French people, in which she frankly avowed that the French arms had submitted to a check, and implored the people to be firm in their reverse and hasten to repair it; that there should be among them only one party, that of France; and only one thought, and that of the national arms. She closed by adjuring all good citizens to maintain order; for to trouble it would be to conspire with the enemy.
All Paris was now under the empire of the most profound emotion. It was in the evening that there was the greatest excitement; the gatherings on the boulevard were immense, and people were singing, swearing, and yelling by turns. On one evening when I was down-town an immense procession had been formed, and the people were marching in twos on the Boulevards Italiens and Madeleine; they kept step to the words issuing from every mouth, "Vive chassepot, vive chassepot!" At the time of the declaration of war it was estimated that there were thirty thousand Germans in Paris, and I was charged with their protection in the midst of these events. The news of German triumphs seemed to have inflamed the natural hatred of the Parisians toward the German population. This caused the greatest anxiety and
Jules Ferry.
uneasiness among that peaceable and law-abiding population. The hostility was manifested in every possible way, and the consequence was that there was
Jules Favre.
a general desire among the German population to get out of Paris as soon as possible; but the French Government soon decided that they would not give passports to such Germans as owed military service to their government. This gave me great embarrassment, for how could I tell anything in respect to those who owed military service and those who did not? I could give laissez-passers to women, children, and old men; but if I gave one to a German who owed military service, he would not be permitted to leave Paris and France, and my laissez-passers might be rejected. The consequence of this was that in the first days the number of passports I gave was comparatively limited, although the number of Germans at the legation was very great, seeking such permission as would enable them to get out of Paris.
The excitement seemed to increase with every day and every hour. The Corps Législatif was the great point of interest, as everyone looked to that body for some action that might stem the tide of disaster which was rolling over Paris and France. Its meeting on Tuesday, the 9th of August, presented one of the most extraordinary spectacles which had ever taken place in a French legislative body, except in the
