On Saturday each of the +twenty arrondissements is to elect a Mayor and four adjuncts, who are to +replace those nominated by the Government. Of course the Government will +to-day have a large majority. Were it to be in the minority the +population would simply assert that it wishes to live under no +Government. This plebiscite is in itself an absurdity. The real object, +however, is to strengthen the hands of the depositories of power, and to +enable them to conclude an armistice, which would result in a +Constituent Assembly, and would free them from the responsibility of +concluding peace on terms rather than accept which they proudly asserted +a few weeks ago they would all die. The keynote of the situation is +given by the organs of public opinion, which until now have teemed with +articles calling upon the population of the capital to bury itself +beneath its ruins, and thus by a heroic sacrifice to serve as an example +to the whole of France. To-day they say, "It appears that the provinces +will not allow Paris to be heroic. They wish for peace; we have no right +to impose upon them our determination to fight without hope of victory." +The fact is that the great mass of the Parisians wish for peace at any +price. Under the circumstances I do not blame them. No town is obliged +to imitate the example of Moscow. If, however, it intends after +submitting to a blockade, to capitulate on terms which it scouted at +first, before any of its citizens have been even under fire, and before +its provisions are exhausted, it would have done well not to have called +upon the world to witness its sublimity. My impression is that on one +point alone the Parisians will prove obstinate, and that is if the +Prussians insist upon occupying their town; upon every other they will +only roar like "sucking doves." Rather than allow the German armies to +defile along the Boulevards, they would give up Alsace, Lorraine, and +half a dozen other provinces. As regards the working-men, they have far +more go in them than the bourgeois, and if the Prussians would oblige +them by assaulting the town, they would fight well in the streets; but +with all their shouts for a sortie, I estimate their real feelings on +the matter by the fact that they almost unanimously, on one pretext or +another, decline to volunteer for active service outside the ramparts. + +The elections on Saturday, says M. Jules Favre, will be a "negation of +the Commune." By this I presume he means that the elected Mayors and +their adjuncts will only exercise power in their respective +arrondissements, but that their collective action will not be +recognised. As, however, they will be the only legally elected body in +Paris, and as, undoubtedly, they will frequently meet together, it is +very probable that they will be able to hold their own against the +Government. The word "Commune" is taken from the vocabulary of the first +Revolution. During the Reign of Terror the Municipality was all +powerful, and it styled itself a "Commune." By "Commune," consequently, +is simply meant a municipality which is strong enough to absorb tacitly +a portion of the power legally belonging to the Executive. + +The Government now meets at one or other of the ministries. At the +Hotel de Ville Etienne Arago still reigns. Being a member of the +Government himself, he cannot well be turned out by his own colleagues, +but they distrust him, and do not clearly know whether he is with them +or against them. Yesterday, several battalions were stationed round the +hotel. Arago came out to review them. He was badly received, and the +officers let him understand that they were not there to be reviewed by +him. Soon afterwards General Tamisier passed along the line, and was +greeted with shouts of "A bas la Commune!" + +I am sorry for Trochu; he is a good, honourable, high-minded man; +somewhat obstinate, and somewhat vain; but actuated by the best +intentions. He has thrust himself into a hornet's nest. In vain he now +plaintively complains that he has made Paris impregnable, that he cannot +make sorties without field artillery, and that he is neither responsible +for the capitulation of Metz, nor the rout the other day at Bourget. +What, then, say his opponents with some truth, was your wonderful plan? +Why did you put your name to proclamations which called upon us, if we +could not conquer, at least to die? Why did you imprison as calumniators +those who published news from the provinces, which you now admit is +true? It is by no means easy for him or his colleagues to reply to these +questions. + +General Bellemare has been suspended. He, it appears, is to be the +scapegoat of the Bourget affair. I hear from the Quartier-General that +the real reason why the artillery did not arrive in time to hold this +position was, not because Bellemare did not ask for it, but because he +could not get it. Red tape and routine played their old game. From St. +Denis none could be sent, because St. Denis is within the "territorial +defence of Paris," and Bourget is not. In vain Bellemare's officers went +here and there. They were sent from pillar to post, from one aged +General to another, and at eleven o'clock on the day when Bourget was +taken, after the troops had been driven out of it, the artillery, every +formality having been gone through, was on its way to the village. It is +pleasant, whilst one is cut off from the outer world, to be reminded by +these little traits of one's native land, its War-Office and its +Horse-Guards. + +I was out yesterday afternoon along our southern advanced posts. A few +stray shots were occasionally fired by Francs-tireurs; but there seemed +to be a tacit understanding that no offensive operations should take +place. The fall of the leaves enables us to distinguish clearly the +earthworks and the redoubts which the Prussians have thrown up. I am not +a military man, but my civilian mind cannot comprehend why Vanves and +Montrouge do not destroy with their fire the houses occupied on the +plateau of Chatillon by the Prussians. I asked an officer, who was +standing before Vanves, why they did not. He shrugged his shoulders, and +said, "It is part of the plan, I suppose." Trochu is respected by the +troops, but they have little confidence in his skill as a commander. In +the evening I went to the Club Rue d'Arras, which is presided over by +the "venerable" Blanqui in person, and where the Ultras of the Ultras +congregate. The club is a large square room, with a gallery at one end +and a long tribune at the other. On entering through a baize door one is +called upon to contribute a few sous to the fund for making cannon. When +I got there it was about 8.30. The venerable Blanqui was seated at a +table on the tribune; before him were two assessors. One an unwholesome +citizen, with long blond hair hanging down his back, the other a most +truculent-looking ruffian. The hall was nearly full; many were in +blouses, the rest in uniform; about one-fifth of the audience was +composed of women, who either knitted, or nourished the infants, which +they held in their arms. A citizen was speaking. He held a list in his +hand of a new Government. As he read out the names some were applauded, +others rejected. I had found a place on a bench by the side of a lady +with a baby, who was occupied, like most of the other babies, in taking +its supper. Its food, however, apparently did not agree with it, for it +commenced to squall lustily. "Silence," roared a hundred voices, but the +baby only yelled the louder. "Sit upon it," observed some energetic +citizens, looking at me, but not being a Herod, I did not comply with +their order. The mother became frightened lest a _coup d'etat_ should be +made upon her offspring, and after turning it up and solemnly smacking +it, took it away from the club. By this time orator No. 1 had been +succeeded by orator No. 2. This gentleman, a lieutenant in the National +Guard, thus commenced. "Citizens, I am better than any of you. +(Indignant disapproval.) In the Hotel de Ville on Monday I told General +Trochu that he was a coward." (Tremendous shouts of "You are a liar," +and men and women shook their fists at the speaker.) Up rose the +venerable Blanqui. There was a dead silence. "I am master here," he +said; "when I call a speaker to order he must leave the tribune, until +then he remains." The club listened to the words of the sage with +reverential awe, and the orator was allowed to go on. "This, perhaps, no +one will deny," he continued. "I took an order from the Citizen Flourens +to the public printing establishment. The order was the deposition of +the Government of National Defence"--(great applause)--and satisfied +with his triumph the lieutenant relapsed into private life. After him +followed several other citizens, who proposed resolutions, which were +put and carried. I only remember one of them, it was that the Jesuits in +Vaugirard (a school) should at once be ejected from the territories of +the Republic. At ten o'clock the venerable Blanqui announced that the +sitting was over, and the public noisily withdrew. An attempt has been +made by the respectable portion of the community to establish a club at +the Porte St. Martin Theatre, where speakers of real eminence nightly +address audiences. I was there a few evenings ago, and heard A. Coquerel +and M. Lebueier, both Protestant pastors, deliver really excellent +speeches. The former is severe and demure, the latter a perfect +Boanerges. He frequently took up a chair and dashed it to the ground to +emphasise his words. This club is usually presided over by M. Cernuschi, +a banker, who was in bad odour with the Imperial Government for having +subscribed a large sum for the electoral campaign against the +Plebiscite. Another club is held at the Folies Bergeres, an old +concert-hall, something like the Alhambra. The principal orator here is +a certain Falcet, a burly athlete, who was, I believe, formerly a +professional wrestler. Here the quality of the speeches is poor, the +sentiments of the speakers mildly Republican. At the Club Montmartre the +president is M. Tony Reveillon, a journalist of some note. The assessors +are always elected. A person proposes himself, and the President puts +his name to the audience. Generally a dozen are rejected before the two +necessary to make the meeting in order are chosen. Every time I have +been there an old man--I am told an ex-professor in a girls' school--has +got up, and with great unction blessed the National Guards--the "heroic +defenders of our homes." Sometimes he is encored several times; and were +his audience to let him, I believe that he would continue blessing the +"heroic defenders" until the next morning. The old gentleman has a most +reverent air, and I should imagine in quiet times goes about as a blind +man with a dog. He was turned out of the school in which he was a +professor--a profane disbeliever in all virtue assures me--for being +rather too affectionate towards some of the girls. "I like little +girls--big ones, too," Artemus Ward used to say, and so it appears did +this worthy man. Besides the clubs which I have mentioned, there are +above 100 others. Most of them are kept going by the sous which are +collected for cannon, or some other vague object. Almost all are +usually crowded; the proceedings at most of them are more or less +disorderly; the resolutions carried more or less absurd, and the +speeches more or less bad. With the exception of the Protestant pastors, +and one or two others, I have not heard a single speaker able to talk +connectedly for five minutes. Wild invectives against the Prussians, +denunciations against Europe, abuse of every one who differs from the +orator, and the very tallest of talk about France--what she has done, +what she is doing, and what she will do--form the staple of almost all +the speeches. + + +_Evening._ + +I went down to Belleville this afternoon. Everything was quiet. The +people, as usual, in the streets doing nothing. If you can imagine the +whole of Southwark paid and fed by the Government, excused from paying +rent, arrayed in kepis and some sort of uniform, given guns, and passing +almost all the time gossiping, smoking, and idling, you will be able to +form a correct notion of the aspect of Belleville and the other outer +faubourgs. The only demonstration I have heard of has been one composed +of women, who marched down the Rue du Temple behind a red flag, shouting +"Vive la Commune." As far as is yet known, about one-seventh of the +population have voted "No." The army and the Mobiles have almost all +voted "Yes." A friend of mine, who was out driving near Bobigny, says he +was surrounded by a Mobile regiment, who were anxious to know what was +passing in Paris. He asked them how they had voted. "For peace," they +replied. "If the National Guards wish to continue the war, they must +come out here and fight themselves." Many battalions have issued +addresses to the Parisians saying that they will not fight for a +Commune, and that the provinces must have a vote in all decisions as to +the future destinies of France. General Vinoy also has issued an order +to the 13th Corps d'Armee, declaring that if the peace of Paris is +disturbed he will march at its head to put down disorders. + + +_November 5th._ + +That Paris is prudent to seize upon the first loophole to get out of the +position into which she has inconsiderately thrust herself is most +certain. Never for a moment did I believe that the Parisians, +indifferent to all but honour, would perish to the last man rather than +give up one inch of territory, one stone of a fortress. Heroic constancy +and endurance under misfortune are not improvised. A population, +enervated by twenty years of slavery, corruption, and luxury, is not +likely to immolate itself for country, like the Spartans at Thermopylae. +People who mean to die do not sign a preliminary round-robin to do so. +Real fighting soldiers do not parade the streets behind half-a-dozen +fantastically dressed _vivandieres_. When in a town of 2,000,000 +inhabitants not above 12,000 can be found ready to submit to military +discipline, and to go outside an inner line of fortifications, it is +ridiculous to expect a defence like that of Saragossa. We are under the +impression to-day that an armistice will be signed to-morrow. No one +affects even to doubt that the word means peace. The bourgeoisie are +heartily tired of playing at soldiers, the game has lost its novelty, +and the nights are too cold to make an occasional pic-nic to the +fortifications agreeable any longer. Besides, business is business, and +pleasant as it may be to sit arrayed in uniform behind a counter, in the +long run customers are more remunerative, if not so glorious. The cry +for peace is universal, the wealthy are lusting after the flesh-pots of +Egypt, the hotel-keepers are eagerly waiting for the rush of sightseers, +and the shopkeepers are anxious to make up for lost time by plundering +friend and foe. The soldiers, although Trochu is popular with them, +have neither faith nor confidence in his generalship. The Mobiles and +peasants recently from their villages wish to go home, and openly tell +the Parisians that they have no intention to remain out in the cold any +longer on salt beef, whilst the heroic citizens are sleeping quietly in +their houses, or in barracks, and gorging themselves with fresh +provisions. As for the working-men, they are spoiling for a fight in the +streets, either with the Prussians, or, if that cannot be, with anyone +else. They are, however, so thoroughly enjoying themselves, doing +nothing, and getting paid for doing it, that they are in too good a +temper to be mischievous. The new Prefect of the Police has arrested +Felix Pyat and other leaders of the riot of last Monday. Flourens and +the venerable Blanqui are only not in prison because they are in hiding. +The mayors of the different arrondissements are being elected to-day, +but no one seems to trouble himself about the election. + +The vote of Thursday has somewhat surprised the bourgeoisie. That +one-seventh of the population should have registered their deliberate +opinion that they prefer no Government to that under which they are +living is by no means a reassuring fact, more particularly when this +seventh consists of "men of action," armed with muskets, and provided +with ammunition. As long as the Line and the Mobiles remain here, Trochu +will be able, if he only acts with firmness, to put down all tendencies +to disorder; but were there to be a fight between the friends of the +Government among the Garde Nationale and its opponents, I am not certain +that the former would have the upper hand. As it is, the Hotel de Ville +and the Louvre are guarded by Breton battalions of the Mobile, and Vinoy +has announced that if there is a disturbance he will at once march to +the aid of the Government at the head of his division. Many complaints +are made about the mode in which the vote was taken on Thursday; some +of them appear to me to be just. The fact is, that Frenchman have not +the most elementary notion of fair play in an election. No matter what +body of men are in power, they conceive that they have a perfect right +to use that power to obtain a verdict in their favour from their +fellow-citizens. Tried by our electioneering code, every French election +which I ever witnessed would be annulled on the ground of "intimidation" +and "undue influence." + + +_Evening._ + +No news yet about the armistice. I hear that it is doubtful whether it +will be signed, but no doubt respecting it seems to disquiet the minds +of the Parisians. I cannot help thinking that they have got themselves +again into a fool's paradise. Their newspapers tell them that the +Neutral Powers are forcing Prussia to be reasonable, and that Bismarck +is struck with awe at the sight of our "heroic attitude." As for his not +accepting any terms which we may put forward, the idea does not enter +the mind of any one. I must say, however, that there is a vague feeling +that perhaps we are not quite so very sublime as we imagine. Even to pay +a war indemnity seems to be a concession which no one anticipated. For +the first time since I have known the Parisians, they are out of conceit +with themselves. "If Prussia forces us to make peace now, in five years +we will crush her," is the somewhat vague threat with which many console +themselves. Others say that on the conclusion of peace they will leave +France; but whether this is intended to punish France, Prussia, or +themselves, I do not know. Others boldly assert that they are prevented +from immolating themselves by the Neutral Powers. It is the old story of +"hold me back, don't let me get at him." One thing, however, is certain, +that the capture of Bazaine, the disaster at Bourget, the row at the +Hotel de Ville, the Prussian cannon on the heights of Meudon, and the +opportune arrival of Thiers, have made this population as peaceful +to-day, as they were warlike a few weeks ago. + +I really am sorry for these vain, silly, gulled humbugs among whom I am +living. They have many amiable qualities, although, in trying to be +Spartans, they have mistaken their vocation. They are, indeed, far too +agreeable to be Spartans, who in private life must have been the most +intolerable of bores. It is a sad confession of human weakness, but, as +a rule, persons are not liked on account of their virtues. Excessively +good people are--speaking socially--angular. Take, for instance, the +Prussians; they are saints compared with the French. They have every +sort of excellence: they are honest, sober, hard-working, +well-instructed, brave, good sons, husbands, and fathers; and yet all +this is spoilt by one single fault--they are insupportable. Laugh at the +French, abuse them as one may, it is impossible to help liking them. +Admire, respect the Prussians as one may, it is impossible to help +disliking them. I will venture to say that it would be impossible to +find 100 Germans born south of the Main who would declare, on their +honour, that they prefer a Prussian to a Frenchman. The only Prussian I +ever knew who was an agreeable man was Bismarck. All others with whom I +have been thrown--and I have lived for years in Germany--were proud as +Scotchmen, cold as New Englanders, and touchy as only Prussians can be. +I once had a friend among them. His name was Buckenbrock. Inadvertently +I called him Butterbrod. We have never spoken since. A Prussian +lieutenant is the most offensive specimen of humanity that nature and +pipeclay have ever produced. Apart from all political considerations, +the supremacy of this nation in Europe will be a social calamity, unless +France, like vanquished Greece, introduces the amenities of society +among these pedants, squires, and martinets. + +What, however, is to be done for the French? Nothing, I am afraid. They +have brought their troubles on their own heads; and, to use an +Americanism, they must face the music. Even at this late moment they +fail to realise the fact that they ever will be called upon to endure +any real hardships, or that their town ever really will be bombarded. I +was watching the crowd on the Boulevards this afternoon. It was +dispirited because it had for twenty-four hours set its heart upon +peace, and was disappointed like a child who cannot get the toy it +wants; but I will venture to say, not one person in his heart of hearts +really imagined that perhaps within a week he might be blown up by a +bomb. They either will not or cannot believe that anything will happen +which they do not desire. Facts of this kind must be palpably brought +home to them before they will even imagine that they are possible. + +The army has been re-organized by that arch organizer Trochu. According +to this new plan, the whole armed force is divided into three armies. +The first comprises the National Guards; the second, under General +Ducrot, is what may be called the active army; it consists of three +corps, commanded respectively by Generals Vinoy, d'Exea, and Renault. +The third comprises all the troops in the forts, in the cottages +adjacent to the forts, which have to be occupied for their defence, and +the fourth commanded by Trochu. The second army will have four cannon to +each thousand men, and will be used to effect a sortie, if possible. +This new arrangement is not well received by military men. Both among +soldiers and officers, General Vinoy is far more popular than any other +general; he is a sort of French Lord Clyde. Until now he had a +coordinate command with Ducrot. That he should be called upon to serve +under him is regarded as an injustice, more particularly because Ducrot +is an intimate personal friend of Trochu. Ducrot and Trochu believe in +themselves, and believe in each other; but no one else believes in +them. They certainly have not yet given the slightest evidence of +military capacity, except by criticising what has been done by others. +Now, at last, however, Trochu will have an opportunity to carry out his +famous plan, by which he asserts that he will raise the blockade in +fourteen days, and of which he has given the fullest details in his +will. Ridicule kills in France--and since this eminent General, as an +evidence that he had a plan, appealed to the will which he had deposited +with his lawyer, he lost all influence. I need not say that this +influence has not been restored by the absurd arrest to which he was +subjected by Messrs. Flourens and Blanqui. + + +_November 6th._ + +So we have declined the armistice. The Government deliberated exactly +five minutes over the question. The _Journal Officiel_ says:--"Prussia +expressly refused to entertain the question of revictualment, and only +admitted under certain reserves the vote of Alsace and Lorraine." No +further details are given. An opportunity has been lost, which may never +recur. Public opinion was disposed to accept a cessation of the siege on +almost any terms. General Trochu, however, and his colleagues had not +the civic courage to attach their names to a document which would +afterwards have been cast in their teeth. A friend of mine, a military +man, saw Trochu late last night. He strongly urged him to accept the +armistice, but in vain. "What do you expect will occur? You must know +that the position is hopeless," said my friend. "I will not sign a +capitulation," was all he could get from Trochu. This worthy man is as +obstinate as only weak men can be; his colleagues, as self-seeking as +only French politicians can be. The news that the armistice had been +rejected, fell like a thunderclap upon the population. I never remember +to have witnessed a day of such general gloom since the commencement of +the siege. The feeling of despair is, I hear, still stronger in the +army. Were the real condition of things outside known, I am certain that +the Government would be forced to conclude an armistice, on no matter +what terms. I happened to come across to-day a file of English +newspapers up to the 22nd ult., and I fully realised how all +intelligence from without has been distorted by the Government to serve +its own purposes. Now a few days ago, these very papers had been lent to +Trochu. He read them, kept them two days to show some of his colleagues, +and then returned them. One single extract was published by the _Journal +Officiel_--a German report upon the defences of Paris. No man in the +House of Commons is more fond of special pleading than Sir Roundell +Palmer. When anyone complains of it, the reply is, that he teaches some +children their catechism on Sundays. So, when anyone ventures to +question the veracity of Trochu, one is told that he has adopted his +brother's children. + +According to measurements which have been made, the Prussian batteries +at Sevres and Meudon will carry to the Champ de Mars. From Montretout +their guns would throw shells into the Champs Elysees; but we think that +Valerien will silence them as soon as they open. Meat is getting more +and more scarce every day. That great moralist, Dr. Johnson, said that +he should prefer to dine with a Duke than the most agreeable of +Commoners. I myself at present should prefer to dine with a leg of +mutton than the most agreeable of human beings--Duke or Commoner. I +hear, on what I believe to be good authority, that we shall see the end +of our fresh meat on or about the 20th of this month. + +Yesterday, all the hidden stores which had been hoarded up with an eye +to a great profit were thrown on the market. To-day they have again +disappeared. Lamb is, however, freely offered for sale, and curiously +enough, at the same time, live dogs are becoming scarce. + +Several Ultras have been elected mayors of the different +arrondissements; among them Citizen Mottu, who was turned out of his +mayorship about a fortnight ago because he refused to allow any child to +attend a place of worship except with his own consent. It is all very +well for M. Jules Favre to say that the election of mayors is a negation +of a Commune. As I understand it, a Commune is but a council of elected +mayors. If the Government loses its popularity, the new mayors will +become a Commune. The more, however, the majority desire peace, the less +likely will they be to throw themselves into the arms of Citizen Mottu +and his friends, who are all for war _a outrance_. + + +_Monday, November 7th._ + +The newspapers of to-day, with the exception of the Ultra organs, are +loud in their expressions of regret that the armistice has not been +agreed to. The Government gives no further details, but yesterday +afternoon M. Jules Favre informed several members of the press who +"interviewed" him, that Prussia refused to allow the introduction of +provisions into Paris during the duration of the armistice. I have long +ceased believing any assertion of a member of the French Government, +unless supported by independent evidence. But if this be really true, I +must say that Count Bismarck has been playing a game with the Neutral +Powers, for it can hardly be expected that Paris would consent to +suspend all military operations against the Prussians, whilst their +process of reducing the town by starvation was uninterrupted. Besides, +as such a condition would have amounted practically to a capitulation, +it would have been more frank on the part of Count Bismarck to have +submitted the question in that form. I anticipate very shortly a sortie +in force. An attempt will be made with the Second Army to pierce the +Prussian lines. There appears no reason to doubt that it will fail, and +then the cry for peace will become so strong that the Government will +be obliged to listen seriously to it. + +General Trochu's new organization is severely criticised. I hear from +military men that he elaborated it himself with his personal friends. So +secret was it kept, that the Minister of War knew nothing about it until +it appeared in the _Journal Officiel_ yesterday. After the scene of last +Monday General Vinoy reproached Trochu for having tamely submitted to +arrest and insult by a mob for several hours, and strongly hinted that a +French general owed it to his cloth not to allow his decorations to be +torn from his breast. It is said by General Vinoy's friends that those +observations are mainly the cause why he has been deprived of his +independent command, and placed under the orders of General Ducrot, with +respect to whose evasion from Sedan many French officers shake their +heads. + +I cannot help thinking that the result of the vote of the army on +Thursday last is only relatively correct. Line, Mobile, and Marines do +not amount to 250,000 men, unless I am very much mistaken. The Second +Army, under Ducrot, will number about 110,000 men. + +The English at last are about to leave. They are very indignant at +having been, as they say, humbugged so long, and loud in their +complaints against their Embassy. I do not think, however, that the +delay has been the fault either of Colonel Claremont or of Mr. +Wodehouse. These gentlemen have done their best, but they were unable to +get the Prussian and French authorities to agree upon a day for the +exodus. On the one hand, to send to Versailles to receive an answer took +forty-eight hours; on the other, from the fact that England had not +recognized the Republic, General Trochu could not be approached +officially. Colonel Claremont happens to be a personal friend of his, +and it is, thanks to his exertions, coupled with those of Mr. Washburne, +that the matter has at length been satisfactorily arranged. I need +hardly observe that the Foreign-office has done its best to render the +question more complicated. It has sent orders to Mr. Wodehouse to +provide for the transport of British subjects, without sending funds, +and having told Lord Lyons to take the archives with him, it perpetually +refers to instructions contained in despatches which it well knows are +at Tours. + +Mr. Washburne remains. He has done his utmost to induce the Government +to agree to an armistice, and has clearly told them that they ought not +to sacrifice Paris without a prospect of a successful issue. He is in +despair at their decision, and anticipates the worst. In the interests +of humanity it is greatly to be regretted that Lord Lyons should have +received orders to quit Paris. The personal consideration in which he +was held, and the great influence which it gave him, would have been +invaluable during the negotiations of the last few days. + + +_November 8th._ + +I was once in love. The object of my affections had many amiable +qualities. I remember I thought her an angel; but when she was crossed, +she used to go up into her room and say that she would remain there +without eating until I yielded the point at issue between us. As I was +invariably right and she was invariably wrong, I could not do this; but, +pitying the weakness of her sex, and knowing its obstinacy, I usually +managed to arrange matters in a way which allowed her to emerge from her +retreat without any great sacrifice of _amour propre_. The Parisians +remind me of this sentimental episode of my existence; they have mounted +a high pedestal, and called upon the world to witness that no matter +what may be the danger to which they are exposed, they will not get off +it, unless they obtain what they want; that they will obtain it, they +find is most improbable, and they are anxiously looking around for some +one to help them down, without being obliged absolutely "to swallow +their own words." They had hoped that the armistice which was proposed +by the neutrals would in some way get them out of their difficulty; and, +as the siege still continues, they are exceedingly indignant with their +kind friends. "They have," say the papers, "loosened our mainspring of +sacrifice. We had fully determined to perish, rather than yield; if we +do not, it will be the fault of Russia, Austria, and England." Be the +cause what it may, the "mainspring of sacrifice" most assuredly is not +only loosened, but it has run down, and, unless some wonderful success +occurs shortly, it will never be wound up again. As long as it could be +supposed that cannon and musketry would only do their bloody work +outside the exterior forts, and that Paris might glory in a "heroic +attitude" without suffering real hardships or incurring real danger, the +note of defiance was loud and bold. As it is, the Government is obliged +to do its utmost to keep their courage up to the sticking point. These +foolish people really imagined that, like them, the world regarded their +city as a species of sacred Jerusalem, and that public opinion would +never allow the Prussians either to bombard it, or to expose the high +priests of civilization who inhabit it to the realities of war. It is +necessary to live here to understand the strength of this feeling. In +England, little attention is paid to the utterances of French +newspapers, but the Parisians, more profoundly ignorant of foreign +politics than the charity school boys of an English village, were under +the flattering delusion that we, in common with every other nation, +lived alone to merit their favourable opinion. They find now, to their +profound astonishment, that beyond a barren sympathy, founded upon a +common humanity, no one regards Paris as different to any other great +city, and that, if they choose to convert it into an intrenched camp for +their armies, they must meet the consequences. Either they must accept +the victor's terms of peace or they must fight the Prussians. The +reality of the situation is by degrees coming home to them. From the +general tone of the conversations I hear, I am inclined to think that, +in their hearts, they admit that Alsace, if not Lorraine, is +irretrievably lost. Words have a great influence over them, and they +find consolation for this loss of territory in the phrase that Alsace +will annex a portion of Germany, and not be annexed to Germany. It is +admitted also that sooner or later, an indemnity must be paid in money +to Prussia. The newspapers, who were the loudest in their praises of M. +Jules Favre's language at Ferrieres, now complain that nothing is to be +gained by bombast, and that it is ridiculous of him to talk about +"France" proposing "conditions of peace" which must be unacceptable to +Prussia. The main grounds for continued resistance are the personal +ambition of the members of the Government, who well know that if they +sign an armistice, which is tantamount to peace, they will hereafter be +made scapegoats, and be told that the Parisians were balked of their +desire to perish to the last man; the mulish obstinacy of Trochu; and +the dread of the capital losing its supremacy over the Provinces. Of +course, there are some who wish to fight on to the bitter end. The +"Ultras" hope to found on a war _a outrance_ a democratic republic, and +dream of the successes of the First Revolution. The politicians hardly +know what they want. Their main idea is to keep up for their own +purposes that centralization which has so long been the bane of this +country. If they agree to terms before Paris has given France an example +of heroism, they fear that her supremacy will be compromised; if they +allow the insulation to continue, they fear that the Provinces will +accustom themselves to independent action; if a Constituent Assembly be +elected whilst free communication between Paris and the rest of France +is interrupted, they fear that this Assembly will consist of local +candidates rather than those, as has heretofore been the case in all +French Legislative Chambers, who are imposed upon the departments by a +central organization in the capital. + +The position of the Government is a singular one. They obtained last +Thursday a large majority on their plebiscite, because it was fully +understood that "oui" meant peace; indeed, on many bulletins, the words +"and peace" were added to the "oui." They have imprisoned the leaders of +those who revolted to the cry of "no armistice!" Their friends the +bourgeois trusted to them to put off the municipal elections until after +the war, and they rallied to their defence to the cry of "no Commune!" +In each arrondissement a mayor and two adjuncts have been elected, and +these mayors and adjuncts have only to meet together in order to assume +that right to interfere in public affairs which converts a municipality +into a commune. In Belleville the elected mayor is a prisoner, and his +two adjuncts, Flourens and Milliere, are in hiding. In the nineteenth +arrondissement M. Delescluze, by far the most able of the Ultras, is +mayor. Contrary to the wishes, consequently, of the voters of "oui," we +are to have no armistice, and we probably shall have a commune. The +Ultras are persecuted, but their programme is adopted. + +There appears to be a tacit truce between all parties within the city +until Trochu has made some attempt to carry out his famous plan. For the +last fortnight the Government has not published any news which it may +have received from the Provinces. M. Thiers has either made no report +upon their condition, or it has been concealed. M. Jules Favre, in his +despatch to the envoys abroad, enters into no details, and confines +himself to the simple announcement, that the armistice was not concluded +because Count Bismarck would not allow Paris to be revictualled during +the twenty-five days which it was to last. Our anxiety for news +respecting what is passing outside has to be satisfied with the +following words, which fell from the lips of M. Thiers: "I have seen the +Army of the Loire and the Prussian Guard; man to man I prefer the +former." The _Debats_ and some other journals contain extracts from the +English newspapers up to the 22nd ult. I observe that everything which +tells against France is suppressed, and what is published is headed with +a notice, that as the source is English the truth is questionable. Thus +does the press, while abusing the Government for keeping back +intelligence, fulfil its mission. + +The plan for the redistribution of the troops, and their change from one +corps to another, which was announced on Sunday in a decree signed +Trochu, has not yet been carried out. Its only effect has been as yet to +render confusion twice confounded. Its real object, I hear, was to place +General Ducrot in command of the left bank of the Seine, instead of +General Vinoy, because it is expected that the fighting will be on that +side of the river. So indignant is General Vinoy at being placed under +the orders of General Ducrot, that he threatens to give in his +resignation on the ground that by military law no officer can be called +to serve under a general who has capitulated, and who has not been tried +before a court-martial. The dispute will, I imagine, in some way or +other, be arranged, without its coming before the public. General +Vinoy's retirement would produce a bad effect on the army; for, both +with officers and men, he is far more popular than either Ducrot or +Trochu. He passes as a fighting general; they pass as writing generals. +As for Trochu, to write and to talk is with him a perfect mania. "I have +seen him on business," said a superior officer to me, "a dozen times, +but I never have been able to explain what I came for; he talked so +incessantly that I could not put in a word." + +I was out this morning along the Southern outposts, the forts were +firing intermittently. At Cachan there was a sharp interchange of shots +going on between the Prussian sentinels and Mobiles. It is a perfect +mystery to me how the Prussians have been allowed to establish +themselves at Clamart and at Chatillon, which are within range of the +guns of three forts. Our famous artillerists do not appear to have +prevented them from establishing batteries exactly where they are most +dangerous to us. General Trochu has not confided to me his celebrated +plan, but I am inclined to think, that whatever it may have been, he +will do well to put it aside, and to endeavour to dislodge the enemy in +Chatillon and the adjacent villages, before their batteries open fire. I +suggested this to an officer, and he replied that the troops, thanks to +the decree of Sunday, hardly knew who commanded them, or where they were +to be stationed--"On paper," he added, "I and my battalion are at La +Malmaison." As for the sortie, which is to revictual Paris, by forcing +the Prussian lines, it is simply absurd to talk of it. If Trochu +attempts it, the result must be disastrous, and _coute qui coute_, the +political exigences of the situation render it absolutely necessary that +at least apparent success must crown our next encounter with the enemy. +The next thing would be to hold our own, as long as the provisions last, +and trust to the chapter of accidents; but this is impossible in the +present temper of both soldiers and citizens. General Trochu has +insisted so loudly that, if not interfered with, he would not only keep +the enemy out of Paris, but raise the siege--that he must do something +to redeem his pledge. + +We have almost forgotten our troubles, in hearing that King William, "to +recompense his soldiers and reward their valour," has made his son and +his nephew Field Marshals. We wish to know whether, if his army takes +Paris, he will reward the men by declaring himself infallible, and +giving "our Fritz" a few million francs. With fear and trembling we ask +whether the success of the Bavarians will be recognized by their +monarch being allowed to inflict on us the operas of his friend Wagner. + +A new industry has sprung up in Paris. A manufactory has been +discovered, in which Prussian casques and sabres were being made. It was +at first thought that the owner was engaged in a dark conspiracy, but, +upon being arrested, he confessed that he was endeavouring to meet the +demand for trophies from the fields of battle. In one room of the house +of this ingenious speculator, a large number of forged letters were +found, from mothers, sisters, and brides, to their relations in the army +before Paris: these, he explained, were to be sold, warranted from the +pocket of a German corpse. + +Has Gambetta contracted with a London firm for a loan of 250 millions at +42? The financial world here is in a state of the greatest agitation +about a statement to this effect, which has been discovered in an +English newspaper. The Government officially declares that it knows +nothing about the matter. It is a curious sign of the universal belief +of any one in official utterances, that this denial is regarded as very +questionable evidence against the loan having been made. What puzzles us +is, that the Rente is at 53--why then was this new loan issued at 42? An +attempt has been made to oblige those persons left in charge of houses +occupied by foreigners here, to pay the tax upon absents. An energetic +protest, however, of Mr. Washburne, has saved Americans from this +extortion. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +_Wednesday, November 9th._ + +I bought a dozen newspapers this morning. Every one of them, with the +exception of the _Gaulois_, in more or less covert language, insists +upon peace upon any terms. Our "mainspring" not only has run down, but +is broken. The complaints, too, against the Government for concealing +all news it has received from the provinces, and for giving no details +respecting the negotiations with respect to the armistice, are most +outspoken. M. Edmond About, in the _Soir_ of last night, insists that we +ought to have agreed to the armistice, even without a revictualment; and +such appears to be the opinion of almost everyone. Poor M. Jules Favre, +who a few weeks ago was lauded to the skies for having so nobly +expressed the ideas of his countrymen, when he said that rather than +yield one foot of territory, one stone of a fortress, they would all +perish, is now abused for having compromised the situation, and made it +difficult to treat, by his mania for oratorical claptrap. In the +_Figaro_, Villemessant blunders through three columns over being again +disappointed in his expectations of embracing his wife, and plaintively +tells "William" that though he may not be anxious to see "his Augusta," +this is no reason why he, Villemessant, should not be absolutely wild to +see Madame. A more utter and complete collapse of all "heroism" I never +did witness. + +General Trochu has, with his usual intelligence, seized this moment to +issue a decree, mobilizing 400 men from each battalion of the National +Guard. First, volunteers; secondly, unmarried men, between 25 and 35 +years; thirdly, unmarried men, between 35 and 45; fourthly, married men +between 25 and 35; fifthly, married men, between 35 and 45, are +successively to be called upon to fill up the contingent. The Vinoy +affair has been settled by the appointment of the General to the command +of the Third Army. The following statistics of the annual consumption of +meat by Paris will give some idea of the difficulty of revictualling +it:--oxen, 156,680; bulls, 66,028; cows, 31,095; calves, 120,275; sheep, +916,388. Meat is now distributed every three days. I hear that on the +present scale of rationing there is enough for five more distributions. +We shall then fall back on horses, and our own salt provisions; the +former will perhaps last for a week, as for the latter it is impossible +to give any accurate estimate. We have, however, practically unlimited +supplies of flour, wine, and coffee; if consequently the Parisians are +ready to content themselves with what is absolutely necessary to support +existence, the process of starving us out will be a lengthy one. + + +_November 14th._ + +"Wanted, 10,000 Parisians ready to allow themselves to be killed, in +order that their fellow-citizens may pass down to posterity as heroes!" +The attempt to obtain volunteers having miserably failed, and fathers of +families having declined to risk their valuable lives whilst one single +bachelor remains out of reach of the Prussian guns, the Government has +now issued a decree calling to arms all bachelors between the age of 25 +and 35. If this measure had been taken two months ago it might have been +of some use, but it is absurd to suppose that soldiers can be improvised +in a few days. I must congratulate my friends here upon the astounding +ingenuity which they show in discovering pretexts to avoid military +service. It is as difficult to get them outside the inner ramparts as it +is to make an old fox break cover. In vain huntsman Trochu and his first +whip, Ducrot, blow their horns, and crack their whips; the wily reynard, +after putting his nose outside his retreat, heads back, and makes for +inaccessible fastnesses, with which long habit has made him familiar. +That General Trochu will be able to beat the Prussians no one supposes; +but if he can manage to get even 5,000 of the heroes who have for the +last two months been professing a wish to die for the honour of their +country under fire, he will have accomplished a most difficult feat. + +For the last few days the newspapers, one and all, have been filled with +details of the negotiations which were supposed to be going on at +Versailles. Russia, it was said, had forwarded an ultimatum to the King +of Prussia, threatening him with a declaration of war in case he +persisted in besieging Paris, or in annexing any portion of French +territory. Yesterday morning the _Journal Officiel_ contained an +announcement that the Government knew absolutely nothing of these +negotiations. The newspapers are, however, not disposed to allow their +hopes of peace to be destroyed in this manner, and they reply that "it +being notorious that no member of the Government can speak the truth, +this official denial proves conclusively the contrary of what it +states." It is indeed difficult to know who or what to believe; all I +know for certain is, that M. Jules Favre assured Mr. Washburne on +Saturday night that since M. Thiers had quitted Paris he had had no +communication with the outer world, and did not even know whether the +Tours delegation was still there. Men may lie for a certain time, and +yet be believed, but this "arm of war" has been so abused by our rulers, +that at present their most solemn asseverations meet with universal +incredulity--not, indeed, that the Parisians are cured of their mania +for crediting every tale which comes to them from any other +source--thus, for instance, every newspaper has contained the most +precise details from eye-witnesses of a conflict which took place two +nights ago before the battery of Hautes-Bruyeres, in which our "braves +Mobiles" took between two and three thousand prisoners, and slew +hecatombs of the enemy. Now, I was both yesterday and the day before +yesterday at the Hautes-Bruyeres, and I can certify myself that this +pretended battle never took place. + +It is impossible to predict what will occur during the next fortnight. +_Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas._ General Trochu has this +morning issued a lengthy address to the inhabitants of the city, +informing them that, had it not been for their riotous conduct on Oct. +31 the armistice would have been concluded; and that now all that +remains for them to do, is to "close their ranks and to elevate their +hearts." "If we triumph, we shall have given our country a great +example; if we succumb, we shall have left to Prussia an inheritance +which will replace the First Empire in the sanguinary annals of conquest +and violence; an inheritance of hatred and maledictions which will +eventually prove her ruin." The great question which occupies all minds +now is "the sortie." General Trochu and General Ducrot insist upon at +least making an attempt to pierce the Prussian lines. All the other +generals say that, as it cannot succeed, it is wrong to sacrifice life +to no good purpose. This is how the matter is regarded by officers and +soldiers. As for the National Guard, they distinctly say that they will +be no parties to any such act of folly. Even in the councils of the +Government there is a strong feeling against it; but General Trochu +declines to allow the question, which he says is a purely military one, +to be decided by the lawyers who are his colleagues. They, on their +side, complain that the General never quits the Louvre, has surrounded +himself with a number of clerical dandies as his aides-de-camp, whose +religious principles may be sound, but whose knowledge of war is nil; +and that if he wished to make a sortie, he should not have waited until +the Prussians had rendered its success impossible by completing their +lines of investment. It is said that the attempt will be made along the +post road to Orleans, it being now considered impossible, as was at +first intended, to open communications by the Havre railroad. The +general impression is either that the troops engaged in it will be +driven back under the forts in confusion, or that some 50,000 will be +allowed to get too far to return, and then will be netted like sparrows. +It is not, however, beyond the bounds of possibility that the Prussians +will not wait until our great administrator has completed his +preparations for attack, but will be beforehand with him, and open fire +upon the southern posts from their batteries, which many think would +effectually reduce to silence the guns of Vanves, Issy, and of the +advanced redoubts. These Prussian batteries are viewed with a mysterious +awe. We fire on them, we walk about within less than a mile of them, and +they maintain an ominous silence. On the heights of Chatillon it is said +at the advanced posts that there are 108 siege guns in position; some of +them we can actually distinguish without a glass, and yet not a shot +comes from them. Yesterday, the gates of the Bois de Boulogne were +opened, and a crowd of several thousand persons walked and drove round +the lake. Over their heads one of the bastions was throwing shells into +Montretout, but it seemed to occur to no one that Montretout might +return the compliment, and throw a few shells, not over their heads, but +into their midst. One of the most curious phases in this remarkable +siege is, that the women seem to consider the whole question a political +one, which in no way regards them--they neither urge the men to resist, +nor clamour for peace. _Tros Tyriusque_ seems much the same to them; a +few hundreds have dressed themselves