among my wounded friends. I thought that half-hour would never end. The wounded Frenchmen groaned dreadfully. The Germans, equally badly wounded, were more quiet and less complaining. This, I found, too, in the hospitals. I think the French are more tenderly made. It was miserable to see so much misery I could do little to relieve. I laid this one on his back, with his knapsack for his pillow, turned this one on his side, covered another's head with a cloth to shelter it from the burning sun, put a bit of shirt on this man's wound, unbuttoned the throttling coat of another, took off the boot from the wounded foot of another, gave all a little cognac; then sat me down among my friends, and talked with them. How grateful they were! How polite, in the midst of all his sufferings, one poor French soldier! And, most touching of all, how kindly helpful the poor fellows were to one another, French and German alike!" While the great struggle was going on at Sedan, Bazaine was anxiously expecting at Metz the result of MacMahon's attempt to relieve him. By some mysterious means—probably an underground telegraph-the two Marshals were for a time enabled to communicate with one another. A subterranean aqueduct, providing Metz with water, was found out by the besiegers, and destroyed; and the secret telegraph may really have existed. It seems certain that Bazaine knew of MacMahon's enterprise, and he endeavoured to second it by a sortie. On the 31st of August he made a desperate attempt to break through the lines of the investing force, reckoning on those lines having been weakened by the withdrawal of troops to meet the movement of MacMahon. With his whole army he attacked the first army corps of the Prussians, the division of General Kummer, and the fourth Landwehr division, on the east side of Metz. The battle lasted through the day and night, and extended some way into the 1st of September; but it ended in the French being driven back at all points. The Germans had, indeed, by this time so strongly entrenched themselves before the fortress, and had so blocked and guarded every road leading up to it, that the success of a sortie became each day less likely. On this occasion they were enabled, by means of the telegraphic communication which they had established all round the fortress, rapidly to concentrate large reinforcements on the weak point selected by Bazaine for his assault. They were thus in a position to hold their ground until the arrival, at the end of five and six hours respectively, of two additional corps from the western side, which were carried over pontoon bridges at Argancy and Hanconcourt. The siege of Strasburg was continued with great, vigour, and encountered with much heroism. Sor ties of the garrison took place on the nights of the 1st and 2nd of September; but the French were repulsed, after penetrating to the second parallel. The losses on both sides were severe, and the besieged had the mortification of finding themselves no nearer their object. At one time, however, they seized on the railway station; but from this they were dislodged, after a sharp encounter. The sufferings of the inhabitants grew more and more extreme as the siege progressed. For ten days the civilians remained day and night in their cellars; but even this resource was temporarily denied them, as a flooding of the Rhine inundated the basements of the houses with water. Those whose houses had been destroyed took refuge in the churches. Burials were no longer performed outside the town, but in the botanical garden. The supply of gas was soon exhausted, and every householder was required to place a lighted lantern at night in front of his dwelling. In addition to the public library, the Prussian shells destroyed the Temple Neuf (the largest of the Protestant places of worship in the city, renowned for its fine organ and its mural paintings), the Museum of Art, and the best houses in the best quarter of the city. The damage done to the cathedral has been already noticed. On the 3rd of September the King of Prussia ordered that the besieging force should fire only against the fortifications, and no longer into the town. This was to the credit of his Majesty's humanity; but it is evident that a different plan had been previously followed. During the progress of these events the Government of Paris continued to put the best face it could upon matters. The wildest reports of victories were circulated, and received for a time the sanction of the Ministers. That they lent themselves willingly to the delusions of the hour is to be feared. It was only on Saturday, the 3rd, that the Government first gave the Parisian public some idea of the overwhelming disaster of Thursday, the 1st, and even then the truth was but partially revealed. The Ministerial statement made in the Senate was as follows: "We have learnt from several non-official sources that Marshal Bazaine failed in his recent attempt to disengage himself from the hostile armies which kept him hemmed in round Metz. His effort was an heroic one, and the King of Prussia could not refrain from rendering justice to the valour of our soldiers. Marshaf MacMahon, after having attempted to hold out a hand to Marshal Bazaine in a northerly direction, was com pelled to retire to the neighbourhood of Sedan, where he fought for several days with alternate successes and reverses; but we were fighting against an enemy too superior in numbers, and, notwithstanding the most could not undertake to authenticate it to a certain France." energetic efforts, his attempts appear to have ter- the capital) answered that he was not in a position minated in a manner unfortunate for our arms. Other to reply to such a proposition, but would fulfil his information has been received from Prussian sources duty in defending Paris until death. The crowd which is still more unfavourable, but it does not seem thereupon shouted, "Abdication, abdication!” to us worthy of belief. In any case the Government Another assemblage, numbering ten thousand, sent extent by communicating it to the public. Our reverses a similar deputation to the General, and received