ere was an orator
gesticulating. The people round me said that the mayors of Paris had
been summoned by Arago, and were in one room inside deliberating, whilst
in another was the Government. I managed to squeeze inside the rails,
and stood near the open door. At about 2.30 the Mobiles who guarded it
were pushed back, and the mob was forcing its way through it, when
Trochu appeared, and confronted them. What he said I could not hear. His
voice was drowned in cries of "A bas Trochu!" Jules Simon then got on a
chair, to try the effect of his eloquence; but in the midst of his
gesticulations a body of armed men forced their way through the
entrance, and with about 300 of the mob got inside the Hotel. Just then
three or four shots were fired. The crowd outside scampered off, yelling
"Aux armes!" and running over each other. I thought it more prudent to
remain where I was. Soon the mob returned, and made a rush at both the
doors; for the one which had been open had been closed in the interval.
This one they were unable to force, but the other, winch leads up a
flight of steps into the great covered court in the middle of the
building, yielded to the pressure, and through it I passed with the
crowd; whilst from the windows above slips were being thrown out with
the words "Commune decretee--Dorian president" on them. The covered
court was soon filled. In the middle of it there is a large double
staircase leading to a wide landing, from which a door and some windows
communicate with a long salle.

This, too, was invaded, and for more than two hours I remained there.
The spectacle was a curious one--everybody was shouting, everybody was
writing a list of a new Government and reading it aloud. In one corner a
man incessantly blew a trumpet, in another a patriot beat a drum. At one
end was a table, round which the mayors had been sitting, and from this
vantage ground Felix Pyat and other virtuous citizens harangued, and, as
I understood, proclaimed the Commune and themselves, for it was
impossible to distinguish a word. The atmosphere was stifling, and at
last I got out of a window on to the landing in the courtyard. Here
citizens had established themselves everywhere. I had the pleasure to
see the "venerable" Blanqui led up the steps by his admirers. This
venerable man had, _horresco referens_, been pushed up in a corner,
where certain citizens had kicked his venerable frame, and pulled his
venerable white beard, before they had r