up as vivandieres, the others +appear to regret the rise in the price of provisions, but to trouble +their heads about nothing else. If they thought that the cession of +Alsace and Lorraine would reduce the price of butchers' meat, they would +in a sort of apathetic way be in favour of the cession; but they are so +utterly ignorant of everything except matters connected with their +toilettes and M. Paul de Kock's novels, that they confine themselves to +shrugging their shoulders and hoping for the best, and they support all +the privations to which they are exposed owing to the siege without +complaint and without enthusiasm. The word armistice being beyond the +range of their vocabulary, they call it "l'amnistie," and imagine that +the question is whether or not King William is ready to grant Paris an +amnesty. As AEneas and Dido took refuge in a cave to avoid a shower, so I +for the same reason found myself with a young lady this morning under a +porte cochere. Dido was a lively and intelligent young person, but I +discovered in the course of our chance conversation that she was under +the impression that the Russians as well as the Prussians were outside +Paris, and that both were waging war for the King of Spain. Sedan, I +also learnt, was in the neighbourhood of Berlin. + +The _Temps_ gives the following details of our provisions--Beef will +fail in a week, horse will then last a fortnight; salt meat a further +week; vegetables, dried fruits, flour, &c., about three weeks more. In +this calculation I think that the stock of flour is understated, and +that if we are contented to live on bread and wine we shall not be +starved out until the middle of January. The ration of fresh meat is now +reduced in almost all the arrondissements to thirty grammes a head. +There is no difficulty, however, in obtaining for money any quantity of +it in the restaurants. In the bouillons only one portion is served to +each customer. Cats have risen in the market--a good fat one now costs +twenty francs. Those that remain are exceedingly wild. This morning I +had a salmis of rats--it was excellent--something between frog and +rabbit. I breakfasted with the correspondents of two of your +contemporaries. One of them, after a certain amount of hesitation, +allowed me to help him to a leg of a rat; after eating it he was as +anxious as a terrier for more. The latter, however, scornfully refused +to share in the repast. As he got through his portion of salted horse, +which rejoiced in the name of beef, he regarded us with horror and +disgust. I remember when I was in Egypt that my feelings towards the +natives were of a somewhat similar nature when I saw them eating rat. +The older one grows the more tolerant one becomes. If ever I am again in +Africa I shall eat the national dish whenever I get a chance. During the +siege of Londonderry rats sold for 7s. each, and if this siege goes on +many weeks longer, the utmost which a person of moderate means will be +able to allow himself will be an occasional mouse. I was curious to see +whether the proprietor of the restaurant would boldly call rat, rat in +my bill. His heart failed him--it figures as a salmi of game. + + +_November 15th._ + +We have passed from the lowest depths of despair to the wildest +confidence. Yesterday afternoon a pigeon arrived covered with blood, +bearing on its tail a despatch from Gambetta, of the 11th, announcing +that the Prussians had been driven out of Orleans after two days' +fighting, that 1,000 prisoners, two cannon, and many munition waggons +had been taken, and that the pursuit was still continuing. The despatch +was read at the Mairies to large crowds, and in the _cafes_ by +enthusiasts, who got upon the tables. I was in a shop when a person came +in with it. Shopkeeper, assistants, and customers immediately performed +a war dance round a stove; one would have supposed that the war was over +and that the veracity of Gambetta is unimpeachable. But as though this +success were not enough in itself, all the newspapers this morning tell +us that "Chartres has also been retaken," that the army of Keratry has +effected a junction with that of the Loire, and that in the North +Bourbaki has forced the Prussians to raise the siege of Amiens. Everyone +is asking when "they" will be here. Edmond About, in the _Soir_, eats +dirt for having a few days ago suggested an armistice. + +At the Quartier-General I do not think that very great importance is +attached to Gambetta's despatch, except as an evidence that the +provinces are not perfectly apathetic. It is considered that very +possibly the Prussians may have concentrated their whole available force +round Paris, in order to crush our grand sortie when it takes place. +General Trochu himself takes the most despondent view of the situation, +and bitterly complains of the "spirit" of the army, the Mobiles, and the +Parisians. This extraordinary commander imagines that he will infuse a +new courage in his troops by going about like a monk of La Trappe, +saying to every one, "Brother, we must die." + +Mr. Washburne received yesterday a despatch from his Government--the +first which has reached him since the commencement of the +siege--informing him that his conduct in remaining at Paris is approved +of. With the despatch there came English newspapers up to the 3rd. +Extracts from them will, I presume, be published to-morrow. I passed the +afternoon greedily devouring the news at the American Legation. It was a +curious sight--the Chancellerie was crowded with people engaged in the +same occupation. There were several French journalists, opening their +eyes very wide, under the impression that this would enable them to +understand English. A Secretary of Legation was sitting at a table +giving audiences to unnumbered ladies who wished to know how they could +leave Paris; or, if this was impossible, how they could draw on their +bankers in New York. Mr. Washburne walked about cheerily shaking +everyone by the hand, and telling them to make themselves at home. How +different American diplomatists are to the prim old women who represent +us abroad, with a staff of half-a-dozen dandies helping each other to do +nothing, who have been taught to regard all who are not of the craft as +their natural enemies. At the English Embassy Colonel Claremont and a +porter now represent the British nation. The former, in obedience to +orders from the Foreign Office, is only waiting for a reply from Count +Bismarck to his letter asking for a pass to leave us. Whether the +numerous English who remain here are then to look to Mr. Washburne or to +the porter for protection, I have been unable to discover. + +M. Felix Pyat has been let out of prison. He says that he rather prefers +being there than at liberty, for in his cell he can "forget that he is +in a town inhabited by cowards," and devote himself to the works of M. +Louis Blanc, which he calls the "Bibles of democracy." + +Although Trochu is neither a great general nor a great statesman, he is +a gentleman. I am therefore surprised that he allows obscene caricatures +of the Empress to be publicly sold in the streets and exhibited in the +kiosks. During the time that she occupied the throne in this most +scandal-loving town, no scandal was ever whispered against her. She was +fond, it is true, of dress, but she was a good mother and a good wife. +Now that she and her friends are in exile, "lives of the woman +Bonaparte" are hawked about, which in England would bring their authors +under Lord Campbell's statute. In one caricature she is represented +stark naked, with Prince Joinville sketching her. In another, called +"the Spanish cow," she is made a sort of female Centaur. In another she +is dancing the Can-can, and throwing her petticoats over her head, +before King William, who is drinking champagne, seated on a sofa, while +her husband is in a cage hung up to the wall. These scandalous +caricatures have not even the merit of being funny, they are a +reflection upon French chivalry, and on that of Trochu. What would he +say if the Government which succeeds him were to allow his own wife to +be insulted in this cowardly manner? + +Anything more dreary than the Boulevards now in the evening it is +difficult to imagine. Only one street lamp in three is lighted, and the +_cafes_, which close at 10.30, are put on half-allowance of gas. To mend +matters, everyone who likes is allowed to put up a shed on the side walk +to sell his goods, or to collect a crowd by playing a dirge on a fiddle. +The consequence is that the circulation is rendered almost impossible. I +suggested to a high authority that the police ought at least to +interfere to make these peripatetic musicians "move on," but he told me +that, were they to do so, they would be accused of being "Corsicans and +Reactionaries." These police are themselves most ludicrous objects; +anyone coming here would suppose that they are members of some new sect +of peripatetic philosophers; they walk about in pairs, arrayed in pea +jackets with large hoods; and when it is wet they have umbrellas. Their +business appears to be, never to interfere with the rights of their +fellow-citizens to do what they please, and, so helpless do they look, +that I believe if a child were to attack them, they would appeal to the +passers-by for protection. + +I see in an English paper of the 3rd that it is believed at Versailles +that we have only fresh meat for twelve days. We are not so badly off as +that. How many oxen and cows there still are I do not know; a few days +ago, however, I counted myself 1,500 in a large pen. The newspapers +calculate that at the commencement of the siege there were 100,000 +horses in Paris, and that there are now 70,000; 30,000 will be enough +for the army, consequently 40,000 can be eaten. The amount of meat on +each horse averages 500 lb., consequently we have twenty million pounds +of fresh horse-flesh, a quantity which will last us for more than three +months at the present rate of the meat consumption. These figures are, I +think, very much exaggerated. I should say that there are not more than +40,000 horses now in Paris. The _Petites Voitures_ (Cab) Company has +8,000, and offered to sell them to the Government a few days ago, but +that proposal was declined. As regards salt meat, the Government keep +secret the amount. It cannot, however, be very great, because it is only +derived from animals which have been killed since the siege commenced. +The stock of flour, we are told, is practically unlimited, and as no +attempt is made to prevent its waste in pasty and fancy cakes, the +authorities are acting apparently on this assumption. + +The health of Paris is far from satisfactory, and when the winter +weather regularly sets in there will be much sickness. No one is +absolutely starving, but many are without sufficient nourishment. The +Government gives orders for 10c. worth of bread to all who are in want, +and these orders are accepted as money by all the bakers. In each +arrondissement there are also what are called cantines economiques, +where a mess of soup made from vegetables and a small quantity of meat +can be bought for five centimes. Very little, however, has been done to +distribute warm clothing among the poor, and when it is considered that +above 100,000 persons have come into Paris from the neighbouring +villages, most of whom are dependent upon public or private charity, it +is evident that, even if there is no absolute want, there must be much +suffering. Count Bismarck was not far wrong when he said that, if the +siege be prolonged until our stock of provisions is exhausted, many +thousands in the succeeding weeks will die of starvation. I would +recommend those charitable persons who are anxious to come to the aid of +this unfortunate country to be ready to throw provisions into Paris as +soon as communications with England are reopened, rather than to +subscribe their money to ambulances. All things considered, the wounded +are well tended. In the hotel in which I am residing the Societe +Internationale has established its headquarters. We have now 160 wounded +here, and beds are prepared for 400. The ambulance occupies two stories, +for which 500 francs a day are paid; and an arrangement has been made +with the administration of the hotel to feed each convalescent for 2.50 +francs per diem. As in all French institutions, there appear to me to be +far too many officials; the corridors are pervaded with young healthy +men, with the red cross on their arms, who are supposed to be making +themselves useful in some mysterious manner, but whose main object in +being here is, I imagine, to shirk military service. The ambulance which +is considered the best is the American. The wounded are under canvas, +the tents are not cold, and yet the ventilation is admirable. The +American surgeons are far more skilful in the treatment of gun-shot +wounds than their French colleagues. Instead of amputation they practise +resection of the bone. It is the dream of every French soldier, if he is +wounded, to be taken to this ambulance. They seem to be under the +impression that, even if their legs are shot off, the skill of the +AEsculapii of the United States will make them grow again. Be this as it +may, a person might be worse off than stretched on a bed with a slight +wound under the tents of the Far West. + +The French have a notion that, go where you may, to the top of a pyramid +or to the top of Mont Blanc, you are sure to meet an Englishman reading +a newspaper; in my experience of the world, the American girl is far +more inevitable than the Britisher; and, of course, under the Stars and +Stripes which wave over the American tents she is to be found, tending +the sick, and, when there is nothing more to be got for them, patiently +reading to them or playing at cards with them. I have a great weakness +for the American girl, she always puts her heart in what she is about. +When she flirts she does it conscientiously, and when she nurses a most +uninviting-looking Zouave, or Franc-tireur, she does it equally +conscientiously; besides, as a rule, she is pretty, a gift of nature +which I am very far from undervaluing. + + +_November 16th._ + +It is reported in "official circles" that a second pigeon has arrived +with intelligence from the French Consul at Bale, that the Baden troops +have been defeated, and that some of them have been obliged to seek +refuge in Switzerland. The evident object of Trochu now is to get up the +courage of our warriors to the sticking point for the grand sortie which +is put off from day to day. The newspapers contain extracts from the +English journals which came in the day before yesterday. By a process, +in which we are adepts at believing everything which tells for us, and +regarding everything which tells against us as a fabrication of +perfidious Albion, we have consoled ourselves with the idea that "the +situation is far better than we supposed." As for Bazaine, we cannot +make up our minds whether we ought to call him a traitor or a hero. We +therefore say as little about him as possible. + +I have just come back from the southern outposts. The redoubts of Moulin +Saqui and Hautes Bruyeres were firing heavily, and the Prussians were +replying from Chatillon. Their shrapnell, however, fell short, just +within our advanced line. From the sound of the guns, it was supposed +that they were only using field artillery. The sailors insist that the +enemy has been unable to place his siege-guns in position, and that our +fire knocks their earthworks to pieces. I am inclined to think that +behind these earthworks there are masked batteries, for surely the +Prussian Engineer Officers cannot be amusing themselves with making +earthworks for the mere pleasure of seeing them knocked to pieces. +Anyhow they are playing a deep game, for, as far as I can hear, they +have not fired a single siege-gun yet, either against our redoubts or +forts. + + +_November 19th._ + +Burke, in his work on the French Revolution, augured ill of the future +of a country the greater number of whose legislators were lawyers. What +would he have said of a Government composed almost exclusively of these +objects of his political distrust? When history recounts the follies of +the French Republic of 1870, I trust that it will not forget to mention +that all the members of the Government, with the exception of one; six +ministers; 13 under-secretaries of State; the Prefet of Police; 24 +prefets and commissaries sent into the provinces; and 36 other high +functionaries; belonged to the legal profession. The natural consequence +of this is that we cannot get out of "Nisi prius." Our rulers are unable +to take a large statesmanlike view of the situation. They live from hand +to mouth, and never rise above the expedients and temporizing policy of +advocates. They are perpetually engaged in appealing against the stern +logic of facts to some imaginary tribunal, from which they hope to gain +a verdict in favour of their clients. Like lawyers in England, they +entered public life to "get on." This is still the first object of each +one of them; and as they are deputies of Paris, they feel that, next to +themselves, they owe allegiance to their electors. To secure the +supremacy of Paris over the provinces, and of their own influence over +Paris, is the Alpha and Omega of their political creed. With an eye to +the future, each of them has his own journal; and when any decree is +issued which is not popular, the public is given to understand in these +semi-official organs, that every single member of the Government voted +against it, although it passed by a majority. + +It is somewhat strange that the military man who, by the force of +circumstances, is the President of this Devil's own Government is by +nature more of a lawyer than even if he had been bred up to the trade. +His colleagues own in despair that he is their master in strength of +lungs, and that when they split straws into two he splits them into +four. In vain they fall back on their pens and indite letters and +proclamations, their President out-letters and out-proclaims them. +Trochu is indeed a sort of military Ollivier. He earned his spurs as a +military critic, Ollivier as a civil critic. Both are clever, and +eminently respectable in their private relations, and both are verbose, +unpractical, and wanting in plain common sense. Ollivier had a plan, and +so has Trochu. Ollivier complained when his plan failed, that it was the +fault of every one except himself, and Trochu is already doing the same. +Both protested against the system of rule adopted by their predecessors, +and have followed in their steps. Both were advocates of publicity, and +both audaciously suppressed and distorted facts to suit their +convenience. Ollivier is probably now writing a book to prove that he +was the wisest of ministers. Trochu, as soon as the siege is over, will +write one to prove that he was the best of generals. Ollivier insisted +that he could found a Liberal Government upon an Imperial basis, and +miserably failed. Trochu declares that he, and he alone, can force the +Prussians to raise the siege of Paris. When his plan has failed, as fail +it in all probability will, he still, with that serene assurance which +is the attribute of mediocrity, will insist that it ought to have +succeeded. "_Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni._" Those who +knew him in Brittany tell me that long before he became a personage, "le +plan de Trochu" was a standing joke throughout that province. The +General, it appears, is fond of piquet; whenever he sat down to play he +said, "j'ai mon plan." When he got up after losing the game, as was +usually the case, he went away muttering, "Cependant, mon plan etait +bon." He seemed to have this word "plan" on the brain, for no one who +ever played with him could perceive in his mode of handling the cards +the slightest trace of a plan. The mania was harmless as long as its +exhibition was confined to a game in which a few francs were to be won +or lost, but it becomes most serious in its consequences when the +destinies of a country are subordinated to it. At the commencement of +the siege, General Trochu announced that he not only had a "plan," but +that he had inscribed it in his will, which was deposited with his +notary. An ordinary man would have made use of the materials at his +command, and, without pledging himself to success, would have +endeavoured to give the provinces time to organize an army of succour by +harassing the Prussians, and thus preventing them from detaching troops +in all directions. Instead of this, with the exception of some two or +three harmless sorties, they have been allowed slowly to inclose us in a +net of circumvallations. Our provisions are each day growing more +scarce, and nothing is done except to heap up defensive works to prevent +the town being carried by an assault, which there is no probability that +the besiegers mean to attempt. Chatillon and Meudon were ill guarded, +but ditches were cut along the Avenue de l'Imperatrice. The young +unmarried men in Paris were not incorporated until the 50th day of the +siege, but two or three times a week they were lectured on their duties +as citizens by their leader. If there is really to be a sortie, +everything is ready, but now the General hesitates--hints that he is not +seconded, that the soldiers will not fight, and almost seems to regret +at last his own theoretical presumption. "He trusted," said one of his +generals to me, "first to the neutrals, then to the provinces, and now +he is afraid to trust to himself." Next time a general is besieged in a +town I should recommend him not to announce that he has a plan which +must ensure victory, unless indeed it be a German town, where nothing +which an official can do is considered ridiculous. + +Benjamin Constant said of his countrymen that their heads could never +contain more than one idea at once. A few days ago we were full of our +victory at Orleans. Then came the question whether or not Bazaine was a +traitor. To-day we have forgotten Bazaine and Orleans. The marching +battalions of the National Guard are to have new coats, and we can talk +or think of nothing else. The effect as yet of these marching battalions +has been to disorganise the existing battalions. Every day some new +decree has been issued altering their mode of formation. Perhaps the new +coats will settle everything, and convert them into excellent soldiers. +Let us hope it. + +We are by no means satisfied with the news which has reached us through +the English papers up to the 3rd. Thus the _Liberte_, after giving +extracts from numbers of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, the _Daily News_, the +_Daily Telegraph_, the _Sun_, the _Times_, and the _Standard_, +accompanies them with the following reflections:--"We feel bound to +protest in favour of the English press against the assertions of those +who would judge the opinions of a great liberal nation by the wretched +specimens which are under our eyes. Heaven be praised. The civilized +world is not so degenerate that the ignoble conduct of Prussia fails to +elicit universal reprobation." We have had two more pigeons, but +Gambetta either cannot or will not let us know anything of importance. +These two messengers confirm the news of the "victory of Orleans," and +inform us that public opinion is daily pronouncing in favour of France, +and that the condition of affairs in the provinces is most satisfactory. +Such is the universal distrust felt now for any intelligence which +emanates from an official source, that if Gambetta were to send us in an +account of a new victory to-morrow, and if all his colleagues here were +to swear to its truth, we should be in a wild state of enthusiasm for a +few hours, and then disbelieve the whole story. + +Small-pox is on the increase. The deaths last week from this disease +amounted to 419; the general mortality to 1885--a number far above the +average. The medical men complain of the amount of raw spirits which is +drunk--particularly at the ramparts, and ascribe much of the ill health +to this cause. + +By the bye, the question of the treason of Bazaine turns with us upon +what your correspondent at Saarbruck meant by the word "stores," which +he says were discovered in Metz. If munitions of war, we say that +Bazaine was a hero; if food, that he was a traitor. + +If sieges were likely to occur frequently, the whole system of +ambulances, as against military hospitals, would have to be ventilated. +There are in Paris two hundred and forty-three ambulances, and when the +siege commenced, such was the anxiety to obtain a _blesse_, that when a +sortie took place, those who brought them in were offered bribes to take +them to some house over which the flag of Geneva waved. A man with a +broken leg or arm was worth thirty francs to his kind preservers. The +largest ambulance is the International. Its headquarters are at the +Grand Hotel. It seems to me over-manned, for the number of the healthy +who receive pay and rations from its funds exceeds the number of the +wounded. Many, too, of the former are young unmarried men, who ought to +be serving either in the ranks of the army, or at least of the Garde +Nationale. The following story I take from an organ of public opinion of +to-day's date:--A lady went to her Mairie to ask to be given a wounded +soldier to look after. She was offered a swarthy Zouave. "No," she said, +"I wish for a blonde, being a brunette myself"--nothing like a +contrast. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +_November 29th._ + +From morning to evening cannon were rolling and troops were marching +through the streets. Since Saturday night the gates of the town had been +rigidly closed to all civilians, and even those provided with passes +from headquarters were refused egress. It was known that the grand +effort which is to make or mar us was to be made the next morning, and +it was hoped that the Prussians would be taken unawares. The plan, in +its main details, was confided to me by half a dozen persons, and, +therefore, I very much question whether it is a secret to the enemy. +Most of those who take an interest in the war have, I presume, a map of +Paris. If they consult it, they will see that the Marne from the east, +and the Seine from the south, unite about a mile from the south-eastern +corner of the enceinte. Two miles before the junction of the two rivers +the Marne makes a loop to the south, in this way running parallel with +the Seine for about three miles. On the north of the Marne towards Paris +lies the wood of Vincennes, and beyond the loop there are the villages +of Joinville, Nogent, and Brie. The line is defended by the forts of +Vincennes and Nogent and the redoubt of La Faisanderie. To the south, +between the loop and the Seine, is the fort of Charenton; a little +farther on the village of Creteil; beyond it, just outside the loop, is +Montmesly, where the Prussians have heavy batteries. On the north side +of the loop is the village of Champigny, which is situated on a plateau +that extends from there to Brie. On the south of Paris, between the +Seine and Meudon, are first a line of forts, then a line of redoubts, +except where Chatillon cuts in close by the Fort of Vanves. Beyond this +line of redoubts is a plain, that slopes down towards the villages of +L'Hay, Chevilly, Thiais, and Choisy-le-Roi, which is situated on the +Seine about five miles from Paris. By Monday evening about 100,000 men +and 400 cannon were massed under General Ducrot in the Bois de Vincennes +and in the adjacent villages. About 15,000 men, under General Vinoy, +were behind the southern line of redoubts close by the village of +Villejuif. Troops were also placed near St. Denis and in the peninsula +of Genevilliers to distract the attention of the enemy. It was arranged +that early in the morning General Vinoy should push forward in the +direction of L'Hay and Choisy, and then, when the Prussian reserves had +been attracted to the south by this demonstration, Ducrot should throw +bridges over the Marne and endeavour to force his way through the lines +of investment by the old high road of Bale. At one in the morning a +tremendous cannonade from all the forts and redoubts round Paris +commenced. It was so loud that I imagined that the Prussians were +attempting an assault, and I went off to the southern ramparts to see +what was happening. The sight there was a striking one. The heavy +booming of the great guns, the bright flash each time they fired, and +the shells with their lighted fusees rushing through the air, and +bursting over the Prussian lines, realised what the French call a "feu +d'enfer." At about three o'clock the firing slackened, and I went home, +but at four it recommenced. At six o'clock General Vinoy's troops +advanced in two columns, one against L'Hay, and the other against La +Gare aux Boeufs, a fortified enclosure, about a mile above Choisy-le-Roi. +The latter was speedily occupied, a body of sailors rushing into it, +and carrying all before them, the Prussians falling back on Choisy. At +L'Hay the attacking column met with a strenuous resistance. As soon as +it had passed the barricade at the entrance of the village, a heavy fire +was poured into it from the houses at both sides of the main street. A +hand-to-hand encounter then took place with the Prussian Guard, which +had been brought up as a reinforcement. While the fight was progressing +an order arrived from General Trochu to retreat. The same order was sent +to the Gare aux Boeufs, and by ten o'clock the troops to the south of +Paris had fallen back to the positions they occupied the previous +evening. General Vinoy, during the engagement, was with his staff on the +bridge which crosses the Seine near Charenton. A battalion of National +Guards were drawn up near him. A chance shell took off the legs of one +of these heroes, his comrades fled in dismay--they were rallied and +brought back with difficulty. A little later they were engaged in +cooking their food, when some tin pans fell against each other. Thinking +it was a bomb, they again scattered, and the General was obliged to ride +along the line shouting "Courage, courage; it is the soup, my children." +In the meantime a terrible mishap had occurred on the north of the +Marne. On Monday evening, General Trochu and General Ducrot slept at +Vincennes. The latter had issued an address, in which he informed his +troops that he meant either to conquer or die. During the night an +exchange of shots had taken place across the river between the French +and Prussian sharp-shooters. Towards morning the latter had withdrawn. +At break of day the troops were drawn up ready to cross the river as +soon as the engagement on the southern lines had diverted the attention +of the enemy. The bridges were there ready to be thrown across, when it +was discovered that the Marne had overflown its bed, and could not be +crossed. Whether it be true or not that the Prussians had cut a dam, or +whether, as sometimes occurs with literary generals, the pontoons were +too few in number, is not yet clear. Whatever the cause, the effect was +to render it impossible to carry out to-day the plan which was to take +General Ducrot and his troops down to Orleans, and at the present moment +he and they are still at Vincennes, waiting for the river to go down. At +twelve o'clock I managed to get through the gate of Vanves. Outside the +walls everything was quiet. Troops were massed in all sheltered places +to resist any attack which might be made from the plateau of Chatillon. +None of the officers seemed to know what had occurred. Some thought that +Choisy had been taken, others that Ducrot had got clear away. I was +walking along the outposts in advance of Vanves, when a cantankerous +officer, one of those beings overflowing with ill-regulated zeal, asked +me what I was doing. I showed my pass. My zealous friend insisted that I +had come in from the Prussian lines, and that I probably was a spy. I +said I had left Paris an hour ago. He replied that this was impossible, +as no civilian was allowed to pass through the gate. Things began to +look uncomfortable. The zealot talked of shooting me, as a simple and +expeditious mode of solving the question. To this I objected, and so at +length it was agreed that I should be marched off to the fort of Vanves. +We found the Commandant seated before his fort with a big stick in his +hand, like a farmer before his farm yard. In vain the zealot endeavoured +to excite his ire against me. The Commandant and I got into conversation +and became excellent friends. He, too, knew nothing of what had +occurred. He had been bombarding Chatillon, he said, and he supposed he +should soon receive orders to recommence. What seemed to surprise him +was that the Prussians during the whole night had not replied either +from Chatillon, Sevres, or Meudon to the French guns. From Vanves I went +to Villejuif, where a temporary ambulance had been erected, and the +surgeons were busy with the wounded. As soon as their wounds were +dressed, they were taken in ambulance carts inside the town. The +officers and soldiers, who had not yet learnt that General Ducrot had +failed to cross the Marne, were in a very bad humour at having been +ordered to withdraw at the very moment when they were carrying +everything before them. They represented the Prussians as having fought +like devils, and declared that they appeared to take a fiendish pleasure +in killing even the wounded. Within the town the excitement to know what +had passed is intense. The Government has posted up a notice saying that +everything is happening as General Trochu wished it. Not a word is said +about Ducrot's failure. The _Liberte_, which gives a guarded account of +what really took place, has been torn to pieces on the Boulevards. I +have just been talking with an officer on the headquarters staff. He +tells me that Trochu is still outside, very much cast down, but +determined to make a desperate effort to retrieve matters to-morrow. + +We have received to-day some English newspapers, and you may imagine how +far behind the age we are from the fact that we learn for the first time +that Prince Gortschakoff has put his finger into the pie. Good heavens! +I have invested my savings in Turkish Five per cents., and it gives me a +cold shiver to think at what figure I shall find these Oriental +securities quoted on the Stock Exchange when I emerge from my enforced +seclusion and again find myself in communication with the outer +world.[1] + + +_December 2nd._ + +For the last three days the public within the walls of Paris has been +kept in profound ignorance of what has been passing outside. General +Trochu has once or twice each day published a despatch saying that +everything is happening as he anticipated, and the majority of those +who read these oracular utterances religiously believe in them as though +they had never been deceived. On the Boulevards there are crowds who +question any soldier who is seen passing. "Tout va bien" is the only +answer which they get; but they seem to be under the impression that the +siege is already over, and that the Prussian lines have been forced. +Along the road inside the ramparts, and at the gates, there are dense +masses listening to the cannon, and on every mound from which a distant +view of the smoke can be obtained men, women, and children are +congregated. I have managed to get every day into the horse-shoe at the +mouth of which the fighting was going on, and yesterday afternoon, when +there was a semi-suspension of arms to bury the dead, I went with the +ambulances on the debateable land between the two armies. The whole +horse-shoe is full of artillery. The bombs and shells from the forts and +batteries pass over the French, and explode within the Prussian lines. A +little behind, every house is filled with wounded, who are taken, as +soon as their wounds are dressed, inside the town. One or two batteries +occasionally open fire, and occasionally those of the Prussians respond. +Trochu and Ducrot ride about, and, as far as I can see, the latter +commands, while the former makes speeches. Yesterday afternoon we had +slightly gained ground, beyond however an occasional discharge from our +forts and batteries, there was no fighting. Before our lines a very +large number of Prussian dead were lying. There were burying parties out +on both sides, but they were getting on very slowly with their work, and +were perpetually fired on. At 4 A.M. this morning the Prussians made a +rush at our lines from Champigny to Brie, and the Mobiles and line, +taken by surprise, hastily fell back. One or two regiments of Mobiles +were literally charged by squadrons of gendarmerie, to force them back. +Reinforcements came up, and by nine o'clock the positions had been +regained--the Prussians being unable to withstand the fire of our forts, +redoubts, and siege-guns. The battle then went on till about three +o'clock, when it died out. Towards Villiers, I should say we had gained +about three-quarters of a mile, and at Champigny we had lost about a +third of the village. At about five o'clock I got back to my hotel, +which is the headquarters of the Ambulance Internationale. Until eleven +o'clock wounded were being brought in. It is quite full now. About 460 +French, and 30 Germans--almost all Saxons. Many died during the night. +In the room, next to mine, Franchetti, the commander of the Eclaireurs +of the Seine, is lying--a portion of his hip has been blown away by a +shell, and the doctor has just told me that he fears that he will not +recover, as the wound is too high up for an operation. In the room +beyond him is a young lieutenant of Mobiles, who has had his leg +amputated, and his right arm cut open to extract a portion of the bone, +and who still has a ball in his shoulder. Most of the soldiers in here +are wounded either in the leg or in the arm. There is a great dearth of +doctors, and many wounded who were brought here last night had to wait +until this morning before their turn came to be examined. The American +Ambulance and several others are also, I hear, full. I go in +occasionally to see the Germans, as I can talk their language, and it +cheers them to hear it. I see in the newspapers that wounded Bavarians +and Saxons are perpetually crying "Vive la France!" I can only say that +those here do nothing of the kind. They do not seem to be particularly +downcast at finding themselves in the hands of their enemies. They are +treated precisely as the French are, and they are grateful for this. + +It is said this evening that the troops will be withdrawn and return to +the Bois de Vincennes. Some say that we have left 20,000 men at Villiers +and Champigny; but I take it that our loss does not exceed 6,000 men. +The general idea seems to be, that to-morrow we are to try to get out in +another direction, either by Chatillon or Malmaison. A pigeon came in +this morning from Bourbaki, with a despatch dated Nov. 30, stating that +he is advancing, and among the soldiers this despatch has already become +an official notice that he is at Meaux. All I know for certain is that +the ambulances are ordered out for eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and +that I am now going to bed, so as to be ready to start with them. I hear +that there has been fighting both yesterday and to-day near Bondy; but +not being able to be in two places at once, I cannot tell what really +occurred. To my civilian judgment it appears that as our object was to +force the line of heights on the south-east of Paris, which constitute +the Prussian lines of investment in that direction, and as we have not +done so, we can hardly be said to be in a better position than we were +last Monday. At a heavy cost of life we have purchased the knowledge +that our new artillery is better than was expected, and that Line and +Mobiles will stand under fire with tolerable steadiness until their +officers are bowled over, when they break. The National Guards were not +engaged. General Trochu and General Pisani tried to get some of their +battalions over the Marne, but found it impossible. After a long speech +from Trochu, Pisani shouted, "Vive la France!" To this they responded; +but when he added, "Vive Trochu!" they remained silent, and their +commanders declared that this involved political considerations with +regard to which they and their men "make certain reservations." They +are, however, very proud of having been within two miles of a battle +field, and Trochu congratulates them, in an order of the day, upon +giving a "moral support" to the army. This is precisely what every one +is willing to do. Moral support will not, however, get the Prussians +away from Paris. + +Food is becoming more scarce every day. Yesterday all our sausages were +requisitioned. We have still got the cows to fall back on, but they are +kept to the last for the sake of their milk. They are fed on oats, as +hay is scarce. So you see the mother of a calf has many advantages over +its uncle. All the animals in the Zoological Gardens have been killed +except the monkeys; these are kept alive from a vague and Darwinian +notion that they are our relatives, or at least the relatives of some of +the members of the Government, to whom in the matter of beauty nature +has not been bountiful. In the cellar of the English Embassy there are +three sheep. Never did the rich man lust more after the poor man's ewe +lamb than I lust after these sheep. I go and look at them frequently, +much as a London Arab goes to have a smell at a cookshop. They console +me for the absence of my ambassador. Some one has discovered that an +excellent jelly can be made out of old bones, and we are called upon by +the mayors to give up all our bones, in order that they may be submitted +to the process. Mr. Powell is, I believe, a contractor in London. I do +not know him; but yesterday I dined with a friend who produced from a +tin some Australian mutton, which he had bought of Mr. Powell before the +commencement of the siege. Better I never tasted, and out of gratitude I +give the worthy Powell the benefit of a gratis advertisement. If we only +had a stock of his meat here, we could defy the Prussians. As it is, I +am very much afraid that in a very few weeks William will date his +telegrams to Augusta from the Tuileries. + + +_December 3rd._ + +I wrote to you in a great hurry last night in order to catch a balloon +which was to have gone this morning, but whose departure has been +deferred as the wind was not favourable. I am now able to give some more +accurate details respecting the affair of Friday, as I have had an +opportunity of talking with several of the officers who were on the +staffs of the different generals engaged. After the Prussians at 4 A.M. +had surprised the whole of the French line from Brie to Champigny, they +pushed forward a heavy column between, the latter place and the Marne, +thus outflanking their opponents. The column advanced about half-way up +the horse-shoe formed by the bend in the river, and would have got as +far as the bridges at Joinville, had not General Fave opened fire upon +it from a small redoubt which he had built in advance of Joinville, with +forty field guns which he rapidly placed in position. Reinforcements +were then brought up under General Blanchard, and the column was at +length forced back, fighting hard to Champigny. To-day most of the +troops in the horse-shoe crossed over the river, and are now either in +the wood of Vincennes or in other portions of the line between the forts +and the enceinte. General Trochu has returned to the Louvre, and General +Ducrot, I hear, yesterday evening expressed his regret that he had +published that foolish manifesto, in which he declared that if he did +not conquer he would die; for, not having done either, he felt the +awkwardness of re-entering the city. Both Ducrot and Trochu freely +exposed themselves; the latter received a slight wound in the back of +the head from a piece of a shell which struck him. All the officers were +obliged to keep well in advance of their soldiers in order to encourage +them. The brunt of the fighting fell to the Line; the Mobiles, as a +rule, only behaved tolerably well; the Vendeans, of whom much was +expected, badly. The only battalion of the National Guards engaged was +that from Belleville, and it very speedily fell back. I have always had +my doubts about the valour of the Parisians. I found it difficult to +believe in men who hunt for pretexts to avoid military service--who are +so very fond of marching behind drums and vivandieres inside a town, and +who, in some way or other, manage either to avoid going out of it, or +when forced out, avoid all danger. + +The population is in profound ignorance of the real state of affairs +outside. It still believes that the Prussian lines have been forced, and +that the siege will be over in a few days. I presume that Trochu will +make a second sortie in force. Unless, however, his operations are +powerfully aided by the armies of the provinces, it is difficult to +believe that the result will be anything beyond a useless sacrifice of +life. On Friday, it is estimated that our loss amounted to 4,500 +wounded, and 600 killed. That of the Prussians must have been very +heavy, to judge from the number of dead bodies that were lying about in +the fields and woods. + +The ambulances were ordered out this morning, and at seven o'clock some +300 victims rendezvoused with the carriages on the Quai, near the Place +de la Concorde. After freezing there for about two hours, it was +suggested that a messenger should be sent to General Trochu, to ask him +whether we were really wanted. The reply was that no attack would be +made to-day, and consequently we went off home to thaw. If wars really +must be made, I do hope that we shall fall back upon the old system of +carrying on military operations in summer. When the thermometer is below +zero, I feel like Bob Acres--all my valour oozing out at my fingers' +ends. The doctors tell me that many slight wounds have gangrened owing +to the cold. When a battle lasts until evening the mass of the wounded +cannot be picked up until the next morning, and their sufferings during +the night must be terrible. I saw several poor fellows picked up who +appeared literally frozen. + +The _Journal Officiel_ of to-day contains a letter from Monseigneur +Bauer, protesting against the Prussians having shot at him when he went +forward with a flag of truce and a trompette. The fact is vouched for +by, among others, a journalist who remained during the night of Friday +outside the walls. I can easily believe it, for the Prussians are not a +chivalrous enemy. They are perpetually firing on ambulances: and, when +it suits their own purposes, raising the white flag. If, indeed, +one-tenth part of the stories which I hear of their treacheries be true, +they ought to be exterminated like wolves. This Monseigneur Bauer is a +character. He began life as a German Jew, and he is now a Frenchman and +a Christian Bishop. During the Empire he was chaplain to the court, and +confessor of the Empress. He is now chaplain of the Ambulances de la +Presse, and has under his orders 800 "Freres Chretiens," who dress as +priests, but are not in holy orders. Both he and they display the +greatest courage. The Freres Chretiens are the foremost in picking up +the wounded; going forward long before the firing is over. The Bishop +prances about on his horse, dressed in a soutane and long boots, the +Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour on his breast, a golden crucifix +hanging from his neck, and a huge episcopal ring on his finger, outside +his gloves. Sometimes he appears in a red cloak, which, I presume, is a +part of his sacerdotal gear. I am told, by those who know him, that +"Monseigneur" is a consummate humbug, but he is very popular with the +soldiers, as he talks to them in their own language, and there certainly +is no humbug about his pluck. He is as steady under fire as if he were +in a pulpit. He was by the side of Ducrot when the general's horse was +killed under him. + +The events of the past week prove that General Trochu's sole available +force for resisting the enemy consists of the Line and the Mobiles. As +for the population of Paris, they are more than useless. They eat up the +provisions; they are endowed with a mixture of obstinacy and conceit, +which will very probably enable them to endure considerable hardships +rather than surrender; fight, however, they will not, although I am +convinced that, to the end of their lives, they will boast of their +heroic valour, and in the legend which will pass muster as history of +the siege of Paris, our grandchildren will be taught that in 1870, when +the French troops were all prisoners of war, the citizens of the French +capital "covered themselves with honour," and for nearly three months +held their town against the furious onslaughts of the victorious German +armies. The poor soldiers and the Mobiles, who do all the real fighting, +will experience the eternal truth of Virgil's _Sic vos non vobis_. But +there is no use being angry at what will happen in one hundred years, +for what does it signify to any who are now alive either in Paris or out +of Paris? + + +_December 5th._ + +A proclamation has been issued by the Government, announcing that the +troops have retired across the Marne, as the enemy has had time to +collect such a force in front of Villiers and Champigny, that further +efforts in this direction would be sterile. "The loss of the enemy +during the glorious days of the 29th and 30th November, and December +2nd, has been so great that, struck down in its pride of power, it has +allowed an army which it attacked the day before, to cross a river under +its eyes, and in the light of day," continues this manifesto. Now, +considering that the crossing took place at Joinville, and that the +river at that point is under the fire of three forts and two redoubts, +it appears to me that General Trochu might as well take credit to +himself for crossing the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. I will +say for the Government of to-day, that in any attempt to beat its +predecessor in mendacity it had a hard task, but it has worked with a +will, and completely succeeded. The military attaches who are still +here, consider that the French loss during the three days cannot be less +than 10,000 in killed and wounded. It is very unlikely that the +Government will admit a loss of above 2,000 or 3,000. That of the +Prussians is, we are told, far larger than ours. Without accepting this +assertion as gospel, it must have been very heavy. A friend of mine +himself counted 500 dead bodies in one wood. We have a certain number of +prisoners. With respect to the wounded Germans in our hands, I find that +there are about 30 in my hotel, as against above 400 French. In the +American ambulance, out of 130 only two are Germans. Colonel Claremont, +who had put off his departure, witnessed the fight in the redoubt which +General Fave had built opposite Joinville. He was nearly killed several +times by bombs from La Faisanderie, which was behind him, bursting +short. + +The Parisians are somewhat taken aback at the victory resulting in a +retreat. They appear, however, to be as ignorant of the environs of +their own capital as they are of foreign countries, and they never +condescend to consult a map. While some of them shake their heads in +despair of success, the majority are under the impression that Villiers +and Champigny are far beyond the range of the guns of our forts, and +that as the ground near them is still occupied by our troops, something +which will lead to the speedy retreat of the Prussians has been done. We +are two millions, they say; we will all die rather than surrender: and +they appear to be under the impression that if they only say this often +enough, Paris never will be taken. The Ultra-Democrats in the clubs have +a new theory to account for their refusal to fight. "We are," observed +an orator, a few nights ago, "the children of Paris, she has need of us; +can we leave her at such a moment?" Some of these heroes, indeed, assert +that the best plan would be to allow the Prussians to enter and then +convert them to the doctrines of Republicanism. I think it was St. +Augustine who did not despair of the devil eventually turning over a new +leaf; in the same way I heard an ardent patriot express the hope of +being able to convert "William" himself to the creed of the Universal +Republic. At the club where these fraternal sentiments were expressed +there is a lady who sits on the platform. When anyone makes what she +considers a good speech she embraces him on both cheeks. She is by no +means ugly, and I had serious thoughts of making a few observations +myself in view of the reward. That bashfulness, however, which has been +my bane through life, prevented me. The lady occasionally speaks +herself, and is fond of giving her own experiences. "I was on my way to +this club," she said, "the other evening, when I observed a man +following me. 'What dost thou want?' I asked, sternly eyeing him. 'I +love you,' replied the vile aristocrat. 