Revolution of September 4th, 1870.--Paris _en Fête_.--Flight of the
Empress.--Saved by Foreigners.--Escapes in an English Yacht.
--Government of National Defense.--Trochu at its Head.--Jules Simon.
--United States recognizes Republic.--Washburne's Address.--Favre's
Answer.--Efforts for Peace.--John L. O'Sullivan.
On Sunday, the 4th of September, 1870, Paris was _en fête_. The
Parisians had a new revolution, and were delighted with it. The whole
population had turned out, men, women, and children, in their holiday
clothes. They filled the beautiful Place de la Concorde, the finest
in the world; they swarmed across the bridge and into the Palais
Bourbon, where the Corps Législatif was in session. The soldiers who
guarded the imperial legislators melted away, the cocked hats of the
truculent gendarmes vanished miraculously. The Conscript Fathers did
not exactly imitate the Roman Senators when they too were invaded by
the Gauls, but disappeared as quickly as the gendarmes. These were
the gentlemen who had howled for war, and called Mr. Thiers traitor
when he pleaded for peace. The people were gay, good-humored, happy;
in short, it was a Sunday fête, and in half an hour Paris, and
consequently France, was a republic.
From the Palais Bourbon the crowd went to the Tuileries, where the
Empress was awaiting the progress of events. There was no anger then
felt toward her, and she was not in danger; but a mob, and especially
a French mob, is a capricious creature. It may be in the gayest of
humors; a trifle turns its mood, and it becomes blood-thirsty as a
tiger. The Empress sent for Trochu, the Governor of Paris. He had
sworn on his faith as a soldier, a Catholic, and a Breton, to stand
by her to the end. He kept his word by sending an aid-de-camp to
her assistance. Of all the creatures of the court whom the favor
of the Emperor had raised from obscurity, not one came near her.
Jerome Bonaparte--the American Bonaparte--had been Governor of
the Palace. Fortunately he had been appointed to the command of a
regiment of cavalry; for had he still been Governor there would
probably have been a fight, and it was as well that there should be
no bloodshed. Happily for the Empress, two foreigners remembered
her. The Embassador of Austria and the Minister of Italy went to
her aid. They found every sign of demoralization at the palace,
the servants deserting, and pilfering as they went. They persuaded
her, much against her will, to fly. They traversed the whole length
of the Louvre to the door in the rear. Metternich opened the door,
but, seeing the crowd, closed it again. "_Ce n'est que l'audace qui
sauve_," said the Empress, and ordered it opened. They passed into
the crowd. A _gamin_ recognized her, and cried, "_L'Impératrice!
l'Impératrice!_" "I'll teach you to cry '_Vive la Prusse_!'" said
Nigra, and pinched his ear till he howled. Metternich went for his
carriage. While he was gone, a _fiacre_ passed, Nigra hailed it, and
the Empress and Madame Le Breton entered. It was agreed that they
should meet at the house of a noted Bonapartist. She went there,
and was refused admission. She went to another; he was out of town.
In this emergency she thought of Dr. Evans, her American dentist,
and drove to his residence. He was expecting two American ladies on
a visit to his family, and every thing was prepared for them. When
the servant announced two ladies, the doctor was at dinner. Excusing
himself to his guests, he went out to receive them, and found the
Empress. The next day he took her and Madame Le Breton in his
carriage to Trouville, on the coast, near Havre. There was a sort
of guard kept at the gates of Paris, though not a very strict one.
The doctor said, "You know me, Dr. Evans. I am taking this poor lady
to the asylum here at Neuilly." They passed, and arrived safely at
Trouville, where the doctor's family were spending the summer.
In the mean time a little English yacht of fifty tons was lying in
dock at Trouville. Her owner, Sir John Burgoyne, great-nephew of
General Burgoyne, who commanded the British troops at Saratoga, had
intended to sail that day for England; but at the suggestion of an
American lady, a friend of his wife's, had decided to remain another
day, and make an excursion to the ruins of the castle of William the
Conqueror. In the evening Dr. Evans went on board, and stated who he
was, and what he had come for. As soon as he was satisfied that the
Empress was really at Trouville, Sir John said that he would gladly
take her across the Channel, and it was agreed that she should come
on board in the morning, when the tide served. That evening the
gendarmes visited the yacht, for it was rumored that the Empress was
at Trouville. In the morning she came on board, and the yacht sailed.
The voyage was very rough, and the little vessel was obliged to lie
to. She arrived safely at Hyde, however, and the Empress proceeded
at once to Hastings, where she met her son. Thus she had escaped by
the aid exclusively of foreigners--an Austrian and an Italian, an
American and an Englishman.
The new Government, the "National Defense" they called it--the French
attach great importance to names--was duly inaugurated at the Hôtel
de Ville. Had it not been inaugurated there, and proclaimed from the
historic window, the Parisians would scarcely have looked upon it
as a legitimate Government. General Trochu was placed at its head,
and Jules Favre made Minister of Foreign Affairs. The appointment
of Trochu was unfortunate. He was an honorable man, intelligent, a
student, and a good military critic, but utterly valueless in active
service. He coddled the mob, treating them as if they were the purest
of patriots; whereas they were the marplots of the Defense. He was
selected probably because he was the only Republican among the French
generals of prominence, and not for any peculiar fitness for command
in those troublous times.
Shortly after the inauguration of the Government of the National
Defense, Mr. Washburne had occasion to go to the Hôtel de Ville.
