e personal consideration in which he
was held, and the great influence which it gave him, would have been
invaluable during the negotiations of the last few days.

_November 8th._

I was once in love. The object of my affections had many amiable
qualities. I remember I thought her an angel; but when she was crossed,
she used to go up into her room and say that she would remain there
without eating until I yielded the point at issue between us. As I was
invariably right and she was invariably wrong, I could not do this; but,
pitying the weakness of her sex, and knowing its obstinacy, I usually
managed to arrange matters in a way which allowed her to emerge from her
retreat without any great sacrifice of _amour propre_. The Parisians
remind me of this sentimental episode of my existence; they have mounted
a high pedestal, and called upon the world to witness that no matter
what may be the danger to which they are exposed, they will not get off
it, unless they obtain what they want; that they will obtain it, they
find is most improbable, and they are anxiously looking around for some
one to help them down, without being obliged absolutely "to swallow
their own words." They had hoped that the armistice which was proposed
by the neutrals would in some way get them out of their difficulty; and,
as the siege still continues, they are exceedingly indignant with their
kind friends. "They have," say the papers, "loosened our mainspring of
sacrifice. We had fully determined to perish, rather than yield; if we
do not, it will be the fault of Russia, Austria, and England." Be the
cause what it may, the "mainspring of sacrifice" most assuredly is not
only loosened, but it has run down, and, unless some wonderful success
occurs shortly, it will never be wound up again. As long as it could be
supposed that cannon and musketry would only do their bloody work
outside the exterior forts, and that Paris might glory in a "heroic
attitude" without suffering real hardships or incurring real danger, the
note of defiance was loud and bold. As it is, the Government is obliged
to do its utmost to keep their courage up to the sticking point. These
foolish people really imagined that, like them, the world regarded their
city as a species of sacred Jerusalem, and that public opinion would
never allow the Prussians either to bombard it, or to expose the high
priests of civilization who inhabit it to the realities of war. It is
necessary to live he