CHAPTER XII.

SIEGE AND COMMUNE (1870–71).

Ollivier's ministry-Death of the Duc de Broglie-Friendship in France-Government melting like snow-Ignorance of foreign diplomats-L. N. fears the democracy-Workmen flock to Paris-Guizot's grief-Respect for age in France-Madame Mohl as housemaid-Death of Montalembert- Breakfast for Lord Russell-Highwayman's horse-Departure of Nandor-Children's minds should not be stretched-Inferiority of women owing to their trying exclusively to please men-Painted statues-Régnault's colouring-The Hohenzollern affair-Horror of the war-Exile-Life in London-Siege of Paris-Disorganization of railways and means of transport-Heroism of Julie -The Commune-Demonstration of "Friends of Order "-Trochu-Cheap edition of the Terror-Imprisonment of archbishop and clergy-Cannonades-Loss of memory-Success of Jew-Emigration-Commune refuses indemnity-Village in flames-Dufaure's house ransacked and Princess Mathilde's-Orgies of the mob-State of Paris--The nation will right itself— Committee of Public Safety-Theodore Parker-An égoutier director of the National Library-Proposed destruction of monuments-Arbitrary arrestsImprisonment of Monseigneur Perny-Carte de sûreté-Appropriation of public money by Communists-Thiers' house ransacked-Colonne Vendôme -An organ-grinder minister-Reasons for staying in Paris-To protect one's property-Marriage laws altered-Desertion of the streets-Thiers-Scarcity of provisions-Paris in flames-Pétroleuses-Victory of the VersailloisFrightful reprisals-Thiers-Intense thirst-Madame Mohl returns to Paris -State of the town-Every one in mourning-Senior's journals—Thiers— Empress of Russia at Petersthal-Priests in Germany-Paris in October. LOUIS NAPOLEON was, as a clever Frenchman said, condamné à être brillant." The empire was growing more and more unpopular, and he astonished the world in the beginning of 1870 by the appointment of a Liberal ministry under Ollivier. Madame Mohl describes the impression he produced in her first letter. Before finishing it she was much distressed by the death of the Duc de Broglie, which was followed not long after by that of Montalembert.

To Lady William Russell.

January 9, 1870.

We are all full of our new government, which began awkwardly. Ollivier went himself at eleven at night to propose the Préfecture de Marseille to a lawyer called Salveta, whom he knew and no one else knew. Salveta, tired and in bed, told the maid to give five francs to the man, thinking he was a servant wanting an étrenne. The town is full of stories of people to whom ministries were offered, because no one would act with Ollivier.

DEAREST MILADI,

February 1, 1870.

I received yours, brought by Arthur to-day, whom I did not see. I found, to my consternation, that the letter I began on January 9 had never been finished, as I found it on rummaging in a drawer to see the date of your last. I send it, stale and insignificant as it is, to show you that my head, not my heart, is in fault. It is true that I have been much afflicted by the death of the Duc de Broglie. He was an ideal before I knew him, and I have to add to the regret of losing him that of not knowing him twelve years ago instead of three; for he called upon me then, and though I was much flattered by the attention, I did not request to see him again, nor do the ordinary civilities which I should have done to an ordinary person, but I had so great a reverence for him that I did not dare to express my wish to see him again. It has been one of my great drawbacks in life that I never could make advances to those I most admired, unless they were more demonstrative than shy and reserved people are capable of being. He was remarkably shy, and since I have known him I have been even more astonished at his stepping out of his habits than at my own stupidity. He is a great public loss; his moral standard was so much above that of other public men, that the very sense of it will disappear, and his extreme unconsciousness of his own worth had a grace which is indescribable. I am grateful to Madame de Staël for the three winters I have seen him habitually; but I never should have had that happiness if she had not climbed up my stairs, when she was so ill with asthma she could hardly breathe, to ask me to go there with Mr. Mohl, as there were no ladies but herself, and she was often too ill to go, and it made them all melancholy to see nothing but black coats. Now,

this is so entirely a French feeling, that I think you would not believe it if you had not lived all over Europe and received your first education here.

We are all still in astonishment at this new state of things, and can hardly believe in it; but, in spite of pessimists, I think it will not. go back. You remember the letters I sent you last summer, in which Mr. Mohl gave me such a curious picture of the state of things, of the Government "melting away like a statue of snow." You will not wonder at the change; you will only be astonished that it changed peaceably, which ought, I think, to prove to the English nation how perfectly absurd was the whole course of the conduct of the Government. The absolute ignorance of the foreign diplomats here is one of my wonders. That they should never have known that every old institution was sapped, and ruined when they had nothing to do but to open their eyes, is what I cannot understand—that they should not know, for example, that the destruction of Paris was as arbitrary a measure as Charles I.'s taxes. The law was always that the préfet should have a council chosen by the chief inhabitants for all great alterations. Louis Napoleon turned out all who opposed his measures, and named the successors himself. I astonished the wife of the Secretary to the American Embassy by telling her this. They never think of inquiring into the state of the country. I remember Lord Cowley scarcely knew who the Duc de Broglie was, after being here eight or ten years.

