PARIS

UNDER THE COMMUNE.




INTRODUCTORY.


Late in the day of the 30th October, 1870, the agitation was great in
Paris; the news had spread that the village of Le Bourget had been
retaken by the Prussians. The military report had done what it could to
render the pill less bitter by saying that "_this village did not form a
part of the system of defence_," but the people though kept in ignorance
perceived instinctively that there must be weakness on the part of the
chiefs. After so much French blood had been shed in taking the place,
men of brave will would not have been wanting to occupy it. We admit
that Le Bourget may not have been important from a military point of
view, but as regarding its moral effect its loss was much to be
regretted.

The irritation felt by the population of Paris was changed into
exasperation, when on the following day the news of the reduction of
Metz appeared in the _Official Journal_:

"The Government has just been acquainted with the sad intelligence
of the capitulation of Metz. Marshal Bazaine and his army were
compelled to surrender, after heroic efforts, which the want of food
and ammunition alone rendered it impossible to maintain. They have