or false, to stir men's souls. Besides this, the garrison
had for months been idle, and was consumed with _ennui_. Among the
prevailing complaints was one that General Trochu was too pious!
They might have said of him with truth, that, though brave and
determined when once in action, he was wanting in decision. The
garrison in Paris had no general who could stir their hearts,--no
leader of men. General Trochu, and the rulers under him, waited to
be moved by public opinion. They were ready to do what the masses
would dictate, but seemed not to be able to lead them. In a besieged
city the population generally bends to the will of one man; in
this case it was one man, or a small body of men, who bent to the
will of the people.

The winter of 1871 was the coldest that had been known for twenty
years. Fuel and warm clothing grew scarce. The Rothschilds distributed
$20,000 worth of winter garments among the suffering; and others
followed their example, till there was no warm clothing left to buy;
but the suffering in every home was intense, and at last soldiers
were brought in frozen from the ramparts. There was of course no
gas, and the city was dimly lighted by petroleum. Very great zeal
was shown throughout Paris for hospital service. French military
hospitals and the service connected with them are called "ambulances."
"We were all full of recollections," says M. de Sarcey, "of the
exertions made on both sides in the American Civil War. Our model
hospital was formed on the American Plan."

The American Sanitary Commission had sent out specimens of hospital
appliances to the Exposition Universelle of 1867. These had remained
in Paris, and the hospital under canvas, when set up, excited great
admiration. Everything was for use; nothing for show. "The four
great medicines that we recognize," said the American surgeon in
charge, "are fresh air, hot and cold water, opium, and quinine."

Among the bravest and most active litter-bearers were the Christian
Brothers,--men not priests, but vowed to poverty, celibacy, and
the work of education. "They advanced wherever bullets fell," says
M. de Sarcey, "to pick up the dead or wounded; recoiling from no
task, however laborious or distasteful; never complaining of their
food, drinking only water; and after their stretcher-work was done,
returning to their humble vocation of teachers, without dreaming
that they had played the part of heroes."

Before Bazaine surrendered at Metz, ea