ng all that is admirable in the men of the
Hotel de Ville. They are fools enough to cling to their own lives and
the lives of those near them. They do not go to war amongst themselves;
they are poor ignorant creatures, and you will never make them believe
that when once they have paid their taxes, worked, fed their wives and
children, there still remains to them one duty to fulfil, more holy,
more imperative than all others,--that of coming to the Porte-Maillot to
receive a ball or a fragment of shell in their skulls.

But these balloons might be made of some use, nevertheless. Pick out
one, the best made, the largest in size, the best rigged; put in Citizen
Felix Pyat--who, you may be sure, will not be the last to sit down--and
Citizen Delescluze too, nor must we omit Citizen Cluseret, nor any of
the citizens who at the present moment constitute the happiness of Paris
and the tranquillity of France! Now inflate this admirable balloon,
which is to bear off all your hopes, with the lightest gases. Then blow,
ye winds, terrifically, furiously, and bear it from us! Balloons can be
capricious at times. Have you read, the story of Hans Pfaal? Good
Heavens! if the wind could only carry them away, up to the moon, or even
a great deal further still.

LXVIII.

I'm surprised myself, as I re-read the preceding pages, at the strange
contradictions I meet with. During the first few days I was almost
favourable to the Commune; I waited, I hoped. To-day all is very
different. When I write down in the evening what I have seen and thought
in the day, I allow myself to blame with severity men that inspired me
formerly with some kind of sympathy. What has taken place? Have my
opinions changed? I do not think so. Besides, I have in reality but one
opinion. I receive impressions, describing these impressions without
reserve, without prejudice. If these stray leaves should ever be
collected in a volume, they will at least possess the rare merit of
being thoroughly sincere. Is it then, that my nature is modified? By no
means. If I were indulgent a month ago, it was that I did not know those
of whom I spoke, and that I am of a naturally hopeful and benevolent
disposition: if I now show myself severe, it is that--like the rest of
Paris--I have learned to know them better.

LXIX.

The Commune has naturally brought an infinite number of journals into
existence. Try, if you will, to count the leaves of the forest, the
grains