Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris | Page 9

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