ill place two commissaries by
the side of each general. (The evening before, at the club in the Rue
Blanche, one commissary with a revolver had been proposed. At the
Marseillaise two were thought requisite. This evening, probably at the
Club Favie, in order to beat La Villette, three will be the number. The
position of a general of the Commune will not be an easy one.) These
commissaries, continues the orator, will watch all the movements of the
general. At the first sign he gives of yielding, they will blow his
brains out. Inexorably placed between victory and death, he will choose
the former. (General approbation.) The hour is getting late, but before
concluding the sitting, the President announces that the moment is
approaching when Republicans must stand shoulder to shoulder. Patriots
are invited to give in their names and addresses, in order to be found
when they are wanted. This proposal is adopted by acclamation. A certain
number of citizens register their names, and then the meeting breaks up
with a shout of "Vive la Commune de Paris!"

_January 19th._

All yesterday artillery was rolling and troops were marching through
Paris on their way to the Porte de Neuilly. The soldiers of the line
were worn and ragged; the marching battalions of the National Guards,
spick and span in their new uniforms. All seemed in good spirits, the
soldiers, after the wont of their countrymen, were making jokes with
each other, and with everyone else--the National Guards were singing
songs. In some instances they were accompanied by their wives and
sweethearts, who carried their muskets or clung to their arms. Most of
them looked strong, well-built men, and I have no doubt that in three or
four months, under a good general, they would make excellent soldiers.
In the Champs Elysees, there were large crowds to see them pass.
"Pauvres garcons," I heard many girls say, "who knows how many will
return!" And it was indeed a sad sight, these honest bourgeois, who
ought to be in their shops or at their counters, ill-drilled, unused to
war, marching forth with stout hearts, but with little hope of success,
to do battle for their native city, against the iron legions which are
beleaguering it. They went along the Avenue de la Grande Armee, crossed
the bridge of Neuilly over the Seine, and bivouacked for the night in
what is called the "Peninsula of Genevilliers." This peninsula is formed
by a loop in the Seine. Maps of the environs of Paris