afflict us; we cannot witness without emotion so much the same reply. The Chambers reassembled at courage, such self-sacrifices, and all rendered useless. midnight, in the midst of a good deal of agitation, But this spectacle, far from depriving us of our energy, which rendered necessary occasional cavalry charges only augments and redoubles it. Since the present on the mob; and General Palikao then announced Cabinet assumed power it has produced for France in the Corps Législatif that MacMahon's army had all that her resources could give. Those resources are capitulated, and that the Emperor was a prisoner. still sufficiently powerful, with energy and the concurrence of the nation, to enable us finally to triumph. He added:-"In the presence of this news it We hope, with God's help, to drive the enemy out of would be impossible for the House to discuss the possible consequences of the event. The Ministers have not as yet been able to concert together, and I ask that the debate should be postponed till to-morrow." M. Jules Favre then brought forward a motion declaring that the Emperor and his dynasty had forfeited all rights conferred by the Constitution, demanding the appointment of a Parliamentary Committee entrusted with the governing power and with the mission to expel the enemy from French territory, and maintaining General Trochu in his post as Governor of Paris. The proposal was met by a protest from M. Picard; but it led to no regular debate, and the Chamber resolved to hold a sitting at noon on the Sunday. This was the commencement of the revolutionary storm which burst forth not many hours later. In the Corps Législatif a Bill was introduced, calling to arms all citizens, married or single, between twenty and thirty-five years of age, and authorising the Government to call out all former officers and subordinate officers up to the age of sixty. General Palikao, the head of the Ministry, said: "Grave events have occurred. The source from which we are informed is not official, but the intelligence must be true. Marshal Bazaine, after a very vigorous sortie, had an engagement with the enemy, lasting from eight to nine hours. The French soldiers fought with extreme valour, but on its termination Marshal Bazaine was forced to retire upon Metz, thus preventing the desired junction. Another event which I have to communicate is a battle between Mézières and Sedan, which resulted in alternative success and reverse. We at first drove the Prussians to the Meuse, but were subsequently compelled to retreat before superior forces. The result is that for some time to come the junction between Marshals Bazaine and MacMahon will not be effected. Other information circulated, especially relating to Marshal MacMahon being wounded, is not of an authentic character. The position is serious. We must no longer dissimulate.” The temper of France at this period was admirably expressed in a letter from M. Guizot to an English friend-a letter which proves that his great accumulation of years had in no respect impaired the intellectual vigour and trained judgment of that veteran statesman : "If we were only beginning this unhappy war, I would tell you frankly what I think of its evil origin and its lamentable errors; and I am sure that a large majority of the French nation think as I do about it. But we are not beginning the war. The opinion of the French nation on the main points of the question is unchanged; but no one thinks about them now, and, For the present we ought to occupy ourselves—and, in indeed, we cannot and ought not to think about them. M. Jules Favre then addressed the Chamber, and, while declaring that all parties were unanimous in their determination to defend France to the utmost, delivered a vehement invective against the Imperial rule, and proposed to concentrate all' fact, we do occupy ourselves-with war, and war only. power in the hands of General Trochu. General, Palikao and several other deputies protested against this language, and the discussion ceased for the time. At eight o'clock in the evening, an assemblage of about six thousand persons sent a deputation to General Trochu, to require of him to assume the reins of government. The General (who, it will be remembered, had been, on the 17th of August, appointed by the Emperor Governor of Paris and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in We are engrossed by it, not only because of the un-' expected reverses which we have experienced, but also, and above all, because of the designs which the Prussians manifest, and the character which they have stamped upon this war. On their part it is manifestly a war of ambition and for the sake of conquest. They proclaim loudly that they intend to take back Alsace and Lorraine, provinces which have been ours for two centuries, and which we have held through all the political vicissitudes and chances of war. The Prussians do more even than this. Although they occupy these provinces very partially and only temporarily, we have seen what our troops are worth, and this will they already presume to exercise the rights of sovereignty over them. They have issued a decree in Lorraine abolishing our laws of conscription and recruiting for the army. Ask the first honest German whom you meet if this is not one of those acts of victorious ambition which pledge a nation to a struggle indefinitely prolonged, a struggle which can "This, I tell you in all frankness and sincerity, is only be terminated by one of those disasters that a the actual condition of facts and of men's minds in nation never accepts-one that if it experiences it, France. I am very anxious that it should be known be seen and felt more and more as time goes on. We are superior to the Prussians in men, money, and territory, and we will equal them in perseverance, even should they persevere, as they will need to do if their projects are to have any chance of success. The age is with us, and we will not fail the age. never forgives. Be sure that France will never accept the character and consequences which Prussia desires to give to the war. Because of our first reverses we have our national