s; they turned out to be Republicans. The marks of
disapproval proceeded from compact groups of what were apparently
workmen. As I knew that no workmen devoted to the Empire would have
dared to gather in that way, even if their numbers had been sufficient,
and as I felt reluctant to inquire, I came to the natural conclusion
that the hooters were the supporters of Blanqui, Pyat, & Co. The Commune
was foreshadowed on the Place de la Concorde on that day.

My experience of the 24th of February, 1848, told me that the Chamber
would be invaded before long. In 1848 there was no more danger for a
foreigner to mix with the rabble than for a Frenchman. I felt not quite
so sure about my safety on the 4th of September. My adventure in the
Avenue de Clichy, which I will relate anon, had not happened then, and
I was not as careful as I became afterwards, still I remembered in time
the advice of the prudent Frenchman--"When in doubt, abstain;" and I
prepared to retrace my steps to the Boulevards, where, I knew, there
would be no mistake about my identity. At the same time, I am bound to
say that no such accident as I dreaded, occurred during that day, as far
as I am aware. There may or may not have been at that hour half a
hundred spies of Bismarck in the city, but no one was molested. The
Parisians were so evidently overjoyed at getting rid of the Empire, that
for four and twenty hours, at any rate, they forgot all about the hated
Germans and their march upon the capital. They were shaking hands with,
and congratulating one another, as if some great piece of good fortune
had befallen them. Years before that, I had seen my wife behave in a
similarly joyous manner after having dismissed at a moment's notice a
cook who had shamefully robbed us: the wife knew very well that, on the
morrow, the tradesmen, the amount of whose bills the dishonest servant
had pocketed for months, would be sending in their claims upon us.
"Perhaps they will take into consideration that we dismissed her," she
said, "and not hold us responsible." The Latin race, and especially the
French, are the females of the human race.

I noticed that the gates of the Tuileries gardens on the Place de la
Concorde were still open, and that the gardens themselves were black
with people. It must have been about half-past ten or eleven. I did not
go back by the Rue Royale, but by the Rue de Rivoli. The people were
absolutely streaming down the street. There was not a single th