tute one vast burlesque of a revolution. It is
not because the overthrow of the Second Empire was accomplished without
bloodshed that I say this. Bloodshed would have only made the burlesque
more gruesome, but it could have never converted it into a tragedy, the
recollection of which would have made men think and shudder even after
the lapse of many years. As it is, the recollection of the 4th of
September can only make the independent witness smile. On the one hand,
a burlesque Harold driven off to Wilhelmshoehe in a landau, surrounded by
a troop of Uhlans; and a burlesque Boadicea slinking off in a hackney
cab, _minus_ the necessary handkerchiefs for the cold in her
head,--"fleeing when no one pursueth," instead of poisoning herself: on
the other, "ceux qui prennent la parole pour autrui," _i. e._ the
lawyers, prenant le pouvoir pour eux-memes. Really, the only chronicler
capable of dealing with the situation in the right spirit is our old
and valued friend, Mr. Punch. Personally, from the Saturday afternoon
until the early hours on Monday, I saw scarcely one incident worthy of
being treated seriously; nor did the accounts supplied to me by others
tend to modify my impressions.

Though the defeat at Sedan was virtually complete on Thursday the 1st at
nine p.m., not the faintest rumour of it reached Paris before Friday
evening at an advanced hour, and the real truth was not known generally
until the Saturday at the hour just named. There was grief and
consternation on many faces, but no expression of fury or anger. That
sentiment, at any rate in its outward manifestations, had to be supplied
from the heights of Belleville and Montmartre, Montrouge and
Montparnasse, when, later on, a good many of the inhabitants of those
delightful regions came down like an avalanche on the heart of the city.
They were the lambs of Blanqui, Delescluze, Felix Pyat, and Milliere.
They were dispersed on reaching the Boulevard Montmartre, and we saw
nothing of them from where we were seated, at the Cafe de la Paix. By
the time they rallied in the side streets and had marched to the
Palais-Bourbon, they found their competitors, Favre, Gambetta, & Co.,
trying to oust the ministers of the Empire. But for that unfortunate
delay we might have had the Commune on the 4th of September instead of
on the 18th of March following. Blanqui, Pyat, & Co. never forgave
Favre, Gambetta, & Co. for having forestalled them, and, above all, for
not having share