\\.\\:. 



357 



[H-.iplu to respect the freedom of deliber- 



;i:i'l to li-tcll ill Mli-ll.'.-. 'I'll,. tUllllllt lit 



l.-ngtli biraino so great that nothing but tho 

 : J7r la rtpubliaue" could DO di.-tin- 



.1. (larnbetta and tho other leaders of 



ft then resolved to -proceed to the ll.'>t<-I 



,llo. In front of these headquarters of all 



French revolutions a great multitude had al- 



assombK'd, filling the air with loud cries 

 of " Vite la repullique" All Paris was in a 



of excitement. The National Guards, 



uanls Mobile, and the troops of the line, 



iVatrrnizcd with the people; the cries of "F*r 



It republique!" and " We must drive the enemy 



out ! '' \\vro heard on all sides. When Gam- 



and his friends reached the IlOtel do 

 Ville they constituted themselves a provisional 



government, and elected General Trochu Presi- 

 ent, and commandor-in-chief of the military 

 forces of the country ; Jules Favre, Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs; Gambotta, Interior ; Picard, 

 Finance ; Fourichon, War and the Navy ; Cre- 

 mioux, Justice ; Simon, Public Instruction and 

 Worship ; Dorion, Public Buildings ; Magnin, 

 Agriculture; KCratry, Chief of Police; and 

 Arago, Mayor of the city of Paris. The first 

 measures of the government were the procla- 

 mation of a general amnesty for political of- 

 fences, the dissolution of the Corps Legidatif, 

 the abolition of the Senate, the removal of all 

 restrictions upon the manufacture of arms, 

 and the abrogation of political oaths. The 

 first proclamation of the Provisional Govern- 

 ment was enthusiastically received by the peo- 

 ple. It reminded them that the republic of 

 1792 had once before repulsed the invading 

 forces of the foreigner, and called upon them 

 to drive the enemy out of the country now. 

 "The revolution," said the proclamation, "has 

 been made in order that the rights and the 

 welfare of the people may be duly protected." 

 "Fellow-citizens, guard tho city which has 

 been intrusted to you; to-morrow you will 

 join tho army in order to avenge our beloved 

 country." 



No opposition of any kind was offered by 

 those lately in power, and the ministers, diplo- 

 matists, and those who had been in the con- 

 fidence of the Emperor, disappeared one by 

 one and sought refuge in Belgium or in Eng- 

 land. The principal objects of tho Provisional 

 Government were tho defence of the country, 

 tho formation of alliances, and tho consolida- 

 tion of their own power. Tho republic was 

 recognized by tho Government of tho United 

 States, by Switzerland, Spain, and Italy. Tho 

 ambassadors of the other powers continued 

 their diplomatic intercourse with France, but 

 left Paris for Tours, where Cremicux and 

 Glais-Bizoin represented the Provisional Gov- 

 ernment. Thiers accepted a diplomatic mis- 

 sion to London, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, 

 which proved, however, unsuccessful. 



The prefects of departments were mostly 

 dismissed, on account of their sympathies with 

 the imperial regime, and republicans appointed 



in their j.lace. All revenues formerly belong- 

 in^' to the Ludgt-t of the imperial household 

 were transferred to tho budget of tbo state, 

 while the family domains of Napoleon were 

 administered by a special commission. The 

 Orli -aiiist prince, Bo Joinville, and the Dukes 

 d'Aumole and Chartrcs, came to Paris, but 

 they were not allowed to remain, and had to 

 leave the country again. An attempt made on 

 September 4th, by the majority of the mem- 

 bers of tho Corps Le'gislatif. to establish an 

 opposition government, foiled ; they were dis- 

 persed by military force. 



A number of deputies from the southern de- 

 partments established a Southern League for 

 national defence, and selected Marseilles as the 

 scat of administration, and Lyors as a central 

 point for their operations of attack and de- 

 fence. At Lyons, dissensions broke out among 

 the republican leaders, and resulted in a split 

 of tho republican camp, the Red Republicans 

 ruling in the lower port of the city and in 

 Croix-Rousso, while tho other districts ad- 

 hered to the more moderate faction of the 

 party. 



Tho delegation of the Provisional Govern- 

 ment at Tours was reCnforced by Gambetta, 

 who left Paris in a balloon, and soon became 

 the virtual head of the Government. The 

 extraordinary activity displayed by Gambetta, 

 in conducting tho administration of the country 

 and in directing the military operations, was 

 universally admired, though many of his de- 

 crees created great dissatisfaction. The clergy, 

 the Catholic party, and many officers, were 

 indignant at the appointment of Garibaldi to 

 an important command, and the Archbishop 

 of Tours expressed his deep mortification that 

 France should share the honor of working out 

 her salvation with a foreigner, a declared ene- 

 my of the Church. 



On the 1st of November, the Provisional 

 Government made a war loan, in London, of 

 10,000,000 sterling, but, as this sum was alto- 

 gether inadequate to supply even the most 

 pressing wants, the Government at Tours re- 

 solved to levy a war-tax of 25 per cent, of the 

 ordinary annual contributions ; the money to 

 be paid in within ten days from the date of 

 the decree. It was thought that the 200,000,- 

 000 francs required by tho middle of November 

 could be raised in this manner. 



Immediately after the capitulation of Sedan, 

 the Third and Fourth armies, under the com- 

 mand of the Crown Princes of Prussia and 

 Saxony, resumed the march on Paris. Together 

 tho two armies consisted of eight and a half 

 army corps, which approached their common 

 goal by different .routes. The northernmost 

 road, taken by the Saxons, led through Laon 

 and Soissons ; the army of the Prussian Crown 

 Prince advanced partly by way of Rheime, 

 Chateau Thierry, and Meaux, and portly by 

 a more southern road through Epernay, Mont- 

 mirail, and Coulommiers. A deplorable ac- 

 cident took place on September 9th, on tho 