'I am the wife of a citizen,' I +answered, 'and the mother of the Gracchi.' The wretch sneaked away, +abashed to seek other prey. If he addresses himself to some princess or +duchess he will probably find a victim." The loudest applause greeted +this "experience," and several very unclean-looking patriots rushed +forward to embrace the mother of the Gracchi, in order to show her how +highly they appreciated her noble conduct. + +The newspapers are already beginning to dread that possibly some doubts +may be cast upon the heroism of everyone during the last week. The +_Figaro_ contains the following:--"No matter what certain +correspondents--better known than they suppose--may say, and although +they are preparing to infect foreign countries with their +correspondence, our Bretons did not run away on Thursday. It is true +that when they saw the Saxons emerging from their holes and shouting +hurrah, our Bretons were a little troubled by this abrupt and savage +joke, but"--then follows the statement of several of the heroes +themselves that they fought like lions. The fact is, as I have already +stated in my letter of yesterday, the Mobiles fought only tolerably +well, and some of their battalions rather the reverse of well. The Line, +for young troops, behaved very fairly; and the reckless courage of the +officers, both of the Line and Mobile, was above all praise. It is, +however, a military axiom that when an undue proportion of officers are +killed in a battle their troops have hung back. Good soldiers cannot be +made in two months, and it is absurd to expect that raw lads, who were +taken from the plough a few weeks ago, would fight as well as trained +and hardened warriors. This however, we are called upon, in defiance of +facts, to believe, because "the soil of France produces soldiers." + +It is difficult to guess what will happen now. The generals must be +aware that unless one of the armies of the provinces takes the Prussians +in the rear, a fresh sortie will only result in a fresh butchery; but +then, on the other hand, the Parisians will not be satisfied until all +the Line and the Mobiles outside the walls have been killed, in order +that it may be said that the resistance of Paris was heroic. If I were +Trochu, I should organize a sortie exclusively of National Guards, in +order to show these gentry what a very different thing real fighting is +to parading about the streets of the capital and wearing a uniform. + +The following is a list of the prices of "luxuries:"--Terrines of +chicken, 16f; of rabbit, 13f; a fowl, 26f; a rabbit, 18f; a turkey, 60f; +a goose, 45f; one cauliflower, 3f; one cabbage, 4f; dog is 2f. a lb.; a +cat skinned costs 5f.; a rat, 1f., if fat from the drains, 1f. 50c. +Almost all the animals in the Jardin d'Acclimatation have been eaten. +They have averaged about 7f. a lb. Kangaroo, however, has been sold for +12f. the lb. Yesterday I dined with the correspondent of a London paper. +He had managed to get a large piece of mufflon, an animal which is, I +believe, only found in Corsica. I can only describe it by saying that it +tasted of mufflon, and nothing else. Without being absolutely bad, I do +not think that I shall take up my residence in Corsica, in order +habitually to feed upon it. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 1: A balloon letter, dated November 30, giving, it is +presumed, an account of the military operations on that day, suffered so +much _in transitu_, that it is illegible.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +_December 6th._ + +I am by no means certain that I should be a hero at the Equator, but I +am fully convinced that I should be an abject coward at the North Pole. +Three mornings ago I stood for two hours by the Ambulances de la Presse, +and my teeth have not ceased to chatter ever since. I pity the +unfortunate fellows who had to keep watch all night on the plateau of +Villiers more than those who were put out of their misery the day +before. When it is warm weather, one views with a comparative +resignation the Prussian batteries, and one has a sort of fanatical +belief that the bombs will not burst within striking distance; when the +thermometer is below zero, one imagines that every cannon within four +miles is pointed at one's head. I do not know how it may be with others, +but on me cold has a most unheroic effect. My legs become as wilful as +those of Mrs. Dombey's titled relative, and it is only by the strongest +effort of mind over matter that I can prevent them carrying me beyond +the reach of cannon-balls, bullets, and shells. I have a horrible vision +of myself lying all night with a broken leg in a ditch, gradually +freezing. On a warm summer's day I do not think very much of the courage +of those who fight well; on a cold winter's day, however, any man who +does not run away and take shelter by a fire deserves well of his +country. + +We are by no means a very happy family. General Ducrot and General +Blanchard have "had words." The latter, in the course of the dispute, +said to the former, "If your sword were as long as your tongue, you +would be a wonderful warrior indeed." Ducrot and Trochu are the literary +Generals; Vinoy and Blanchard the fighting Generals. It is reported also +that General Fave is to be superseded, though why I cannot learn, as his +redoubt may be said to have saved the army from a greater disaster. +While, however, the military men differ among themselves, they are all +agreed in abusing the National Guards, whom they irreverently call "Les +Charcutiers"--the pork butchers. When La Gare aux Boeufs was carried by +Admiral Pothuan and his sailors, two battalions of these heroes followed +in the rear. The Admiral and the sailors were somewhat astonished to +find that in the order of the day hardly anything was said of those who +really did all the fighting, but that the "pork butchers" were lauded to +the skies. General Trochu on this wrote a letter to the Admiral, +informing him that it was necessary for political reasons to encourage +the National Guard. Whilst the battle was going on at Villiers and +Champigny, the marching battalions of the National Guard were drawn up +almost out of shot. An order came to form them into line. Their +commander, General Clement Thomas, replied that this would be +impossible, as they would imagine that they were about to be taken into +action. Notwithstanding this, General Trochu congratulates them upon the +"moral support" which they afforded him. It is not surprising that the +real soldiers should feel hurt at this system of humbug. They declare +that at the next sortie they will force the Parisians to fight by +putting them in front, and firing on them if they attempt to run away. +It must be remembered that these fighting battalions consist of young +unmarried men, and if Paris is to be defended, there is no reason why +they should not be exposed to danger. The inhabitants of this city seem +to consider themselves a sacred race; they clamour for sorties, vow to +die for their country, and then wish to do it by procuration. I am +utterly disgusted with the difference between their words and their +deeds. The Mobiles and the Line have as yet done all the righting, and +yet, to read the Paris newspapers, one would suppose that the National +Guards, who have kept well out of all danger, have "covered themselves +with glory." Since the siege commenced they have done nothing but +swagger about in uniforms, and go in turns on the ramparts. They have +learnt to knock a penny off a cork at a distance of ten yards, and they +have carried on a very successful campaign against the sparrows. + +A fresh order was issued yesterday, suppressing all passes until further +notice. I have a pass _en regle_ from General Vinoy; but even with this, +the last time I went out of the town I was turned back at two gates +before I got through at the third. A good deal of discussion has taken +place among the foreign correspondents respecting the fairness of going +out with an ambulance under guise of the Geneva flag. I see myself no +objection to it, provided the correspondent really does make himself +useful in picking up the wounded. In the Prussian camp a correspondent +has a recognised position; here it is different, and he must use all +legitimate means to obtain intelligence of what is passing. My pass, for +instance, does not describe me as a correspondent, but as an Englishman +accredited by the British Embassy. At the commencement of the siege I +begged Mr. Wodehouse to give me a letter of introduction to M. Jules +Ferry, one of the members of the Government. This I did not deliver, but +at General Vinoy's headquarters I showed it to prove that I was not a +Prussian spy, but that I was known by my natural guardian. An +aide-de-camp then gave me a pass, and, not knowing precisely what to +call me, described me as "accredited by the British Embassy." I move +about, therefore, as a mysterious being--perhaps an Ambassador, perhaps +an Ambassador's valet. A friend of mine, who is an authority with the +Ambulance de la Presse, and who owns a carriage, has promised to call +for me when next the ambulances are sent for; but, as I have already +said, all my energy oozes out of me when the thermometer is below zero; +and unless the next battle is fought on a warm day, I shall not witness +it. As a matter of fact, unless one is riding with the staff of the +general who commands, one cannot form an idea of what is going on by +hanging about, and it is a horrible sight to look with an opera-glass at +men and horses being massacred. When knights charged each other with +lances there was a certain chivalry in war; but there is nothing either +noble or inspiriting in watching a quantity of unfortunate Breton +peasants, who cannot even speak French, and an equal number of Berlin +grocers, who probably ask for nothing better than to be back in their +shops, destroying each other at a distance of two or three miles with +balls of lead and iron, many of them filled with explosive materials. I +confess that I pity the horses almost as much as the men. It seems a +monstrous thing that in order that the Alsacians should be forced into +becoming subjects of King William of Prussia, an omnibus horse, who has +honestly done his work in the streets of Paris, should be taken outside +the walls of the town to have his head blown off or to stump about on +three legs until he dies of cold and hunger. Horses have a way when they +are wounded of making desperate efforts to get up, and then letting +their heads fall with a bang on the soil which is very horrible to +witness. + +Everybody in authority and out of it seems to have a different opinion +as to when the siege will end. I cannot think that when a town with two +million inhabitants is reduced to such expedients as this is now, it can +hold out very long. The rations, consisting alternately of horse and +salt fish, are still distributed, but they are hardly sufficient to keep +body and soul together. Unless we make up our minds to kill our +artillery horses, we shall soon come to the end of our supply. The +rumour to-day is that the Prussians have evacuated Versailles, and that +Frederick Charles has been beaten in a battle on the Loire, but I cannot +say that I attach great credit to either story. No pigeon has arrived +for the last three days, owing, it is supposed, to the cold; and until +we know for certain what d'Aurelles de Paladine is doing, we are unable +to form an accurate opinion of the chances of the siege being raised. +All that can be said is that, left to ourselves, we shall not be able to +break through the lines of investment, and that when we have eaten up +all our food, we shall have to capitulate. + + +_December 7th._ + +When this war commenced the Parisians believed in the bulletins which +their own Government issued, because they thought it only natural that +their arms should be successful, and they disbelieved in any foreign +newspaper which ventured to contest their victories. At present they are +incredulous alike of everything that comes from friend and foe. +Nine-tenths of them are under the impression that Count Moltke, in +announcing the defeat of the Army of the Loire, is guilty of a +deliberate falsehood; the other tenth supposes that he has grossly +exaggerated a slight mishap, and that the occupation of Orleans only +proves that Orleans was not defended by a large body of troops. It takes +about three days for any information which is not in accordance with the +wishes of this extraordinary population to obtain credit, no matter what +amount of evidence there may be to prove its truth. If really the Army +of the Loire has been put _hors de combat_, sooner or later the fact +will be admitted; then, although we shall still pin our faith to Keratry +or Bourbaki, the disaster will no doubt tend to produce a certain +degree of discouragement, more particularly as it is coupled with the +retreat of Ducrot's forces from the south bank of the Marne. French +politicians will insist upon dressing up their facts in order to meet +the requirements of the moment, and they never seem to consider that so +soon as the real state of things comes out there must be an inevitable +reaction, which will be far more depressing than if the truth had been +fairly told at once. I hear that when Count Moltke's letter arrived, two +of the members of the Government of National Defence were inclined to +accept his offer to verify what had occurred on the Loire, but that +General Trochu stated that he intended to resist until the last, and +that consequently, whether Orleans had fallen, or not, was a matter of +no importance. If Trochu really thinks that a further resistance and a +further sacrifice of life will materially advance the interests of his +country, of course he is right to hold out; but if, disregarding facts, +he simply wishes to oblige the Prussians to continue the siege, for no +purpose except to prove his own tenacity, he cannot be regarded either +as a good patriot or a sensible man. When the vote on the Plebiscite was +taken, his majority consisted of "Ouis" which were given because it was +supposed that he was about to treat. Since then we have gone on from day +to day vaguely hoping that either the Neutral Powers or the armies of +the provinces would get us out of the mess in which we are, or, even if +these failed us, that by a sortie the town would be revictualled. At +present none believe in the intervention of the Neutrals; few in the +success of a sortie; but all still cling, as drowning men do to a straw, +to the armies of the provinces. To destroy this belief it will be +necessary for the Prussians to obtain a substantial advantage not only +at Orleans, but over the armies of Keratry and Bourbaki. When once we +find that we are entirely left to our own resources, and that it is +impossible for us to penetrate the lines of investment, I cannot help +thinking that we shall yield to the force of circumstances. At present +all the newspapers are for fighting on as long as we have a crust, +regardless of the consequences; but then, as a rule, a besieged town is +never so near surrendering as when it threatens to hang the first man +who speaks of surrender. The majority would even now take a practical +view of matters if they dared, but Trochu is their man, and Trochu, much +to their secret sorrow, refuses to hear of a capitulation. + +Some German officers who are prisoners on parole have been insulted in a +restaurant, and for their own safety it has been found necessary to +confine them in La Roquette. I am not surprised at this. French officers +are, of course, incapable of this contemptible conduct, and it must be +owned that the majority of the Parisians have not, under the trying +circumstances in which they find themselves, lost that courtesy which is +one of the peculiar attributes of the nation. But there is a scum, who +lived from hand to mouth during the Empire, and which infests the +restaurants and the public places. Some of them wear the uniform of the +National Guard; others have attached themselves to the ambulances; and +all take very good care not to risk their precious lives. I was +peaceably dining last night in a restaurant; a friend with whom I had +been talking English had left me, and I found myself alone with four of +these worthies, who were dining at a table near me. For my especial +benefit they informed each other that all strangers here were outlaws +from their own country, and that the Americans and Italians who have +established ambulances were in all probability Prussian spies. As I took +no notice of these startling generalities, one of them turned to me and +said, "You may look at me, sir, but I assert before you that Dr. Evans, +the ex-dentist of the Emperor, was a spy." I quietly remarked, that not +having the honour to know Dr. Evans, and being myself an Englishman, +whilst the Doctor is an American, I was not responsible for him. "You +are a Greek," observed another; "I heard you talk Greek just now." I +mildly suggested that his knowledge of foreign tongues was, perhaps, +somewhat limited. "Well, if you are not a Greek," he said, "I saw you +the other morning near the Ambulance of the Press, to which I belong, +and so you must be a spy." "If you are an Englishman," cried his friend, +"why do you not go back to your own country, and fight Russia?" I +replied that the idea was an excellent one, but that it might, perhaps, +be difficult to pass through the Prussian lines. "The English Ambassador +is a friend of mine, and he will give you a pass at my request," +answered the gentleman who had mistaken English for Greek. I thanked +him, and assured him that I should esteem it a favour if he would obtain +from his friend Lord Lyons this pass for me. He said he would do so, as +it would be well to rid Paris of such vermin as myself and my +countrymen. He has not yet, however, fulfilled his promise. Scenes such +as these are of frequent occurrence at restaurants; bully and coward are +generally synonymous terms; any scamp may insult a foreigner now with +perfect impunity, for if the foreigner replies he has only to denounce +him as a spy, when a crowd will assemble, and either set on him or bear +him off to prison. While, as I have already said, nothing can be more +courteous than the conduct of French officers, French gentlemen, and, +unless they are excited, the French poorer classes, nothing can be more +insolent than that of the third-class dandies who reserve their valour +for the interior of the town, or who, if ever they venture outside of +its fortifications, take care to skulk beneath the protection of the +cross of Geneva. + +The _Journal Officiel_ contains a decree breaking up the battalion of +Belleville. These warriors, says their own Commander, ran away in the +presence of the enemy, refused the next day to go to the front, and +commenced fighting with their neighbours from La Villette. M. Gustave +Flourens, who is the hero of these men of war, and who, although +exercising no official rank in the battalion, insisted upon their +accepting him as their chief, is to be brought before a Council of War. + +My next-door neighbour, Franchetti, died yesterday, and was buried +to-day. He was a fine, handsome young man, well off, happily married, +and, as the commander of the Eclaireurs of the Seine, has done good +service during the siege. As he was an Israelite, he was followed to the +grave by the Rothschilds and many other of his co-religionists. + + +_December 8th._ + +M. de Sarcey, in the _Temps_ of to-day, enters into a lengthy argument +to prove that the Parisians are heroic. "Heroism is positive and +negative," he says, "and we have, for the sake of our country, deprived +ourselves during several months of the power to make money, and during +this time we have existed without many of the comforts to which we are +accustomed." Now, I by no means wish to undervalue the sacrifices of the +Parisians, but heroism is not the word for them. So long as there are +enough provisions in the town to enable every one to live without +feeling the pangs of hunger, they have no opportunity to show negative +heroism. So long as the town is not assaulted, and they do not take part +in sorties, they cannot be said to be actively heroic. A blockade such +as the Prussians have instituted round Paris, is no doubt most +disagreeable to its inhabitants. In submitting to it, undoubtedly they +show their patriotism and their power of passive endurance. Heroism is, +however, something more than either patriotism or endurance--it is an +exceptional quality which is rarely found in this world. If the +Parisians possessed it, I should admire them; because they do not, no +one has a right to blame them. + +The newspapers have now proved to their own complete satisfaction that +Count Moltke's assertion respecting the defeat of the Army of the Loire +can only refer to its rearguard, and although no news from without has +been received for several days, they insist that the greater portion of +this army has effected its junction with that of Bourbaki. A French +journalist, even when he is not obliged to do so, generally invents his +facts, and then reasons upon them with wonderful ingenuity. I do not +know whether the Paris journals get to you through the Prussian lines; +if they do not, you have little idea how much excellent advice you lose. +One would think that just at present a Parisian would do well to keep +his breath to cool his own porridge; such, however, is not his opinion. +He thinks that he has a mission to guide and instruct the world, and +this mission he manfully fulfils in defiance of Prussians and Prussian +cannon. It is true that he knows rather less of foreign countries than +an intelligent Japanese Daimio may be supposed to know of Tipperary, but +by some curious law of nature, the less he knows of a subject the more +strongly does he feel impelled to write about it. I read a very clever +article this morning, pointing out that, if we are not on our guard, our +empire in India will come to an end by a Russian fleet attacking it from +the Caspian Sea; and when one thinks how very easy it would have been +for the author not to write about the Caspian Sea, one is at once +surprised and grateful to him for having called our attention to the +danger which menaces us in that quarter of the globe. + +M. Gustave Flourens has been arrested and is now in prison. The clubs of +the Ultras are very indignant at the Government having accused the +braves of Belleville of cowardice. They feel convinced that the "Jesuit" +Trochu must have introduced some _mouchards_ into the band of heroes, +who received orders to run away, in order to discredit the whole +battalion. I was in the "Club de la Delivrance" this evening. It holds +its sittings in the Salle Valentino--a species of Argyle Rooms in +normal times. I held up my hand in favour of a resolution to call upon +the Government to inscribe upon marble tablets the names of the National +Guards who have died in the defence of Paris. The resolution was carried +unanimously. No National Guard has, indeed, yet been good enough to die; +but of course this fact was regarded as irrelevant. The next resolution +was that the concubines of patriots should enjoy the same right to +rations as legitimate wives. As the Club prides itself upon the stern +severity of its morals, this resolution was not carried. An orator then +proposed that all strangers should be banished from France. He was so +exceedingly lengthy that I did not wait until the end of his speech; I +am, therefore, unable to say whether his proposal was carried. The Club +de la Delivrance is by far the most reputable public assembly in Paris. +Those who take part in its proceedings are intensely respectable, and as +intensely dull and prosy. The suppression of gas has been a heavy blow +to the clubs. The Parisians like gas as much as lazzaroni like sunshine. +The grandest bursts of patriotic eloquence find no response from an +audience who listen to them beneath half-a-dozen petroleum lamps. It is +somewhat singular, but it is not the less certain, that the effect of a +speech depends very much upon the amount of light in the room in which +it is delivered. I remember once I went down to assist a friend of mine +in an electioneering campaign in a small borough. His opponent was a +most worthy and estimable squire, who resided in the neighbourhood. It +was, of course, my business to prove that he was a despicable knave and +a drivelling idiot. This I was engaged in doing at a public meeting in +the town-hall. The Philippics of Demosthenes were milk and water in +comparison with my denunciations--when just at the critical moment--as I +was carrying conviction into the breasts of the stolid Britons who were +listening to me, the gas flickered and went out. Three candles were +brought in. I recommenced my thunder; but it was of no use. The candles +utterly destroyed its effect, and two days afterwards the squire became +an M.P., and still is a silent ornament of St. Stephen's. + +I trust that England never will be invaded. But if it is, we shall do +well to profit by the experience of what is occurring here. There must +be no English force, half citizen half soldier. All who take part in the +national defence must submit to the strict discipline of soldiers. A +vast amount of money has been laid out in equipping the National Guard. +Their pay alone amounts to above 20,000fr. per diem, and, as far as the +defence of Paris is concerned, they might as well have remained quietly +by their own firesides. There are, no doubt, brave men among them, but +as their battalions insist upon being regarded as citizens even when +under arms, they have no discipline, and are little better than an armed +mob. The following extract from an article in the last number of the +_Revue des Deux Mondes_ gives some interesting details respecting their +habits when on duty behind that most useless of all works of defence, +the line of the Paris fortifications:--"On the arrival of a battalion, +the chief of the post arranges the hours during which each man is to be +on active duty. After this, the men occupy themselves as they please. +Some play at interminable games of _bouchon_; others, notwithstanding +orders to the contrary, turn their attention to ecarte and piquet; +others gossip over the news of the day with the artillerymen, who are +keeping guard by the side of their cannon. Some go away on leave, or +disappear without leave; they make excursions beyond the ramparts, or +shut themselves up in the billiard-room of some cafe. Many make during +the course of the day frequent visits to the innumerable canteens, which +succeed each other almost without interruption along the Rue des +Ramparts. Here old women have lit a few sticks under a pot, and sell, +for a penny the glass, a horrible brew called 'petit noir,' composed of +sugar, eau de vie, and the grains of coffee, boiled up together. Behind +there is a line of cook shops, the proprietors of which announce that +they have been commissioned to provide food. These speculators offer for +sale greasy soup, slices of horse, and every species of alcoholic drink. +Each company has, too, its cantiniere, and round her cart there is +always a crowd. It seldom happens that more than one-half of the men of +the battalion are sober. Fortunately, the cold of the night air sobers +them. Between eight and nine in the evening there is a gathering in the +tent. A circle is formed in it round a single candle, and whilst the +flasks go round tale succeeds to song, and song to tale, until at length +all fall asleep, and are only interrupted in their slumbers until +morning by the corporal, who, once every hour, enters and calls out the +names of those who are to go on the watch. The abuse of strong drink +makes shameful ravages in our ranks, and is productive of serious +disorder. Few nights pass without false alarms, without shots foolishly +fired upon imaginary enemies, and without lamentable accidents. Every +night there are disputes, which often degenerate into fights, and then +in the morning, when explanations take place, these very explanations +are an excuse for recommencing drinking. Rules, indeed, are not wanting +to abate all this, but the misfortune is that they are never executed. +The indiscipline of the National Guard contrasts strangely with the +patriotism of their words. Most of the insubordination may be ascribed +to drunkenness, but the _mauvaise tenue_ which is so apparent in too +many battalions is due also to many other causes. The primary +organisation of the National Guard was ill-conceived and ill-executed, +and when the enrolments had been made, and the battalions formed, day +after day a fresh series of orders were promulgated, so diffuse, so +obscure, and so contradictory, that the officers, despairing to make +head or tail of them, gave up any attempt to enforce them." + +The attempt at the last hour to form marching battalions out of these +citizen soldiers, by obliging each sedentary battalion to furnish 150 +men, has not been a very successful one. The marching battalions, it is +true, have been formed, but they have not yet been engaged with the +enemy; and it certainly is the opinion of military men that it will be +advisable, for the credit of French arms, to "keep them in reserve" +during any future engagement which may take place. General Clement +Thomas has issued a series of general orders, from the tenor of which it +would appear that the system of substitutes has been largely practised +in these battalions. I have myself no doubt of the fact. The fault, +however, lies with the Government. When these battalions were formed, +the respective categories of unmarried and married men between 25 and +35, and between 35 and 45, were only to be drawn upon in case a +sufficient number of volunteers were not forthcoming. It became, +consequently, the interest of the men in these categories to encourage +volunteering, and this was done on a large and liberal scale. The +Government, if it wanted men, should have called to arms all between 25 +and 35, and have allowed no exemptions. These new levies should have +been subjected to the same discipline as the Line and the Mobiles. It +must now accept the consequences of not having ventured to take this +step. For all operations beyond the enceinte General Trochu's force +consists of the Line and the Mobiles. All that he can expect from the +Parisians is a "moral support." + + +_December 9th._ + +Nothing new. If the Government has received any news from without, it +carefully conceals it. A peasant, the newspapers say, has made his way +through the Prussian lines, and has brought the information that the +armies of the Loire and of Bourbaki are close to Fontainebleau. The cry +is still that we will resist to the last, and for the moment every one +seems to have forgotten that in a few weeks our provisions will all have +been consumed. If we wait to treat until our last crust has been eaten, +the pinch will come after the capitulation; for with the railroads and +the high roads broken up, and the surrounding country devastated, a +fortnight at least must elapse before supplies, in any quantity, can be +thrown into the town. + +I hear that the Prussian officers who were (says the _Journal Officiel_) +insulted in a cafe, have been exchanged. A friend of mine, an ex-French +diplomatist, was present when the scene occurred, and he tells me that +the officers, who were all young men, were, to say the least of it, +exceedingly indiscreet. Instead of eating their dinner quietly, they +indulged in a good deal of loud, and by no means wise conversation, and +their remarks were calculated to offend those Frenchmen who heard them. + + +_December 15th._ + +Still no news from the outer world. I trust that M. Jansen, who was +dispatched the other day in a balloon to witness the eclipse of the sun, +will be more fortunate in his endeavours to discover what is going on in +that luminary, than we are in ours to learn what is happening within +twenty miles of us. Search has been made to find the peasant who +announced that he had seen a French army at Corbeil, but this remarkable +agriculturist is not forthcoming. Persons at the outposts say that they +heard cannon in the direction of Fontainebleau, when they put their ears +to the ground, but none believe them. Four officers, who were taken +prisoners on the 12th of the month near Orleans, have been sent in, as +an exchange for the Prussian officers who were insulted at a restaurant, +but they are so stupid that it has been impossible to glean anything +from them except that their division was fighting when they were taken +prisoners. A dead, apathetic torpor has settled over the town. Even the +clubs are deserted. There are no groups of gossips in the streets. No +one clamours for a sortie, and no one either blames or praises Trochu. +The newspapers still every morning announce that victory is not far off. +But their influence is gone. The belief that the evil day cannot be far +off is gradually gaining ground, and those who are in a position to know +more accurately the precise state of affairs, take a still more hopeless +view of them than the masses. The programme of the Government seems to +be this--to make a sortie in a few days, then to fall back beneath the +forts; after this to hold out until the provisions are eaten up, and +then, after having made a final sortie, to capitulate. Trochu is +entirely in the hands of Ducrot, who, with the most enterprising of the +officers, insists that the military honour of the French arms demands +that there should be more fighting, even though success be not only +improbable but impossible. The other day, in a council of war, Trochu +began to speak of the armies of the provinces. "I do not care for your +armies of the provinces," replied Ducrot. Poor Trochu, like many weak +men, must rely upon some one. First it was the neutrals, then it was the +armies of the provinces, and now it is Ducrot. As for his famous plan, +that has entirely fallen through. It was based, I understand, upon some +impossible manoeuvres to the north of the Marne. The members of the +Government of National Defence meddle little with the direction of +affairs. M. Picard is openly in favour of treating at once. M. Jules +Favre is very downcast; he too wishes to treat, but he cannot bring +himself to consent to a cession of territory. Another member of the +Government was talking yesterday to a friend of mine. He seemed to fear +that when the people learn that the stock of provisions is drawing to a +close, there will be riots. The Government dares not tell them the +truth. Several members of the Government, I hear, intend to leave +shortly in balloons, and Trochu, as military Governor of Paris, will be +left to his own devices. He himself says that he never will sign a +capitulation, and it is suggested that when there is no more food, the +Prussians shall be allowed to enter without opposition, without any +terms having been previously agreed to. The Parisians are now contending +for their supremacy over the provinces, and they seem to think that if +they only hold out until famine obliges them to give in, that supremacy +will not hereafter be disputed. + +It is impossible to give precise data respecting the store of provisions +now in Paris, nor even were I able would it be fair to do so. As a +matter of private opinion, however, I do not think that it will be +possible to prolong the resistance beyond the first week in January at +the latest. Last Sunday there were incipient bread-riots. By one o'clock +all the bakers had closed their shops in the outer faubourg. There had +been a run upon them, because a decree had been issued in the morning +forbidding flour to be sold, and requisitioning all the biscuits in +stock. Government immediately placarded a declaration that bread was not +going to be requisitioned, and the explanation of the morning's decree +is that flour and not corn has run short, but that new steam-mills are +being erected to meet the difficulty. _La Verite_, a newspaper usually +well informed, says that for some days past the flour which had been +stored in the town by M. Clement Duvernois has been exhausted, and that +we are now living on the corn and meal which was introduced at the last +moment from the neighbouring departments. It gives the following +calculation of our resources--flour three weeks, corn three months, salt +meat fifteen days, horse two months. The mistake of all these +calculations seems to be that they do not take into account the fact +that more bread or more corn will be eaten when they become the sole +means of providing for the population. Thus the daily return of flour +sold in Paris is about one-third above the average. The reason is +simple, and yet it seems to occur to no one. French people, more +particularly the poorer classes, can exist upon much less than +Englishmen; but the prospect for any one blessed with a good appetite is +by no means reassuring. In the Rue Blanche there is a butcher who sells +dogs, cats, and rats. He has many customers, but it is amusing to see +them sneak into the shop after carefully looking round to make sure that +none of their acquaintances are near. A prejudice has arisen against +rats, because the doctors say that their flesh is full of trichinae. I +own for my part I have a guilty feeling when I eat dog, the friend of +man. I had a slice of a spaniel the other day, it was by no means bad, +something like lamb, but I felt like a cannibal. Epicures in dog flesh +tell me that poodle is by far the best, and recommend me to avoid bull +dog, which is coarse and tasteless. I really think that dogs have some +means of communicating with each other, and have discovered that their +old friends want to devour them. The humblest of street curs growls when +anyone looks at him. _Figaro_ has a story that a man was followed for a +mile by a party of dogs barking fiercely at his heels. He could not +understand to what their attentions were due, until he remembered that +he had eaten a rat for his breakfast. The friend of another journalist, +who ate a dog called Fox, says that whenever anyone calls out "Fox" he +feels an irresistible impulse which forces him to jump up. As every +Christmas a number of books are published containing stories about dogs +as remarkable as they are stale, I recommend to their authors these two +veracious tales. Their veracity is guaranteed by Parisian journalists. +Can better evidence be required? + +We are already discussing who will be sent to Germany. We suppose that +the army and the Mobiles, and perhaps the officers of the National +Guard will have to make the journey. One thing, I do hope that the +Prussians will convey across the Rhine all the Parisian journalists, and +keep them there until they are able to pass an elementary examination in +the literature, the politics, the geography, and the domestic economy of +Germany. A little foreign travel would do these blind leaders of the +blind a world of good, and on their return they would perhaps have +cleared their minds of their favourite delusion that civilization is +co-terminous with the frontiers of France. + +How M. Picard provides for the financial requirements of his colleagues +is a mystery. The cost of the siege amounts in hard cash to about +L20,000,000. To meet the daily draw on the exchequer no public loan has +been negotiated, and nothing is raised by taxation. The monthly +instalments which have been paid on the September loan cannot altogether +amount to very much, consequently the greater portion of this large sum +can only have been obtained by a loan from the bank and by _bons de +tresor_ (exchequer bills). What the proportion between the bank loan and +the _bons de tresor_ in circulation is I am unable to ascertain. M. +Picard, like all finance ministers, groans daily over the cost of the +prolongation of the siege, and it certainly appears a very doubtful +question whether France will really benefit by Paris living at its +expense for another month. + +Military matters remain _in statu quo_. The army is camped in the wood +of Vincennes. The forts occasionally fire. The Prussians seem to be of +opinion that our next sortie will be in the plain of Genevilliers, as +they are working hard on their fortifications along their lines between +St. Denis and St. Cloud, and they have replaced the levies of the +smaller States by what we call here "real" Prussians. Our engineer +officers consider that the Prussians have three lines of investment, the +first comparatively weak, the second composed of strategical lines, by +which a force of 40,000 men can be brought on any point within two +hours; the third consisting of redoubts, which would prevent artillery +getting by them. To invest a large town, say our officers, is not so +difficult a task as it would appear at first sight. Artillery can only +move along roads, and consequently all that is necessary is to occupy +the roads solidly. General Blanchard has been removed from his command, +and is to be employed in the Third Army under Vinoy. His dispute with +Ducrot arose from a remark which the latter made respecting officers who +did not remain with their men after a battle; and as Blanchard had been +in Paris the day before, he took this general stricture to himself. +Personalities of a very strong nature were exchanged between the two +warriors, and it was thought well that henceforward they should, as much +as possible, be kept apart. General Fave also, who commanded the redoubt +near Joinville, which arrested the advance of the Prussians on the +second battle of Villiers, has "had words." It appears that he declined +to obey an order which was forwarded to him, on the ground of its +absurdity, saying that he was responsible to his conscience. +Indiscipline has been the curse of the French army since the +commencement of the war, and it will continue to be so to the end. +During the siege there have been many individual traits of heroism, but +the armed force has been little better than a mob, and Trochu has not +had the moral courage to enforce his will on his generals. Ducrot says +that he is determined to take the war battalions of the National Guards +under fire at the next sortie, but whether he will succeed remains to be +seen. In these marching battalions there are undoubtedly many brave men, +but both officers and soldiers are inexperienced, and when they see men +falling before them, struck down by an invisible enemy, they lose all +presence of mind. + +I do not think, as far as regards the Parisians, Count Bismarck is right +in his opinion that the French will for many years to come attempt to +reverse the verdict of the present war. The Parisian bourgeois is fond +of saving money. As long as war meant a military promenade of the army +across the Rhine, followed by a triumphal entry into Paris, he was by no +means averse to it, for he considered that a French victory reflected +itself on him, and made him a hero in the eyes of the world. Now, +however, that he has discovered that there is a reverse to this picture, +and that it may very possibly mean ruin to himself, he will be very +cautious before he again risks the hazard of the die. Should the +disasters of France result in the emancipation of the provinces from the +rule of Paris, they will be a positive benefit to the nation. If the +thirty-eight million Frenchmen outside Paris are such fools as to allow +themselves to be ruled by the two million amiable, ignorant, bragging +humbugs who are within it, France will most deservedly cease to be a +power of Europe. If this country is to recover from the ruin in which it +is overwhelmed it is absolutely essential that Paris should cease to be +its political capital, and that the Parisians should not have a greater +share in moulding its future policy than they are numerically entitled +to. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +_December 18th._ + +Prisoners have before now endeavoured to while away their long hours of +captivity by watching spiders making their webs. I can understand this. +In the dreary monotony of this dreariest of sieges a spider would be an +event. But alas, the spider is outside, and we are the flies caught in +his toils. Never did time hang so heavily on human beings as it hangs on +us. Every day seems to have twice the usual number of hours. I have +ceased to wind up my watch for many a week. I got tired of looking at +it; and whether it is ten in the morning or two in the afternoon is much +the same to me; almost everyone has ceased to shave; they say that a +razor so near their throats would be too great a temptation. Some have +married to avoid active service, others to pass the time. "When I knew +that there was an army between my wife and myself," observed a cynic to +me yesterday, "I rejoiced, but even the society of my wife would be +better than this." There is a hideous old woman, like unto one of +Macbeth's witches, who makes my bed. I had a horrible feeling that some +day or other I should marry her, and I have been considerably relieved +by discovering that she has a husband and several olive branches. Here +is my day. In the morning the boots comes to call me. He announces the +number of deaths which have taken place in the hotel during the night. +If there are many he is pleased, as he considers it creditable to the +establishment. He then relieves his feelings by shaking his fist in the +direction of Versailles, and exit growling "Canaille de Bismarck." I get +up. I have breakfast--horse, _cafe au lait_--the _lait_ chalk and +water--the portion of horse about two square inches of the noble +quadruped. Then I buy a dozen newspapers, and after having read them, +discover that they contain nothing new. This brings me to about eleven +o'clock. Friends drop in, or I drop in on friends. We discuss how long +it is to last--if friends are French we agree that we are sublime. At +one o'clock get into the circular railroad, and go to one or other of +the city gates. After a discussion with the National Guards on duty, +pass through. Potter about for a couple of hours at the outposts; try +with glass to make out Prussians; look at bombs bursting; creep along +the trenches; and wade knee deep in mud through the fields. The +Prussians, who have grown of late malevolent even toward civilians, +occasionally send a ball far over one's head. They always fire too high. +French soldiers are generally cooking food. They are anxious for news, +and know nothing about what is going on. As a rule they relate the +episode of some _combat d'avantposte_ which took place the day before. +The episodes never vary. 5 P.M.--Get back home; talk to doctors about +interesting surgical operations; then drop in upon some official to +interview him about what is doing. Official usually first mysterious, +then communicative, not to say loquacious, and abuses most people except +himself. 7 P.M.--Dinner at a restaurant; conversation general; almost +everyone in uniform. Still the old subjects--How long will it last? Why +does not Gambetta write more clearly? How sublime we are; what a fool +everyone else is. Food scanty, but peculiar. At Voisins to-day the bill +of fare was ass, horse, and English wolf from the Zoological Garden. A +Scotchman informed me that this latter was a fox of his native land, +and patriotically gorged himself with it. I tried it, and not being a +Scotchman, found it horrible, and fell back upon the patient ass. After +dinner, potter on the Boulevards under the dispiriting gloom of +petroleum; go home and read a book. 12 P.M.