_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.