Jules Simon, now Minister of the Interior, seized the opportunity to
make us an oration. What particular object he had in view, unless it
were to convince the Minister of the United States that Jules Simon
was a great orator, I have been unable to discover. If that was his
object, he succeeded. Whether it was worth while to occupy his and
our valuable time for this purpose only, may be doubted.
On the 7th of September came our instructions to recognize the
Republic if it seemed to us to be firmly established. Mr. Washburne
sent me to make an appointment with Jules Favre. It was made for
that afternoon. While Washburne prepared his address, I read up in
the archives of the Legation to learn what was done under similar
circumstances in 1848. I found that we had been the first to
recognize the Republic at that date, but that Lamartine, in his
report, had taken no notice of the fact, for fear, it was said, of
wounding the susceptibilities of Great Britain. Washburne told me to
mention this circumstance to Favre: he did not intend that we should
be ignored a second time, if he could prevent it. I mentioned it to
Favre, and he replied, substantially, that Great Britain had not
treated France so well that they need have any particular anxiety
about wounding her susceptibilities; and added that Great Britain was
now of very little consequence.
Mr. Washburne's address was an admirable document. Favre replied
to it very happily. He said that the recognition of the "young
Republic" by the United States was a "_grand appui_;" that he "felt
gratitude and profound emotion." Jules Favre is a master of the
French language. It is a great treat to hear him, even in ordinary
conversation, roll out in a charming voice and impressive manner the
most perfectly harmonious words of that beautiful language. French
does not rise to the sublimity of poetry. Shakspeare is absurd in
French. But for charm in conversation, and precision in science, it
is simply perfect.
The next day the interview was reported in full in the _Officiel_.
Washburne's address was very well translated, except where he quoted
from the Declaration of Independence, and spoke of the right of
every man to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Here the
translator had made him say that every man had a right "_de vivre
en travaillant au bonheur de tous_." Rather a liberal translation,
and thoroughly French both in language and sentiment. But I have not
remarked that the French Republicans labor more for the happiness
of their neighbors than other nationalities, or than their own
countrymen. If there be a political party in France which does more
in charities than another, it is the Orleanist.
Favre was very anxious that Mr. Washburne should intervene to make
peace. When he found that under our instructions we could not join
with other European powers in political matters purely European
(advice left us by Washington, and wisely followed by Mr. Fish), he
begged Mr. Washburne to intervene in his private capacity. But he
replied very sensibly that it was impossible for him to separate his
private from his public capacity; he must always be the Minister of
the United States.
But what Washburne felt compelled to decline, another American
gentleman, Mr. O'Sullivan, formerly our Minister at Lisbon,
undertook. He asked Mr. Washburne for a letter to Bismarck, but this
he did not feel authorized to give. He then begged for a letter of
introduction to Sheridan, who was at the King's head-quarters. This
he received. Jules Favre, who clutched eagerly at any thing that
might possibly lead to peace, gave him a safe-conduct, and he started
for the Prussian lines. But he never got to head-quarters. That
long-headed Bismarck had anticipated some such outside benevolent
efforts, and had given orders to the outlying corps that if any
distinguished gentlemen came along desiring to make peace, they
should be treated with all possible courtesy, but not allowed to
approach head-quarters without permission of the King. O'Sullivan
was stopped, and his letter forwarded to Sheridan. Bismarck sent
for the General, and asked if he knew O'Sullivan. He said he did
not. He then asked if he was anxious to see him. Sheridan replied
that he should be happy to make his acquaintance, but that he saw no
pressing haste in the matter. "Then he sha'n't come," said Bismarck;
and O'Sullivan returned to Paris. But the French did not treat him so
well as the Germans. As he approached Paris, walking quietly along
the high-road, a carpet-bag in one hand and an umbrella in the other,
a detachment of the vigilant National Guard rushed across a field and
covered him with their loaded pieces. As he made no resistance, they
simply took from him his bag and umbrella, and led him before their
commander blindfolded. That officer sent him under guard to one of
those wretched dens scooped out of the barrier where they sometimes
confined smugglers temporarily, but which were oftener used for more
unsavory purposes. There they kept him all night. In the morning
Jules Favre sent to his assistance, and he was released.
O'Sullivan afterward left Paris in the general exodus of Americans.
He went, as they did, to Versailles; but he staid there some three
weeks, talking peace to the German princes quartered at the Hôtel
des Réservoirs, some of whom he had previously known. He had a plan,
not at all a bad one in itself, but under the circumstances entirely
impracticable. It was to neutralize a strip of territory lying
between France and Germany, annex part of it to Belgium, and part to
Switzerland, and put it under the protection of the Great Powers.
One evening O'Sullivan dined with the Crown Prince. He sat next to
Bismarck, and discoursed upon his pet neutral-strip theory. As they
parted, Bismarck shook his hand, and said that he was charmed to make
his acquaintance. "But, Mr. O'Sullivan, a curious thing sometimes
happens to me: I make the acquaintance of a most agreeable gentleman
in the afternoon, and in the evening I find myself reluctantly
compelled to order him out of Versailles." O'Sullivan mentioned
this to friends he was visiting in the evening, but did not see its
application to himself. They did, however. He went to his hotel, and
found a Prussian officer at his door with orders for him to leave
Versailles that night. He remonstrated, and it was finally agreed
that he should start at eight o'clock in the morning. A sentry was
placed at the bedroom door, who thought that a proper discharge of
his duty required him to open it every five minutes during the night,
to make sure that his prisoner had not escaped. Mrs. O'Sullivan did
not quite appreciate the situation.