--Bed. They nail up the +coffins in the room just over mine every night, and the tap, tap, tap, +as they drive in the nails, is the pleasing music which lulls me to +sleep. Now, I ask, after having endured this sort of thing day after day +for three months, can I be expected to admire Geist, Germany, or Mr. +Matthew Arnold? I sigh for a revolution, for a bombardment, for an +assault, for anything which would give us a day's excitement. + +I enclose you Gambetta's latest pigeon despatch. His style is so +grandiloquently vague that we can make neither head nor tail of it. We +cannot imagine what has become of Aurelles de Paladine and of the army +of Keratry. The optimists say that Gambetta means that Bourbaki and +Chanzy have surrounded Frederick Charles; the pessimists, that Frederick +Charles has got between them. The general feeling seems to be that the +provinces are doing more than was expected of them, but that they will +fail to succour us. Here some of the newspapers urge Trochu to make a +sortie, in order to prevent reinforcements being sent to Frederick +Charles, others deprecate it as a useless waste of life. General Clement +Thomas, who succeeded Tamisier about a month ago in the command of the +National Guards, seems to be the right man in the right place. He is +making great efforts to convert these citizens into soldiers, and stands +no nonsense. Not a day passes without some patriotic captain being tried +by court-martial for drunkenness or disobedience. If a battalion +misbehaves itself, it is immediately gibbeted in the order of the day. +The newspapers cry out against this. They say that Clement Thomas +forgets that the National Guards are his children, and that dirty linen +ought to be washed at home. "If this goes on, posterity," they complain, +"will say that we were little more than a mob of undisciplined +drunkards." I am afraid that Clement Thomas will not have time to carry +out his reforms; had they been commenced earlier, there is no reason why +Paris should not have had on foot 100,000 good troops. + +Mr. Herbert tells me that there are now above 1,000 persons on the +English fund, and that every week there are about 30 new applications. +Unknown and mysterious English emerge from holes and corners every day. +Mr. Herbert thinks that there cannot be less than 3,000 of them still in +Paris, almost all destitute. The French Government sold him a short time +ago 30,000 lbs. of rice, and this, with the chocolate and Liebig which +he has in hand will last him for about three weeks. If the siege goes on +longer it is difficult to know how all these poor people will live. +Funds are not absolutely wanting, but it is doubtful whether even with +money it will be possible to buy anything beyond bread, if that. Mr. +Herbert thinks that it would be most desirable to send, if possible, a +provision of portable food, such as Liebig's extract of meat, as near to +Paris as possible; so that, whenever the siege ceases, it may at once be +brought into the town, as otherwise it is very probable that many of +these English will die of starvation before food can reach them. It does +seem to me perfectly monstrous that for years we should have, in +addition to an Embassy, kept a Consul here, and that he should have been +allowed to go off on leave to some watering place at the very moment at +which his services were most required. When the Embassy left, a sort of +deputy-consul remained here; but with a perfect ingenuity of stupidity, +the Foreign-office officials ordered this gentleman to withdraw with Mr. +Wodehouse, the secretary. Heine said of his fellow-countrymen, "they are +born stupid, and a bureaucratic education makes them wicked." Had he +been an Englishman instead of a Prussian he would have said the same, +and with even more truth, of certain persons who, not for worlds would I +name, but who do not reside 100 miles from Downing-street. + + +_December 21st._ + +When the Fenians in the United States meditate a raid upon Canada, they +usually take very great care to allow their intentions to be known. Our +sorties are much like these Hibernian surprises. If the Prussians do not +know when we are about to attack, they cannot complain that it is our +fault. The "Apres vous, Messieurs les Anglais," still forms the +chivalrous but somewhat naif tactics of the Gauls. On Sunday, as a first +step to military operations, the gates of the city were closed to all +unprovided with passes. On Monday a grand council of generals and +admirals took place at the Palais Royal. Yesterday, and all last night, +drums were beating, trumpets were blowing, and troops were marching +through the streets. The war battalions of the National Guard, in their +new uniforms, spick and span, were greeted with shouts, to which they +replied by singing a song, the chorus of which is "Vive la guerre, +Piff-Paff," and which has replaced the "Marseillaise." As the ambulances +had been ordered to be ready to start at six in the morning, I presumed +that business would commence at an early hour, and I ordered myself to +be called at 5.30. I was called, and got out of my bed, but, alas for +noble resolutions! having done so, I got back again into it and remained +between the sheets quietly enjoying that sleep which is derived from the +possession of a good conscience, and a still better digestion, until the +clock struck nine. + +It was not until past eleven o'clock that I found myself on the outside +of the gate of La Villette, advancing, as Grouchy should have done at +Waterloo, in the direction of the sound of the cannon. From the gate a +straight road runs to Le Bourget, having the Fort of Aubervilliers on +the right, and St. Denis on the left. Between the fort and the gate +there were several hundred ambulance waggons, and above a thousand +"brancardiers," stamping their feet and blowing on their fingers to keep +themselves warm. In the fields on each side of the road there were +numerous regiments of Mobiles drawn up ready to advance if required. Le +Bourget, everyone said, had been taken in the morning, our artillery was +on ahead, and we were carrying everything before us, so towards Le +Bourget I advanced. About a mile from Le Bourget, there is a cross-road +running to St. Denis through Courneuve. Here I found the barricade which +had formed our most advanced post removed. Le Bourget seemed to be on +fire. Shells were falling into it from the Prussian batteries, and, as +well as I could make out, our forts were shelling it too. Our artillery +was on a slight rise to the right of Le Bourget, in advance of Drancy; +and in the fields between Drancy and this rise, heavy masses of troops +were drawn up in support. Officers assured me that Le Bourget was still +in our possession, and that if I felt inclined to go there, there was +nothing to prevent me. I confess I am not one of those persons who snuff +up the battle from afar, and feel an irresistible desire to rush into +the middle of it. To be knocked on the head by a shell, merely to +gratify one's curiosity, appears to me to be the utmost height of +absurdity. Those who put themselves between the hammer and the anvil, +come off generally second best, and I determined to defer my visit to +the interesting village before me until the question whether it was to +belong to Gaul or Teuton had been definitely decided. So I turned off to +the left and went to St. Denis. + +Here everybody was in the streets, asking everybody else for news. The +forts all round it were firing heavily. On the Place before the +Cathedral there was a great crowd of men, women, and children. The +sailors, who are quartered here in great numbers, said that they had +carried Le Bourget early in the morning, but that they had been obliged +to fall back, with the loss of about a third of their number. Most of +them had hatchets by their sides, and they attack a position much as if +they were boarding a ship. About 100 prisoners had been brought into the +town in the morning, as well as two Freres Chretiens, who had been +wounded, and for whom the greatest sympathy was expressed. Little seemed +to be known of what was passing. "The Prussians will be here in an +hour," shouted one man; "The Prussians are being exterminated," shouted +another. "What is this?" cried the crowd, as Monseigneur Bauer, the +bishop _in partibus infidelium_ of some place or other, now came riding +along with his staff. He held up his two fingers, and turned his hand +right and left. His pastoral blessing was, however, but a half success. +The women crossed themselves, and the men muttered "farceur." The war +which is now raging has produced many oddities, but none to my mind +equal to this bishop. His great object is to see and be seen, and most +thoroughly does he succeed in his object. He is a short, stout man, +dressed in a cassock, a pair of jack-boots with large spurs, and a hat +such as you would only see at the opera. On his breast he wears a huge +star. Round his neck is a chain, with a great golden cross attached to +it; and on his fingers, over his gloves, he wears gorgeous rings. The +trappings of his horse are thickly sprinkled with Geneva crosses. By his +side rides a standard-bearer, bearing aloft a flag with a red cross. +Eight aides-de-camp, arrayed in a sort of purple and gold fancy uniform, +follow him, and the _cortege_ is closed by two grooms in unimpeachable +tops. In this guise, and followed by this etat major, he is a +conspicuous figure upon a field of battle, and produces much the same +effect as the head of a circus riding into a town on a piebald horse, +surrounded by clowns and pets of the ballet. He was the confessor of the +Empress, and is now the aumonier of the Press; but why he wears +jack-boots, why he capers about on a fiery horse, why he has a staff of +aides-de-camp, and why he has two grooms, are things which no one seems +to know. He patronises generals and admirals, doctors and commissariat +officers, and they submit to be patronised by him. Half-priest, +half-buffoon, something of a Friar Tuck and something of a Louis XV. +abbe, he is a sort of privileged person, who by the mere force of +impudence has made his way in the world. Most English girls in their +teens fall in love with a curate and a cavalry officer. Monseigneur +Bauer, who combines in himself the unctuous curate and the dashing +dragoon, is adored by the fair sex in Paris. He knows how to adapt his +conversation to the most opposite kind of persons, and I should not be +surprised if he becomes a Cardinal before he dies. + +The arrival of Dr. Ricord was the next event. He was in a basket +pony-chaise, driving two ponies not much larger than rats. A pole about +twelve feet high, bearing the flag of the Geneva Cross, was stuck beside +him, and it was knocking against the telegraph wires which ran along the +street. The eminent surgeon was arrayed in a long coat buttoned up to +his chin and coming down to his feet. On his head was a kepi which was +far too large for him. He looked like one of those wooden figures of +Noah, when that patriarch with his family is lodged in a child's ark. +Having inspected the bishop and the doctor with respectful admiration, +and instituted a search for some bread and wine, I thought it was time +to see what was going on outside. On emerging from St. Denis everything +except the guns of the forts appeared quiet. I had not, however, gone +far in the direction of Le Bourget, which was still burning, when I was +stopped by a regiment marching towards St. Denis, some of the officers +of which told me that the village had been retaken by the Prussians--the +artillery, too, which I had left on the rise before Drancy, had +disappeared. At a farmyard close by Drancy I saw Ducrot and his staff. +The General had his hood drawn over his head, and both he and his +aide-de-camp looked so glum, that I thought it just as well not to +congratulate him upon the operations of the day. In and behind Drancy +there were a large number of troops, who I heard were to camp there +during the night. None seemed exactly to know what had happened. The +officers and soldiers were not in good spirits. On my return into Paris, +however, I found the following proclamation of the Government posted on +the walls:--"2 p.m.--The attack commenced this morning by a great +deployment from Mont Valerien to Nogent, the combat has commenced and +continues everywhere, with favourable chances for us.--Schmitz." The +people on the Boulevards seem to imagine that a great victory has been +gained. When one asks them where? They answer "everywhere." I can only +answer myself for what occurred at Le Bourget. I hear that Vinoy has +occupied Nogent, on the north of the Marne; the resistance he +encountered could not, however, have been very great, as only seven +wounded have been brought into this hotel, and only one to the American +ambulance. General Trochu announced this morning that 100 battalions of +the National Guards are outside the walls, and I shall be curious to +learn how they conduct themselves under fire. Far be it from me to say +that they will not fight like lions. If they do, however, it will +surprise most of the military men with whom I have spoken on the +subject. As yet all they have done has been to make frequent "pacts with +death," to perform unauthorised strategical movements to the rear +whenever they have been sent to the front, to consume much liquor, to +pillage houses, and--to put it poetically--toy with Amaryllis in the +trench, or with the tangles of Nearas' hair. Their General, Clement +Thomas, is doing his best to knock them into shape, but I am afraid that +it is too late. There are cases in which, in defiance of the proverb, it +is too late to mend. + +Officers in a position to know, assure me that no really serious sortie +will be made, but that after two or three days of the sham fights, such +as took place to-day, the troops will quietly return into Paris. The +object of General Trochu is, they say, to amuse the Parisians, and if he +can by hook or by crook get the National Guard under the mildest of +fires, to celebrate their heroism, in order that they may return the +compliment. I cannot, however, believe that no attempt will be made to +fight a battle; the troops are now massed from St. Denis to the Marne; +within two hours they can all be brought to any point along this line, +and I should imagine that either to-morrow or the next day, something +will be done in the direction of the Forest of Bondy. Trochu, it is +daily felt more strongly, even by calm temperate men, is not the right +man in the right place. He is a respectable literary man, utterly unfit +to cope with the situation. His great aim seems now to be to curry +favour with the Parisian population by praising in all his proclamations +the National Guards, and ascribing to them a courage of which as yet +they have given no proof. This, of course, injures him with the Line and +the Mobiles, who naturally object to their being called upon to do all +the fighting, whilst others are lauded for it. The officers all swear by +Vinoy, and hold the military capacity both of Trochu and Ducrot very +cheap. In the desperate strait to which Paris is reduced, something more +than a man estimable for his private virtues, and his literary +attainments is required. Trochu, as we are frequently told, gave up his +brougham in order to adopt his nephews. Richard III. killed his; but +these are domestic questions, only interesting to nephews, and it by no +means follows that Richard III. would not have been a better defender of +Paris than Trochu has proved himself to be. His political aspirations +and his military combinations are in perpetual conflict. He is ever +sacrificing the one to the other, and, consequently, he fails both as a +general and as a statesman. + +In order to form an opinion with regard to the condition of the poorer +classes, I went yesterday into some of the back slums in the +neighbourhood of the Boulevard de Clichy. The distress is terrible. +Women and children, half starved, were seated at their doorsteps, with +hardly clothes to cover them decently. They said that, as they had +neither firewood nor coke, they were warmer out-of-doors than in-doors. +Many of the National Guards, instead of bringing their money home to +their families, spent it in drink; and there are many families, composed +entirely of women and children, who, in this land of bureaucracy, are +apparently left to starve whilst it is decided to what category they +belong. The Citizen Mottu, the Ultra-Democratic Mayor, announced that in +his arrondissement all left-handed marriages are to be regarded as +valid, and the left-handed spouses of the National Guards are to receive +the allowance which is granted to the legitimate wives of these +warriors. But a new difficulty has arisen. Left-handed polygamy prevails +to a great extent among the Citizen Mottu's admirers. Is a lady who has +five husbands entitled to five rations, and is a lady who only owns the +fifth of a National Guard to have only one-fifth of a ration? These are +questions which the Citizen Mottu is now attempting to solve. As for the +future, he has solved the matrimonial question by declining to celebrate +marriages, because, he says, this bond is an insult upon those who +prefer to ignore it. As regards marriage, consequently--and that +alone--his arrondissement resembles the kingdom of heaven. I went to +see, yesterday, what was going on in the house of a friend of mine in +the Avenue de l'Imperatrice, who has left Paris. The servant who was in +charge told me that up there they had been unable to obtain bread for +three days, and that the last time that he had presented his ration +ticket he had been given about half an inch of cheese. "How do you live, +then?" I asked. After looking mysteriously round to see that no one was +watching us, he took me down into the cellar, and pointed to some meat +in barrel. "It is half a horse," he said, in the tone of a man who is +showing some one the corpse of his murdered victim. "A neighbouring +coachman killed him, and we salted him down and divided it." Then he +opened a closet in which sat a huge cat. "I am fattening her up for +Christmas-day, we mean to serve her up surrounded with mice, like +sausages," he observed. Many Englishmen regard it as a religious duty to +eat turkey at Christmas, but fancy fulfilling this duty by devouring +cat. It is like an Arab in the desert, who cannot wash his hands when he +addresses his evening prayer, and makes shift with sand. This reminds me +that some antiquarian has discovered that in eating horse we are only +reverting to the habits of the ancient Gauls. Before the Christian +religion was introduced into the country, the Druids used to sacrifice +horses, which were afterwards eaten. Christianity put an end to these +sacrifices, and horse-flesh then went out of fashion. + +_La France_ thus speaks of the last despatch of Gambetta:--"At length we +have received official news from Tours. We read the despatch feverishly, +then we read it a second time with respect, with admiration, with +enthusiasm. We are asked our opinion respecting it. Before answering, we +feel an irresistible impulse to take off our hat and to cry 'Vive la +France.'" The _Electeur Libre_ is still more enraptured with the +situation. It particularly admires the petroleum lamp, so different, it +says, to those orgies of light, which under the tyrant, in the form of +gas, gave a fictitious vitality to Paris. The _Combat_ points out that +no fires have broken out since September 4--a coincidence which is +ascribed to the existence since that date of a Republican form of +government. I recommend this curious phenomenon to insurance companies. +The newspapers, one and all, are furious, because they hear that the +Prussians contest our two victories at Villiers. "How singular," +observes the _Figaro_, with plaintive morality, "is this rage, this +necessity for lying." It is notorious that, having gained two glorious +victories, we returned into Paris to repose on our laurels, and I must +beg the Prussians not to be so mean as to contest the fact. + + +_December 23rd._ + +Since Wednesday the troops--Line, Mobiles, and marching battalions of +the National Guard--have remained outside the enceinte. There has been a +certain amount of spade work at Drancy, but beyond this absolutely +nothing. The cold is very severe. This afternoon I was outside in the +direction of Le Bourget. The soldiers had lit large fires to warm +themselves. Some of them were lodged in empty houses, but most of them +had only their little _tentes d'abri_ to shelter them. The sentinels +were stamping their feet in the almost vain endeavour to keep their +blood in circulation. There have been numerous frost-bitten cases. When +it is considered that almost all of these troops might, without either +danger to the defence, or without compromising the offensive operations, +have been marched back into Paris, and quartered in the barracks which +have been erected along the outer line of Boulevards, it seems monstrous +cruelty to keep them freezing outside. The operations, however, on +Wednesday are regarded as very far short of a success. General Trochu +does not venture, in the state of public opinion, to bring the troops +back into Paris, and thus confess a failure. The ambulances are ordered +out to-morrow morning; but I cannot help thinking that the series of +operations which were with great beating of drums announced to have +commenced on Wednesday, will be allowed gradually to die out, without +anything further taking place. The National Guards are camped in the +neighbourhood of Bondy and Rosny. They have again, greatly to the +disgust of the Mobiles and Line, been congratulated in a general order +upon their valorous bearing. As a matter of fact, there was a panic +among these braves which nearly degenerated into a rout. Several +battalions turned tail, under the impression that the Prussians were +going to attack them. One battalion did not stop until it had found +shelter within the walls of the town. General Trochu's attempt, for +political ends, to force greatness upon these heroes, is losing him the +goodwill of the army. On Wednesday and Thursday several regiments of the +Line and of the Mobiles bitterly complained that they should always be +ordered to the front to protect not only Paris but the National Guards. +The marching battalions are composed of unmarried men between +twenty-five and thirty-five, and why they should not be called upon to +incur the same risks, and submit to the same discipline as the Mobiles, +it is difficult to understand. We may learn from the experience of this +siege that in war, armed citizens who decline to submit to the +discipline of soldiers are worse than useless. The lesson, however, has +not profited the Parisians. The following letter appears in the +_Combat_, signed by the "adjoint" of the 13th arrondissement. The +defence on the part of this municipal functionary of a marching +battalion, which, at the outposts, broke into a church, and there +parodied the celebration of the mass, is a gem in its way:-- + +"The marching companies of this battalion left Paris on the morning of +the 16th to go to the outposts at Issy. The departure was what all +departures of marching battalions must fatally be--copious and +multiplied libations between parting friends, paternal handshakings in +cabarets, patriotic and bacchic songs, loose and indecent choruses--in a +word, the picturesque exhibition of all that arsenal of gaiety and +courage which is the appanage of an ancient Gallic race. The old +troopers, who pretend to govern us by the sword, do not approve of this +joyous mode of regarding death; and all the writers whose pens are +dipped in the ink of reaction and Jesuitism are eager to discover any +eccentricity in which soldiers who are going under fire for the first +time permit themselves to indulge. The Intendance, with that +intelligence which characterises our military administrations, had put +off the departure of the battalion for several hours. What were the men +to do whilst they were kept waiting, except drink? This is what these +brave fellows did. Mars, tired of Venus, sung at the companionship of +Bacchus. If the God of Wine too well seconded the God of War, it is only +water drinkers who can complain; it is not for us, Republicans of the +past and of the future, to throw stones at good citizens in order to +conceal the misconduct of the old Bonapartist Administration which still +is charged with the care of our armies." + +General Blaise has been killed at Villa Evrard. The buildings, which go +by this name, were occupied on Wednesday by General Vinoy's troops. In +the night a number of Prussians, who had concealed themselves in the +cellars, emerged, and a hand-to-hand fight took place. Some of the +Prussians in the confusion got away, and some were killed. Several +French officers who ran away and rushed in a panic into the presence of +General Vinoy, who was at Fort Rosney, announcing that all was lost, are +to be tried by Court Martial. The troops when they heard this were very +indignant; but old Vinoy rode along the line, and told them that they +might think what they pleased, but that he would have no cowards serving +under him. Pity that he is not General-in-Chief. + +A curious new industry has sprung up in Paris. Letters supposed to be +found in the pockets of dead Germans are in great request. There are +letters from mothers, from sisters, and from the Gretchens who are, in +the popular mind, supposed to adore warriors. Unless every corpse has +half a dozen mothers, and was loved when in the flesh by a dozen +sweethearts, many of these letters must be fabricated. They vary in +their style very little. The German mothers give little domestic details +about the life at home, and express the greatest dread lest their sons +should fall victims to the valour of the Parisians, which is filling the +Fatherland with terror and admiration. The Gretchens are all +sentimental; they talk of their inner feelings like the heroines of +third-rate novels, send the object of their affections cigars and +stockings knitted by their own fair hands, and implore him to be +faithful, and not forget, in the toils of some French syren, poor +Gretchen. But what is more strange is that in the pocket of each corpse +a reply is found which he has forgotten to post. In this reply the +warrior tells a fearful tale of his own sufferings, and says that +victory is impossible, because the National Guards are such an +invincible band. + +The number of the wounded in my hotel has considerably diminished owing +to the deaths among them. For the Societe Internationale to have made it +their central ambulance was a great mistake. Owing to the want of +ventilation the simplest operations are usually fatal. Four out of five +of those who have an arm or a leg amputated die of pyaemia. Now, as in +the American tents four out of five recover; and as French surgeons are +as skilful as American surgeons, the average mortality in the two +ambulances is a crucial proof of the advantage of the American tent +system. Under their tents there is perfect ventilation, and yet the air +is not cold. If their plan were universally adopted in hospitals, it is +probable that many lives which are now sacrificed to the gases which +are generated from operations, and which find no exit from buildings of +stone or brick, would be saved. "Our war," said an American surgeon to +me the other day, "taught us that a large number of cubic inches of air +is not enough for a sick man, but that the air must be perpetually +renewed by ventilation." + + +_December 24th._ + +The papers publish extracts from German newspapers which have been found +in the pockets of the prisoners who were taken on Wednesday. The news +from the provinces is not considered encouraging. Great stress is laid +upon a proclamation addressed by King William to his troops on December +6, in which it is considered that there is evidence that the Prussians +are getting tired of the war. We hear now, for the first time, that +Prussia has "denounced" the Luxemburg Treaty of '67, and forgetting that +the guarantee of neutrality with respect to these lotus-eaters was +collective, and not joint and several, we anxiously ask whether England +will not regard this as a _casus belli_. "As soon as Parliament +assembles," says _La Verite_, "that great statesman Disraeli will turn +out Mr. Gladstone, and then our old ally will be restored to us." The +_Gaulois_ observes that "the English journalists residing at Paris keep +up the illusion that Paris must fall by sending to their journals false +news, which is reproduced in the organs of Prussia." "These +journalists," adds the _Gaulois_, "who are our guests, fail in those +duties which circumstances impose upon them." Every correspondent +residing abroad must be the guest, in a certain sense, of the country +from which he is writing; but that this position should oblige him to +square his facts to suit the wishes of his hosts appears to me a strange +theory. Had I been M. Jules Favre, I confess that I should have turned +out all foreign journalists at the commencement of the siege. He, +however, expressed a wish that they should remain in Paris, and his +fellow-citizens must not now complain that they decline to endorse the +legend which, very probably, will be handed down to future generations +of Frenchmen as the history of the siege of Paris. The Prussians will +not raise the siege for anything either French or English journalists +say. The Parisians themselves must perceive that the attempt to frighten +their enemies away by drum-beating and trumpet-blowing has signally +failed. Times have altered since Jericho. It is telling the Prussians +nothing new to inform them that the National Guard are poor troops. For +my part, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to learn some +morning that the German armies round Paris had met with the fate which +overwhelmed Sennacherib and his hosts. I should be delighted to be able +to hope that the town will not eventually be forced to capitulate; but I +cannot conceal from myself the truth that, if no succour comes from +without, it must eventually fall. I blame the French journalists for +perpetually drawing upon their imagination for their facts, and in their +boasts of what France will do, not keeping within the bounds of +probability; but I do not blame them for hoping against hope that their +armies will be successful. I am ready to admit that the Parisians have +shown a most stubborn tenacity, and that they have disappointed their +enemies in not cutting each other's throats; but this is no reason why I +should assert that they are sublime. After all, what is patriotism? The +idea entertained by each nation that it is braver and better and wiser +than the rest of the world. Does not every Englishman feel this to be +true of his own countrymen? It is consequently not absurd that Frenchmen +should think the same of themselves. The French are intensely +patriotic--country with them is no abstraction. They moan over its ruin +as though it were a human being, and far then be it from me to laugh at +them for doing so. When, however, I find persons dressing themselves up +in all the paraphernalia of war, visiting tombs and statues in order to +register with due solemnity that they intend to die rather than yield, +and when, after all this nonsense, these same persons decline to take +their share in the common danger on the score that they have a mother, +or a sister, or a wife, or a child, dependent upon them, and when month +after month they drum and strut up and down the Boulevards, I consider +that they are ridiculous, and I say so. When a man does a silly thing it +is his own fault--not that of the person who chronicles it. Was it wise, +for instance, of General Ducrot to announce a fortnight ago that he was +about to lead his soldiers against the enemy, and that he himself +intended either to conquer or die? Was it wise of General Trochu six +weeks ago to issue a proclamation pledging himself to force the +Prussians to raise the siege of Paris. The Prussians will have read +these manifestoes, and they will form their own estimate respecting +them. That I call them foolish does not "keep up illusions in Germany." +The other day the members of an Ultra club, in the midst of a discussion +respecting the existence of a divinity, determined to decide the +question by a general scrimmage. I think that these patriots might have +been better employed. It does not follow, however, that I do not regret +that they were not better employed. The siege of Paris is in the hands +of General Moltke, and the _Gaulois_ may depend upon it that this wary +strategist is not at all likely to give up the task by any number of +journalists informing him that he is certain to fail. + +I have got a cold, so I have not been out this morning. I hear that some +of the troops have come in from Aubervilliers, and several regiments +have marched by my windows. At Neuilly-sur-Marne and Bondy, it is said, +earthworks are being thrown up; and it is supposed that Chelles will, as +the Americans say, be the objective point of any movement which may take +place in that direction. The _Patrie_ has been suspended for three days +for alluding to military operations. It did more than allude, it +ventured to doubt the wisdom of our generals. As many other journals +have done the same I do not understand why the _Patrie_ should have been +singled out for vengeance. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +_December 25th._ + +Real Christmas weather--that is to say, the earth is as hard as a +brickbat, and the wind freezes one to the very marrow. To the rich man, +with a good coal fire in his grate, turkey, roast beef, plum pudding, +and mince pies on his table, and his family gorging themselves on the +solid eatables, a frost at Christmas is very pleasant. Poor people +cowering in their rags before the door of a union, cold, hungry, and +forlorn, or munching their dry bread in some cheerless garret, may not +perhaps so fully appreciate its advantages; but then we all know that +poor people never are contented, and seldom understand the fitness of +things. Here in Paris, the numbed soldiers out in the open fields, and +the women and children, who have no fires and hardly any food, bitterly +complain of the "seasonable" weather. With plenty of money, with warm +clothes, and a good house, a hard frost has its charms, without them it +is not quite so agreeable. For my part I confess that I never have seen +a paterfamilias with his coat tails raised, basking himself before his +fire, and prating about the delights of winter, and the healthy glow +which is caused by a sharp frost, without feeling an irresistible desire +to transplant him stark naked to the highest peak of Mont Blanc, in +order to teach by experience what winter means to thousands of his +fellow-creatures. We are not having a "merry Christmas," and we are not +likely to have a happy new year. Christmas is not here the great holiday +of the year, as it is in England. Still, everyone in ordinary times +tries to have a better dinner than usual, and usually where there are +children in a family some attempt is made to amuse them. Among the +bourgeoisie they are told to put their shoes in the grate on +Christmas-eve, and the next morning some present is found in them, which +is supposed to have been left during the night by the Infant Jesus. +Since the Empire introduced English ways here, plum-pudding and +mincepies have been eaten, and even Christmas-trees have flourished. +This year these festive shrubs, as an invention of the detested foe, +have been rigidly tabooed. Plum-puddings and mincepies, too, will appear +on few tables. In order to comfort the children, the girls are to be +given soup tickets to distribute to beggars, and the boys are to have +their choice between French and German wooden soldiers. The former will +be treasured up, the latter will be subjected to fearful tortures. Even +the midnight mass, which is usually celebrated on Christmas-eve, took +place in very few churches last night. We have, indeed, too much on our +hands to attend either to fasts or festivals, although in the opinion of +the _Univers_, the last sortie would have been far more successful had +it taken place on the 7th of the month, the anniversary of the +promulgation of the Immaculate Conception. Among fine people New +Year's-day is more of a fete than Christmas. Its approach is regarded +with dark misgivings by many, for every gentleman is expected to make a +call upon all the ladies of his acquaintance, and to leave them a box of +sugarplums. This is a heavy tax upon those who have more friends than +money--300fr. is not considered an extraordinary sum to spend upon these +bonbonnieres. A friend of mine, indeed, assured me that he yearly spent +1000fr., but then he was a notorious liar, so very possibly he was not +telling the truth. "Thank Heaven," says the men, "at least we shall get +off the sugarplum tax this year." But the ladies are not to be done out +of their rights this way, and they throw out very strong hints that if +sugarplums are out of season, anything solid is very much in season. A +dandy who is known to have a stock of sausages, is overwhelmed with +compliments by his fair friends. A good leg of mutton would, I am sure, +win the heart of the proudest beauty, and by the gift of half-a-dozen +potatoes you might make a friend for life. The English here are making +feeble attempts to celebrate Christmas correctly. In an English +restaurant two turkeys had been treasured up for the important occasion, +but unfortunately a few days ago they anticipated their fate, and most +ill-naturedly insisted upon dying. One fortunate Briton has got ten +pounds of camel, and has invited about twenty of his countrymen to aid +him in devouring this singular substitute for turkey. Another gives +himself airs because he has some potted turkey, which is solemnly to be +consumed to-day spread on bread. I am myself going to dine with the +correspondent of one of your contemporaries. On the same floor as +himself lives a family who left Paris before the commencement of the +siege. Necessity knows no law; so the other day he opened their door +with a certain amount of gentle violence, and after a diligent search, +discovered in the larder two onions, some potatoes, and a ham. These, +with a fowl, which I believe has been procured honestly, are to +constitute our Christmas dinner. + +It is very strange what opposite opinions one hears about the condition +of the poor. Some persons say that there is no distress, others that it +cannot be greater. The fact is, the men were never better off, the women +and children never so badly off. Every man can have enough to eat and +too much to drink by dawdling about with a gun. As his home is cold and +cheerless, when he is not on duty he lives at a pothouse. He brings no +money to his wife and children, who consequently only just keep body and +soul together by going to the national cantines, where they get soup, +and to the Mairies, where they occasionally get an order for bread. +Almost all their clothes are in pawn, so how it is they do not +positively die of cold I cannot understand. As for fuel even the wealthy +find it difficult to procure it. The Government talks of cutting down +all the trees and of giving up all the clothes in pawn; but, with its +usual procrastination, it puts off both these measures from day to day. +This morning all the firewood was requisitioned. At a meeting of the +Mayors of Paris two days ago, it was stated that above 400,000 persons +are in receipt of parish relief. + +The troops outside Paris are gradually being brought back inside. A +trench has been dug almost continuously from Drancy to Aubervilliers, +and an attempt has been made to approach Le Bourget by flying sap. The +ground, is, however, so hard, that it is much like attempting to cut +through a rock. To my mind the whole thing is merely undertaken in order +to persuade the Parisians that something is being done. For the moment +they are satisfied. "The Prussians," they say, "have besieged us; we are +besieging the Prussians now." What they will say when they find that +even these operations are suspended, I do not know. The troops have +suffered terribly from the cold during these last few days. Twelve +degrees of frost "centigrade" is no joke. I was talking to some officers +of Zouaves who had been twenty hours at the outposts. They said that +during all this time they had not ventured to light a fire, and that +this morning their wine and bread were both frozen. In the tents there +are small stoves, but they give out little warmth. Even inside the +deserted houses it is almost as cold as outside. The windows and the +doors have been converted into firewood, and the wind whistles through +them. The ambulance waggons of the Press alone have brought in nearly +500 men frost-bitten, or taken suddenly ill. From the batteries at Bondy +and Avron there has been some sharp firing, the object of which has been +to oblige the Prussians to keep inside the Forest of Bondy, and to +disquiet them whenever they take to digging anywhere outside it. The +plain of Avron is a very important position as it commands the whole +country round. The end of Le Bourget, towards Paris appears entirely +deserted. An ambulance cart went up to a barricade this morning which +crosses the main street, when a Prussian sentinel emerged and ordered it +to go back immediately. Behind Le Bourget, a little to the right, is a +heavy Prussian battery at Le Blanc Mesnel which entirely commands it. +The Line and the Mobiles bitterly complain that they, and not the +marching battalions, are exposed to every danger. The soldiers, and +particularly those of the Mobiles, say that if they are to go on +fighting for Paris, the Parisians must take their fair share in the +battles. As for the marching battalions, they are, as soldiers, worth +absolutely nothing. The idea of their assaulting, with any prospect of +success, any positions held by artillery, is simply ludicrous. The +system of dividing an army into different categories, is subjected to a +different discipline, is fatal for any united offensive operations. It +is to be hoped that Trochu will at last perceive this, and limit his +efforts to keeping the Prussians out of Paris, and harassing them by +frequent and partial sorties. I hear that General Ducrot wanted to +attempt a second assault of Le Bourget, but this was overruled at a +council of war which was held on Thursday. + + +_December 26th._ + +The _Journal Officiel_ announces that military operations are over for +the present, owing to the cold, and that the army is to be brought +inside Paris, leaving outside only those necessary for the defence. This +is a wise measure, although somewhat tardily taken. The Parisians will +no doubt be very indignant; for if they do not like fighting themselves, +they insist that the Line and the Mobiles should have no repose. + +M. Felix Pyat gives the following account of Christmas in +England:--"Christmas is the great English fete--the Protestant +Carnival--an Anglo-Saxon gala--a gross, pagan, monstrous orgie--a Roman +feast, in which the vomitorium is not wanting. And the eaters of 'bif' +laugh at us for eating frogs! Singular nation! the most Biblical and the +most material of Europe--the best Christians and the greatest gluttons. +They cannot celebrate a religious fete without eating. On Holy Friday +they eat buns, and for this reason they call it Good Friday. Good, +indeed, for them, if not for God. They pronounce messe mass, and boudin +pudding. Their pudding is made of suet, sugar, currants, and tea. The +mess is boiled for fifteen days, sometimes for six months; then it is +considered delicious. No pudding, no Christmas. The repast is sacred, +and the English meditate over it for six months in advance--they are the +only people who put money in a savings'-bank for a dinner. Poor families +economise for months, and take a shilling to a publican every Saturday +of the year, in return for which on Christmas Day they gorge themselves, +and are sick for a week after. This is their religion--thus they adore +their God." M. Pyat goes on to describe the butchers' shops before +Christmas; one of them, he says, is kept by a butcher clergyman, and +over his door is a text. + +The _Gaulois_ gives an extract of a letter of mine from a German paper, +in which I venture to assert that the Parisians do not know that +Champigny is within the range of the guns of their forts, and +accompanies it with the following note:--"The journal which has fallen +into our hands has been torn, and consequently we are unable to give the +remainder of this letter. What we have given is sufficient to prove +that our Government is tolerating within our walls correspondents who +furnish the enemy with daily information. What they say is absurd, +perhaps, but it ought not to be allowed." Does the _Gaulois_ really +imagine that the German generals would have raised the siege in despair +had they not learnt that, as a rule, the Parisians do not study the map +of the environs of the city? + +Old Vinoy has issued an order of the day denouncing the conduct of the +soldiers and officers who ran away when the Prussians issued from the +cellars at Villa Evrard. It requires a great deal of courage just now to +praise the Line, and to find fault with the National Guard. But General +Vinoy is a thorough soldier, and stands no nonsense. If anything happens +to Trochu, and he assumes the command-in-chief, I suspect the waverers +of the National Guard will have to choose between fighting and taking +off their uniforms. The General is above seventy--a hale and hearty old +man; sticks to his profession, and utterly ignores politics. He has a +most unsurrendering face, but I do not think that he would either hold +out vain hopes to the Parisians, or flatter their vanity. He would tell +them the truth, and with perfect indifference as to the consequences. He +is a favourite both with the soldiers and the officers, and hardly +conceals his contempt for the military capacity of Trochu, or the +military qualities of Trochu's civic heroes. + + +_December 28th._ + +The proverbial obstinacy of the donkey has been introduced into our +systems, owing to the number of these long-eared quadrupeds which we +have eaten. We "don't care" for anything. We don't care if the armies of +the provinces have been beaten, we don't care if we have been forced to +suspend offensive operations, we don't care if the Prussians bombard us, +we don't care if eventually we have to capitulate. We have ceased to +reason or to calculate. We are in the don't-care mood. How long this +will last with so impulsive a people it is impossible to say. Our +stomachs have become omnivorous; they digest anything now; and even if +in the end they be invited to digest the leek, as we shall not be called +upon to eat this vegetable either to-morrow or the next day, we don't +care. The cold is terrible, and the absence of firewood causes great +suffering. The Government is cutting down trees as fast as possible, and +by the time it thaws there will be an abundance of fuel. In the meantime +it denounces in the _Official Journal_ the bands of marauders who issue +forth and cut down trees, park benches, and garden palings. I must say +that I don't blame them. When the thermometer is as low as it is now, +and when there is no fire in the grate, the sanctity of property as +regards fuel becomes a mere abstraction. Yesterday the Prussians +unmasked several batteries, and opened fire against the plateau of Avron +and the eastern forts. They fired above 3000 shells, but little damage +was done. We had only thirty-eight killed and wounded. One shell fell +into a house where eight people were dining and killed six of them. The +firing is going on to-day, but not so heavily. The newspapers seem to be +under the impression that we ought to rejoice greatly over this +cannonade. Some say that it proves that the Prussians have given up in +despair the idea of reducing us by famine; others that it is a clear +evidence that Prince Frederick Charles has been beaten by General +Chanzy. On Monday, Admiral La Ronciere received a letter from a general +whose name could not be deciphered about an exchange of prisoners. In +this letter there was an allusion to a defeat which our troops in the +North had sustained. But this we consider a mere wile of our insidious +foe. + +The _Gaulois_ continues its crusade against the English Correspondents +in Paris. They are all, it says, animated by a hostile feeling towards +France. "We give them warning, and we hope that they will profit by it." +Now, we know pretty well what French journalists term a hostile feeling +towards their country. We were told at the commencement of the war that +the English press was sold to Prussia, because it declined to believe in +the Imperial bulletins of victories. That a correspondent should simply +tell the truth, without fear or favour, never enters into the mind of a +Gaul. For my part, I confess that my sympathies are with France; and I +am glad to hear, on so good authority, that these sympathies have not +biassed my recital of events. Notwithstanding the denunciations of the +_Gaulois_, I have not the remotest intention to describe the National +Guards as a force of any real value for offensive operations. If, as the +_Gaulois_ insists, they are more numerous and better armed than the +Prussians, and if the French artillery is superior to the Prussians, +they will be able to raise the siege; and then I will acknowledge that I +have been wrong in my estimate of them. As yet they have only blown +their own trumpets, as though this would cause the Prussian redoubts, +like the walls of Jericho, to fall down. I make no imputation on their +individual courage; but I say that this siege proves once more the truth +of the fact, that unless citizen soldiers consent to merge for a time +the citizen in the soldier, and to submit to discipline, as troops they +are worthless. The _Gaulois_ wishes to anticipate the historical romance +which will, perhaps, be handed down to future generations. Posterity +may, if it pleases, believe that the Parisians were Spartans, and that +they fought with desperate valour outside their walls. I, who happen to +see myself what goes on, know that all the fighting is done by the Line +and the Mobiles, and that the Parisians are not Spartans. They are +showing great tenacity, and suffering for the sake of the cause of their +country many hardships. That General Trochu should pander to their +vanity, by telling them that they are able to cope outside with the +Prussians, is his affair. I do not blame him. He best knows how to deal +with his fellow-countrymen. I am not, however, under the necessity of +following his example. + +The usual stalls which appear at this season of the year have been +erected on the Boulevards. They are filled with toys and New Year's +gifts. But a woolly sheep is a bitter mockery, and a "complete farmyard" +in green and blue wood only reminds one painfully of what one would +prefer to see in the flesh. The customers are few and far between. I was +looking to-day at a fine church in chalk, with real windows, price 6fr., +and was thinking that one must be a Mark Tapley to buy it, and walk home +with it under one's arm under present circumstances. Many of the +stallkeepers have in despair deserted the toy business, and gone in for +comforters, kepis, and list soles. + +Until the weather set in so bitterly cold, elderly sportsmen, who did +not care to stalk the human game outside, were to be seen from morning +to night pursuing the exciting sport of gudgeon-fishing along the banks +of the Seine. Each one was always surrounded by a crowd deeply +interested in the chase. Whenever a fish was hooked, there was as much +excitement as when a whale is harpooned in more northern latitudes. The +fisherman would play it for some five minutes, and then, in the midst of +the solemn silence of the lookers-on, the precious capture would be +landed. Once safe on the bank, the happy possessor would be patted on +the back, and there would be cries of "Bravo!" The times being out of +joint for fishing in the Seine, the disciples of Isaac Walton have +fallen back on the sewers. The _Paris Journal_ gives them the following +directions how to pursue their new game:--"Take a long, strong line, and +a large hook, bait with tallow, and gently agitate the rod. In a few +minutes a rat will come and smell the savoury morsel. It will be some +time before he decides to swallow it, for his nature is cunning. When +he does, leave him five minutes to meditate over it; then pull strongly +and steadily. He will make convulsive jumps; but be calm, and do not let +his excitement gain on you, draw him up, _et voila votre diner_." + + +_December 29th._ + +So we have withdrawn from the plateau of Avron. Our artillery, says the +_Journal Officiel_, could not cope with the Krupp cannons, and, +therefore, it was thought wise to withdraw them. The fire which the +Prussians have rained for the last two days upon this position has not +been very destructive of human life. It is calculated that every man +killed has cost the Prussians 24,000lbs. of iron. We are still +speculating upon the reasons which induced the Prussians at last to +become the assailants. That they wished to drive us from this plateau, +which overlooks many of their positions, is far too simple an +explanation to meet with favour. The _Verite_ of this morning contains +an announcement that a Christmas Session of the House of Commons has +turned out Mr. Gladstone by a hostile vote, and that he has been +succeeded by a "War Minister." We are inclined to think that the +Prussians, being aware of this, have been attempting to terrify us, in +order that we may surrender before Sir Disraeli and Milord Pakington +come to our rescue. The Parisians, intelligent and clever as they are, +are absolutely wanting in plain common sense. I am convinced that if 500 +of them were boiled down, it would be impossible to extract from the +stew as much of this homely, but useful quality, as there is in the +skull of the dullest tallow-chandler's apprentice in London. + +The vital question of food is now rarely alluded to in the journals. The +Government is, however, called to task for not showing greater energy, +and the feeling against the unfortunate Trochu is growing stronger. He +is held responsible for everything--the frost, the dearth of food, the +ill-success of our sorties, and the defeats of the armies of succour. I +am sorry for him, for he is a well-meaning man, although unfitted for +such troubled waters. But to a great extent he has himself to thank for +what is occurring. He has risked his all upon the success of his plan, +and he has encouraged the notion that he could force the Prussians to +raise the siege. In the meantime no one broaches the question as to what +is to be done when our provisions fail. The members of the Government +still keep up the theory that a capitulation is an impossible +contingency. The nearer the fatal moment approaches the less anyone +speaks of it, just as a man, when he is growing old, avoids the subject +of death. Frenchmen have far more physical than civic courage. They +prefer to shut their eyes to what is unpleasant than to grapple with it. +How long our stores of flour will last it is difficult to say, but if +our rulers wait to treat until they are exhausted, they will perforce be +obliged to accept any terms; and, for no satisfactory object, they will +be the cause that many will starve before the town can be revictualled. +They call this, here, sublime. I call it folly. Its sublimity is beyond +me. As is the case with a sick man given over by the physicians, the +quacks are ready with their nostrums. The Ultra journals recommend that +the Government should be handed over to a commune. The Ultra clubs +demand that all generals and colonels should be cashiered, and others +elected in their place. One club has subscribed 1,600frs. for Greek +fire; another club suggests blowing up the Hotel de Ville; another +sending a deputation clothed in white to offer the King of Prussia the +presidency of the Universal Republic; another--and this comes home to +me--passed a vote yesterday evening demanding the immediate arrest of +all English correspondents. + +I am looking forward with horrible misgivings to the moment when I shall +have no more money, so that perhaps I shall be thankful for being lodged +and fed at the public expense. My banker has withdrawn from Paris, and +his representative declines to look at my bill, although I offer ruinous +interest. As for friends, they are all in a like condition, for no one +expected the siege to last so long. At my hotel, need I observe that I +do not pay my bill, but in hotels the guests may ring in vain now for +food. I sleep on credit in a gorgeous bed, a pauper. The room is large. +I wish it were smaller, for the firewood comes from trees just cut down, +and it takes an hour to get the logs to light, and then they only +smoulder, and emit no heat. The thermometer in my grand room, with its +silken curtains, is usually at freezing point. Then my clothes--I am +seedy, very seedy. When I call upon a friend, the porter eyes me +distrustfully. In the streets the beggars never ask me for alms; on the +contrary, they eye me suspiciously when I approach them, as a possible +competitor. The other day I had some newspapers in my hand, an old +gentleman took one from me and paid me for it. I had read it, so I +pocketed the halfpence. My wardrobe is scanty, like the sage _omnia mea +mecum porto_. I had been absent from Paris before the siege, and I +returned with a small bag. It is difficult to find a tailor who will +work, and even if he did I could not send him my one suit to mend, for +what should I wear in the meantime? Decency forbids it. My pea jacket is +torn and threadbare, my trousers are frayed at the bottom, and of many +colours--like Joseph's coat. As for my linen, I will only say that the +washerwomen have struck work, as they have no fuel. I believe my shirt +was once white, but I am not sure. I invested a few weeks ago in a pair +of cheap boots. They are my torment. They have split in various places, +and I wear a pair of gaiters--purple, like those of a respectable +ecclesiastic, to cover the rents. I bought them on the Boulevard, and at +the same stall I bought a bright blue handkerchief which was going +cheap; this I wear round my neck. My upper man resembles that of a +dog-stealer, my lower man that of a bishop. My buttons are turning my +hair grey. When I had more than one change of raiment these appendages +remained in their places, now they drop off as though I were a moulting +fowl. I have to pin myself together elaborately, and whenever I want to +get anything out of my pocket I have cautiously to unpin myself, with +the dread of falling to pieces before my eyes. For my food, I allowance +myself, in order to eke out as long as possible my resources. I dine and +breakfast at a second-class restaurant. Cat, dog, rat, and