39° Appendix I 



de-camp, ' et priez le de venir baiser mon c — 1.' He also related an anec- 

 dote of Bismarck illustrative of his equally Rabelaisian style of humour." 

 [This anecdote is omitted as unprintable.] 



" Aug. 2nd. — Went last night to the Opera to hear ' Masaniello.' Be- 

 tween the third and fourth acts the stage represented the French camp, 

 and Faure in the uniform of the Garde Mobile sang the ' Rhin Allemand' : 

 Nous l'avons eu votre Rhin Allemand. The Marseillaise was then called 

 for and Marie Sasse came forward with the tricolor and gave it amid great 

 enthusiasm. It was the most emotional thing I ever saw on the stage. 

 Faure afterwards was called for and sang the Marseillaise in his turn, 

 kneeling down at the last verse, and wrapping himself in the flag. All 

 the house stood up while it was being sung. The effect was lessened to 

 me by the uniform and by the tricolour having on it a little gilt eagle, but 

 in spite of this I have seldom been so touched. [The Marseillaise was 

 then being sung for the first time in Paris, after having been proscribed 

 there for twenty years.] 



" 3rd Aug. — It is officially announced that a division of the French army 

 has captured the heights above Saarbruck and driven the Prussians out of 

 the town, Saarbruck being just over the frontier. The Emperor and the 

 Prince Imperial were present and under fire. 



" 5th, Aug., 9 p.m. — Learned at the Embassay that the Prussians had 

 taken Vissembourg yesterday and that General Douai had been killed, one 

 gun captured. They told me a battle was being fought to-day, the news 

 hitherto rather unfavourable to the French. MacMahon had 80,000 men 

 under his command, so it should be a great battle. [This proved to be the 

 battle of Worth.] I have arranged in case of a defeat to send my wife 

 and Miss Noel [her cousin Alice Noel who was staying with us] to Havre 

 with the carriage and horses. I shall stay here myself. Paris has been 

 very silent this evening. I told Julie at dinner that the Emperor had been 

 killed. ' Quant a cela,' she said, ' si je vois aujourd'hui passer son enterre- 

 ment je ne dirai que tant mieux.' The weather since noon has been sultry 

 with an attempt at thunder. There is a heavy black cloud over the sky 

 to-night. 



"6th Aug. — Last night at half-past ten, hearing that something was 

 happening on the boulevard I went out. Bands of men were marching up 

 and down singing patriotic songs, the boulevard crowded, people talking in 

 knots. There was the rumour of a defeat. (According to the 'Times' 

 the French had been driven out of Vissemberg, one gun taken and 500 

 unwounded prisoners, also the French camp taken. Vissembourg is a few 

 miles from Rastadt, where the Prussian Crown Prince has his headquar- 

 ters.) I sat down outside Bignon's to read the 'National,' and was joined 

 there by Malet and Lascelles. They are both staunch Frenchmen. They 

 considered it looked very bad there being no news. They knew a severe 

 battle was being fought that afternoon. I dreamed all night of Prussians 

 and their victories. God rot them ! 



" This morning I went to the Embassy to volunteer my services to the 

 Chancery, as they have more work there than they can do. They seemed 

 to think that after all there had been no fighting yesterday. At half-past 