M. Masson is named Préfet of Lille. Lady Holland knows him well; he proposed sending troops in 1852 to deliver Changarnier from the fortress of Ham. Masson was then Préfet of Amiens. When he went to Louis Napoleon the other day, as préfets do on being appointed, L. N. was very civil, and told him he named him at Thiers' request, as he was grateful to Thiers for his support. Now, the fact is, I believe, L. N. has been terrified by the democracy, whom he had encouraged against the middle classes, and finds these quondam friends more difficult to manage than the bourgeoisie, whom he hated. There are still two hundred thousand, some say four hundred thousand, workmen made artificially within the last ten years to build houses not wanted. They were drawn from the plough from all parts of France by enormous wages, and have learned luxurious habits. The landed proprietors cannot find labourers. How such an overflowing will re-enter into its bed again I know not, and

two hundred thousand workmen would not be convenient to deal with, neither is it certain that soldiers would fire on them. These are some of the difficulties L. N. has had to bring him down, and people will not pay more taxes. What is to be done? He must make friends with the taxpayers instead of those who will be paid.

To Miss E. Martin.

The Duc de Broglie is gone, and one may truly say the highest standard of what a public man should be, and a private one too, has disappeared. Poor Guizot had been his friend for fifty years, and his daughter told Madame de Loménie, who told me, that the day after he wept like a child. The tears of a man of eighty-two have something awful in them. . . . These old folks are wonderfully interesting, and I am happy to say are made so much of in their old age that they feel it much less. It is the only country where age is more courted than youth. I feel it so myself.

To the same.

February 23, 1870.

I have been getting up these four days at twenty minutes before seven-hardly light. What for? Guess you never will, so I'll tellto light the fire. Josephine could not live with the new cook, and gave me warning, a week's here is sufficient. She is a great loss, for she is a capital servant, though no great things as a human being. As to the cook, she is the stupidest creature, and always complaining; of course I shall not keep her. I have one in view. The new maid came yesterday afternoon; but, nevertheless, I got up at halfpast six this morning to show her how to light a coal fire, which nobody knows how to do here, and I dare say you don't know. If I were but stronger I should be a capital housemaid. I took my new maid from her face and countenance, without troubling myself about references. I had nine applications. She was the only one I immediately took to; we shall see if I was right. The cook had every recommendation, and is the plague of my life; her only quality is being kind to the cat, and that is a considerable one. I fetched the coals downstairs ; I did a hundred odd jobs. You would have been edified to see it, for my cook is always complaining that she has so much to do, and used to make Josephine work so hard she could not stay; however, it did me no harm, and I went to a party last night to forget

my household troubles; it was at an old acquaintance's whom I have never been to see at night. I found all sorts of fine people, and one lady I had not seen since I was at the Abbaye-au-Bois. She came up to me and was very civil, and said, "You have all the sovereigns coming to your parties, and the cleverest men." I said, "One sovereign had honoured me so much and no more." I could not help laughing in my sleeve, thinking if she had seen me raking out the coals that morning that the sovereigns would have appeared rather inappropriate guests. I went the other night to the Liebreichs'; they were alone; he sang the whole evening so beautifully, I never heard any one sing like him anywhere. He sang Handel in perfection, and Don Giovanni's serenade far better than the actor at the opera I had heard four nights before. Tell Margy this; she will like to hear of him. He is very delightful; he made so much. of Kate Helmholtz, because he considers her father as the making of him; and so he is, for the instrument he invented was first used here by Liebreich.

There was a very successful meeting in Parliament yesterday. The English know no more about France and its institutions than about Japan; and what is more curious is, they don't even know how ill Louis Napoleon behaved to us English when he thought he could do it with impunity; however, it was useful, by making us give up all alliances with him after the Crimean War, and establish the volunteers, after he had had put in the French papers that England was a nest of brigands, harbouring Orsinis and the like, and that the French ought to go and punish them. He expected our police to be even more watchful than his own about his precious self. I keep a Punch of those days.

DEAREST LOVE,

To Lady Augusta Stanley.

Paris, May 3, 1870.

I miss both the duke and Montalembert more than I might even miss more intimate friends, because I had for twelve years scarcely ever been a week without seeing Montalembert when he was in Paris; he seldom failed to come on Fridays when he was able to go out, and after his illness I went every Friday at five o'clock to see him. These habits are so unusual, except in Paris, that no one has an idea how much they conduce to the agrément of