horse are +very well as novelties, but taken habitually, they do not assimilate +with my inner man. Horse, doctors say, is heating; I only wish it would +heat me. I give this description of my existence, as it is that of many +others. Those who have means, and those who have none, unless these +means are in Paris, row in the same boat. + +The society at my second-class restaurant is varied. Many are regular +customers, and we all know each other. There are officers who come there +whenever they get leave from outside--hardy, well-set fellows, who take +matters philosophically and professionally. They make the most of their +holiday, and enjoy themselves without much thought of the morrow. Then +there are tradesmen who wear kepis, as they belong to the National +Guard. They are not in such good spirits. Their fortunes are ebbing +away, and in their hearts I think they would, although their cry is +still "no surrender," be glad if all were over. They talk in low tones, +and pocket a lump of the sugar which they are given with their coffee. +Occasionally an ex-dandy comes in. I see him look anxiously around to +make sure that no other dandy sees him in so unfashionable a resort. The +dandy keeps to himself, and eyes us haughtily, for we are too common +folk for the like of him. Traviatas, too, are not wanting in the +second-class restaurant. Sitting by me yesterday was a girl who in times +gone by I had often seen driving in a splendid carriage in the Bois. +Her silks and satins, her jewellery and her carriage, had vanished. +There are no more Russian Princes, no more Boyards, no more Milords to +minister to her extravagances. She was eating her horse as though she +had been "poor but honest" all her life; and as I watched her washing +the noble steed down with a pint of vin ordinaire, I realized the +alteration which this siege was effecting in the condition of all +classes. But the strangest _habitues_ of the restaurant are certain +stalwart, middle-aged men, who seem to consider that their function in +life is to grieve over their country, and to do nothing else for it. +They walk in as though they were the soldiers of Leonidas on the high +road to Thermopylae--they sit down as though their stools were curule +chairs--they scowl at anyone who ventures to smile, as though he were +guilty of a crime--and they talk to each other in accents of gloomy +resolve. When anyone ventures to hint at a capitulation, they bound in +their seats, and cry, _On verra_. Sorrow does not seem to have disturbed +their appetites, and, as far as I can discover, they have managed to +escape all military duty. No human being can be so unhappy, however, as +they look. They remind me of the heir at the funeral of a rich relative. +Speaking of funerals reminds me that the newspapers propose that the +undertakers, like the butchers, should be tariffed. They are making too +good a thing out of the siege. They have raised their prices so +exorbitantly that the poor complain that it is becoming impossible for +them even to die. + +A letter found, or supposed to be found, in the pocket of a dead German +from his Gretchen is published to-day. "If you should happen to pillage +a jeweller's shop," says this practical young lady, "don't forget me, +but get me a pretty pair of earrings." The family of this warrior +appears to be inclined to look after the main chance; for the letter +goes on to say that his mother had knitted him a jacket, but having +done so, has worn it herself ever since instead of sending it to him. +Gretchen will never get her earrings, and the mother may wear her jacket +now without feeling that she is depriving her son of it, for the poor +fellow lies under three feet of soil near Le Bourget. + + +_December 30th._ + +I hear that a story respecting a council which was held a few days ago, +at which Trochu was requested to resign, is perfectly true. Picard and +Jules Favre said that if he did resign they should do so also, and the +discussion was closed by the General himself saying, "I feel myself +equal to the situation, and I shall remain." Yesterday evening there +were groups everywhere, discussing the withdrawal of the troops from +Avron. It was so bitterly cold, however, that they soon broke up. This +morning the newspapers, one and all, abuse Trochu. Somehow or other, +they say, he always fails in everything he undertakes. I hear from +military men that the feeling in the army is very strong against him. +While the bombardment was going on at Avron he exposed himself freely to +the fire, but instead of superintending the operations he attitudinized +and made speeches. General Ducrot, who was there, and between whom and +Trochu a certain coldness has sprung up, declared that he had always +been opposed to any attempt to retain this position. The behaviour of +Vinoy was that of a soldier. He was everywhere encouraging his men. What +I cannot understand is why, if Avron was to be held, it was not +fortified. It must have been known that the Prussians could, if they +pleased, bring a heavy concentric fire from large siege guns to bear +upon it. Casemates and strong earthworks might have been made--but +nothing was done. I was up there the other day, and I then asked an +engineer officer why due precautions were not being taken; but he only +shrugged his shoulders in reply. General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea, +says that all that the French, English, and Russians did there was +child's play in comparison with the Prussian artillery. From the size of +the unburst shells which have been picked up, their cannon must be +enormous. The question now is, whether the forts will be able to hold +out against them. The following account of what has taken place from the +_Verite_ is by far the best which has been published:-- + +"Notwithstanding that the fire of the enemy slackened on the 26th, the +Prussians were not losing their time. Thanks to the hardness of the +soil, and to the fog, they had got their guns into position in all their +batteries from Villenomble to Montfermeil. The injury done to the park +of Drancy by the precision of the aim of our artillery at Fort Nogent +was repaired; cannon were brought to the trenches which the day before +we had occupied at Ville Evrart; and, as well as it was possible, twelve +new batteries, armed with cannon of long range, were unmasked. All +through the 28th the fire continued; shells fell thickly on our +batteries, and in the village of Rosny. The roof of the station was +knocked in, and several Mobiles were killed in the main street. The +evacuation of the church, which had been converted into an ambulance, +was thought advisable. All this, however, was nothing in comparison with +the fire which was poured in during the night. The plateau of Avron was +literally inundated with shells, many of them of far larger size than +had previously been fired. The range of the guns was too great, and it +was evident that the Prussians had rectified their aim. Their +projectiles no longer fell wide in the field; they almost all burst +close to the trenches. Two guns in battery No. 2 were struck; the same +thing soon occurred in battery No. 3. Every moment the wheels of some +ammunition waggon were struck, or one of the horses killed. Several men +were wounded in the trenches, which were so shallow as to afford little +protection. Two shells bursting at the same moment killed a naval +officer and three men at one of the guns. All who were so imprudent as +to venture to attempt to cross the plateau were struck down. It was a +sad and terrible spectacle to see these sailors coolly endeavouring to +point their guns, undisturbed by the rain of fire; while their officers, +who were encouraging them, were falling every moment, covering those +round them with their blood. The infantry and the Mobiles were, too, +without shelter; for the Krupp guns swept the portion of the plateau on +which they were drawn up within supporting distance. Most of them made +the best of it, and laughed when they heard the shells whistling above +their heads and bursting near them. Many, however, were so terrified, +that they fell back, and spread abroad in their rear disquieting +reports, which the terrified air of the narrators rendered still more +alarming. The National Guard were drawn up on the heights in advance of +the village of Rosny; a few shells reached their ranks. An officer and a +soldier of the 114th were slightly wounded; but they remained firm. +Every hour the Prussian cannonade became heavier. On our side our fire +slackened; then ceased entirely. An _estafette_ came with an order to +evacuate the plateau, and to save the artillery. No time was lost. +Fortunately, at this moment the enemy's fire also slackened; and the +preparations for a retreat were hurriedly made. The guns were taken from +their carriages, the baggage was laden on the carts, and the munition on +the waggons. The soldiers strapped on their knapsacks, struck their +tents, and harnessed the horses. All this was not accomplished without +difficulty, for it had to be done noiselessly and in the dark, for all +the fires had been put out. General Trochu, seated on a horse, issued +his directions, and every moment received information of what was taking +place. Notwithstanding the expostulations of his staff, the General +refused to withdraw from this exposed point. 'No, gentlemen,' he said, +'I shall not withdraw from here until the cannon are in safety.' At two +in the morning all was ready; the long train began to move; the cannon +of 7 and the mitrailleuses of Commandant Pothier took the lead. Then +followed the heavy naval guns, then the munition and baggage waggons; +the troops of the Line, the Marines, and the National Guard were ordered +to cover the retreat. It was no easy matter to descend from the plateau +to Rosny. The frost had made the road a literal ice-hill. The drivers +walked by the side of their animals, holding the reins and pulling them +up when they stumbled. Until four o'clock, however, everything went +well. The march slowly continued, and the Prussian batteries were +comparatively calm. Their shells fell still occasionally where our guns +had been. The noise of the wheels, however, and the absence of all +cannonade on our parts, at length awakened the suspicions of the enemy. +Their fire was now directed on the fort of Rosny, and the road from the +plateau leading to it. At this moment the line of guns and waggons was +passing through the village, and only carts with baggage were still on +the plateau. At first the shells fell wide; then they killed some +horses; some of the drivers were hit; a certain confusion took place. +That portion of our line of march which was in Rosny was in imminent +danger. Fortunately, our chiefs did not lose their heads. The guns whose +horses were untouched passed those which were obliged to stop. Some of +them took to the fields; the men pushed the wheels, and, thanks to their +efforts, our artillery was saved. As soon as the guns had been dragged +up the hill opposite the plateau, the horses started off at a gallop, +and did not stop until they were out of the range of the enemy's fire. +The guns were soon in safety at Vincennes and Montreuil. The troops held +good, the men lying down on their stomachs, the officers standing up and +smoking their cigars until the last waggon had passed. Day had broken +when they received orders to withdraw. The National Guard went back +into Paris, and the Line, after a short halt at Montreuil, camped in the +barracks of St. Maur. At eight o'clock, the evacuation of the plateau +was complete; but the Prussian shells still fell upon the deserted +houses and some of the gun-carriages which had been abandoned. The enemy +then turned their attention to the forts of Rosny and Noisy. It hailed +shot on these two forts, and had they not been solidly built they would +not have withstood it. The noise of this cannonade was so loud that it +could be heard in the centre of Paris. Around the Fort of Noisy the +projectiles sank into the frozen ground to a depth of two and a half +metres, and raised blocks of earth weighing 30lbs. Shells fell as far as +Romainville. In the Rue de Pantin a drummer had his head carried off; +his comrades buried him on the spot. In the court of Fort Noisy three +men, hearing the hissing of a shell, threw themselves on the ground. It +was a bad inspiration; the shell fell on the one in the middle, and +killed all three. These were the only casualties in the fort, and at ten +o'clock the enemy's batteries ceased firing on it. All their efforts +were then directed against the Fort of Rosny. The shells swept the open +court, broke in the roof of the barracks, and tore down the peach-trees +whose fruit is so dear to the Parisians. From eleven o'clock, it was +impossible to pass along the road to Montreuil in safety. In that +village, the few persons who are still left sought shelter in their +cellars. At three o'clock the sun came out, and I passed along the +strategical road to Noisy. I met several regiments--Zouaves, Infantry, +and Marines--coming from Noisy and Bondy. I could distinctly see the +enemy's batteries. Their centre is in Rancy, and the guns seem to be in +the houses. The destruction in Bondy commenced by the French artillery +has been completed by the Prussians. From three batteries in the park of +Rancy they have destroyed the wall of the cemetery, behind which one +battery was posted and an earthwork. What remained of the church has +been literally reduced to dust. Except sentinels hid in the interior of +the houses, all our troops had been withdrawn. Some few persons, out of +curiosity, had adjourned to the Grande Place; their curiosity nearly +cost them dear, and they had to creep away. At three o'clock the enemy's +fire had redoubled; some of our Mobiles, in relieving guard, were +killed; and from that hour no one ventured into the streets. 9 P.M. The +moon has risen, and shines brightly--the ground is covered with snow, +and it is almost like daylight. The Prussian positions can distinctly be +seen. The cannon cannot be distinguished, but all along the line between +Villenomble and Gagny tongues of fire appear, followed by long columns +of smoke. The fire on Rosny is increasing in violence; the village of +Noisy is being bombarded." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +PARIS, _January 1st, 1871._ + +Our forts still, like breakwaters before a coast, keep back the storm +which the Prussians are directing against us. I went out yesterday by +the Vincennes gate to see how matters were looking. In the Bois de +Vincennes there were troops of every description, and a large number of +guns. The usual scenes of camp life were going on, although, owing to +the cold, everyone seemed gloomy and depressed. I confess that if I were +called upon to camp out in this weather under a _tente d'abri_, and only +given some very smoky green wood to keep me warm, I should not be quite +so valorous as I should wish to be. Passing through the Bois, which is +rapidly becoming a treeless waste, I went forward in the direction of +Fontenay. As the Prussian bombs, however, were falling thickly into the +village, I executed a strategical movement to the left, and fell back by +a cross road into Montreuil. In this village several regiments were +installed. It is just behind Fort Rosny, and on the upper portion, +towards the fort, the Prussian shells fell. It is very singular what +little real danger there is to life and limb from a bombardment. Shells +make a hissing noise as they come through the air. Directly this warning +hiss is heard, down everyone throws himself on the ground. The shell +passes over and falls somewhere near, it sinks about two feet into the +hard ground, and then bursts, throwing up great clouds of earth, like a +small mine. The Prussians are unmasking fresh batteries every day, and +approaching nearer and nearer to the forts. Their fire now extends from +behind Le Bourget to the Marne, and at some points reaches to within a +mile of the ramparts. Bondy is little more than a heap of ruins. As for +the forts, we are told that, with the exception of their barracks having +been made untenable, no harm has been done. Standing behind and looking +at the shells falling into them, they certainly do not give one the idea +of places in which anyone would wish to be, unless he were obliged; and +they seemed yesterday to be replying but feebly to the fire of the +enemy. I suppose that the Prussians know their own business, and that +they really intend wholly to destroy Fort Rosny. Before you get this +letter the duel between earth and iron will be decided, so it is useless +my speculating on the result. If Rosny or Nogent fall, there will be +nothing to protect Belleville from a bombardment. Many military sages +imagine that this bombardment is only a prelude to an attack upon Mont +Valerien. About 3,500 metres from that fort there is a very awkward +plateau called La Bergerie. It is somewhat higher than the hill on which +Valerien stands. The Prussians are known to have guns on it in position, +and as Valerien is of granite, if bombarded, the value of granite as a +material for fortifications will be tested. + +Since the Prussians have opened fire, there have been numerous councils +of war, and still more numerous proclamations. General Trochu has issued +an appeal to the city to be calm, and not to believe that differences of +opinion exist among the members of the Government. General Clement +Thomas has issued an address to the National Guards, telling them that +the country is going to demand great sacrifices of them. In fact, after +the manner of the Gauls, everybody is addressing everybody. _Toujours +des proclamations et rien que cela_, say the people, who are at last +getting tired of this nonsense. Yesterday there was a great council of +all the generals and commanders. General Trochu, it is said, was in +favour of an attempt to pierce the Prussian lines; the majority being in +favour of a number of small sorties. What will happen no one seems to +know, and I doubt even if our rulers have themselves any very definite +notion. The Ultra journals clamour for a sortie _en masse_, which of +course would result in a stampede _en masse_. One and all the newspapers +either abuse Trochu, or damn him with faint praise. It is so very much a +matter of chance whether a man goes down to posterity as a sage or a +fool, that it is by no means easy to form an opinion as to what will be +the verdict of history on Trochu. If he simply wished to keep the +Prussians out of Paris, and to keep order inside until the provisions +were exhausted, he has succeeded. If he wished to force them to raise +the siege he has failed. His military critics complain that, admitting +he could not do the latter, he ought, by frequent sorties, to have +endeavoured to prevent them sending troops to their covering armies. One +thing is certain, that all his sorties have failed not only in the +result, but in the conception. As a consequence of this, the French +soldiers, who more than any other troops in the world require, in order +to fight well, to have faith in their leader, have lost all confidence +in him. + +We have had no pigeon for the last eighteen days, and the anxiety to +obtain news from without is very strong. A few days ago a messenger was +reported to have got through the Prussian lines with news of a French +victory. The next day a Saxon officer was said, with his last breath, to +have confided to his doctor that Frederick Charles had been defeated. +Yesterday Jules Favre told the mayor that there was a report that +Chanzy had gained a victory. Everything now depends upon what Chanzy is +doing, and, for all we know, he may have ceased to exist for the last +week. + +A census which has just been made of the population within the lines, +makes the number, exclusive of the Line, Mobiles, and sailors, +2,000,500. No attempt has yet been made to ration the bread, but it is +to be mixed with oats and rice. The mayor of this quarter says that in +this arrondissement--the richest in Paris--he is certain that there is +food for two months. Should very good news come from the provinces, and +it appear that by holding out for two months more the necessity for a +capitulation would be avoided, I think that we should hold on until the +end of February, if we have to eat the soles of our boots. If bad news +comes, we shall not take to this food; but we shall give in when +everything except bread fails, and we shall then consider that our +honour is saved if nothing else is. M. Louis Blanc to-day publishes a +letter to Victor Hugo, in which he tells the Parisians that if they do +capitulate they will gain nothing by it, for the Prussians will neither +allow them to quit Paris, nor, if the war continues, allow food to enter +it. + +As yet there are no signs of a real outbreak; and if a successful one +does occur, it will be owing to the weakness of the Government, which +has ample means to repress it. The Parisian press is always adjuring the +working men not to cut either each others' or their neighbours' throats, +and congratulating them on their noble conduct in not having done so. +This sort of praise seems to me little better than an insult. I see no +reason why the working men should be considered to be less patriotic +than others. That they are not satisfied with Trochu, and that they +entertain different political and social opinions to those of the +bourgeoisie, is very possible. Opinions, however, are free, and they +have shown as yet that they are willing to subordinate the expression +of theirs to the exigencies of the national defence. I go a good deal +among them, and while many of them wish for a general system of +rationing, because they think that it will make the provisions last +longer, they have no desire to pillage or to provoke a conflict with the +Government. I regard them myself, in every quality which makes a good +citizen, as infinitely superior to the journalists who lecture them, and +who would do far better to shoulder a musket and to fall into the ranks, +than to waste paper in reviling the Prussians and bragging of their own +heroism. As soldiers, the fault of the working men is that they will not +submit to discipline; but this is more the fault of the Government than +of them. As citizens, no one can complain of them. To talk with one of +them after reading the leading article of a newspaper is a relief. A +French journalist robes himself in his toga, gets upon a pedestal, and +talks unmeaning, unpractical claptrap. A French workman is, perhaps, too +much inclined to regard every one except himself, and some particular +idol which he has set up, as a fool; but he is by no means wanting in +the power to take a plain practical view, both of his own interests, and +those of his country. Since the commencement of the siege, forty-nine +new journals have appeared. Many of them have already ceased to exist, +but counting old and new newspapers, there must at least be sixty +published every day. How they manage to find paper is to me a mystery. +Some of them are printed upon sheets intended for books, others upon +sheets which are so thick that I imagine they were designed to wrap up +sugar and other groceries. Those which were the strongest in favour of +the Empire, are now the strongest in favour of the Republic. Editors and +writers whose dream it was a few months ago to obtain an invitation at +the Tuileries or to the Palais Royal, or to merit by the basest of +flatteries the Legion of Honour, now have become perfect Catos, and +denounce courts and courtiers, Bonapartists and Orleanists. War they +regard as the most wicked of crimes, and they appear entirely to have +forgotten that they welcomed with shouts of ecstacy in July last the +commencement of the triumphal march to Berlin. + + +_January 2nd._ + +Yesterday evening, notwithstanding the cold, there were groups on the +Boulevards shouting "_a bas Trochu_." It is understood that henceforward +no military operation is to take place before it has been discussed by a +Council of War, consisting of generals and admirals. As the moment +approaches when we shall, unless relieved, be obliged to capitulate, +everyone is attempting to shift from himself all responsibility. This is +the consequence of the scapegoat system which has so long prevailed in +France. Addresses are published from the commanders outside +congratulating the National Guard who have been under their orders. The +_Verite_, in alluding to them, asks the following questions:--"Why are +battalions which are accused by General Thomas, their direct superior, +of chronic drunkenness, thus placed upon a pinnacle by real military +men? Why do distinguished generals, unless forced by circumstances, +declare the mere act of passing four or five cold nights in the trenches +heroic? Why is so great a publicity given to such contradictory orders +of the day?" + +The _Journal Officiel_ contains a long address to the Parisians. Beyond +the statement that no news had been received since the 14th ult., this +document contains nothing but empty words. Between the lines one may, +perhaps, read a desire to bring before the population the terrible +realities of the situation. + +The deaths for the last week amount to 3,280, an increase on the +previous week of 552. I am told that these bills of mortality do not +include those who die in the public hospitals. Small-pox is on the +increase--454 as against 388 the previous week. + +Nothing new outside. The bombardment of the eastern forts still +continues. It is, however, becoming more intermittent. Every now and +then it almost ceases, then it breaks out with fresh fury. The Prussians +are supposed to be at work at Chatillon. If they have heavy guns there, +it will go hard with the Fort of Vanves. The rations are becoming in +some of the arrondissements smaller by degrees and beautifully less. In +the 18th (Montmartre) the inhabitants only receive two sous worth of +horse-flesh per diem. The rations are different in each arrondissement, +as the Mayor of each tries to get hold of all he can, and some are more +successful than others. These differences cause great dissatisfaction. +The feeling to-day seems to be that if Trochu wishes to avoid riots, he +must make a sortie very shortly. + +The _Gaulois_ says:-- + +"How sad has been our New Year's-day! Among ourselves we may own it, +although we have bravely supported it, like men of sense, determined to +hold good against bad fortune, and to laugh in the face of misery. It is +hard not to have had the baby brought to our bedside in the morning; not +to have seen him clap his hands with pleasure on receiving some toy; not +to have pressed the hands of those we love best, and not to have +embraced them and been able to say--'The year which has passed has had +its joys and its sorrows, sun and shadow--but what matters it? We have +shared them together. The year which is commencing cannot bring with it +any sorrows that by remaining united we shall not be able to support?' +Most of us breakfasted this morning--the New Year's breakfast, usually +so gay--alone and solitary; a few smoky logs our only companions. There +are sorrows which no philosophy can console. On other days one may +forget them, but on New Year's-day our isolation comes home to us, and, +do what we may, we are sad and silent. Where are they now? What are they +doing now? is the thought which rises in every breast. The father's +thoughts are with his children; he dimly sees before him their rosy +faces, and their mother who is dressing them. How weary, too, must the +long days be for her, separated from her husband. Last year she had +taught the baby to repeat a fable, and she brought him all trembling to +recite it to the father. She, too, trembles like a child. She follows +him with her looks, she whispers to him a word when he hesitates, but so +low that he reads it on her lips, and the father hears nothing. Poor +man! Sorry indeed he would have been to have had it supposed that he had +perceived the mother's trick. He was himself trembling, too, lest the +child should not know his lesson. What a disappointment it would have +been to the mother! For a fortnight before she had taken baby every +night on her knees and said, 'Now begin your fable.' She had taught it +him verse by verse with the patience of an angel, and she had encouraged +him to learn it with many a sugarplum. 'He is beginning to know his +fable,' she said a hundred times to her husband. 'Really,' he answered, +with an air of doubt. The honest fellow was as interested in it as his +wife, and he only appeared to doubt it in order to make her triumph +greater. He knew that baby would know the fable on New Year's morn. You +Prussian beggars, you Prussian scoundrels, you bandits, and you Vandals, +you have taken everything from us; you have ruined us; you are starving +us; you are bombarding us; and we have a right to hate you with a royal +hatred. Well, perhaps one day we might have forgiven you your rapine and +your murders; our towns that you have sacked; your heavy yokes; your +infamous treasons. The French race is so light of heart, so kindly, that +we might perhaps in time have forgotten our resentments. What we never +shall forget will be this New Year's Day, which we have been forced to +pass without news from our families. You at least have had letters from +your Gretchens, astounding letters, very likely, in which the melancholy +blends with blue eyes, make a wonderful literary salad, composed of +sour-krout, Berlin wool, forget-me-nots, pillage, bombardment, pure +love, and transcendental philosophy. But you like all this just as you +like jam with your mutton. You have what pleases you. Your ugly faces +receive kisses by the post. But you kill our pigeons, you intercept our +letters, you shoot at our balloons with your absurd _fusils de rempart_, +and you burst out into a heavy German grin when you get hold of one of +our bags, which are carrying to those we love our vows, our hopes, our +remembrance, our regrets, and our hearts. It is a merry farce, is it +not? Ah, if ever we can render you half the sufferings which we are +enduring, you will see _des grises_. Perhaps you don't know what the +word means, and, like one of Gavarni's children, you will say, 'What! +_des grises?_' You will, I trust, one of these days learn what is the +signification of the term at your own cost. One of your absurd +pretensions is to be the only people in the world who understand how to +love, or who care for domestic ties. You will see, by the hatred which +we shall ever bear to you, that we too know how to love--our time will +come some day, be assured. This January 1 of the year 1871 inaugurates a +terrible era of bloody revenge. Poor philosophers of universal peace, +you see now the value of your grand phrases and of your humanitarian +dreams! Vainly you imagined that the world was entering into a period of +everlasting peace and progress. A wonderful progress, indeed, has 1870 +brought us! You never calculated on the existence of these Huns. We are +back again now in the midst of all the miseries of the 13th and 14th +centuries. The memory of to-day will be written on the hearts of our +children. 'It was the year,' they will say, 'when we received no +presents, when we did not kiss our father, because of the Prussians. +They shall pay for it!' Let us hope that the payment will commence this +very day. But if we are still to be vanquished, we will leave to our +children the memory of our wrongs, and the care to avenge them." + +The following article is from the _Verite_:-- + +"What troubles would not have been spared to our unhappy country if only +it had been told the truth. If only anyone had been courageous enough to +tell us what were our resources when Grammont made his famous +declaration from the tribune, the war would not have taken place. On the +4th of September, many members of the new Government were under no +delusions, but as it was necessary to say that we were strong, in order +to be popular, they did not hesitate to proclaim that the Republic would +save France. To-day the situation has not changed. On the faith of the +assertions of their rulers, the population of Paris imagines that +ultimate victory is certain, and that our provisions can never be +exhausted. They have no idea that if we are not succoured we must +eventually succumb. What a surprise--and perhaps what a catastrophe--it +will be when they learn that there is no more bread, and no chance of +victory. The people will complain that they have been deceived, and they +will be right. They will shout 'treason,' and seek for vengeance. Will +they be entirely in the wrong? If the Government defends itself, what +future awaits us! If it does not defend itself, through what scenes +shall we pass before falling into the hands of the Prussians! The +Republic, like the Empire, has made mendacity the great system of +government. The Press has chosen to follow the same course. Great +efforts are being made to destroy the reciprocal sentiments of union and +confidence, to which we owe it that Paris still resists, after 100 days +of siege. The enemy, despairing to deliver over Paris to Germany, as it +had solemnly promised, on Christmas, adds now the bombardment of our +advanced posts and our forts to the other means of intimidation by which +it has endeavoured to enervate the defence. Use is being made, before +public opinion, of the deceptions which an extraordinary winter and +infinite sufferings and fatigues are causing us. It is said, indeed, +that the members of the Government are divided in their views respecting +the great interests the direction of which has been confided to them. +The army has suffered great trials, and it required a short repose, +which the enemy endeavours to dispute by a bombardment more violent than +any troops were ever exposed to. The army is preparing for action with +the aid of the National Guards, and all together we shall do our duty. I +declare that there are no differences in the councils of the Government, +and that we are all closely united in the presence of the agonies and +the perils of the country, and in the thought and the hope of its +deliverance." + +_La Patrie_, of Jan. 2, says:-- + +"Perhaps Bourbaki has gone to meet General von Werder. If he is +victorious, the road to Paris by the valley of the Seine will be open to +him, or the road to Southern Germany by Besancon and Belfort, and the +bridge of Bale, the neutrality of which we are not obliged to respect +any more than that of Belgium, since Europe has allowed Bismarck to +violate that of Luxemburg. Ah! if Bourbaki were a Tortensen, a Wrangel, +or a Turenne--perhaps he is--what a grand campaign we might have in a +few weeks on the Danube, the Lech, and the Saar." + +The _Liberte_, of Jan. 2, says:-- + +"A great manifestation is being organised against the Government. The +object is to substitute in its place the college of Mayors of Paris and +their adjuncts. The manifestation, if it occurs, will not get further +than the Boulevards. General Trochu is in no fear from Mayor Mothe, but +he must understand that the moment for action has arrived. His +proclamation has only imperfectly replied to the apprehensions of Paris. +A capitulation, the very idea of which the Government recoils from, and +which would only become possible when cold, hunger, and a bombardment +have made further resistance impossible, besieges the minds of all, and +presses all the hearts which beat for a resistance _a outrance_ in a +vice of steel. Trochu should reply to these agonies no longer by +proclamations, but by acts." + + +_January 4th._ + +It is said, I know not with what truth, that there always are, on an +average, 5000 families who are in destitute circumstances, because their +chiefs never would play out their trumps at whist until it became too +late to use them effectively. If Trochu really was under the impression +that he had trumps in his hand good enough to enable him to win the game +he is playing against the Prussians, he has kept them back so long that +they are worthless. If he could not break through the Prussian lines a +month ago, _a fortiori_, he will not be able to do so now. They are +stronger, and he is weaker; for the inaction of the last few weeks, and +the surrender of Avron, would have been enough to damp the ardour of far +more veteran troops than those which he has under his command. The +outcry against this excellent but vain man grows stronger every day, and +sorry, indeed, must he be that he "rushed in where others feared to +tread." "Action, speedy action," shout the newspapers, much as the +Americans did before Bull's Run, or as M. Felix Pyat always calls it, +Run Bull. The generals well know that if they yield to the cry, there +will most assuredly be a French edition of that battle. In fact, the +situation may be summed up in a very few words. The generals have no +faith in their troops, and the troops have no faith in their generals. +Go outside the walls and talk to the officers and the soldiers who are +doing the real fighting, and who pass the day dodging shells, and the +night freezing in their tents. They tell you that they are prepared to +do their duty, but that they are doubtful of ultimate success. Come +inside, and talk to some hero who has never yet got beyond the ramparts, +Cato at Utica is a joke to him, Palafox at Saragossa a whining coward. +Since the forts have been bombarded, he has persuaded himself that he is +eating, drinking, and sleeping under the fire of the enemy. "Human +nature is a rum 'un," said Mr. Richard Swiveller; and most assuredly +this is true of French nature. That real civil courage and spirit of +self-sacrifice which the Parisians have shown, in submitting to hardship +and ruin rather than consent to the dismemberment of their country, they +regard as no title to respect. Nothing which does not strike the +imagination has any value in their eyes. A uniform does not make a +soldier; and although they have all arrayed themselves in uniform, they +are far worse soldiers than the peasantry who have been enrolled in the +Mobiles. To tell them this, however, would make them highly indignant. +Military glory is their passion, and it is an unfortunate one. To admire +the pomp and pride of glorious war no more makes a warrior than to +admire poetry makes a poet. The Parisian is not a coward; but his +individuality is so strongly developed that he objects to that +individuality being destroyed by some stray shot. To die with thousands +looking on is one thing; to die obscurely is another. French courage is +not the same as that of the many branches of the great Saxon family. A +Saxon has a dogged stubbornness which gives him an every-day and +every-hour courage. That of the Frenchman is more dependent upon +external circumstances. He must have confidence in his leader, he must +have been encouraged by success, and he must be treated with severity +tempered with judicious flattery. Give him a sword, and let him prance +about on a horse like a circus rider, and, provided there are a +sufficient number of spectators, he will do wonders, but he will not +consent to perish obscurely for the sake of anything or anyone. Trochu +has utterly failed in exciting enthusiasm in those under his command; he +issues many proclamations, but they fail to strike the right chord. +Instead of keeping up discipline by judicious severity, he endeavours to +do so by lecturing like a schoolmaster. And then, since the commencement +of the siege he has been unsuccessful in all his offensive movements. I +am not a military man, but although I can understand the reasons against +a sortie _en masse_, it does appear to me strange that the Prussians are +not more frequently disquieted by attacks which at least would oblige +them to make many a weary march round the outer circle, and would +prevent them from detaching troops for service elsewhere. + +Not an hour passes without some new rumour respecting the armies of the +Provinces being put in circulation. A letter in which General Chanzy is +said to be playing with Frederick Charles as a cat plays with a mouse, +and which is attributed to Mr. Odo Russell, English Under-Secretary of +State, and Correspondent of the _Times_, has been read by some one, and +this morning all the newspapers are jubilant over it. A copy of the +_Moniteur de Versailles_ of the 1st has found its way in; there is +nothing in it about Frederick Charles, but this we consider evidence +that he has sustained a defeat. Then somebody has found a bottle in the +Seine with a letter in it; this letter alludes to a great French +victory. Mr. Washburne has the English papers up to the 22nd, but he +keeps grim guard over them, and allows no one to have a glimpse of them; +since our worthy friend Otto von Bismarck sent in to him an extract from +a letter of mine, in which I alluded to the contents of some of them +which had reached us. He passes his existence, however, staving off +insidious questions. His very looks are commented on. "We saw him +to-day," says an evening paper I have just bought; "he smiled! Good +sign! Our victory must have been overwhelming if John Bull is obliged to +confess it." Another newspaper asks him whether, considering the +circumstances, he does not consider it a duty to violate his promise to +Count Bismarck, and to hand over his newspapers to the Government. In +this way, thinks this tempter, the debt which America owes to France for +aiding her during her revolution will be repaid. "We gave you Lafayette +and Rochambeau, in return we only ask for one copy of an English paper." +The anxiety for news is weighing heavier on the population than the +absence of provisions or the cold. Every day, and all day, there are +crowds standing upon the elevated points in the city, peering through +glasses, in the wild hope of witnessing the advent of Chanzy, who is +apparently expected to prick in with Faidherbe by his side, each upon a +gorgeously caparisoned steed, like the heroes in the romances of the +late Mr. G.P.R. James. Many pretend to distinguish, above the noise of +the cannon of our forts and the Prussian batteries, the echoes of +distant artillery, and rush off to announce to their friends that the +army of succour has fallen on the besiegers from the rear. In the +meantime the bombardment of the forts and villages to the east of the +city is continuing, and with that passion for system in everything which +distinguishes the Germans, it is being methodized. A fixed number of +shells are fired off every minute, and at certain hours in the day there +are long pauses. What is happening in the forts is, of course, kept very +secret. The official bulletins say that no damage in them has yet been +done. As for the villages round them, they are, I presume, shelled +merely in order to make them untenable. + +The Government appears now as anxious to find others to share +responsibility with it as heretofore it has been averse to any division +of power. The Mayors of the city are to meet with their deputies once a +week at the Hotel de Ville to express their opinions respecting +municipal matters, and once a week at the Ministry of the Interior to +discuss the political situation. As there are twenty mayors and forty +adjuncts, they, when together, are almost numerous enough to form a +species of Parliament. The all important food question remains _in statu +quo_. It is, however, beginning to be hinted in semi-official organs, +that perhaps the bread will have to be rationed; I may be wrong, but I +am inclined to think that the population will not submit to this. +Government makes no statement with respect to the amount of corn in +store. Some say that there is not enough for two weeks, others that +there is enough for two months' consumption; M. Dorien assured a friend +of mine yesterday that, to the best of his belief, there is enough to +carry us into March. Landlords and tenants are as much at loggerheads +here as they are in Ireland; the Government has issued three decrees to +regulate the question. By the first is suspended all judicial +proceedings on the part of landlords for their rent; by the second, it +granted a delay of three months to all persons unable to pay the October +term; by the third, it required all those who wished to profit by the +second to make a declaration of inability to pay before a magistrate. +To-day a fourth decree has been issued, again suspending the October +term, and making the three previous decrees applicable to the January +term, but giving to landlords a right to dispute the truth of the +allegation of poverty on the part of their tenants; the question is a +very serious one, for on the payment of rent depends directly or +indirectly the means of livelihood of half the nation. Thus the +landlords say that if the tenants do not pay them they cannot pay the +interest of the mortgages on their properties. If this interest be not +paid, however, the shareholders of the Credit Foncier and other great +mortgage banks get nothing. Paris, under the fostering care of the +Emperor, had become, next to St. Petersburgh, the dearest capital in +Europe. Its property was artificial, and was dependent upon a long chain +of connecting links remaining unbroken. In the industrial quarters money +was made by the manufacture of _Articles de Paris_, and for these, as +soon as the communications are reopened, there will be the same market +as heretofore. As a city of pleasure, however, its prosperity must +depend, like a huge watering-place, upon its being able to attract +strangers. If they do not return, a reduction in prices will take place, +which will ruin most of the shopkeepers, proprietors of houses, and +hotel keepers; but this, although unpleasant to individuals, would be to +the advantage of the world at large. Extravagance in Paris makes +extravagance the fashion everywhere; under the Empire, to spend money +was the readiest road to social distinction. The old _bourgeoisie_ still +retained the careful habits of the days of Louis Philippe, and made +fortunes by cheeseparing. Imperial Paris was far above this. Families +were obliged to spend 20 per cent, of their incomes in order to lodge +themselves; shops in favoured quarters were let for fabulous prices, and +charged fabulous prices for their wares. _Cocodettes_ of the Court, +_cocottes_ of the Bois, wives of speculators, shoddy squaws from New +York, Calmues recently imported from their native steppes, doubtful +Italian Princesses, gushing Polish Countesses, and foolish Englishwomen, +merrily raced along the road to ruin. Good taste was lost in tinsel and +glitter; what a thing cost was the only standard of its beauty. Great +gingerbread palaces were everywhere run up, and let even before they +were out of the builder's hands. It was deemed fashionable to drive +about in a carriage with four horses, with perhaps a black man to drive, +and an Arab sitting on the box by his side. Dresses by milliners in +vogue gave a ready currency to their wearers. The Raphael of his trade +gave himself all the airs of a distinguished artist; he received his +clients with vulgar condescension, and they--no matter what their +rank--submitted to his insolence in the hope that he would enable them +to outshine their rivals. Ambassadors' wives and Court ladies used to go +to take tea with the fellow, and dispute the honour of filling his cup +or putting sugar into it. I once went into his shop--a sort of +drawing-room hung round with dresses; I found him lolling on a chair, +his legs crossed before the fire. Around him were a bevy of women, some +pretty, some ugly, listening to his observations with the rapt attention +of the disciples of a sage. He called them up before him like school +girls, and after inspecting them, praised or blamed their dresses. One, +a pretty young girl, found favour in his eyes, and he told her that he +must dream and meditate several days over her, in order to find the +inspiration to make a gown worthy of her. "Why do you wear these ugly +gloves?" he said to another, "never let me see you in gloves of that +colour again." She was a very grand lady, but she slipped off her +gloves, and put them in her pocket with a guilty look. When there was +going to be a ball at Court, ladies used to go down on their knees to +him to make them beautiful. For some time he declined to dress any +longer the wife of a great Imperial dignitary who had not been +sufficiently humble towards him; she came to him in tears, but he was +obdurate, and he only consented at last to make a gown for her on +condition that she would put it on for the first time in his shop. The +Empress, who dealt with him, sent to tell him that if he did not abate +his prices she would leave him. "You cannot," he replied, and in fact +she could not, for she stood by him to the last. A morning dress by this +artist, worth in reality about 4l., cost 30l.; an evening dress, tawdry +with flounces, ribbons, and bad lace could not be had under 70. There +are about thirty shops in Paris where, as at this man-milliner's, the +goods are not better than elsewhere, but where they cost about ten +times their value. They are patronised by fools with more money than +wits, and chiefly by foreign fools. The proprietor of one of these +establishments was complaining to me the other day of what he was losing +by the siege; I told him that I sympathised with him about as much as I +should with a Greek brigand, bewailing a falling off of wealthy +strangers in the district where he was in the habit of carrying on his +commercial operations. Whenever the communications are again open to +Paris, and English return to it, I would give them this piece of +advice--never deal where _ici on parle Anglais_ is written up; it means +_ici on vole les Anglais_. The only tradesmen in Paris who are making a +good thing out of their country's misfortunes are the liquor sellers and +the grocers; their stores seem inexhaustible, but they are sold at +famine prices. "I who speak to you, I owe myself to my country. There is +no sacrifice I would not make rather than capitulate to those Huns, +those Vandals," said a grocer to me, with a most sand-the-sugar face, +this morning, as he pocketed about ten times the value of a +trifle--candles, in fact, which have risen twenty-five per cent. in the +last two days--and folding his arms, scowled from under his kepi into +futurity, with stern but vacuous resolution. + + +_January 6th._ + +I have just returned from Point-du-Jour, where I went with Mr. Frank +Lawley in order to see myself what truth there was in the announcement +that we were being bombarded. Point-du-Jour is the point where the Seine +issues from Paris. The circular railroad passes over the river here on a +high brick viaduct, which makes a species of fortification. The hills +outside the city form a sort of amphitheatre, in which are situated the +towns of Sevres and Meudon. To the right of the river is Mont Valerien +and the batteries in the Bois de Boulogne; to the left the Fort of +Issy. The noise of the cannonade was very loud; but very little could be +seen, owing to the sun shining on the hills outside. Speculators, +however, with telescopes, were offering to show the Prussian +artillerymen for one sou--one of them offered to let me see a general +for two sous. When I got within about half a mile of the ramparts I +began to hear the whistling of the shells. Here the sightseers were not +so numerous. Whenever a shell was heard, there was a rush behind walls +and houses. Some people threw themselves down, others seemed to imagine +that the smallest tree would protect them, and congregated behind the +thinnest saplings. Boys were running about picking up pieces of shells, +and offering them for sale. Women were standing at their doors, and +peeping their heads out: "Brigands, bandits, they dare to bombard us; +wait till to-morrow, we will make them rue it." This, and expressions of +a similar nature, was the tone of the small talk. My own impression is, +that the Prussians were firing at the ramparts, and that, as often +occurs, their projectiles overshot the mark. I did not see anyone either +killed or wounded, and it seems to me that the most astonishing thing in +a bombardment is the little damage it does to life and limb. I saw a bit +of iron cut away a branch from one of the trees, and one shell I saw +burst on the road by the river. In 15 minutes we counted 11 shells +whizzing through the air, over our heads, which fell I presume somewhere +behind us. The newspaper which I have just bought, I see, says that two +shells have fallen close by the Invalides, and that they have been +coming in pretty thickly all along the zone near the southern ramparts. +This may or may not be the case. Like Herodotus in Egypt, I make a +distinction between what I am told and what I see, and only guarantee +the authenticity of the latter. The only house which as far as I could +perceive had been struck was a small one. A chimney-stack had been +knocked over; an old lady who inhabited it pointed this out to me. She +seemed to be under the impression that this was the result of design, +and plaintively asked me what she had done to "William" and to Bismarck +that they should knock over her chimney. On the ramparts no damage +seemed to have been done. The National Guard on duty were in the +casemates. The noise, however, was tremendous. Issy, Valerien, the guns +of the bastions and those of the cannon-boats were firing as hard as +they could, and the Prussian batteries were returning their fire with a +will. After the sun went down the dark hills opposite were lit up with +the flashes of light which issued every second from the batteries. + +The Government has issued a proclamation; in it is announced that we are +to be relieved by the Army of the North. Another proclamation has been +posted, purporting to proceed from the "delegates of the twenty +arrondissements," calling upon the population to turn out Trochu. It has +attracted little notice. Several mayors, too, it is reported, have +threatened to resign unless more energetic counsels prevail in high +places. Frenchmen, however, as one of their statesmen said, cannot grasp +two ideas at a time, and for to-day at least the bombardment is the +all-absorbing idea. Whether Frederick Charles has been really defeated I +do not know, but we are all assured that he has been. Paris journals +state that he has been wounded, and that 45,000 of his army have +surrendered. It is asserted, too, that the prisoners who were taken +yesterday admit that one of their armies has had a very serious reverse. +The bombardment of the forts still continues, and it has extended to the +southern ones. With respect to its effect, I will say nothing, lest I be +accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. _La Verite_ of yesterday +already calls upon the Government to open and either suppress or +expurgate the letters of English correspondents. + +The vin ordinaire is giving out. It has already risen nearly 60 per +cent. in price. This is a very serious thing for the poor, who not only +drink it, but warm it and make with bread a soup out of it. Yesterday, I +had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two +elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I +do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can +get beef or mutton. Many of the restaurants are closed owing to want of +fuel. They are recommended to use lamps; but although French cooks can +do wonders with very poor materials, when they are called upon to cook +an elephant with a spirit lamp the thing is almost beyond their +ingenuity. