the Prussians forwarded this news into Paris, a small body of German
troops was worsted in a sortie beyond St. Denis. These two events
roused the turbulent part of the population of Paris almost to
frenzy, and resulted in a rising called the _émeute_ of October
31.

The disorderly classes living in the suburbs of Belleville and
Montmartre (which have taken the place of the old Faubourg
Saint-Antoine), assuming "The Commune" for their war-cry, were led
on by such men as Ledru-Rollin, Blanqui, and Félix Pyat.

"The party of the Commune," says M. de Sarcey, "was composed partly
of charlatans, partly of dupes,--that is, the real members of the
Commune as a party. The rank and file were simply roughs, ready
for any mischief, and, we may add, for any plunder."

On the morning of October 31, a great crowd of these men assembled
before the Hôtel-de-Ville, then the seat of government. General
Trochu, Jules Favre, the Maire of Paris, and even Rochefort, who
was a member of the Committee of Defence, harangued them for hours
without producing any impression. The days were passed when the
mob of Paris could be controlled by a harangue. Finally, the crowd
made its way into the Hôtel-de-Ville, and endeavored to force the
Committee of Defence to issue a proclamation which would convene the
citizens to vote for a commune. The windows of the Hôtel-de-Ville
were flung open, in spite of the efforts of the members of the
Government, and lists of the proposed Communistic rulers were flung
out to the mob.

Meantime the members of the existing Government were imprisoned in