EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE
THIS DIARY IS DEDICATED
IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY OF
HIS FATHER, THE LATE
_Whitelaw Reid_




PREFACE


This is not a story of the world-wide war. These notes, jotted down at
odd moments in a diary, are published with the idea of recording, day by
day, the aspect, temper, mood, and humor of Paris, when the entire
manhood of France responds with profound spontaneous patriotism to the
call of mobilization in defense of national existence. France is herself
again. Her capital, during this supreme trial, is a new Paris, the like
of which, after the present crisis is over, will probably not be seen
again by any one now living.

As a youth in the spring of 1871, I witnessed Paris, partly in ruins,
emerging from the scourges of German invasion and of the Commune. As a
correspondent of the _New York Herald_, under the personal
direction of my chief, Mr. James Gordon Bennett--for whom I retain a
deep-rooted friendship and admiration for his sterling, rugged qualities
of a true American and a masterly journalist--it was my good fortune,
during fourteen years, to share the joys and charms of Parisian life. I
was in Paris during the throes of the Dreyfus affair when, at the call
of the late Whitelaw Reid, I began my duties as resident correspondent