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other +parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb. It is a good +deal warmer to-day, and has been thawing in the sun; if the cold and the +siege had continued much longer, the Prussians would have found us all +in bed. It is a far easier thing to cut down a tree than to make it +burn. Proverbs are not always true; and I have found to my bitter +experience of late that the proverb that "there is no smoke without a +fire" is untrue. The Tupper who made it never tried to burn green wood. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +_January 7th._ + +The attempt of the "Ultras" to force Trochu to resign has been a +failure. On Friday bands issuing from the outer Faubourgs marched +through the streets shouting "No capitulation!" A manifesto was posted +on the walls, signed by the delegates of the 20 arrondissements, calling +on the people to rise. At the weekly meeting of the Mayors M. +Delescluze, the Mayor of the 19th arrondissement, proposed that Trochu +and Le Flo should be called upon to resign, and that a supreme council +should be established in which the "civil element should not be +subordinated to the military element." M. Gustave Flourens published a +letter from his prison suggesting that the people should choose as their +leader a young energetic Democrat--that is to say himself. M. Felix +Pyat, on the other hand, explained that generals are tyrants, and that +the best thing would be to carry on the operations of the siege without +one. The "bombardment" is, however, still the absorbing question of the +day; and all these incipient attempts at revolution have failed. Trochu +issued a proclamation, in which he said, "The Governor of Paris will +never capitulate." M. Delescluze has resigned, and several arrests have +been made. The Government, however, owes its triumph, not so much to its +own inherent merits, as to the demerits of those who wished to supplant +it. Everyone complains of Trochu's strange inaction, and distrusts his +colleagues, who seem to be playing fast-and-loose with the Commune, and +to be anxious by a little gentle violence to be restored to private +life. The cry still is, "We will not capitulate!" and the nearer the +moment approaches that the provisions must fail, the louder is it +shouted. Notwithstanding the bitter experience which the Parisians have +had of the vanity of mere words to conjure disaster, they still seem to +suppose that if they only cry out loud enough that the Prussians cannot, +will not, shall not, enter Paris, their men of war will be convinced +that the task is beyond their powers, and go home in despair. We are +like a tribe of Africans beating tom-toms and howling in order to avert +a threatening storm. Yesterday a great council of war was held, at which +not only the generals of division and admirals, but even generals of +brigade, were present. Although it is a military dictum that "councils +of war never fight," I think that in a few days we shall have a sortie, +as that anonymous general "public opinion" insists upon it. + +We are still without news from the provinces. The _Gazette Officiale_ +to-day publishes an extract from a German paper which hardly seems to +bear out the assertion of the Government that the Army of the North is +advancing to our succour. As evidence that our affairs are looking up in +the provinces _La France_ contains the following: "A foreigner who knows +exactly the situation of our departments said yesterday, 'These damned +French, in spite of their asinine qualities, are getting the better of +the Prussians.'" We are forced to live to-day upon this crumb of comfort +which has fallen from the lips of a great unknown. Hope is the last +feeling which dies out in the human breast, and rightly or wrongly nine +persons out of ten believe that Chanzy will shortly force the Prussians +to raise the siege. The bombardment is supposed to mask their having +been obliged to send heavy reinforcements to Frederick Charles, who +regularly every morning is either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. + +It is almost needless to say that the newspapers are filled with +wondrous tales respecting the bombardment; with denunciations against +the Prussians for their sacrilege in venturing upon it; and with +congratulations to the population on their heroism in supporting it. The +number of persons who have been all but hit by shells is enormous. I +went to the left bank of the Seine in order to see myself the state of +affairs. At Point-du-Jour there is a hot corner sparsely inhabited. The +Prussians are evidently here firing at the viaduct which crosses the +river. From there I followed the ramparts as close as I could as far as +Montrouge. I heard of many shells which had fallen, but except at +Point-du-Jour I did not myself either see any fall, or hear any whiz +through the air. I then went to the Observatory, where according to the +_Soir_ the shells were falling very freely. A citizen who was sweeping +before the gate told me that he knew nothing about them. In the Rue +d'Enfer, just behind, there was a house which had been struck during the +night, and close by there was a cantiniere, on her way to be buried, who +had been killed by one. At the garden of the Luxembourg and at the +artesian well near the Invalides I heard of shells, but could not find +out where they had struck. As far as I can make out, the Prussians aim +at the bastions, and occasionally, but rarely, at some public building. +Probably about 50 shells have been sent with malice prepense inside the +town. Just behind a bastion it is a little dangerous; but in Grenelle, +Vaugirard, and Montrouge, the risk to each individual is not so great as +it would be to go over a crowded crossing in London. In these quarters I +saw a few people moving away with their goods and chattels; but the +population generally seemed rather pleased than otherwise with what was +going on. Except close in by the ramparts, there was no excitement. +Almost the whole of the portion of the town on the left bank of the +Seine is now under fire; but even should it be seriously bombarded, I +doubt if the effect will be at all commensurate with the expense of +powder and projectiles. When shells fall over a very large area, the +odds against each separate person being hit by them are so large that no +one thinks that--happen what may to others--he will be wounded. + + +_January 11th._ + +The spy mania, which raged with such intensity at the commencement of +the siege, has again broken out. Every day persons are arrested because +they are supposed, by lighted candles and other mysterious devices, to +be in communication with the enemy. Sergeant Hoff, who used to kill his +couple of brace of Germans every day, and who disappeared after +Champigny, it is now said was a spy; and instead of mourning over his +wife, who had been slain by the Prussians, kept a mistress in splendour, +like a fine gentleman. Foreigners are looked upon suspiciously in the +streets. Very black looks are cast upon the Americans who have +established and kept up the best ambulance there is in Paris at their +own cost. Even the French ambulances are suspected, since some of their +members, during a suspension of arms, broke bread with the Prussians; +for it is held that any one who does not hate a German must be in the +pay of Bismarck. But this is not all: the newspapers hint that there are +spies at headquarters. General Schmitz has a valet who has a wife, and +this wife is a German. What more clear than that General Schmitz +confides what passes at councils of war to his valet--generals usually +do; that the valet confides it to his wife, who, in some mysterious +manner, confides it to Bismarck. Then General Trochu has an +aide-de-camp, a Prince Bibesco. He is a Wallachian, and a son of an +ex-Hospodar--I never yet heard of a Wallachian who was not more or less. +Can a doubt exist in the mind of any reasonable being that this young +gentleman, a harmless lad, who had passed the greater part of his +existence dancing cotillons at Paris, is in direct communication with +the Prussians outside? A day or two ago two National Guards were +exchanging their strategical views in a cafe, when they observed a +stranger write down something. He was immediately arrested, as he +evidently intended to transmit the opinions of these two military sages +to General Moltke. I was myself down at Montrouge yesterday, when I was +requested by two National Guards to accompany them to the nearest +commissary. I asked why, and was told that a woman had heard me speak +German. I replied that I was English. "Zat ve saal soon zee," said one +of my captors. "I spek Anglish like an Anglishman, address to me the +vord in Anglish." I replied that the gentleman spoke English with so +perfect an accent that I thought he must be a fellow-countryman. The +worthy fellow was disarmed by the compliment, and told a crowd which had +collected round us to do prompt justice on the spy, that I not only was +an Englishman, but _un Cockne_; that is to say, he explained, an +inhabitant of London. He shook me by the hand; his friend shook me by +the hand; and several ladies and gentlemen also shook me by the hand; +and then we parted. Yesterday evening on the Boulevards there were +groups discussing "the traitors." Some said that General Schmitz had +been arrested; others that he ought to be arrested. A patriot observed +to me that all foreigners in Paris ought, as a precautionary measure, to +be extirpated. "Parbleu," I replied, and you may depend upon it I rolled +my eyes and shrugged my shoulders in true Gallic fashion. This morning +General Trochu has published a proclamation, denouncing all attacks upon +his staff, and making himself responsible for its members. It is an +honest, manly protest, and by far the best document which this prolific +writer has issued for some time. Another complaint is made against the +generals who damp the popular enthusiasm by throwing doubts upon +ultimate victory. In fact, we have got to such a condition that a +military man dares not venture to express his real opinion upon military +matters for fear of being denounced. We are, indeed, still in a most +unsurrendering mood. I was talking to-day to a banker--a friend who +would do anything for me except cash my bill. In business he is a +clear-headed, sensible man. I asked him what would occur if our +provisions gave out before the armies of the provinces arrived to our +succour. He replied that the Government would announce the fact, and +call upon all able-bodied men to make a dash at the Prussian lines; that +300,000 at least would respond to that call, and would either be killed +or force their way out. This will give you an idea of the present tone +of the population. Nine men out of ten believe that we have enough +provisions to last at least until the end of February. The only official +utterance respecting the provisions is contained in a paragraph in the +_Journal Officiel_ to-day, in which we are informed that there are +15,000 oxen and 40,000 sheep in Bordeaux waiting for marching orders to +Paris. This is much like telling a starving man in the Strand that figs +are plentiful in Palestine, and only waiting to be picked. + +The bombardment has diminished in intensity. The Government has put the +Prussian prisoners in the ambulances on the left bank of the Seine. It +appears to me that it would have been wiser to have moved the ambulances +to the right bank. By day few shells fall into the town beyond the +immediate vicinity of the ramparts. At night they are more plentiful, +and seem to be aimed promiscuously. I suppose about ten people are hit +every twenty-four hours. Now as above fifty people die every day in +Paris of bronchitis, there is far more danger from the latter than from +the batteries of the disciples of Geist outside. It is not worse to die +by a bomb than of a cold. Indeed I am by no means sure that of two evils +the latter is not the least; yet a person being suddenly struck down in +the streets of a capital by a piece of iron from a cannon will always +produce a more startling effect upon the mind than a rise in the bills +of mortality from natural causes. Those who are out of the reach of the +Prussian guns are becoming accustomed to the bombardment. "You naughty +child," I heard a woman who was walking before me say to her daughter, +"if you do not behave better I will not take you to see the +bombardment." "It is better than a vaudeville," said a girl near me on +the Trocadero, and she clapped her hands. A man at Point-du-Jour showed +me two great holes which had been made in his garden the night before by +two bombs close by his front door. He, his wife, and his children seemed +to be rather proud of them. I asked him why he did not move into the +interior of the town, and he said that he could not afford it. In a +German paper which recently found its way in, it was stated that the +bombardment of Paris would commence when the psychological moment had +arrived. We are intensely indignant at this term; we consider it so +cold-blooded. It is like a doctor standing by a man on the rack, and +feeling his pulse to see how many more turns of the screw he can bear. +All the forts outside are still holding their own against the Prussian +batteries. Issy has had as yet the greatest amount of attention paid to +it by the besiegers. There is a battery at Meudon which seems never to +tire of throwing shells into it. It is said, however, that the enemy is +endeavouring to establish breaching guns at a closer range, in order to +make his balls strike the ground and then bound into the fort--a mode of +firing which was very successful at Strasburg. + +The sensation news of to-day is that Faidherbe has driven Manteuffel +across the Belgian frontier, and that Frederick Charles, who always +seems to come to life after being killed, has been recalled from Orleans +to Paris. The funds rose to-day one per cent. upon these rumours. Our +chief confidence, however, just now is in Bourbaki; we think that he has +joined Garibaldi, and that these two will force the Prussians to raise +the siege by throwing themselves on their communications. I only hope +they may. + +Mr. Washburne has not been allowed to send out his weekly bag. I +presume, however, that this embargo will not be kept up. The Government +has not yet announced its intention with respect to M. Jules Favre +proceeding to London to represent France in the conferences on the +Eastern Question. Most of the newspapers seem to be of opinion that +until the Republic has been officially recognised, it is not consistent +with her dignity to take part in any European Conference. The +diplomatists, who have been a little thrown in the background of late, +by wars and generals, must be delighted to find their old friend, the +"Eastern Question," cropping up. The settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein +question was a heavy blow to them; but for many a year they will have an +opportunity to prose and protocol over Turkey. An Austrian wit--indeed +the only wit that Austria ever produced--used to say that Englishmen +could only talk about the weather, and that if by some dispensation of +Providence there ever should be no such thing as weather, the whole +English nation would become dumb. What the weather is to Englishmen the +Eastern Question is to diplomatists. For their sakes, let us hope that +it never will be satisfactorily settled. Diplomatists, like many other +apparently useless beings, must live. + + +_January 15th._ + +Yesterday we were made comparatively happy by a report that the Prussian +funds had fallen 3 per cent. at Berlin. To-day we are told that Bourbaki +has gained a great victory, raised the siege of Belfort, and is about +to enter Germany. German newspapers up to the 7th have been seized at +the advanced posts, but whatever in them tells against us we put down to +a general conspiracy on the part of Europe to deceive us. It is somewhat +curious to watch the transmutations of the names of English statesmen +after they have passed through a German and a French translation. Thus +the latest news from London is that Mr. Hackington is made Irish +Secretary, and that Mr. Floresko is Minister of Commerce. + +The diplomatists and consuls still at Paris have sent a collective note +to Count Bismarck, complaining that the notice of the bombardment was +not given, and asking him to afford them the means to place the persons +and the property of their respective countrymen out of danger. The +minnows sign with the whales. Mr. Washburne's name is inserted between +that of the representative of Monaco and that of the Charge d'Affaires +of Honduras. + +The bombardment still continues. The cannon now make one continuous +noise. Each particular discharge cannot be distinguished. The shells +fall on the left bank to a distance of about a mile from the ramparts. A +return of the _Official Journal_ gives 138 wounded and 51 killed up to +the 13th. Among the killed are 18 children and 12 women; among the +wounded, 21 children and 45 women. Waggons and hand-carts packed with +household goods are streaming in from the left to the right bank. In the +bombarded quarters many shops are closed. Some householders have made a +sort of casemate reaching to the first story of their houses; others +sleep in their cellars. The streets are, however, full of people, even +in the most exposed districts; and all the heights from which a view is +to be had of the Prussian batteries are crowded with sightseers. Every +now and then one comes across some house through which a shell has +passed. The public buildings have, as yet, suffered very slightly. The +dome of the Pantheon, which we presume is used as a mark for the aim of +the Prussian artillerymen, has been hit once. The shell has made a round +hole in the roof, and it burst inside the church. In the Jardin des +Plantes all the glass of the conservatories has been shattered by the +concussion of the air, and the orchids and other tropical plants are +dying. Although war and its horrors are thus brought home to our very +doors, it is even still difficult to realise that great events are +passing around us which history will celebrate in its most solemn and +dignified style. Distance in battles lends grandeur to the view. Had the +charge of Balaclava taken place on Clapham Common, or had our gallant +swordsmen replaced the donkeys on Hampstead Heath, even Tennyson would +have been unable to poetise their exploits. When one sees stuck up in an +omnibus-office that omnibuses "will have to make a circuit from _cause +de bombardement_;" when shells burst in restaurants and maim the +waiters; when the trenches are in tea-gardens; and when one is invited +for a sou to look through a telescope at the enemy firing off their +guns, there is a homely domestic air about the whole thing which is +quite inconsistent with "the pomp and pride of glorious war." + +On Friday night there was an abortive sortie at Clamart. Some of the +newspapers say that the troops engaged in it were kept too long waiting, +and that they warmed their feet by stamping, and made so much noise that +the Prussians caught wind of the gathering. Be this as it may, as soon +as they got into Clamart they were received with volleys of musketry, +and withdrew. I am told that the marching battalions of the National +Guard, now in the trenches, are doing their work better than was +expected. The generals in command are satisfied with them, but whether +they will be of any great use for offensive operations, is a question +yet to be solved. The clubs still keep up their outcry for "La Commune," +which they imagine will prove a panacea for every evil. In the club of +the Rue Arras last night, a speaker went a step still further, and +demanded "the establishment of anarchy as the ruling power." Trochu is +still either attacked, or feebly defended, in the newspapers. The French +are so accustomed to the State doing everything for them, that their +ruler is made responsible for everything which goes wrong. The demand +for a sortie _en masse_ is not so strong. Every one is anxious not to +surrender, and no one precisely knows how a surrender is to be avoided. +Successes on paper have so long done duty for successes in the field, +that no one, even yet, can believe that this paper currency has been so +depreciated that bankruptcy must ensue. Is it possible, each man asks, +that 500,000 armed Frenchmen will have to surrender to half the number +of Germans? And as they reply that it is impossible, they come to the +conclusion that treason must be at work, and look round for the traitor. +Trochu, who is as honest and upright as a man as he is incompetent as a +general, will probably share the fate of the "Man of Sedan" and the "Man +of Metz," as they are called. "He is a Laocoon," says M. Felix Pyat in +his newspaper, with some confusion of metaphor, "who will strangle the +Republic." + +We hear now that Government is undertaking an inquiry to discover +precisely how long our stock of provisions will last. Matters are +managed so carelessly, that I doubt whether the Minister of Commerce +himself knows to within ten days the precise date when we shall be +starved out. The rations of meat now amount to 1-27th of a pound per +diem for each adult. At the fashionable restaurants the supply is +unlimited, and the price as unlimited. Two cutlets of donkey cost 18 +francs, and everything else in the way of animal food is in proportion. +The real vital question, however, is how long the bread will last. In +some arrondissements the supply fails after 8 o'clock in the morning; +at others, each resident receives 1 lb. upon production of a _carte de +subsistance_. The distribution has been thrown into disorder by the +people from the bombarded quarters flocking into the central ones, and +wanting to be fed. The bread itself is poor stuff. Only one kind is +allowed to be manufactured; it is dark in colour, heavy, pasty, and +gritty. There is as little corn in it as there is malt in London beer +when barley is dear. The misery among the poorer classes is every day on +the increase. Most of the men manage to get on with their 1fr. 50c. a +day. In the morning they go to exercise, and afterwards loll about until +night in cafes and pothouses, making up with liquids for the absence of +solids. As for doing regular work, they scoff at the idea. Master +tailors and others tell me that it is almost impossible to get hands to +do the few orders which are now given. They are warmly clad in uniforms +by the State, and except those belonging to the marching battalions +really doing duty outside, I do not pity them. With the women and +children the case is different. The latter, owing to bad nourishment and +exposure, are dying off like rotten sheep; the former have but just +enough food to keep body and soul together, and to obtain even this they +have to stand for hours before the doors of the butchers and bakers, +waiting for their turn to be served. And yet they make no complaints, +but patiently suffer, buoyed up, poor people, by the conviction that by +so doing they will prevent the Prussians from entering the town. If one +of them ventures to hint at a capitulation, she is set on by her +neighbours. Self-assertion, however, carries the day. Jules and Jaques +will hereafter quaff many a petit verre to their own heroism; and many a +story will they inflict upon their long-suffering friends redounding to +their own special glory. Their wives will be told that they ought to be +proud to have such men for husbands. But Jules and Jacques are in +reality but arrant humbugs. Whilst they boozed, their wives starved; +whilst they were warmly clad, their wives were in rags; whilst they were +drinking confusion to their enemies in some snug room, their wives were +freezing at the baker's door for their ration of bread. In Paris the +women--I speak of those of the poorer classes--are of more sterling +stuff than the men. They suffer far more, and they repine much less. I +admire the crowd of silent, patient women, huddling together for warmth +every morning, as they wait until their pittance is doled out to them, +far more than the martial heroes who foot it behind a drum and a trumpet +to crown a statue, to visit a tomb, and to take their turn on the +ramparts; or the heroes of the pen, who day after day, from some cosy +office, issue a manifesto announcing that victory is certain, because +they have made a pact with death. + + +_January 16th._ + +If I am to believe the Paris papers, the Fort of Issy is gradually +extinguishing the guns of the Prussian batteries which bear on it. If I +am to believe my eyes, the Fort of Issy is not replying at all to these +said guns; and if I am to believe competent military authorities, in +about eighteen days from now at the latest the Fort of Issy will cease +to be a fort. The batteries at Meudon appeared to-day to be of opinion +that its guns were effectually silenced; shells fell thick and fast on +the bastions at Point-du-Jour; and so well aimed were they, that between +the bastions a looker-on was in comparative safety. The noise, however, +of the duel between the bastions and the batteries was so deafening, +that it was literally impossible for two persons to hear each other +speak at a few feet distance; the shells, too, which were passing to the +right and left, seemed to give the whole air a tremulous motion. At the +bastions the artillerymen were working their guns, but the National +Guards on duty were under cover. The houses, on both sides of the +Seine, within the city, for about half a mile from the viaduct are +deserted; not above a dozen of them, I should imagine, are still +inhabited. Outside, in the villages of Vanvres and Issy, several fires +have broken out, but they have been promptly extinguished, and there has +been no general conflagration. The most dangerous spot in this direction +is a road which runs behind the Forts of Vanvres and Montrouge; as +troops are frequently marching along it the Prussians direct their guns +from Clamart and Chatillon on it. In the trenches the danger is not +great, and there are but few casualties; the shells pass over them. If +anyone, however, exposes himself, a ball about the size of an egg, from +a _canon de rampart_, whizzes by him, as a gentle reminder to keep under +cover. The area of the bombardment is slightly extending, and will, I +presume, very soon reach the right bank. More people are killed in the +daytime than at night, because they will stand in groups, +notwithstanding every warning, and stare at any house which has been +damaged. + +The bill of mortality for the week ending January 13th, gives an +increase on the previous week of 302; the number of deaths registered is +3982. This is at the rate of above twenty per cent. per annum, and it +must be remembered that in this return those who die in the public +hospitals, or of the direct effect of the war, are not included. +Small-pox is about stationary, bronchitis and pneumonia largely on the +increase. + +Bourbaki, we are told to-day, is at Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of +Baden. The latest German papers announce that Mezieres has fallen, and +it seems to occur to no one that Gambetta's last pigeon despatch +informed us that the siege of this place had been raised. _La Liberte_ +thus sums up the situation:--"Nancy menaced; Belfort freed; Baden +invaded; Hamburg about to be bombarded. This is the reply of France to +the bombardment of Paris. The hour has arrived; the Prussians brought +to bay, hope to find refuge in Paris. This is their last hope; their +last resource." + +In order to encourage us to put up with our short commons, we are now +perpetually being told that the Government has in reserve vast stores of +potted meats, cheese, butter, and other luxuries, of which we have +almost forgotten the very taste; and that when things come to the worst +we shall turn the corner, and enter into a period of universal +abundance. These stores seem to me much like the mirage which lures on +the traveller of the desert, and which perpetually recedes as he +advances. But the great difficulty of the moment is to procure fuel. I +am ready, as some one said, to eat the soles of my boots for the sake of +my country; but then they must be cooked. All the mills are on the +Marne, and cannot be approached. Steam mills have been put up, but they +work slowly; and whatever may be the amount of corn yet in store, it is +almost impossible to grind enough of it to meet the daily requirements. + +A good deal of discussion is going on as to the time which it will take +to revictual Paris; it is thought that it can be done in seven days, but +I do not myself see how it is to be done in anything like this time. One +of the principal English bankers here has, I understand, sent an agent +by balloon to buy boats of small draught in England, in order to bring +provisions up the Seine. As a speculation, I should imagine that the +best plan would be to amass them on the Belgian or Luxemburg frontier. +About two-thirds of the population will be without means to buy food, +even if the food were at their doors. Trade and industry will not revive +for some time; they will consequently be entirely dependent upon the +State for their means of subsistence. Even if work is offered to them, +many of them not be able at once to reassume their habits of daily +industry; the Bohemian life which they have led for the last four +months, and which they are still leading, is against it. A siege is so +abnormal a condition of things, that the State has been obliged to pay +them for doing practically nothing, as otherwise they would have fallen +into the hands of the anarchists; but this pottering about from day to +day with a gun, doing nothing except play at billiards and drink, has +been very demoralising, and it will be long before its effect ceases to +be felt. + +The newspapers are somewhat irreverent over the diplomatic protest +against the bombardment. They say that while Paris is deserted by the +Great European Powers, it is a source of pleasure to think that the +Principality of Monaco and the Republics of San Marino and Honduras +still stand by her. They suggest that M. Jules Favre should go to +Andorre to endeavour to induce that republic also to reason with the +Prussians upon the bombardment. I am told that the "proud young porter," +who now the sheep is dead, represents alone the Majesty of England at +the British Embassy is indignant at not having been invited to add his +signature to the protest. He considers--and justly I think--that he is a +far more important personage than the Plenipotentiary of his Highness of +Monaco; a despot who exercises sway over about 20 acres of orange trees, +60 houses, and two roulette tables. The diplomatists are not, however, +alone in their protest. Everybody has protested, and is still +protesting. If it is a necessity of war to throw shells into a densely +populated town like this; it is--to say the least--a barbarous +necessity; but it seems to me that it is but waste of time and paper to +register protests against it; and if it be thought desirable to do so, +it would be far more reasonable to protest against human beings--women +and children--being exposed to its effects, than to indite plaintive +elegies about the possibility of the Venus de Milo being damaged, or the +orchids in the hot-houses being killed. I know that, for my part, I +would rather that every statue and every plant in the world were smashed +to atoms by shells, than that I were. This, in an aesthetical point of +view, is selfish; but it is none the less true. _Chacun pour soi._ The +Pantheon was struck yesterday. What desecration! everyone cries; and I +am very sorry for the Pantheon, but very glad that it was the Pantheon, +and not me. The world at large very likely would lose more by the +destruction of the Pantheon than of any particular individual; but each +particular individual prefers his own humble self to all the edifices +that architects have raised on the face of the globe. + +I have been endeavouring to discover, whether in the councils of our +rulers, the question as to what is to be done in the possible +contingency of a capitulation becoming necessary, has been raised. As +far as I can hear, the contingency is not yet officially recognised as +within the realms of possibility, and it has never been alluded to. +General Trochu has officially announced "that the Governor of Paris will +never capitulate." His colleagues have periodically said much the same +thing. The most practical of them, M. Ernest Picard, has, I believe, +once or twice endeavoured to lead up to the subject, but he has failed +in the attempt. Newspaper articles and Government proclamations tell the +population every day that they only have to persevere in order +ultimately to triumph. If the end must come, it is difficult to see how +it will come. I have asked many intelligent persons what they think will +happen, but no one seems to have a very distinct notion respecting it. +Some think the Government will issue some day a notice to say that there +are only provisions for a week longer; and that at the end of this time +the gates of the city will be opened, and the Prussians told that, if +they insist upon entering, there will be nothing to prevent them. Others +think that the Government will resign their power into the hands of the +mayors, as the direct representatives of Paris. Trochu rides about a +good deal outside, and says to the soldiers, "Courage, my children, the +moment is coming." But to what moment he alludes no one is aware. No +word is more abused in the French language than "sublime." To call a +folly a sublime folly is considered a justification of any species of +absurdity. We call this refusal to anticipate a contingency which +certainly is possible, if not probable, sublime. We are proud of it, and +sleep on in our fool's paradise as though it were to last for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +_January 17th._ + +The papers publish reports of the meetings of the clubs. The following +is from the _Debats_ of to-day:-- + +"At the extremity of the Rue Faubourg St. Antoine is a dark passage, and +in a room which opens into this passage is the Club de la Revendication. +The audience is small, and consists mainly of women, who come there to +keep warm. The club is peaceable--hardly revolutionary--for Rome is Rome +no more, and the Faubourg St. Antoine, formerly so turbulent, has +resigned in favour of Belleville and La Villette. Yesterday evening the +Club de la Revendication was occupied, as usual, in discussing the +misery of the situation, and the necessity of electing a Commune. An +orator, whose patriotic enthusiasm attained almost to frenzy, declared +that as for himself he scorned hams and sausages in plenty, and that he +preferred to live on the air of liberty. (The women sigh.) Another +speaker is of opinion that if there were a Commune there would also be +hams and sausages in plenty. We still pay, he says, the budget of the +clergy, as though Bonaparte were still on the throne, instead of having +rationed the large appetites and forced every one to live on 1fr. 50c. a +day. In order to make his meaning clear the orator uses the following +comparison. Suppose, he says, that I am a peasant, and that I have +fattened a chicken. (Excitement.) Were I obliged to give the wings to +the clergy, the legs to the military, and the carcass to civil +functionaries, there would be nothing of my chicken left for me. Well, +this is our case. We fatten chickens; others eat them. It would be far +wiser for us to keep them for ourselves. (Yes, yes.) A Pole, the Citizen +Strassnowski, undertakes to defend the Government. He obtains a hearing, +but not without difficulty. You complain that the Government, he says, +has not cast more cannon. Where were the artillerymen? (Ourselves.) But +three months ago you were citizens, you were not soldiers. In making you +march and counter-march in the streets and on the ramparts you have been +converted into soldiers. The Government was right therefore to wait. +(Murmurs.) The orator is not angry with the German nation; he is angry +only with the potentates who force the people to kill each other; and he +hopes that the day will come when the European nations will shake hands +over the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Balkan, and the mountains of Carpathia. +(Feeble applause and murmurs.) A citizen begs the audience to have +patience with the Citizen Strassnowski, who is a worthy man and a +volunteer; but the citizen then reproaches the worthy man for having +attempted to defend a Government whose incapacity is a matter of +notoriety. Come now, Citizen Strassnowski, he says, what has the +Government done to merit your praise? It has armed us and exercised us; +but why? To deliver us over with our guns and our cannons to the +Prussians after we have all caught cold on the ramparts. Has it tried to +utilise us? No, it has passively looked on whilst the Prussians +surrounded Paris with a triple circle of citadels. We are told every day +that the armies of the provinces will deliver us. We do not see them. We +are not even secure in Paris. Every kind of story is afloat. Yesterday +it was reported that General Schmitz had betrayed us; to-day it is an +actress who has arrested a spy whose cook was on intimate terms with a +cook of the member of the Government. Why these reports? Because the +Government has no moral support, and no one feels confidence in it. In +the meantime the food gets less and less, and this morning at eight +o'clock all the bakers in this arrondissement had closed their shops. +(True, true; we waited five hours at the closed doors.) When we get the +bread, it is more like plaster than bread. In the third arrondissement, +on the other hand, it is good and plentiful. So much for the organising +spirit of the Government. We have to wait hours for bread, hours for +wood, and hours for meat; and frequently we do not get either bread, +meat, or wood. Things cannot last long like this, my worthy +Strassnowski. The speaker concludes by urging the people to take the +direction of their affairs into their own hands. (Cries of "Vive la +Commune.") The President urges his hearers to subscribe towards a +society, the object of which is civic instruction. The club breaks up, +the President is applauded." + +Here is another description of a club meeting from the same journal:-- + +"The laurels of Belleville prevented La Villette from sleeping. La +Villette, therefore, determined to have, like her rival, a central +democratic and social club, and yesterday she inaugurated in the Salle +Marseillaise an opposition to the "Club Favie." In some respects the +Marseillaise club is even more democratic than her parent. The Salle is +a sort of barn, and the _sans culottes_ themselves, notwithstanding +their horror of all luxury, hardly found its comforts sufficient for +them. The Club Favie, with its paintings on the walls and its lustres, +has a most aristocratic air in comparison with this new hall of +democracy. To judge by its first seance, the Club Marseillaise promises +well. Last night enough treasons were unveiled to make the fortune of +most other clubs for a week at least. From the commencement of the war +we have been in the meshes of a vast network of treason; and these +meshes can only be broken through by the Commune and the Republic. The +conspiracy was hatched long ago between the Emperors and the Kings, and +the other enemies of the people. The war had been arranged amongst them, +and it is an error to suppose that we were beaten at Rhichshofen or +Sedan. "No," cried an orator, with conviction, "we have never been +defeated; but we have been betrayed." ("True." Applause. "We are still +betrayed.") The men of the Hotel de Ville imitate Bonaparte, and, like +him, they have an understanding with the Prussians, to enslave the +people, after having betrayed the country. To whom then must we turn to +save the country? To the Legitimists? To the Orleanists?" (No, no.) The +orator does not hesitate to avow that he would turn to them if they +could save France. (Impossible.) Yes, it is impossible for them. The +orator admits it; and all the more because Legitimists and Orleanists +are enrolled in the conspiracy against the nation. The people can be the +only saviours of the people, by the establishment of the commune; and +this is why the men of the Hotel de Ville and the Reactionists are +opposed to its establishment. A second speaker abandons the question of +the Commune and of the conspiracy, in order to call attention to the +resignation of Citizen Delescluze, late mayor of the nineteenth +arrondissement. While this orator thinks that it would be unjust to +accuse the patriot Delescluze of treason, he ought not the less to be +blamed for having abandoned a post to which he had been called by his +fellow citizens. The people elected him, and he had no right to put his +resignation in the hands of the men of the Hotel de Ville in the +critical circumstances in which we find ourselves--at a moment when the +tide of misery is mounting--when the mayors have a great mission to +fulfil. What has been the consequence of this act of weakness? The men +of the Hotel de Ville have named a commission to administer the +nineteenth arrondissement exactly as was done under Bonaparte. This is +what we citizens of Belleville have gained by the desertion of +Delescluze. (Applause.) A citizen pushes his way to the tribune to +justify the mayor. He admits that at first sight it is difficult to +approve of a magistrate who has been elected by the people resigning his +office at the very moment when the people have the greatest need of him, +but--and again we get into the dark mystery of the conspiracy--if he +gave in his resignation, it was because he would not be an accomplice of +treason. In a meeting presided over by Jules Favre, what do you suppose +the mayors were asked to do? (Here the orator pauses a moment to take +breath. The curiosity of the audience is intense.) They were asked to +take part in the capitulation. (Violent murmurs--Infamous.) Well +yes--Delescluze would have nothing to do with this infamy, and he +withdrew. Besides, there was another reason. In the division of the +succour afforded to necessitous citizens the nineteenth arrondissement +was only supposed to have 4000 indigent persons, whilst in reality the +number is 50,000, and by this means it was hoped that the popularity of +this pure Republican would suffer, and perhaps riots break out which +would be put down--(the divulgation of this plot against the mayor of +the nineteenth arrondissement is received in different ways. A person +near us observes--"All the same, he ought not to have resigned.") This +incident over, the discussion goes back to the treasons of the Hotel de +Ville. It is well known, says a speaker, that a sortie had been +determined on in a Council composed of four generals, presided over by +Trochu, and that the next morning the Prussians were informed of it. Who +told them, who betrayed us. Was it Schmitz, or another general. (A +voice: "It was the man who eats pheasants." Indignation.) In any case, +Trochu is responsible, even if he was not the traitor himself. ("Yes, +yes; it was Trochu!") Another citizen, not personally known to the +audience, but who announces that he lives in the Rue Chasson, says that +he has received by accident a confidential communication which, perhaps, +may throw some light on the affair. This citizen has some friends who +are the friends of Ledru Rollin and of the citizen Tibaldi; and one of +these friends heard a friend say that either Ledru Rollin or Tibaldi had +heard Trochu say that it was impossible to save Paris; but that he would +have 30,000 men killed, and then capitulate. (Murmurs of indignation.) +The citizen of the Rue Chasson has received a second confidential +communication, which corroborates the first. He has been told by one of +his neighbours that everything is ready for a capitulation, and he +thinks that he will soon be enabled to communicate something still more +important on this subject; but in the meanwhile he entreats the +energetic citizens of Belleville--(indignation "This is not +Belleville")--pardon, of La Villette and of the other Republican +faubourgs, to keep their eyes on the Government. They must have no +confidence in the _quartiers_ inside the town. The Rue Chasson, in which +he lives, is utterly demoralised. La Villette, with Belleville and +Montmartre, must save Paris. (Applause.) Another citizen says that he +has of late frequently heard the odious word capitulation. How can it be +otherwise? Everything is being done to make it necessary. We, the +National Guard, who receive 1fr. 50c. a-day, are called the indigent. +What do the robbers and the beggars who thus insult us do? They indulge +in orgies in the fashionable restaurants. The Zoological Gardens have +been shut. Why? Because the elephants, the tigers, and other rare +animals have been sold in order to enable wretches who laugh at the +public misery to gorge themselves. What can we, the indigent, as they +call us, do with 30 sous, when a few potatoes cost 30fr., and a piece of +celery 2fr. And they talk now of capitulating, because they have grown +rich on the war. Every one knows that it was made in order that +speculators should make fortunes. As long as they had goods to sell at +ten times their value they were for resistance to the death. Now that +they have nothing more to sell, they talk of capitulating. Ah! when one +thinks of these scandals one is almost inclined to blow one's brains +out. (Laughter and applause.) A fourth citizen takes up the same theme +with the same energy and conviction. He knows, he says, a restaurant +which is frequented by bank clerks, and where last week there were eaten +two cows and a calf, whilst the ambulance opposite was without fresh +meat. (Violent murmurs.) This is a part of the system, of Trochu and his +colleagues. They starve us and they betray us. Trochu, it is true, has +said that he would not capitulate, but we know what that means. When we +are worn out and demoralised he will demand a fresh plebiscite on the +question of a capitulation, and then he will say that the people, and +not he, capitulated. ("True, he is a Jesuit.") We must make an end of +these speculators and traitors. ("Yes, yes, it is time,") We must have +the Commune. We have not more than eighteen days of provisions, and we +want fifteen of them, to revictual. If the Commune is not proclaimed in +three days we are lost ("True. La Commune! La Commune!") The orator +explains how the Commune will save Paris. It will establish domiciliary +visits not only among the shopkeepers, but among private persons who +have stores of provisions. Besides, he adds, when all the dogs are eaten +we will eat the traitors. (Laughter and applause.) The Commune will +organise at the same time a sortie _en masse_, the success of which is +infallible. From statistics furnished by Gambetta it results that at +this moment there are not above 75,000 Prussians round Paris. And shall +our army of 500,000 men remain stationary before this handful of +Germans? Absurd. The Commune will burst through this pretended circle of +iron. It will put an end to treason. It will place two commissaries by +the side of each general. (The evening before, at the club in the Rue +Blanche, one commissary with a revolver had been proposed. At the +Marseillaise two were thought requisite. This evening, probably at the +Club Favie, in order to beat La Villette, three will be the number. The +position of a general of the Commune will not be an easy one.) These +commissaries, continues the orator, will watch all the movements of the +general. At the first sign he gives of yielding, they will blow his +brains out. Inexorably placed between victory and death, he will choose +the former. (General approbation.) The hour is getting late, but before +concluding the sitting, the President announces that the moment is +approaching when Republicans must stand shoulder to shoulder. Patriots +are invited to give in their names and addresses, in order to be found +when they are wanted. This proposal is adopted by acclamation. A certain +number of citizens register their names, and then the meeting breaks up +with a shout of "Vive la Commune de Paris!" + + +_January 19th._ + +All yesterday artillery was rolling and troops were marching through +Paris on their way to the Porte de Neuilly. The soldiers of the line +were worn and ragged; the marching battalions of the National Guards, +spick and span in their new uniforms. All seemed in good spirits, the +soldiers, after the wont of their countrymen, were making jokes with +each other, and with everyone else--the National Guards were singing +songs. In some instances they were accompanied by their wives and +sweethearts, who carried their muskets or clung to their arms. Most of +them looked strong, well-built men, and I have no doubt that in three or +four months, under a good general, they would make excellent soldiers. +In the Champs Elysees, there were large crowds to see them pass. +"Pauvres garcons," I heard many girls say, "who knows how many will +return!" And it was indeed a sad sight, these honest bourgeois, who +ought to be in their shops or at their counters, ill-drilled, unused to +war, marching forth with stout hearts, but with little hope of success, +to do battle for their native city, against the iron legions which are +beleaguering it. They went along the Avenue de la Grande Armee, crossed +the bridge of Neuilly over the Seine, and bivouacked for the night in +what is called the "Peninsula of Genevilliers." This peninsula is formed +by a loop in the Seine. Maps of the environs of Paris must be plentiful +in London, and a glance at one will make the topography of to-day's +proceedings far clearer than any description. The opening of the loop is +hilly, and the hills run along the St. Cloud side of the loop as far as +Mont Valerien, and on the other side as far as Rueil. About half a mile +from Mont Valerien following the river is St. Cloud; and between St. +Cloud and the Park of the same name is Montretout, a redoubt which was +commenced by the French, but which, since the siege began, has been held +by the Prussians. The enemy's line extends across the loop from +Montretout through Garches to La Malmaison. The latter lies just below +Rueil, which is a species of neutral village. The troops passed the +night in the upper part of the loop. In numbers they were about 90,000, +as far as I can ascertain, and they had with them a formidable field +artillery. The object of the sortie was a vague idea to push forward, if +possible, to Versailles. Most of the generals were opposed to it, and +thought that it would be wiser to make frequent sudden attacks on the +enemy's lines; but General Public Opinion insisted upon a grand +operation; and this anonymous but all powerful General, as usual, +carried the