honour to preserve, and because of the claims of Prussia we have to defend and keep our national territory. We will maintain these two causes at any price and to the very end. And let me tell you, and that without presumption, that, being as resolute as we are, we are not seriously uneasy as to the result of this struggle. At the very beginning the Prussians made an immense effort; there is another effort yet to be made; it is on our part, and it has, as yet, scarcely begun. We were greatly to blame that we were not better prepared at first; but with all our shortcomings in England, and that there should be no mistake there as to our national sentiments and the possibilities of the future. I devoted my whole political life to creating and maintaining bonds of friendship and unfettered alliance between France and England. I thought, and I still think, that this alliance is a pledge of the moral honour of the two nations, of their material prosperity, and of the progress of civilisation throughout the world. I can recall the sorrow and apprehension which I felt in 1857, when I thought that the power of England was endangered by the great Indian mutiny. I remember also that the sentiments of France at that time were in complete harmony with my own. It is therefore with sorrow, nct unmixed with surprise, that I now see many Englishmen so openly hostile to newspaper correspondents, in particular, had a France." In Germany the determination to prosecute the war with vigour acquired greater force every day. The alleged breaches of neutrality by England excited much anger; it was vehemently proclaimed that the German people would not submit to any attempt at mediation or intervention on the part of the neutral Powers at the conclusion of peace; and the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine was demanded, together with the Federal union of the whole of Germany, as the only guarantees against French ambition. On the 3rd of September there was a series of grand demonstrations at Berlin in celebration of the capitulation of Sedan. Thus all was brightness in Germany and gloom in France; and the suffering in the latter country sometimes involved those who were non-combatants and neutrals. The perilous duty to perform. Lieutenant-Colonel Pemberton, one of the representatives of the Times, was killed by a chance shot on the road to Sedan. Mr. Sydney Hall, one of the artists of the Graphic, was arrested by the Prussians as a French spy, but released after a while. Mr. G. A. Sala, while acting as correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, was seized in Paris as a Prussian spy, and treated with horrible brutality and indignities in a prison; and an American journalist narrowly escaped being shot by the Germans, as an agent of the enemy. The services of gentlemen deputed by great journals to follow the track of war, and to report from day to day on its many and changeful features, can hardly be overrated. They lay the foundations of future history with a minuteness, and for the most part with an accuracy, unknown to former times; but they have occasionally to pay the penalty of their courage and devotion. CHAPTER IX. The Revolutionary Feeling in Paris-Threatening Outbreaks in June, 1869, and Feburary, 1870-M. de Rochefort and the Lanterne M. Gustave Flourens-The Morning of Sunday, September 4th-Debate in the Corps Législatif-Excitement in the Streets-March of the National Guards towards the Chambers-The Crowds in the Place de la Concorde-The Imperial Flag lowered from the Tuileries-Invasion of the Chamber by the Mob-Formation of a Provisional Government, and Proclamation of the Republic-Rejoicings of the Populace-Scenes in the Hôtel de Ville-Discussion as to the National Flag-Release of Rochefort-Meeting of the Senate-Private Gathering of the Corps Législatif-Composition of the Provisional Government-Jules Favre, Crémieux, and Gambetta-Decrees of the Ministry-Non-recognition of the Government by England, and the Reasons for this Policy-The Revolution not justified by the State of France-Extravagant condemnation of the Emperor-Escape of the Empress, her Arrival in England, and her meeting with the Prince Imperial. PARIS is the most volcanic of cities. Its revolutionary fires, even when suppressed, are not extinguished, and at any moment they may burst forth with consuming fury. The volcano had been comparatively quiet for an unusually extended . period in September, 1870; yet there had recently been signs that the old disturbing forces were still throbbing beneath the outer crust of law and order. In June, 1869, and again in the February of the following year, there had been sharp, wild spurts of the long-smothered inward flames; and, although these were quickly trampled out, they made men grave as to the possible consequences of any excessive relaxation of the firm yet temperate rule that had ensured the repose of the country for several years. Nevertheless, it was universally felt that ameliorations in the somewhat provisional state of things established after the coup d'état were absolutely essential; and it was hoped that the reforms of September, 1869, would prove the com mencement of a political state in which, after many oscillations between two principles designed for mutual support, but which the French have always contrived to place in the position of antagonists, freedom might be founded on the basis of authority, and authority be sanctioned by the assent of freedom. There were many signs which justified such a hope; but the revolutionary movements that occurred now and then, slight and easily repressed though they were, gave earnest of the dangers that might beset the path of careful and regular progress. M. Henri de Rochefort, a man of aristocratic family, who for some reason chose to ally himself with the extreme section of Red Republicans, had for a few years past attacked the Emperor and his Government with the most savage virulence in a kind of periodical pamphlet called La Lanterne. When this was suppressed in France (which was not until after it had been tolerated for a long time, and had at length exceeded all measure |