by a back door.
Off I went to the Louvre. There Trochu, his uniform considerably
deteriorated, was haranguing some battalions of the Mobiles, who were
shouting "Vive Trochu!" Other battalions were marching down the Rue
Rivoli to the Hotel de Ville. I got into a cab and drove there. The
Hotel was lit up. On the "place" there were not many persons, but all
round it, in the streets, were Mobiles and Bourgeois National Guards,
about 20,000 in all. The Hotel was guarded, I heard, by a Belleville
battalion, but I could not get close in to interview them. This lasted
until about two o'clock in the morning, when the battalions closed in,
Trochu appeared with his staff, and in some way or other, for it was so
dark, nothing could be seen, the new Government was ejected; M. Jules
Favre and his colleagues were rescued. M. Delescluze, who was one of the
persons there, thus describes what took place: "A declaration was signed
by the new Government declaring that on the understanding that the
Commune was to be elected the next day, and also the Provisional
Government replaced by an elected one, the citizens designed at a public
meeting to superintend these elections withdrew." This was communicated
first to Dorian, who appears to have been half a prisoner, half a
friend; then to the members of the old Government, who were in
honourable arrest; then to Jules Ferry outside. A general sort of
agreement appears then to have been made, that bygones should be
bygones. The Revolutionists went off to bed, and matters returned to the
point where they had been in the morning. Yesterday evening a decree was
placarded, ordering the municipal elections to take place to-day, signed
Etienne Arago; and to-day a counter-decree, signed Jules Favre,
announces that this decree appeared when the Government was _garde a
vue_, and that on Thursday next a vote is to be taken to decide whether
there is to be a Commune or not.

To-day the streets are full of National Guards marching and
counter-marching, and General Tamisier has held a review of about 10,000
on the Place Vendome. Mobile battalions also are camped in the public
squares. I went to the Hotel de Ville at about one o'clock, and found
Mr. Washburne there. We both came to the conclusion that Trochu had got
the upper hand. Before the Hotel de Ville there were about 5,000
Mobiles, and within the building everything appeared quiet. Had General
Trochu been a wise man he would have anticipated this moveme