day. The plan appears to have been this: one half the army +was under General Vinoy, the other half under General Ducrot. The former +was to attack Montretout and Garches, the latter was to push forward +through Rueil and La Malmaison, carry the heights of La Jonchere, and +then unite with Vinoy at Garches. General Trochu, from an observatory in +Mont Valerien, commanded the whole movement. At 7 o'clock troops were +pushed forward against Montretout. This redoubt was held by about 200 +Poles from Posen; and they made so determined a resistance that the +place was not taken until 9.30. No guns were found in the redoubt. At +the same time General Bellemare, who commands one of Vinoy's divisions, +advanced on Garches, and occupied the wood and park of Buzenval, driving +in the Prussian outposts. Here several battalions of the National Guards +were engaged. Although their further advance was arrested by a stone +wall, from behind which the Prussians fired, they maintained themselves +in the wood and the park. The Prussians now opened a heavy fire along +the line. At Montretout it was impossible to get a single gun into +position. This went on until a little after three o'clock. By this time +reinforcements had come up from Versailles, and were pushed forward +against the centre of the French line. At the same time shells fell upon +the reserves, which consisted of National Guards, and which were drawn +up upon the incline of the heights looking towards Paris. They were +young troops, and for young troops nothing is so trying as being shelled +without being allowed to move. They broke and fell back. Their +companions who were in advance, and who held the crest of the heights, +saw themselves deserted, and at the same time saw the attacking column +coming forward, and they too fell back. The centre of the position was +thus lost. A hurried consultation was held, and Montretout and Buzenval +were evacuated. As night closed the French troops were falling back to +their bivouacs of the previous night, and the Prussians were recrossing +the trench which formed their advanced posts in the morning. The day was +misty, the mud was so deep that walking was difficult, and I could not +follow very clearly the movements of the troops from the house in which +I had ensconced myself. What became of General Ducrot no one seemed to +know. I have since learnt that he advanced with little resistance +through Rueil and La Malmaison, and that he then fought during the day +at La Jonchere, detaching a body of troops towards the Park of Buzenval. +He appears, however, to have failed in taking La Celle St. Cloud, and +from thence flanking La Bergerie, and marching on Garches. Everything is +consequently very much where it was this morning before the engagement +took place. It has been the old story. The Prussians did not defend +their first line, but fell back on their fixed batteries, there keeping +up a heavy fire until reinforcements had had time to be brought up. More +troops are ordered out for to-morrow; so I presume that the battle is to +be renewed. If it ends in a defeat, the consequences will be serious, +for the artillery can only be brought back to Paris by one bridge. The +wounded are numerous. In the American ambulance, which is close by in +the Champs Elysees, there are about seventy. In the Grand Hotel they are +arriving every moment. The National Guard at Buzenval behaved very +fairly under fire. Many of them had not been above a few days in +uniform. Their officers were in many cases as inexperienced as the men. +During the fight entire companies were wandering about looking for their +battalions, and men for their companies. As citizen soldiers they did +their best, and individually they were made of good stuff; but the moral +is--do not employ citizen soldiers for offensive operations. When I +returned into the town at about 5 o'clock this afternoon, the peninsula +of Gennevilliers resembled the course at Epsom on a wet Derby Day. To my +civilian eyes, cavalry, artillery, and infantry, seemed to be in +inextricable confusion. + +This morning the bread was rationed all over the city. No one is to have +more than 300 grammes per diem; children only 150. I recommend anyone +who has lived too high to try this regime for a week. It will do him +good. No costermonger's donkey is so overloaded as the stomachs of most +rich people. The Government on December 12 solemnly announced that the +bread never would be rationed. This measure, therefore, looks to me very +much like the beginning of the end. A perquisition is also being made in +search of provisions in the apartments of all those who have quitted +Paris. Another sign of the end. But it is impossible to know on how +little a Frenchman can live until the question has been tested. I went +yesterday into the house of a friend of mine, in the Avenue de +l'Imperatrice, which is left in charge of a servant, and found three +families, driven out of their homes by the bombardment, installed in +it--one family, consisting of a father, a mother, and three children, +were boiling a piece of horse meat, about four inches square, in a +bucket full of water. This exceedingly thin soup was to last them for +three days. The day before they had each had a carrot. The bread is +scarce because the supply ceases before the demand in most quarters, so +that those who come last get none. My friend's servant was giving a +dinner to the English coachman. The sole dish was a cat with mice round +it. I tasted one of the latter, crunching the bones as if it had been a +lark. I can recommend mice, when nothing more substantial is to be +obtained. + +I hear that a pigeon has arrived this evening. Its despatch has not yet +been published. The "traitor-mania" still rages. Last night at the +Belleville Club an orator announced an awful discovery--the bread was +being poisoned by traitors. The Correspondent of one of your +contemporaries, having heard that he had been accused of being a +Prussian spy, went to-day to the Prefect of the Police. This august +being told him that he did not suspect him, and then showed him a file +of papers duly docketed relating to each London paper which is +represented here. For my part, although I have not failed to blame what +I thought blameable, and although I have not gone into ecstacies over +the bombastic nonsense which is the legacy of the vile despotism to +which the French were foolish enough to submit for twenty years, and +which has vitiated the national character, I have endeavoured in my +correspondence to be, as far as was consistent with truth, "to all their +virtues very kind, to all their faults a little blind." + + +_January 20th._ + +This morning several fresh regiments of National Guards were ordered to +march out to the Peninsula of Gennevilliers. I accompanied one of them; +but when we got into Neuilly a counter-order came, and they were marched +back. Every house in Neuilly and Courbevoie was full of troops, and +regiments were camping out in the fields, where they had passed the +night without tents. Many of the men had been so tired that they had +thrown themselves down in the mud, which was almost knee-deep, and thus +fallen asleep with their muskets by their sides. Bitter were the +complaints of the commissariat. Bread and _eau de vie_ were at a high +premium. Many of the men had thrown away their knapsacks, with their +loaves strapped to them, during the action, and these were now the +property of the Prussians. It is impossible to imagine a more forlorn +and dreary scene. Some of the regiments--chiefly those which had not +been in the action--kept well together; but there were a vast number of +stragglers wandering about looking for their battalions and their +companies. At about twelve o'clock it became known that the troops were +to re-enter Paris, and that the battle was not to be renewed; and at +about one the march through the gate of Neuilly commenced, colours +flying and music playing, as though a victory had been won. I remained +there some time watching the crowd that had congregated at each side of +the road. Most of the lookers on appeared to be in a condition of blank +despair. They had believed so fully that the grand sortie must end in a +grand victory, that they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw +their heroes returning into Paris, instead of being already at +Versailles. There were many women anxiously scanning the lines of +soldiers as they passed by, and asking every moment whether some +relative had been killed. As I came home down the Champs Elysees it was +full of knots of three and four soldiers, who seemed to consider that it +was a waste of time and energy to keep up with their regiments. + +In the evening papers the despatch announcing the defeat of Chanzy has +been published, and a request from Trochu to General Schmitz to apply at +once for an armistice of two days to bury the dead. "The fog," he adds, +"is very dense," and certainly this fog appears to have got into the +worthy man's brain. Almost all the wounded have already been picked up +by the French and the Prussian ambulances. Nearly all the dead are in +what are now the Prussian lines, and will no doubt be buried by them. In +the afternoon, as a suspension of arms for two hours was agreed to, our +ambulances pushed forward, and brought back a few wounded, but not many. +Most of those who had fallen in the Prussian lines had already been +moved, their officers said, to St. Germain and St. Cloud, where they +would be cared for. At three P.M. Jules Favre summoned the Mayors to a +consultation, and General Trochu also came in to the Ministry of Foreign +Affairs for half an hour, and then returned to Valerien. The feeling +against him is very strong. It is said that he has offered to resign; +and I think it very probable that he will be the Jonah thrown out to +the whale. But will this sacrifice save the ship? All the Generals are +roundly abused. Indeed, in France there is no medium between the Capitol +and the Tarpeian Rock. A man who is not a victor must be a traitor. That +undisciplined National Guards fresh from their shops, should be unable +to carry by assault batteries held by German troops, is a thing which +never can be admitted. If they fail to do this, it is the fault of their +leaders. Among those who were killed yesterday is M. Regnault, the +painter who obtained at the last salon, the gold medal for his picture +of "Salome." He went into action with a card on his breast, on which he +had written his name and the address of the young lady to whom he was +engaged to be married. When the brancardiers picked him up, he had just +strength to point to this address. Before they could carry him there he +was dead. But the most painful scene during the battle was the sight of +a French soldier who fell by French balls. He was a private in the 119th +Battalion, and refused to advance. His commander remonstrated. The +private shot him. General Bellemare, who was near, ordered the man to be +killed at once. A file was drawn up and fired on him; he fell, and was +supposed to be dead. Some brancardiers soon afterwards passing by, and +thinking that he had been wounded in the battle, placed him on a +stretcher. It was then discovered that he was still alive. A soldier +went up to him to finish him off, but his gun missed fire. He was then +handed another, when he blew out the wretched man's brains. From all I +can learn from the people connected with the different ambulances, our +loss yesterday does not amount to above 2000 killed and wounded. Most of +the newspapers estimate it far higher. At Buzenval, where the only +really sharp fighting took place, an officer who was in command tells me +that there were about 300 killed. For the sake of humanity, it is to be +hoped that we shall have no more of these blind sorties. The French get +through the first Prussian lines; they are then arrested by the fire of +the batteries from the second line; reinforcements are brought up by the +enemy; and the well-known movement to the rear commences. "Our losses," +say the official reports the next morning, "are great; those of the +enemy enormous. Our troops fought with distinguished valour, but----" + + +_January 21st._ + +It was so wet last night that there were but few groups of people on the +Boulevards. At the clubs Trochu was universally denounced. Almost every +one is now in despair. Of what use, they say, are the victories of +Bourbaki; he cannot be here in time. We had pinned our faith on Chanzy, +and the news of his defeat, coupled with our own, has almost +extinguished every ray of hope in the breasts even of the most hopeful. +The Government, it is thought, is preparing the public mind for a +capitulation. _La Liberte_, until now its strongest supporter, bitterly +complains that it should publish the truth! Chandordy's despatch went +first to Jules Favre. He stood over the man who was deciphering it. When +he read the opening sentence, "Un grand malheur," he refused to read +more, and sent it undeciphered to Trochu. When it reached the Governor, +no one on his staff could decipher it, so it had to be returned to the +Foreign-office. The moment for the quacks is at hand. A "General" offers +to raise the siege if he be given 50,000 men. A magician offers a shell +which will destroy the Prussians root and branch. M. Felix Pyat, in his +organ, observes that Sparta never was taken, and that the Spartans used +to eat in common. He proposes, therefore, as a means to free Paris, that +a series of public suppers should be inaugurated. I can only say that I +hope that they may be, for I certainly shall attend. Even Spartan broth +would be acceptable. The bread is all but uneatable. If you put it in +water, straw and bits of hay float about. A man, who ought to know, +solemnly assured me this morning that we had only food for six days; but +then men who ought to know are precisely those who know nothing. I do +not think that we are so badly off as this; but the end is a question no +longer of months, but of days, and very soon it will be of hours. Those +who desire a speedy capitulation are called _les capitulards_, and they +are in a majority of nine to one. There are still many who clamour for a +grand sortie, but most of those who do so, are persons who, by no +possibility, can themselves share in the operation. The street orators +are still at poor Jonah Trochu, and their hearers seem to agree with +them. These sages, however, do not explain who is to replace him. Some +of the members of the Government, I hear, suggest an admiral; but what +admiral would accept this _damnosa haereditas_? Among the generals, each +has his partisans, and each seems to be of opinion that he himself is a +mighty man of war, and all the others fools. Both Vinoy and Ducrot +declined to attend the Council of War which sat before the late sortie. +They were generals of division, they said, and they would obey orders, +but they would accept no further responsibilities. Ducrot, who was the +_fidus Achates_ of Trochu, is no longer in his good graces. The _Reveil_ +of this afternoon, which is usually well-informed on all matters which +concern our Mayors, gives the following account of the meeting of +yesterday: "At three o'clock the meeting took place in the presence of +all the members of the Government. M. Trochu declared formally that he +would fight no more. M. Favre said that the Government was +'disappearing.' M. Favre proposed that the Government should give up its +power to the Mayors. The Mayors refused. The discussion was very +violent. Several propositions, one more absurd than another, were +brought forward by some of the members of the Government. They were not +discussed. As usual, the meeting broke up without any result." The best +man they have is Vinoy; he is honest, disinterested, and determined. It +is to be hoped that if Trochu resigns, he will take his place. + + +_January 22nd._ + +So poor Jonah has gone over, and been swallowed up by the whale. He +still remains the head of the civil government, but it only is as a +figure-head. He is an upright man; but as a military chief he has proved +himself a complete failure. He was a man of plans, and never could alter +the details of these plans to suit a change of circumstances. What his +grand plan was, by which Paris was to be saved, no one now, I presume, +ever will know. The plans of his sorties were always elaborately drawn +up; each divisional commander was told in the minutest details what he +was to do. Unfortunately, General Moltke usually interfered with the +proper development of these details--a proceeding which always surprised +poor Trochu--and in the account the next day of his operations, he would +dwell upon the fact as a reason for his want of success. That batteries +should be opened upon his troops, and that reinforcements should be +brought up against them, were trifles--probable as they might seem to +most persons--which filled him with an indignant astonishment. At the +last sortie Ducrot excuses himself for being late at La Malmaison +because he found the road by which he had been ordered to advance +occupied by a long line of artillery, also there by Trochu's orders. +General Vinoy, who has replaced him, is a hale old soldier about seventy +years old. He has risen from the ranks, and in the Crimea was a very +intimate friend of Lord Clyde. When the latter came, a few years before +his death, to Paris, the English Ambassador had prepared a grand +breakfast for him, and had gone to the station to meet him. On the +platform was also Vinoy, who also had prepared breakfast for his old +comrade in arms; and this breakfast, very much to the disgust of the +diplomatist, Lord Clyde accepted. General Vinoy has to-day issued a +proclamation to the troops, which in its plain, simple, modest language +contrasts very favourably with the inflated bombast in which his +predecessor was so great an adept. + +The newspapers are already commencing to prove to their own satisfaction +that the battle of last Thursday was not a defeat, but an "incomplete +victory." As for the National Guard, one would suppose that every one of +them had been in the action, and that they were only prevented from +carrying everything before them by the timidity of their generals. The +wonderful feats which many of these heroes have told me they performed +would lead one to suppose that Napoleon's old Guard was but a flock of +sheep in comparison with them. I cannot help thinking that by a certain +indistinctness of recollection they attribute to themselves every +exploit, not only that they saw, but that their fertile imaginations +have ever dreamt to be possible. In all this nonsense they are supported +by the newspapers, who think more of their circulation than of truth. To +read the accounts of this battle one would suppose that neither the Line +nor the Mobiles had been in it. A caricature now very popular represents +a lion in the uniform of a National Guard held back by two donkeys in +the uniforms of generals, and vainly endeavouring to rush upon a crowd +of terrified Germans. As a matter of fact--about 5,000 National Guards +were in the thick of it--the men behaved tolerably well, and many of the +officers very well. The great majority of the marching battalions which +were in the peninsula "did not give," to use the French phrase; and some +of them, notwithstanding the efforts of their officers, were unable to +remain steady as soon as the Prussian bombs reached them. This _sic vos +non vobis_ which, is meted out to the Mobiles and the Line makes me +indignant. As for the sailors, they are splendid fellows--and how we +always manage to beat them afloat increases my admiration of the British +tars. They are kept under the strictest discipline by their captains +and admirals, one of whom once said to me when I asked him whether his +men fraternized with the soldiers, "If I saw one of them associating +with such _canaille_, I would put him under arrest for twenty-four +hours." In the forts they are perfectly cool under the heaviest fire, +and both at Le Bourget and at Chatillon they fought like heroes. "Ten +thousand of them," observed a general to me the other day, "are worth +more than the whole National Guards." + +The bombardment still continues. Bombs fall into the southern part of +the town; but habit in this world is everything, and no one troubles +himself much about them. At night the Trocadero has become a fashionable +lounge for the _cocottes_, who still honour us with their presence. The +line of the Prussian batteries and the flash of their guns can be seen. +The hissing, too, of the bombs can be heard, when the _cocottes_ crouch +by their swains in affected dread. It is like Cremorne, with its ladies +and its fireworks. Since yesterday morning, too, St. Denis has been +bombarded. Most of its inhabitants have taken refuge in Paris, but it +will be a pity if the cathedral, with the tombs of all the old French +Kings, is damaged. St. Denis is itself a species of fort. Its guns are +not, a friend tells me who has just come from there, replying with +vigour. The Prussians are firing on it from six separate batteries, and +it is feared that it will fall. Our attention to-day has been diverted +from the Prussians outside by a little domestic quarrel at home, and we +have been shooting each other, as though the Prussian missiles were not +enough for our warlike stomachs, and death were not raging around our +prison. + +Between twelve and one this morning a band of armed patriots appeared +before the prison of Mazas, and demanded the release of Flourens and the +political prisoners who were shut up there. The director, instead of +keeping the gate shut, allowed a deputation to enter. As soon as the +gate was opened, not only the deputation, but the patriots rushed in, +and bore off Flourens and his friends in triumph. With the Mayor at +their head, they then went to the Mairie of the 20th Arrondissement, and +pillaged it of all the rations and bread and wine which they found +stored up there. Then they separated, having passed a resolution to go +at twelve o'clock to the Hotel de Ville, to assist their "brothers" in +turning out the Government. I got myself to the Place of the Hotel de +Ville at about two o'clock. There were then about 5000 persons there. +The gates were shut. Inside the rails before them were a few officers; +and soldiers could be seen at all the windows. Some few of the 5000 were +armed, but most of them were unarmed. Close in by the Hotel de Ville +there seemed to be some sort of military order in the positions occupied +by the rioters. I took up my stand at the corner of the Rue de Rivoli. +Every moment the crowd increased. It was composed partly of sightseers, +for on Sunday every one is out of doors; partly of sympathisers. These +sympathisers were not, as on October 31, working men, but mainly what +Count Bismarck would call the populace. Their political creed may be +summed up by the word "loot;" their personal appearance by the word +"hangdog." I found myself in the midst of a group of hangdogs, who were +abusing everyone and everything. On one side of me was a lady of +expansive figure, whose breath showed that she had partaken lately of +ardent spirits, and whose conversation showed that if she was a "matron +of Cornelia's mien," her morals were better than her conversation. "The +people are slaves," she perpetually yelled, "they will no longer submit +to traitors; I say it to you, I, the mother of four children." The +maternal vantage ground which she assumed evidently gave her opinions +weight, for her neighbours replied, "Oui, elle a raison, la mere." A +lean, bilious-looking fellow, who looked as though through life he had +not done an honest day's work, and whose personal charms were not +heightened by a grizzled beard and a cap of cat-skin, close by the +matron, was bawling out, "The Hotel de Ville belongs to us, I am a +taxpayer;" whilst a youth about fifteen years old, hard by, explained in +a shrill treble the military errors which Trochu and the generals had +committed. At a little after three o'clock, a fresh band, all armed, +with a drum, beating the charge, appeared, and as they neared the chief +entrance of the Hotel de Ville, just one shot, and then a number of +shots were fired. Everybody who had a gun then shot it off with an eager +but general idea of doing something, as he fled, like a Parthian bowman. +The stampede soon became general; numbers of persons threw themselves on +the ground. I saw the mother of four children sprawling in the mire, and +the bilious taxpayer fall over her, and then I followed the youthful +strategist into an open door. Inside were about twenty people. The door +was shut to, and for about twenty minutes we heard muskets going off. +Then, as the fight seemed over, the door was opened and we emerged. The +Place had been evacuated by the mob, and was held by the troops. Fresh +regiments were marching on it along the quay and the Rue de Rivoli. +Wounded people were lying about or crawling towards the houses. Soon +some _brancardiers_ arrived and picked up the wounded. One boy I saw +evidently dying--the blood was streaming out of two wounds. The windows +of the Hotel de Ville were broken, and the facade bore traces of balls, +as did some of the houses round the Place. I remained until dusk. Even +when I left the streets were full of citizens. Each man who had rolled +in the mire, and whose clothes showed traces of it, was the centre of a +group of sympathisers and non-sympathisers, to whom he was explaining +how the Breton brigands had fired on him, a poor innocent lamb, who had +done no harm. The non-sympathisers, however, were in the majority, and +"served him right" seemed to be the general verdict on those who had +been shot, or who had spoilt their clothes. Every now and then some +window would slam or a cart would rumble by, when there would be a +general scamper for a few yards. After dinner I again returned to the +Hotel de Ville. The crowd had dispersed, and the Place was militarily +occupied; so we may suppose that this little domestic episode is over. + + +_January 23rd, morning._ + +The clubs are closed, and the _Reveil_ and the _Combat_ suppressed. +Numbers of people are coming in from St. Denis, where the bombardment is +getting very hot. Bombs last night fell in one of the islands on the +Seine; so the flood is mounting, and our dry ground is every day +diminishing. I see in an extract from a German paper, that it has been +telegraphed to England that the village of Issy has been entirely +destroyed by the Prussian fire. This is not the case. I was there the +other day, and the village is still there. It is not precisely the spot +where one would wish one's property to be situated, but most of the +houses are, as yet, intact. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +_January 27th._ + +I write this, as I hear that the last balloon is to start to-night. How +lucky for the English public that, just when the siege of Paris ceases, +the conscript fathers of the nation will furnish them with reading at +their breakfast tables. The light, airy wit of Professor Fawcett, and +the pleasant fancy of Mr. Newdegate, will be served up for them with +their hot rolls every morning instead of the bulletins of Count +Moltke--lucky public! + +Most of us here are much like heirs at a rich man's funeral. We have +long faces, we sigh and we groan, but we are not quite so unhappy as we +look. The _Journal Officiel_ of this morning announces that Paris will +not be occupied, and that the National Guard will not go to Germany. +This is, we say, very different from a capitulation--it is a political +incident; in a few days I expect to hear it called a victory. The editor +of the _Liberte_--why is this gentleman still alive? for the last three +months he has been making pacts with death--explains that Paris never +would have and never will capitulate, but that an armistice is a very +different sort of thing. Last night, notwithstanding the cold which has +again set in, the Boulevard was blocked up with groups of patriots and +wiseacres discussing the state of things, and explaining what Paris +would agree to and what she would not agree to. Occasionally some +"pure"--a "pure" is an Ultra--threw out that the Parisians themselves +were only reaping what they had sown; but the pure, I need hardly say, +was soon silenced, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Paris has +been sublime and heroic, but that if she has been neither, it has been +the fault of the traitors to whom she has confided her destinies. Some +said that the admirals had stated that they would blow up their forts +rather than surrender them; but if the worthies who vouched for this had +been informed by the admirals of their intentions, I can only say that +these honest tars had chosen strange confidants. + +Paris, as I have already said more than once, has been fighting as much +for her own supremacy over the provinces as for victory over the +Prussians. The news--whether true or false I know not--that Gambetta, +who is regarded as the representative of Paris, has been replaced by a +sort of Council of Regency, and that this Council of Regency is +treating, has filled everyone here with indignation. Far better, +everyone seems to think, that Alsace should be lost to France, than that +France should be lost to Paris. The victories of Prussia have been +bitter to Frenchmen, because they had each of them individually assumed +a vicarious glory in the victories of the First Empire; but the real +patriotism of the Parisians does not extend farther than the walls of +their own town. If the result of this war is to cause France to +undertake the conduct of its own affairs, and not to allow the +population of Paris and the journalists of Paris to ride roughshod over +her, the country will have gained more than she has lost by her defeats, +no matter what may be the indemnity she be called upon to pay. The +martial spirit of the National Guard has of course been lauded to the +skies by those newspapers which depend for their circulation on these +braves. The question what they have done may, however, be reduced to +figures. They number above 300,000. According to their own statements +they have been fighting for nearly five months, and I venture to say +that during the whole campaign they have not lost 500 men. They have +occasionally done duty in the trenches, but this duty has been a very +brief one, and they have had very long intervals of repose. I do not +question that in the National Guard there are many brave men, but one +can only judge of the fighting qualities of an army by comparison, and +if the losses of the National Guard be statistically compared with those +of the Line, of the Mobiles, and of the sailors, it will be shown +that--to use an Americanism--their record is a bad one. The soldiers and +the sailors have fought, and the women have suffered during the siege. +The male population of Paris has done little more than bluster and drink +and brag. + +To-day there is no firing, and I suppose that the last shell has fallen +into Paris. I went out yesterday to St. Denis. Along the road there were +a few people coming into Paris with their beds and tables in hand-carts. +In the town the bombardment, although not so heavy as it had been, was +far too heavy to be pleasant. Most of the people still remaining have +established themselves in their cellars, and every moment one came +against some chimney emerging from the soil. Some were still on the +ground-floor of their houses, and had heaped up mattresses against their +windows. The inhabitants occasionally ran from one house to another, +like rabbits in a warren from hole to hole. All the doors were open, and +whenever one heard the premonitory whistle which announced the arrival +of one of the messengers of our psychological friends outside, one had +to dodge into some door. I did not see any one hit. The houses were a +good deal knocked about; the cathedral, it was said, had been hit, but +as shells were falling in the Place before it, I reserved investigations +for a more quiet moment. Some of the garrison told me that the forts had +been "scratched," but as to how far this scratching process had been +carried I cannot say from personal observation, as I thought I might be +scratched myself if I pushed my reconnaissance farther. I am not a +military man, and do not profess to know anything about bombs +technically, but it seems to me, considering that it is their object to +burst, and considering the number of scientific persons who have devoted +their time to make them burst, it is very strange how very few do burst. +I am told that one reason for this is the following:--when they lose the +velocity of the impelling force they turn over in the air, and as the +percussion cap is on the lighter end, the heavier one strikes the +ground. Many of these, too, which have fallen in the town, and which +have burst, have done no mischief, because the lead in which they are +enveloped has kept the pieces together. The danger, indeed, to life and +limb of a bombardment is very slight. I would at any time prefer to be +for 24 hours in the most exposed portion of a bombarded town, than walk +24 times across Oxford Street in the middle of the day. A bomb is a joke +in comparison with those great heavy wagons which are hurled at +pedestrians by their drivers in the streets of London. + + +_January 28th._ + +The Government has not yet made up its mind to bell the cat, and to let +us know the terms of the armistice or capitulation, whichever it is to +be called. We hear that it is expected that trains will run to England +on Tuesday or Wednesday, and by the first train I for one shall +endeavour to get out of this prison. It will be such a relief to find +oneself once more among people who have glimpses of common sense, who +are not all in uniform, and who did not insist so very strongly on their +sublime attitude. Yesterday evening there were a series of open-air +clubs held on the Boulevards and other public places. The orators were +in most instances women or aged men. These Joans of Arc and ancient +Pistols talked very loudly of making a revolution in order to prevent +the capitulation; and it seemed to me that among their hearers, +precisely those who whilst they had an opportunity to fight thought it +wise not to do so, were most vociferous in their applause. The language +of the National Guard is indeed most warlike. Several hundred of their +officers have indulged in the cheap patriotism of signing a declaration +that they wish to die rather than yield. This morning many battalions of +the National Guard are under arms, and are hanging about in the streets +with their arms stacked before them. Many of the men, however, have not +answered to the rappel, and are remaining at home, as a mode of +protesting against what is passing. General Vinoy has a body of troops +ready to act, and as he is a man of energy I do not anticipate serious +disturbances for the moment. As for the soldiers and the Mobiles, they +are wandering about in twos and threes without arms, and do not affect +to conceal that they are heartily glad that all is over. Poor fellows, +their torn and tattered uniforms contrast with the spick and span +military gear of the National Guard. They have had during the siege hard +work, and they have done good duty, with but little thanks for it. The +newspapers are one and all down on the Government. It is of course held +to be their fault that the lines of the besiegers have not been forced. +General Trochu is not a military genius, and his colleagues have not +proved themselves better administrators than half a dozen lawyers who +have got themselves elected to a legislative assembly by the gift of the +gab were likely to be; but still this system of sacrificing the leaders +whenever any disaster takes place, and accusing them of treachery and +incompetence, is one of the worst features in the French character. If +it continues, eventually every man of rank will be dubbed by his own +countrymen either a knave or a fool. + + +_January 31st._ + +_Finita la Comedia._ Let fall the curtain. The siege of Paris is over; +the last balloon has carried our letters through the clouds; the last +shot has been fired. The Prussians are in the forts, and the Prussian +armies are only not in the streets because they prefer to keep watch and +guard outside the vanquished city. What will be the verdict of history +on the defence? Who knows! On the one hand the Parisians have kept a +powerful army at bay far longer than was anticipated; on the other hand, +every sortie that they have made has been unsuccessful--every attempt to +arrest the approach of the besiegers has failed. Passively and inertly +they have allowed their store of provisions to grow less and less, until +they have been forced to capitulate, without their defences having been +stormed, or the cannon silenced. The General complains of his soldiers, +the soldiers complain of their General; and on both sides there is cause +of complaint. Trochu is not a Todleben. His best friends describe him as +a sort of military Hamlet, wise of speech, but weak and hesitating in +action--making plans, and then criticising them instead of accomplishing +them. As a commander, his task was a difficult one; when the siege +commenced he had no army; when the army was formed, it was encompassed +by earthworks and redoubts so strong that even better soldiers would +have failed to carry them. As a statesman, he never was the master of +the situation. He followed rather than led public opinion, and +subordinated everything to the dread of displeasing any section of a +population, which, to be ruled--even in quiet times--must be ruled with +a rod of iron. Success is the criterion of ability in this country, and +poor Trochu is as politically dead as though he never had lived. His +enemies call him a traitor; his friends defend him from the charge by +saying that he is only a vain fool. + +As regards the armed force, the sailors have behaved so well that I +wonder at the ease with which our own tars have always beaten them. They +have been kept under a rigid discipline by their naval commanders. The +line, composed of depot battalions, and of the regiments which Vinoy +brought back from Mezieres, without being equal to old seasoned troops, +have fought creditably. Their great defect has been an absence of strict +discipline. The Mobiles, raw peasants fresh from their homes, have shown +themselves brave in action, and have supported the hardship of lengthy +outpost duty without a murmur. Unfortunately they elected their own +officers, and this weakened their efficiency for offensive purposes. +When the siege commenced, every citizen indiscriminately assumed the +uniform of the National Guard. Each battalion of this motley force +elected its officers, and both men and officers united in despising +discipline as a restraint to natural valour. The National Guard mounted +guard occasionally on the ramparts, and the rest of their time they +passed in parading the streets, drinking in the pothouses, and +discussing the conduct of their military superiors. General Trochu soon +discovered that this force was, for all purposes of war, absolutely +useless. He called for volunteers, and he anticipated that 100,000 men +would answer to the appeal; not 10,000 did so. He then ordered a +marching company to be formed from each battalion. Complaints +innumerable arose. Instead of a generous emulation to fight, each man +sought for an excuse to avoid it. This man had a mother, that man a +daughter; one had weak lungs, and another weak legs. At length, by dint +of pressure and coaxing, the marching battalions were formed. Farewell +suppers were offered them by their comrades. They were given new coats, +new trousers, and new saucepans to strap on their haversacks. They have +done some duty in the trenches, but they were always kept away from +serious fighting, and only gave a "moral support" to those engaged in +the conflict, until the fiasco in the Isthmus of Gennevilliers a +fortnight ago. Then, near the walls of Buzanval, the few companies which +were in action fought fairly if not successfully, whilst in another part +of the field of battle, those who formed the reserves broke and fled as +soon as the Prussian bombs fell into their ranks. The entire National +Guard, sedentary and marching battalions, has not, I imagine, lost 500 +men during its four months' campaign. This can hardly be called fighting +to the death _pro aris et focis_, and sublimity is hardly the word to +apply to these warriors. If the 300 at Thermopylae had, after exhausting +their food, surrendered to the Persian armies, after the loss of less +than one per cent. of their number--say of three men, they might have +been very worthy fellows, but history would not have embalmed their act. +Politically, with the exception of the riot on October 31, the +Government of National Defence has met with no opposition since +September last. There are several reasons for this. Among the +bourgeoisie there was little of either love or confidence felt in Trochu +and his colleagues, but they represented the cause of order, and were +indeed the only barrier against absolute anarchy. Among the poorer +classes everyone who liked was clothed, was fed, and was paid by +Government for doing nothing, and consequently many who otherwise would +have been ready to join in a revolt, thought it well not to disturb a +state of things so eminently to their satisfaction. Among the Ultras, +there was a very strong distaste to face the fire either of Prussians or +of Frenchmen. They had, too, no leaders worthy of the name, and many of +them were determined not to justify Count Bismarck's taunt that the +"populace" would aid him by exciting civil discord. The Government of +September, consequently, is still the Government of to-day, although its +chief has shown himself a poor general, and its members, one and all, +have shown themselves wretched administrators. In unblushing mendacity +they have equalled, if not surpassed, their immediate predecessor, the +virtuous Palikao. The only two of them who would have had a chance of +figuring in England, even as vestrymen, are M. Jules Favre and M. Ernest +Picard. The former has all the brilliancy and all the faults of an able +lawyer--the latter, although a lawyer, is not without a certain modicum +of that plain practical common sense, which we are apt to regard as +peculiarly an English characteristic. + +The sufferings caused by the dearth of provisions and of fuel have +fallen almost exclusively on the women and children. Among the +well-to-do classes, there has been an absence of many of those luxuries +which habit had made almost necessaries, but this is all. The men of the +poorer classes, as a rule, preferred to idle away their time on the 1fr. +50c. which they received from the Government, rather than gain 4 or 5fr. +a day by working at their trades; consequently if they drank more and +ate less than was good for them, they have had only themselves to thank +for it. Their wives and children have been very miserable. Scantily +clad, ill fed, without fuel, they have been obliged to pass half the day +before the bakers' doors, waiting for their pittance of bread. The +mortality and the suffering have been very great among them, and yet, it +must be said to their credit, they have neither repined nor complained. + +Business has, of course, been at a standstill since last September. At +the Bourse the transactions have been of the most trifling description, +much to the disgust of the many thousands who live here by peddling +gains and doubtful speculations in this temple of filthy lucre. By a +series of decrees payment of rent and of bills of exchange has been +deferred from month to month. Most of the wholesale exporting houses +have been absolutely closed. In the retail shops nothing has been sold +except by the grocers, who must have made large profits. Whether the +city has a recuperative power strong enough to enable it to recover +from this period of stagnation, and to pay its taxation, which +henceforward will be enormous, has yet to be seen. The world is the +market for _articles de Paris_, but then to preserve this market, the +prices of these articles must be low. Foreigners, too, will not come +here if the cost of living is too exorbitant, and yet I do not see how +it is to be otherwise. The talk of the people now is, that they mean to +become serious--no longer to pander to the extravagances of strangers, +and no longer to encourage their presence amongst them. If they carry +out these intentions, I am afraid that, however their morals may be +improved, their material interests will suffer. Gambling tables may not +be an advantage to Europe, but without them Homburg and Baden would go +to the wall. Paris is a city of pleasure--a cosmopolitan city; it has +made its profit out of the follies and the vices of the world. Its +prices are too high, its houses are too large, its promenades and its +public places have cost too much for it to be able to pay its way as the +sober, decent capital of a moderate-sized country, where there are few +great fortunes. If the Parisians decide to become poor and respectable, +they are to be congratulated upon the resolve, but the present notion +seems to be that they are to become rich and respectable--a thing more +difficult. Paris--the Paris of the Empire and of Haussmann--is a house +of cards. Its prosperity was a forced and artificial one. The war and +the siege have knocked down the cards, and it is doubtful whether they +will ever serve to build a new house. + +As regards public opinion, I cannot see that it has changed one iota for +the better since the fall of the Empire, or that common sense has made +any headway. There are of course sensible men in Paris, but either they +hold their tongues, or their voices are lost in the chorus of blatant +nonsense, which is dinned into the public ears. _Mutatis mutandis_ the +newspapers, with some few exceptions, are much what they were when they +worshipped Caesar, chronicled the doings of the _demi-monde_, clamoured +for the Rhine, and invented Imperial victories. Their ignorance +respecting everything beyond the frontiers of France is such, that a +charity-schoolboy in England or Germany would be deservedly whipped for +it. _La Liberte_ has, I am told, the largest circulation at present. +Every day since the commencement of the siege I have invested two sous +in this journal, and I may say, without exaggeration, that never +once--except one evening when it was burnt on the boulevard for +inadvertently telling the truth--have I been able to discover in its +columns one single line of common sense. Its facts are sensational--its +articles gross appeals to popular folly, popular ignorance, and popular +vanity. Every petty skirmish of the National Guard has been magnified +into a stupendous victory; every battalion which visited a tomb, crowned +a statue, or signed some manifesto pre-eminent in its absurdity, has +been lauded in language which would have been exaggerated if applied to +the veterans of the first Napoleon. The editor is, I believe, the author +of the "pact with death," which has been so deservedly ridiculed in the +German newspapers. The orators of the clubs have not been wiser than the +journalists. At the Ultra gatherings, a man who says that he is a +republican is regarded as the possessor of every virtue. The remedy for +all the ills of France has been held to be, to copy exactly what was +done during the First Revolution. "Citizens, we must have a _Commune_, +and then we shall drive the Prussians out of France," was always +received with a round of sympathetic applause, although I have never yet +found two persons to agree in their explanation of what is meant by the +word "_Commune_." At the Moderate clubs, the speeches generally +consisted of ignorant abuse of Germany, attempts to disprove +well-established facts, and extravagant self-laudation. I have attended +many clubs--Ultra and Moderate--and I never heard a speaker at one of +them who would have been tolerated for five minutes by an ordinary +English political meeting. + +The best minister whom the Parisians have, is M. Dorian. He is a +manufacturer, and as hard-headed and practical as a Scotsman. Thanks to +his energy and business qualities, cannon have been cast, old muskets +converted into breechloaders, and ammunition fabricated. He has had +endless difficulties to overcome, and has overcome them. The French are +entirely without what New Englanders call shiftiness. As long as all the +wheels of an administration work well, the administrative coach moves +on, but let the smallest wheel of the machine get out of order, and +everything stands still. To move on again takes a month's discussion and +a hundred despatches. A redoubt which the Americans during their civil +war would have thrown up in a night has taken the Parisians weeks to +make. Their advanced batteries usually were without traverses, because +they were too idle to form them. Although in modern sieges the spade +ought to play as important a part as the cannon, they seem to have +considered it beneath their dignity to dig--500 navvies would have done +more for the defence of the town than 500,000 National Guards did do. At +the commencement of October, ridiculous barricades were made far inside +the ramparts, and although the generals have complained ever since that +they impeded the movements of their troops, they have never been +removed. + +I like the Parisians and I like the French. They have much of the old +Latin _urbanitas_, many kindly qualities, and most of the minor virtues +which do duty as the small change of social intercourse. But for the +sake of France, I am glad that Paris has lost its _prestige_, for its +rule has been a blight and a curse to the entire country; and for the +sake of Europe, I am glad that France has lost her military prestige, +for this prestige has been the cause of most of the wars of Europe +during the last 150 years. It is impossible so to adapt the equilibrium +of power, that every great European Power shall be co-equal in strength. +The balance tips now to the side of Germany. That country has attained +the unity after which she has so long sighed, and I do not think she +will embroil the continent in wars, waged for conquest, for an "idea," +or for the dynastic interests of her princes. The Germans are a brave +race, but not a war-loving race. Much, therefore, as I regret that +French provinces should against the will of their inhabitants become +German, and strongly as I sympathise with my poor friends here in the +overthrow of all their illusions, I console myself with the thought that +the result of the present war will be to consolidate peace. France will +no doubt look wistfully after her lost possessions, and talk loudly of +her intention to re-conquer them. But the difficulty of the task will +prevent the attempt. Until now, to the majority of Frenchmen, a war +meant a successful military promenade, a plentiful distribution of +decorations, and an inscription on some triumphal arch. Germany was to +them the Germany of Jena and Austerlitz. Their surprise at seeing the +Prussians victors at the doors of Paris, is much that which the +Americans would feel if a war with the Sioux Indians were to bring these +savages to the suburbs of New York. The French have now learnt that they +are not invincible, and that if war may mean victory, it may also mean +defeat, invasion, and ruin. When, therefore, they have paid the bill for +their _a Berlin_ folly, they will think twice before they open a fresh +account with fortune. + +I would recommend sightseers to defer their visit to Paris for the +present, as during the armistice it will not be a very pleasant +residence for foreigners. I doubt whether the elections will go off, and +the decisions of the National Assembly be known without disturbances. +The vainest of the vain, irritable to madness by their disasters, the +Parisians are in no humour to welcome strangers. The world has held +aloof whilst the "capital of civilisation" has been bombarded by the +"hordes of Attila," and there is consequently, just now, no very +friendly feeling towards the world. + +Of news, there is very little. We are in a state of physical and moral +collapse. The groups of patriots which invested the Boulevards on the +first announcement of the capitulation have disappeared; and the +gatherings of National Guards, who announced their intention to die +rather than submit, have discontinued their sittings, owing it, as they +said, to their country to live for her. No one hardly now affects to +conceal his joy that all is over. Every citizen with whom one speaks, +tells you that it will be the lasting shame of Paris that with its +numerous army it not only failed to force the Prussians to raise the +siege, but also allowed them whenever they pleased to detach corps +d'armee against the French generals in the provinces. This, of course, +is the fault of the Government of Trochu and of the Republic, and having +thus washed his hands of everything that has occurred, the citizen goes +on his way rejoicing. The Mobiles make no secret of their delight at the +thought of getting back to their homes. Whatever the Parisians may think +of them, they do not think much of the Parisians. The army, and more +particularly the officers, are very indignant at the terms of the +armistice. They bitterly say that they would far rather have preferred +to have been made prisoners of war at once, and they feel that they are +in pawn in Paris, a pledge that peace will be made. M. Jules Ferry was +treated so coldly the other day by General Vinoy's staff, when he went +upon some business to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, that +he asked the cause, and was told in plain terms that he and his +colleagues had trifled with the honour of the army. The armistice was, +as you are aware, concluded by M. Jules Favre in person. It was then +thought necessary to send a General to confer with Count Moltke on +matters of detail. General Trochu seized upon this occasion to assert +himself, and requested to be allowed to send a General of his choice, +saying that his book which he published in 1867 must be so well known at +the German headquarters, that probably his envoy would meet with +peculiar respect. To this General Vinoy acceded, but Count Moltke +refused to treat with Trochu's General, who was drunk, and the chief of +General Vinoy's staff had to be substituted. General Ducrot is still +here. He resigned his command, not as is generally supposed, because the +Prussians insisted upon it in consequence of his evasion from Sedan, but +because General Vinoy on assuming the command of the army gave him a +very strong hint to do so. "I did not"' observed Vinoy, "think your +position sufficiently _en regle_ to serve under _you_, and so----" + +The question of the revictualling is the most important one of the +moment. The railroad kings, who had an interview with Count Bismarck at +Versailles, seem to be under the impression that this exceedingly +wide-awake statesman intends to throw impediments in the way of Paris +getting provisions from England, in order that the Germans may turn an +honest penny by supplying the requirements of the town. He has thrown +out hints that he himself can revictual us for a short time, if it +really be a question of life and death. Even when the lines are opened +to traffic and passengers, the journey to England, _via_ Amiens, Rouen, +and Dieppe will be a tedious one. The Seine, we learn, has been rendered +impassable by the boats which have been sunk in it. + +We have as yet had no news from outside. The English here find the want +of a consul more than ever. The Foreign Office has sent in an acting +commission to Mr. Blount, a gentleman who may be an excellent banker, +but knows nothing of consular business, notwithstanding his courtesy. As +whenever any negotiation is to take place at a foreign court a Special +Envoy is sent, and, as it now appears, whenever a Consul is particularly +wanted in a town a Special Consul is appointed, would it not be as well +at once to suppress the large staff of permanent ambassadors, ministers, +and consuls who eat their heads off at a heavy cost to the country. I +should be curious to know how many years it would take to reduce the +intelligence of an ordinary banker's clerk to the level of a Foreign +Office bureaucrat. How the long-suffering English public can continue to +support the incompetency and the supercilious contempt with which these +gentry treat their employers is to me a mystery. Bureaucrats are bad +enough in all conscience, but a nest of fine gentleman bureaucrats is a +public curse, when thousands are subjected to their whims, their +ignorance, and their airs. + +The Republic is in very bad odour just now. It has failed to save +France, and it is rendered responsible for this failure. Were the Comte +de Paris a man of any mark, he would probably be made King. As it is, +there is a strong feeling in favour of his family, and more particularly +in favour of the Duc d'Aumale. Some talk of him as President of the +Republic, others suggest that he should be elected King. The +Bonapartists are very busy, but as regards Paris there is no chance +either for the Emperor or the Empress Regent. As for Henri V., he is, in +sporting phraseology, a dark horse. Among politicians, the general +opinion is that a moderate Republic will be tried for a short time, and +that then we shall gravitate into a Constitutional Monarchy. + +Little heed is taken of the elections which are so close at hand. No one +seems to care who is elected. As it is not known whether the National +Assembly will simply register the terms of peace proposed by Germany, +and then dissolve itself, or whether it will constitute itself into an +_Assemblee Constituante_, and decide upon the future form of government, +there is no Very great desire among politicians to be elected to it. +Several Electoral Committees have been formed, each of which puts +forward its own list--that which sits under the Presidency of M. +Dufaure, an Orleanist, at the Grand Hotel, is the most important of +them. Its list is intended to include the most practical men of all +parties; the rallying cry is to be France, and in theory its chiefs are +supposed to be moderate Republicans. + +The ceremony of the giving up of the forts has passed over very quietly. +The Prussians entered them without noise or parade. At St. Denis, the +mayor of which said that no Prussian would be safe in it, friends and +foes, I am told by a person who has just returned, have fraternised, and +are pledging each other in every species of liquor. The ramparts are +being dismantled of their guns; the National Guard no longer does duty +on them, and crowds assemble and stare vaguely into the country outside. +During the whole siege Paris has not been so dismal and so dreary as it +is now. There is no longer the excitement of the contest, and yet we are +prisoners. The only consolation is that a few weeks will put an end to +this state of things. