integrity, his disinterestedness and civic virtues, as also for
his fluency of speech. In person he was a small, thin man, with
a head that was said to resemble the popular portraits of General
Jackson.

General Jules Trochu, who was confirmed as military commander of
Paris, had written a book, previous to the war, regarding the
inefficiency of the French army; he had been therefore no favorite
with the emperor. His chief defect, it was said, was that he talked
so well that he was fond of talking, and too readily admitted many
to his confidence.

The Council of Regency had in the night melted away. A mob was
surging round the Tuileries. Where had the empress-regent fled?

When disasters had followed fast upon one another, the empress
had in her bewilderment found it hard to realize that the end of
the empire was at hand. Bazaine was the man whom she relied on.
She had no great liking for Marshal MacMahon, and she does not
appear to have been conscious that all was lost till, on the night
of September 4, she found M. Conti, the emperor's secretary, busy
destroying his private papers. To burn them was impossible; they
were torn into small bits and put in a bath-tub, then hot water
was poured over them, which reduced them to pulp. Vast quantities,
however, remained undestroyed, some of them compromising to their
writers.

When the truth of the situation broke upon the empress, she was
very much frightened. Her dread was that she might be torn in pieces
by a mob that would invade the Tuileries. In a fortnight her fair