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +_February 1st._ + +The Government of National Defence has almost disappeared from notice. +It has become a Committee to preside over public order. The world may +calumniate us, they said in a proclamation the other day. It would be +impossible, replied the newspapers. Trochu and Gambetta, once the idols +of the Parisians, are now the best abused men in France. Trochu (a +friend of his told me to-day) deserted by all, makes speeches in the +bosom of his family. No more speeches, no more lawyers; is the cry of +the journals. And then they spin out phrases of exaggerated Spartanism +by the yard, and suggest some lawyer as the rising hope of the country. + +The cannon have been taken from the ramparts. The soldiers--Line and +Mobile--wander about unarmed, with their hands in their pockets, staring +at the shop-windows. They are very undemonstrative, and more like +peaceful villagers than rough troopers. They pass most of their time +losing their way and trying to find it again; and the Mobiles are +longing to get back to their homes. It appears now that there was an +error in the statistics published by the Government respecting the stock +of grain in hand. Two accounts, which were one and the same, were added +together. The bread is getting less like bread every day. Besides peas, +rice, and hay, starch is now ground up with it. In the eighth +arrondissement yesterday, there were no rations. The Northern Company do +not expect a provision train from Dieppe before Friday, and do not think +they will be able to carry passengers before Saturday. We are in want of +fuel as much as of food. A very good thing is to be made by any +speculator who can manage to send us coal or charcoal. + +More than 23,000 persons have applied for permits to quit Paris, on the +ground that they are provincial candidates for the Assembly. Of course +this is a mere pretext. A commission, as acting British Consul, has been +sent to Mr. Blount, a banker. Will some M.P. move that the Estimates be +reduced by the salary of the Consul, who seems to consider Paris _in +partibus infidelium_? + +The only outsider who has penetrated through the double cordon of +Prussians and French, is your Correspondent at the Headquarters of the +Crown Prince of Saxony. He startled us quite as much as Friday did +Robinson Crusoe. He was enthusiastically welcomed, for he had English +newspapers in one pocket, and some slices of ham in the other. + + +VERSAILLES, _February 6th._ + +I am not intoxicated, but I feel so heavy from having imbibed during the +last twenty-four hours more milk than I did during the first six months +which I passed in this planet, that I have some difficulty in collecting +my thoughts in order to write a letter. Yesterday I arrived here in +order to breathe for a moment the air of freedom. In vain my hospitable +friends, who have put me up, have offered me wine to drink, and this and +that delicacy to eat--I have stuck to eggs, butter, and milk. Pats of +butter I have bolted with a greasy greediness which would have done +honour to Pickwick's fat boy; and quarts of milk I have drunk with the +eagerness of a calf long separated from its maternal parent. + +Although during the last few months I have seen but two or three numbers +of English papers, I make no doubt that so many good, bad, and +indifferent descriptions of every corner and every alley in this town +have appeared in print, that Londoners are by this time as well +acquainted with it as they are with Richmond or Clapham. Versailles +must, indeed, be a household word--not to say a household nuisance--in +England. It has been a dull, stupid place, haunted by its ancient +grandeurs; with too large a palace, too large streets, and too large +houses, for many a year; and while the presence of a Prussian army and a +Prussian Emperor may render it more interesting, they fail to make it +more lively. Of the English correspondents, some have gone into Paris in +quest of "phases" and impressions; many, however, still remain here, +battening upon the fat of the land, in the midst of kings and princes, +counts and Freiherrs. I myself have seldom got beyond a distant view of +such grand beings. What I know even of the nobility of my native land, +is derived from perusing the accounts of their journeys in the +fashionable newspapers, and from the whispered confidences of their +third cousins. To find myself in familiar intercourse with people who +habitually hobnob at Royal tables, and who invite Royal Highnesses to +drop in promiscuously and smoke a cigar, almost turns my head. To-morrow +I shall return to Paris, because I feel, were I to remain long in such +grand company, I should become proud and haughty; and, perhaps, give +myself airs when restored to the society of my relatives, who are honest +but humble. There is at present no difficulty in leaving Paris. A pass +is given at the Prefecture to all who ask for one, and it is an "open +sesame" to the Prussian lines. I came by way of Issy, dragged along by +an aged Rosinante, so weak from low living that I was obliged to get out +and walk the greater part of the way, as he positively declined to draw +me and the chaise. + +This beast I have only been allowed to bring out of Paris after having +given my word of honour that I would bring him back, in order, if +necessary, to be slain and eaten, though I very much doubt whether a +tolerably hungry rat would find meat enough on his bones for a dinner. + +I have been this morning sitting with a friend who, under the promise of +the strictest secrecy, has given me an account of the condition of +affairs here. I trust, therefore, that no one will mention anything that +may be found in this letter, directly or indirectly relating to the +Prussians. The old King, it appears, is by no means happy as an Emperor. +He was only persuaded to accept this title for the sake of his son, "Our +Fritz," and he goes about much like some English squire of long descent, +who has been induced to allow himself to be converted into a bran new +peer, over-persuaded by his ambitious progeny. William is one of that +numerous class of persons endowed with more heart than brains. Putting +aside, or regarding rather as the delusion of a diseased brain, his +notion that he is an instrument of Heaven, and that he is born to rule +over Prussian souls by right divine, the old man is by no means a bad +specimen of a good-natured, well-meaning, narrow-minded soldier of the +S.U.S.C. type; and between Bismarck and Moltke he has of late had by no +means an easy time. These two worthies, instead of being, as we imagined +in Paris, the best of friends, abominate each other. During the siege +Moltke would not allow Bismarck to have a seat at any council of war; +and in order to return the compliment, Bismarck has not allowed Moltke +to take any part in the negotiations respecting the armistice, except on +the points which were exclusively military. Bismarck tells the French +that had it not been for him, Paris would have been utterly destroyed, +while Moltke grumbles because it has not been destroyed; an achievement +which this talented captain somewhat singularly imagines would fittingly +crown his military career. But this is not the only domestic jar which +destroys the harmony of the happy German family at Versailles. In +Prussia it has been the habit, from time immemorial, for the heir to the +throne to coquet with the Liberals, and to be supposed to entertain +progressive opinions. The Crown Prince pursues this hereditary policy of +his family. He has surrounded himself with intelligent men, hostile to +the present state of things, and who understand that in the present age +110 country can be great and powerful, where all who are not country +gentlemen, chamberlains, or officers, are excluded from all share in its +government. Bismarck, on the other hand, is the representative, or +rather the business man, of the squirearchy and of the Vons--much in the +same way as Mr. Disraeli is of the Conservatives in England; and, like +the latter, he despises his own friends, and scoffs at the prejudices, a +pretended belief in which has served them as a stepping-stone to power. +The consequence of this divergency of opinion is, that Bismarck and "Our +Fritz" are very nearly what schoolboys call "cuts," and consequently +when the old King dies, Bismarck's power will die with him, unless he is +wise enough to withdraw beforehand from public life. "Our Fritz," I +hear, has done his best to prevent the Prussian batteries from doing any +serious damage to Paris, and has not concealed from his friends that he +considers that the bombardment was, in the words of Fouche, worse than a +crime--an error. + +I find many of the Prussian officers improved by success. Those with +whom I have come in personal contact have been remarkably civil and +polite, but I confess that--speaking of course generally--the sight of +these mechanical instruments of war, brought to the highest state of +perfection in the trade of butchery, lording it in France, is to me most +offensive. I abhor everything which they admire. They are proud of +walking about in uniform with a knife by their side. I prefer the man +without the uniform and without the knife. They despise all who are +engaged in commercial pursuits. I regard merchants and traders as the +best citizens of a free country. They imagine that the man whose +ancestors have from generation to generation obscurely vegetated upon +some dozen acres, is the superior of the man who has made himself great +without the adventitious aid of birth; I do not. When Jules Favre met +Bismarck over here the other day, the latter spoke of Bourbaki as a +traitor, because he had been untrue to his oath to Napoleon. "And was +his country to count for nothing?" answered Favre. "In Germany king and +country are one and the same," replied Bismarck. This is the abominable +creed which is inculcated by the military squires who now hold the +destinies of France and of Germany in their hands; and on this +detestable heresy they dream of building up a new code of political +ethics in Europe. Liberalism and common sense are spreading even in the +army; but take a Tory squire, a Groom of the Chamber, and a +Life-guardsman, boil them down, and you will obtain the ordinary type of +the Prussian officer. For my part, I look with grim satisfaction to the +future. The unity of Germany has been brought about by the union of +Prussian Feudalists and German Radicals. The object is now attained, and +I sincerely hope that the former will find themselves in the position of +cats who have drawn the chestnuts out of the fire for others to eat. If +"Our Fritz," still following in the steps of his ancestors, throws off +his Liberalism with his Crown Princedom, his throne will not be a bed of +roses; it is fortunate, therefore, for him, that he is a man of good +sense. I am greatly mistaken if the Germans will long submit to the +horde of squires, of princes, of officers, and of court flunkeys, who +together, at present, form the ruling class. Among the politicians here +there is a strong feeling of dislike to the establishment of a Republic +in France. If they could have their own way they would re-establish the +Empire. But those who imagine that this is possible understand very +little of the French character. The Napoleonic legend was the result of +an epoch of military glory; the capitulation of Sedan not only scotched +it, but killed it. A Frenchman still believes in the military +superiority of his race over every other race, as firmly as he believes +in his own existence. If a French army is defeated, it is owing to the +treachery or the incapacity of the commander. If a battle be lost, the +General must pay the penalty for it; for his soldiers are invincible. It +is Napoleon, according to the received theory, who has succumbed in the +present war; not the French nation. If Napoleon be restored to power, +the nation will accept the responsibility which they now lay to his +door. The pride and vanity of every Frenchman are consequently the +strongest securities against an Imperial Restoration. Were I a betting +man, I would bet twenty to one against the Bonapartes; even against a +Republic lasting for two years; and I would take five to one against the +Comte de Paris becoming King of the French, and three to one against the +Duc d'Aumale being elected President of the Republic. This would be my +"book" upon the political French Derby. + +The Prussians are making diligent use of the armistice to complete their +engineering work round Paris, and they appear to consider it possible +that they may yet have trouble with the city. If this be their opinion I +can only say that they are badly served by their spies. The resistance +_a outrance_ men in Paris, who never did anything but talk, will very +possibly still threaten to continue the struggle; but they will not +fight themselves, and most assuredly they will not find others to fight +for them. If the preliminaries of peace be signed at Bordeaux, Paris +will not protest; if they are rejected, Paris will not expose itself to +certain destruction by any attempt at further resistance, but will +capitulate, not as the capital of France, but as a besieged French town. +General Vinoy is absolute master of the situation; he is a calm, +sensible man, and will listen to no nonsense either from the "patriots," +or his predecessors, or from Gambetta. From the tone of the decree of +the latter of the 3rd instant, he seems to be under the impression that +he is still the idol of the Parisians. Never did a man labour under so +complete a delusion. Before by a lucky speech he was pitchforked into +the Corps Legislatif, he was a briefless lawyer, who used to talk very +loudly and with vast emphasis at the Cafe de Madrid. He is now regarded +as a pothouse politician, who ought never to have been allowed to get +beyond the pothouse. + +The Germans appear to be carrying on the war upon the same principles of +international law which formed many thousand years ago the rule of +conquest among the Israelites. They are spoiling the Egyptians with a +vengeance. Even in this town, under the very eyes of the King, there is +one street--the Boulevard de la Reine--in which almost every house is +absolutely gutted. This, I hear, was done by the Bavarians. The German +army may have many excellent qualities, but chivalry is not among them. +War with them is a business. When a nation is conquered, there is no +sentimental pity for it, but as much is to be made out of it as +possible. Like the elephants, which can crush a tree or pick up a +needle, they conquer a province and they pick a pocket. As soon as a +German is quartered in a room he sends for a box and some straw; +carefully and methodically packs up the clock on the mantelpiece, and +all the stray ornaments which he can lay his hands on; and then, with a +tear glistening in his eye for his absent family, directs them either to +his mother, his wife, or his lady-love. In vain the proprietor protests; +the philosophical warrior utters the most noble sentiments respecting +the horrors of war; ponderously explains that the French do not +sufficiently appreciate the blessings of peace; and that he is one of +the humble instruments whose mission it is to make these blessings clear +to them. Then he rings the bell, and in a mild and gentle voice, orders +his box of loot to be carried off by his military servant. Ben Butler +and his New Englanders in New Orleans might have profitably taken +lessons from these all-devouring locusts. Nothing escapes them. They +have long rods which they thrust into the ground to see whether anything +of value has been buried in the gardens. Sometimes they confiscate a +house, and then re-sell it to the proprietor. Sometimes they cart off +the furniture. Pianos they are very fond of. When they see one, they +first sit down and play a few sentimental ditties, then they go away, +requisition a cart, and minstrel and instrument disappear together. They +are a singular mixture of bravery and meanness. No one can deny that +they possess the former quality, but they are courageous without one +spark of heroism. After fighting all day, they will rifle the corpses of +their fallen foes of every article they can lay their hands on, and will +return to their camp equally happy because they have won a great victory +for Fatherland, and stolen a watch from one of the enemies of +Fatherland. They have got now into such a habit of appropriating other +people's property, that I confess I tremble when one of them fixes his +cold glassy eye upon me. I see that he is meditating some new +philosophical doctrine, which, some way or other, will transfer what is +in my pocket into his. His mind, however, fortunately, works but slowly, +and I am far away from him before he has elaborated to his own +satisfaction a system of confiscation applicable to my watch or +purse.[2] + + +PARIS, _February 7th_. + +Rosinante has brought me back with much wheezing from Versailles to +Paris; and with me he brought General Duff, U.S.A., and a leg of mutton. +At the gate of Versailles we were stopped by the sentinels, who told us +that no meat could be allowed to leave the town. I protested; but in +vain. Mild blue-eyed Teutons with porcelain pipes in their mouths bore +off my mutton. The General protested too, but the protest of the citizen +of the Free Republic fared like mine. I followed my mutton into the +guard-house, where I found a youthful officer, who looked so pleasant +that I determined to appeal to the heart which beat beneath his uniform. +I attacked the heart on its weak side. I explained to him that it was +the fate of all to love. The warrior assented, and heaved a great sigh +to his absent Gretchen. I pursued my advantage, and passed from +generalities to particulars. "My lady love," I said, "is in Paris. Long +have I sighed in vain. I am taking her now a leg of mutton. On this leg +hang all my hopes of bliss. If I present myself to her with this token +of my affection, she may yield to my suit. Oh, full-of-feeling, +loved-of-beauteous-women, German warrior, can you refuse me?" He "gazed +on the joint that caused his shame; gazed and looked, then looked +again." The battle was won; the vanquished victor stalked forth, +forgetting the soldier in the man, and gave order that the General, the +Englishman, and the leg of mutton should be allowed to go forth in +peace. Rosinante toiled along towards Paris; we passed through St. +Cloud, now a heap of ruins, and we arrived at the Bridge of Neuilly. +Here our passes were examined by a German official, who was explaining +every moment to a French crowd in his native language that they could +not be allowed to pass into Paris without permits. The crowd was mainly +made up of women, who were carrying in bags, pocket handkerchiefs, and +baskets of loaves, eggs, and butter to their beleaguered friends. "Is it +not too bad of him that he will pretend not to understand French?" said +an old lady to me. "He looks like a fiend," said another lady, looking +up at the good-natured face of the stolid military gaoler. The contrast +between the shrieking, gesticulating, excited French, and the calm, +cool, indifferent air of the German, was a curious one. It was typical +of that between the two races. Having reached Paris, I consigned poor +old long Rosinante to his fate--the knackers, and, with my leg of mutton +under my arm, walked down the Boulevard. I was mobbed, positively +mobbed. "Sir," said one man, "allow me to smell it." With my usual +generosity I did so. How I reached my hotel with my precious burthen in +safety is a perfect mystery. N.B. The mutton was for a friend of mine; +Gretchen was a pious fraud; all being fair in love and war. + +In the quarter in which I live I find that the rations have neither been +increased nor diminished. They still remain at 3-5ths lb. of bread, and +1-25th lb. of meat per diem. In some other districts a little beef has +been distributed. Some flour has come in from Orleans, and it is +expected that in the course of a few days the bread will cease to be +made of the peas, potatoes, and oats which we now eat. In the +restaurants, beef--real beef--is to be obtained for little more than +three times its normal price. Fish, too, in considerable quantities has +been introduced by some enterprising speculator. The two delegates, +also, of the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund have arrived with provisions, &c. +This evening they are to telegraph to London for more. These gentlemen +are somewhat at sea with respect to what is wanted, and by what means it +is to be distributed. One of them did me the honour to consult me this +afternoon on these two points. With respect to the first, I recommended +him to take the advice of Mr. Herbert--to whose energy it is due that +during the siege above one thousand English have not been starved--and +of the Archbishop of Paris, who is a man of sterling benevolence, with a +minimum of sectarianism. With respect to the latter, I recommended +Liebig, milk, and bacon. The great point appears to me to be that the +relief should be bestowed on the right persons. The women and children +have been the greatest sufferers of late. The mortality is still very +great among them; not because they are absolutely without food, for the +rations are distributed to all; but because they are in want of +something more strengthening than the rations. Coal is wanted here as +much as food. The poorer classes are without the means of cooking +whatever meat they may obtain, and it is almost impossible for them, on +account of the same reason, to make soup. If I might venture a +suggestion to the charitable in England, it would be to send over a +supply of fuel. + +I had some conversation with a gentleman connected with the Government +this evening respecting the political situation. He tells me that Arago, +Pelletan, and Garnier Pages were delighted to leave Paris, and that it +was only the absolute necessity of their being as soon as possible at +Bordeaux, that induced General Vinoy to consent to their departure. As +for Gambetta, he says, it is not probable that he has now many adherents +in the provinces; and it is certain that he has very few here. When a +patient is given up by the faculty a quack is called in; if the quack +effects a cure he is lauded to the skies; if he fails, he is regarded as +a _charlatan_, and this is now the case with M. Gambetta. My informant +is of opinion that a large number of Ultra-Radicals will be elected in +Paris; this will be because the Moderates are split up into small +cliques, and each clique insists upon its own candidates being +supported, whereas the _Internationale_ commands 60,000 votes, which +will all be cast for the list adopted by the heads of that society, and +because the National Guard are averse to all real work, and hope that +the Ultras will force the National Assembly to continue to pay them the +1f. 50c. which they now receive, for an indefinite period. Gambetta, in +his desire to exclude from political power a numerous category of his +fellow-citizens, has many imitators here. Some of the journals insist +that not only the Bonapartists, but also the Legitimists and the +Orleanists should be disfranchised. They consider that as a preliminary +step to electing a National Assembly to decide whether a Republic is +henceforward to be the form of government of the country, it is +desirable, as well as just, to oblige all candidates to swear that it +shall be. The fact is, the French, no matter what their opinions may be, +seem to have no idea of political questions being decided by a majority; +or of a minority submitting to the fiat of this majority. Each citizen +belongs to a party; to the creed of this party, either through +conviction or personal motives, he adheres, and regards every one who +ventures to entertain other views as a scoundrel, an idiot, or a +traitor. I confess that I have always regarded a Republican form of +government as the best, wherever it is possible. But in France it is not +possible. The people are not sufficiently educated, and have not +sufficient common sense for it. Were I a Frenchman a Republic would be +my dream of the future; for the present I should be in favour of a +Constitutional Monarchy. A Republic would soon result in anarchy or in +despotism; and without any great love for Kings of any kind, I prefer a +Constitutional Monarch to either Anarchy or a Caesar. One must take a +practical view of things in this world, and not sacrifice what is good +by a vain attempt to attain at once what is better. + +Will the Prussians enter Paris? is the question which I have been asked +by every Frenchman to whom I have mentioned that I have been at +Versailles. This question overshadows every other; and I am fully +convinced that this vain, silly population would rather that King +William should double the indemnity which he demands from France than +march with his troops down the Rue Rivoli. The fact that they have been +conquered is not so bitter to the Parisians as the idea of that fact +being brought home to them by the presence of their conquerors even for +half-an-hour within the walls of the sacred city. I have no very great +sympathy with the desire of the Prussians to march through Paris; and I +have no great sympathy with the horror which is felt by the Parisians at +their intention to do so. The Prussian flag waves over the forts, and +consequently to all intents and purposes Paris has capitulated. A +triumphal march along the main streets will not mend matters, nor mar +matters. "Attila, without, stands before vanquished Paris, as the +Cimbrian slave did before Marius. The sword drops from his hand; awed by +the majesty of the past, he flees and dares not strike," is the way in +which a newspaper I have just bought deals with the question. It is +precisely this sort of nonsense which makes the Prussians determined +that the Parisians shall drink the cup of humiliation to its last dregs. + +I was told at Versailles that St. Cloud had been set on fire on the +morning after the last sortie, and that although many houses were still +burning when the armistice was signed, none had subsequently been either +pillaged or burnt. This act of vandalism has greatly incensed the +French, and I understand that the King of Prussia himself regrets it, +and throws the blame of it on one of his generals, who acted without +orders. A lady who was to-day at St. Cloud tells me that she found +Germans eating in every room of her house. Both officers and men were +very civil to her. They told her that she might take away anything that +belonged to her, and helped to carry to her carriage some valuable +china; which, by good luck, had not been smashed. With respect to the +charge of looting private property, which is brought by the French +against their invaders, no unprejudiced person can, after looking into +the evidence, doubt that whilst in the German Army there are many +officers, and even privates, who have done their best to prevent +pillage, many articles of value have disappeared from houses which have +been occupied by the German troops, and much wanton damage has been +committed in them. I assert the fact, without raising the question +whether or not these are the necessary consequences of war. It is absurd +for the Germans to pretend that the French Francs-tireurs are the +culprits and not they. Francs-tireurs were never in the Boulevard de la +Reine at Versailles, and yet the houses in this street have been gutted +of everything available. + +I venture to repeat a question which I have already frequently +asked--Where is the gentleman who enjoys an annual salary as British +Consul at Paris? Why was he absent during the siege? Why is he absent +now? Why is a banker, who has other matters to attend to, discharging +his duties? I am a taxpayer and an elector; if "my member" does not +obtain a reply to these queries from the official representative of the +Foreign Office in the House of Commons, I give him fair notice that he +will shake me by the hand, ask after my health, and affect a deep +interest in my reply, in vain at the next general election; he will not +have my vote. + +The _Electeur Libre_, the journal of M. Picard, has put forth a species +of political programme, or rather a political defence of the wing of the +Government of National Defence to which that gentleman belongs. For a +French politician to praise himself in his own organ, and to say under +the editorial "we" that he intends to vote for himself, and that he has +the greatest confidence in his own wisdom, is regarded here as nothing +but natural. + + +PARIS, _February 9th._ + +"We have been conquered in the field, but we have gained a moral +victory." What this phrase means I have not the remotest idea; but as it +consoles those who utter it, they are quite right to do so. For the last +two days long lines of cannon have issued from the city gates, and have +been, without noise or parade, handed over to the Prussians at Issy and +Sevran. Few are aware of what has taken place, or know that their +surrender had been agreed to by M. Jules Favre. Representations having +been made to Count Bismarck that 10,000 armed soldiers were insufficient +for the maintenance of the peace of the capital, by an additional secret +clause added to the armistice the number has been increased to 25,000. +The greatest ill-feeling exists between the Army and the National Guards +in the most populous quarters. A general quartered in one of the outer +faubourgs went yesterday to General Vinoy, and told him that if he and +his men were to be subjected to insults whenever they showed themselves +in the streets, he could not continue to be responsible for either his +or their conduct. Most persons of sense appear to consider that the +armistice was an error, and that the wiser policy would have been to +have surrendered without conditions. M. Jules Favre is blamed for not +having profited by the occasion, to disarm the National Guards. Many of +their battalions, as long as they have arms, and receive pay for doing +nothing, will be a standing danger to order. The sailors have been paid +off; and the fears that were entertained of their getting drunk and +uproarious have not been confirmed. They are peaceably and sentimentally +spending their money with the "black-eyed Susans" of their affections. +The principal journalists are formally agitating the plan of a combined +movement to urge the population to protest against the Prussian +triumphal march through the city, by absence from the streets through +which the invading army is to defile. Several are, however, opposed to +any action, as they fear that their advice will not be followed. +Curiosity is one of the strongest passions of the Parisians, and it will +be almost impossible for them to keep away from the "sight." Even in +Coventry one Peeping Tom was found, and here there are many Peeping +Toms. Mr. Moore and Colonel Stuart Wortley, the delegates of the London +Relief Fund, have handed over 5,000l. of provisions to the Mayors to be +distributed. They could scarcely have found worse agents. The Mayors +have proved themselves thoroughly inefficient administrators, and most +of them are noisy, unpractical humbugs. Colonel Stuart Wortley and Mr. +Moore are very anxious to find means to approach what are called here +_les pauvres honteux_; that is to say, persons who are in want of +assistance, but who are ashamed to ask for it. From what they told me +yesterday evening, they are going to obtain two or three names of +well-known charitable persons in each arrondissement, and ask them to +make the distribution of the rest of their provisions in store here, and +of those which are expected shortly to arrive. Many families from the +villages in the neighbourhood of Paris have been driven within its walls +by the invaders, and are utterly destitute. In the opinion of these +gentlemen they are fitting objects for charity. The fact is, the +difficulty is not so much to find people in want of relief, but to find +relief for the thousands who require it. Ten, twenty, or thirty thousand +pounds are a mere drop in the ocean, so wide spread is the distress. "I +have committed many sins," said a Bishop of the Church of England, "but +when I appear before my Maker, and say that I never gave to one single +beggar in the streets they will be forgiven." There are many persons in +England who, like this prelate, are afraid to give to beggars, lest +their charity should be ill applied. No money, no food, no clothes, and +no fuel, if distributed with ordinary discretion, can be misapplied at +present in Paris. The French complain that all they ever get from +England is good advice and sterile sympathy. Now is the moment for us to +prove to them that, if we were not prepared to go to war in order to +protect them from the consequences of their own folly, we pity them in +their distress; and that our pity means something more than words and +phrases which feed no one, clothe no one, and warm no one. + +The Prussian authorities appear to be deliberately setting to work to +render the armistice as unpleasant to the Parisians as possible, in +order to force them to consent to no matter what terms of peace in order +to get rid of them; and I must congratulate them upon the success of +their efforts. They refuse now to accept passes signed by the Prefect of +the Police, and only recognise those bearing the name of General Valdan, +the chief of the Staff. To-morrow very likely they will require some +fresh signature. Whenever a French railroad company advertises the +departure of a train at a particular hour, comes an order from the +Prussians to alter that hour. Every Frenchman who quits Paris is +subjected to a hundred small, teasing vexations from these military +bureaucrats, and made to feel at every step he takes that he is a +prisoner on leave of absence, and only breathes the air of his native +land by the goodwill of his conquerors. The English public must not +forget that direct postal communications between Paris and foreign +countries are not re-established. Letters from and to England must be +addressed to some agent at Versailles or elsewhere, and from thence +re-addressed to Paris. As in a day or two trains will run pretty +regularly between Paris and London, had our diplomatic wiseacres been +worth in pence what they cost us in pounds, by this time they would have +made some arrangement to ensure a daily mailbag to England leaving +Paris. + +News was received yesterday that Gambetta had resigned, and it has been +published this morning in the _Journal Officiel_. A witness of the +Council at which it was agreed to send the three old women of the +Government to Bordeaux to replace him, tells me that everybody kissed +and hugged everybody for half an hour. The old women were ordered to +arrest Gambetta if he attempted resistance. It was much like telling a +street-sweeper to arrest a stalwart Guardsman. "Do not be rash," cried +Trochu. "We will not," replied the old women; "we will remain in one of +the suburbs of Bordeaux, until we learn that we can enter it with +safety." This reply removed from the minds of their friends any fear +that they would incur unnecessary risks in carrying out their mission. + +Provisions are arriving pretty freely. All fear of absolute famine has +disappeared. To-day the bread is far better than any we have had of +late. Some sheep and oxen were seen yesterday in the streets. + +The walls are covered with the professions of faith of citizens who +aspire to the honour of a seat in the National Assembly. We have the +candidate averse to public affairs, but yielding to the request of a +large number of supporters; the candidate who feels within himself the +power to save the country, and comes forward to do so; the candidate who +is young and vigorous, although as yet untried; the candidate who is +old and wise, but still vigorous; the man of business candidate; the man +of leisure candidate, who will devote his days and nights to the service +of the country; then there is the military candidate, whose name, he +modestly flatters himself, has been heard above the din of battle, and +typifies armed France. I recommend to would-be M.P.'s at home, the plan +of M. Maronini. He has as yet done nothing to entitle him to the +suffrages of the electors beyond making printing presses, which are +excellent and very cheap; so he heads his posters with a likeness of +himself. Why an elector should vote for a man because he has an ugly +face, I am not aware; but the Citizen Maronini seems to be under the +impression that, from a fellow-feeling at least, all ugly men will do +so; and perhaps he is right. Another candidate commences his address: +"_Citoyens, je suis le representant du_ go ahead." In the clubs last +night everyone was talking, and no one was listening. Even the Citizen +Sans, with his eternal scarlet shawl girt round his waist, could not +obtain a hearing. The Citizen Beaurepaire in vain shouted that, if +elected, he would rather hew off his own arm than sign away Alsace and +Lorraine. This noble figure of rhetoric, which has never been uttered by +a club orator during the siege without eliciting shouts of applause, was +received with jeers. The absurdity of the proceedings at this electoral +gathering is, that a candidate considers himself insulted if any elector +ventures to ask him a question. The president, too, loses his temper +half a dozen times every hour, and shakes his fist, screams and jabbers, +like an irate chimpanzee, at the audience. If the preliminary electoral +meetings are ridiculous, the system of voting, on the other hand, is +perfect in comparison with ours. Paris to-day in the midst of a general +election is by far more orderly than any English rotten village on the +polling-day. Three days ago each elector received at his own house a +card, telling him where he was to vote. Those who were entitled to the +suffrage, and by accident did not get one of these cards, went the next +day to their respective mairies to obtain one. I have just come from one +of the rooms in which the votes are taken. I say rooms; for the +Parisians do not follow our silly example, and build up sheds at the +cost of the candidate. At one end of this room was a long table. A box +was in the middle of it, and behind the box sat an employe. To his right +sat another. The elector went up to this latter, gave in his electoral +card, and wrote his name; he then handed to the central employe his list +of names, folded up. This the employe put into the box. About thirty +National Guards were on duty in or about the room. The box will remain +on the table until to-night, and the National Guards during this time +will not lose sight of it; they will then carry it to the Hotel de +Ville, where it, and all other voting boxes, will be publicly opened, +the votes counted up, and the result, as soon as it is ascertained, +announced. How very un-English, some Briton will observe. I can only say +that I regret it is un-English. Our elections are a disgrace to our +civilisation, and to that common-sense of which we are for ever boasting +that we possess so large a share. Last year I was in New York during a +general election; this year I am in Paris during one; and both New York +and Paris are far ahead of us in their mode of registering the votes of +electors. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 2: Several complaints having been received from Germans +respecting these charges against the German armies, the following +extract from an Article--quoted by the _Pall Mall Gazette_--in his new +paper _Im Neuen Reich_, by the well-known German author, Herr Gustav +Freytag, will prove that they are not unfounded:--"Officers and +soldiers," he says, "have been living for months under the bronze +clocks, marble tables, damask hangings, artistic furniture, +oil-paintings, and costly engravings of Parisian industry. The +musketeers of Posen and Silesia broke up the velvet sofas to make soft +beds, destroyed the richly inlaid tables, and took the books out of the +book-cases for fuel in the cold winter evenings.... It was lamentable to +see the beautiful picture of a celebrated painter smeared over by our +soldiers with coal dust, a Hebe with her arms knocked off, a priceless +Buddhist manuscript lying torn in the chimney grate.... Then people +began to think it would be a good thing to obtain such beautiful and +tasteful articles for one's friends. A system of 'salvage' was thus +introduced, which it is said even eminent and distinguished men in the +army winked at. Soldiers bargained for them with the Jews and hucksters +who swarm at Versailles; officers thought of the adornment of their own +houses; and such things as could be easily packed, such as engravings +and oil-paintings, were in danger of being cut out of their frames and +rolled up for home consumption." Herr Freytag then points out that these +articles are private property, and that the officers and soldiers had no +right to appropriate them to their own use. "We are proud and happy," he +concludes, addressing them, "at your warlike deeds; behave worthily and +honourably also as men. Come back to us from this terrible war with pure +consciences and clean hands."] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +CALAIS, _February 10th._ + +At 4 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday I took my departure from Paris, leaving, +much with the feelings of Daniel when he emerged from the lions' den, +its inhabitants wending their way to the electoral "urns;" the many +revolving in their minds how France and Paris were to manage to pay the +little bill which their creditor outside is making up against them; the +few--the very few--still determined to die rather than yield, sitting in +the cafes on the boulevard, which is to be, I presume, their "last +ditch." Many correspondents, "special," "our own," and "occasional," had +arrived, and were girding up their loins for the benefit of the British +public. Baron Rothschild had been kind enough to give me a pass which +enabled me to take the Amiens train at the goods station within the +walls of the city, instead of driving, as those less fortunate were +obliged to do, to Gonesse. My pass had been signed by the proper +authorities, and the proper authorities, for reasons best known to +themselves--I presume because they had elections on the brain--had +dubbed me "Member of the House of Commons, rendering himself to England +to assist at the conferences of the Parliament." I have serious thoughts +of tendering this document to the doorkeeper of the august sanctuary of +the collective wisdom of my country, to discover whether he will +recognise its validity. + +The train was drawn up before a shed in the midst of an ocean of mud. It +consisted of one passenger carriage, and of about half a mile of empty +bullock vans. The former was already filled; so, as a bullock, I +embarked--I may add, as an ill-used bullock; for I had no straw to sit +on. At St. Denis, a Prussian official inspected our passes, and at +Gonesse about 200 passengers struggled into the bullock vans. We reached +Creil, a distance of thirty miles, at 11.30. I and my fellow-bullocks +here made a rush at the buffet. But it was closed. So we had to return +to our vans, very hungry, very thirsty, very sulky, and very wet; for it +was raining hard. In this pleasant condition we remained until 9 o'clock +on Thursday; occasionally slowly progressing for a few miles; then +making a halt of an hour or two. Why? No one--not even the guard--could +tell. All he knew was, that the Prussians had hung out a signal ordering +us, their slaves, to halt, and therefore halt we must. We did the forty +miles between Creil and Breteuil in ten hours. There, in a small inn, we +found some eggs and bread, which we devoured like a flight of famished +locusts. It was very cold, and several of us sought shelter in a room at +the station, where there was a fire. In the middle of this room there +were two chairs, on one of them sat a Prussian soldier, on the other +reposed his legs. He was a big red-haired fellow, and evidently in some +corner of his Fatherland passed as a man of wit and humour. He was good +enough to explain to us, with a pleasant smile, that in his eyes we were +a very contemptible sort of people, and that if we did not consent to +all the terms of peace which were proposed by "the Bismarck," he and his +fellow warriors would burn our houses over our heads, and in many other +ways make things generally uncomfortable to us. "Ah! speak to me of +Manteuffel," he occasionally said: and as no one did speak to him of +Manteuffel, he did so himself, and narrated to us many tales of the +wondrous skill and intelligence of that eminent general. As he called, +after the manner of his nation, a _batterie_ a _paderie_, and otherwise +Germanized the French language, much of his interesting conversation was +unintelligible. + +We had been at Breteuil about an hour when a Prussian train came puffing +up. I managed to induce an official to allow me to get into the luggage +van; and thus, having started from Paris as a bullock, I reached Amiens +at twelve o'clock as a carpet-bag. The Amiens station, a very large one +covered in with glass, was crowded with Prussian soldiers; and for one +hour I stood there the witness of and sufferer from unmitigated +ruffianism. The French were knocked about, and pushed about. Never were +negro slaves treated with more contempt and brutality than they were by +their conquerors. I could not stand on any spot for two minutes without +being gruffly ordered to stand on another by some officer. Twice two +soldiers raised their muskets with a general notion of staving in my +skull "pour passer le temps." Frenchmen, whatever may be their faults, +are always extremely courteous in all their relations with each other, +and with strangers. In their wildest moments of excitement they are +civil. They may poison you, or run a hook through you; but they will do +it, as Isaac Walton did with the worm, "as though they loved" you. They +were perfectly cowed with the rough bullying of their masters. It is +most astonishing--considering how good-natured Germans are when at home, +that they should make themselves so offensive in France, even during a +truce. At one o'clock I left this orgie of German terrorism in a train, +and from thence to Calais all was straight sailing. At Abbeville we +passed from the Prussian into the French lines. Calais we reached at +seven p.m., and right glad was I to eat a Calais supper and to sleep in +a Calais bed. + + +THE END. + + + + +BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + +_Now published_, + +NEW COPYRIGHT EDITIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AND POEMS. + + +_Shakespeare's Plays and Poems._ + +EDITED BY + +CHARLES AND MARY COWDEN CLARKE + +In Four Volumes, Demy Octavo, price L1 11s. 6d. + +ALSO, + +_The Same Text._ + +In One Volume, Royal Octavo, price 12s. + +LONDON: BICKERS & SON, 1 LEICESTER SQUARE. + +The PUBLISHERS have much pleasure in announcing the publication of the +above Editions of Shakespeare's Plays and Poems. Mrs Cowden Clarke's +Edition of Shakespeare, recently published by Messrs Appleton & Co. of +New York, has been made the basis of Mr and Mrs Cowden Clarke's joint +labours. The original Edition, produced after long and careful +preparation, has met with great and deserved success in America. 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