Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-01-03
PARIS AND THE COMMUNE.

PARIS AND THE COMMUNE
What Minister Washburne Saw And
Experienced When The Capital of
France was IN the Hands Of
The Mob.
Graphic Pictures Of Men and Scenes Il
Paris During and after the Eventfnl
Franco Prnssian Var.
Hon. g. b. Washburne, of Illinois
lately United States Minister &c
France, delivered an exceedingly in
teresting lecture to over a Thousand
people at the st. Paul opera houae
Dec. Goth, on "the Seige of Paril
and the arcommnDe.a The dis.in
guished lnctnrer was introduced t,
the audience by Hon. Alexandel
Ramsey, and without any prelimin
aries he took bis seat on a stool be-
hind the elevated desk and began tt
read, turning the pages rapidly az
he proceeded, and limiting his ges
lures to . slight movement of tn,
right hands s
In commencing his lecture Mr.,
WashburEo spoke of Paris as b,
found it when he presented his let
ters OF credence to the emperor, Ma.
poleon III as the minister of the
United States to the Empire OF
France. The Emperor residing q,
the Tuileries. was in the midst Of q
brilliant court, and royalty was
surrounded by beauty and splen
dor. People from every part of the
world focked to Paris, and the mil
liners and shop keepers reaped rich
harvests from the gold which was
poured iuto the great city, and in
return she sent to every land and
every CLINE all that ingenuity and
skill could invent to crafty the
taste aud tempt the appetite. There
was an appearance Of happiness and
prosperity. to the superficial obser-
YER, but 1t was all deceptive, for
with the real people there was nm.
easiness and discomfort. The allie.
ged cause of the war between France
and Germany was but a mere pre-
text, After eighteen years of peace
the courtiers who surrounded the
emperor seemed to think it about
time to have war, to awaken the
martial spirit of the French people,
to plant the French eagles 10 tri-
umph in the capital of some foreign
and as a consequence, to
fix firmly on the throne the son OF
LII, and to restore to the
imperial crown the lust it had lost.
The declaration of the war was sud-
den
Mr.. Washburne described the
state Of things as they existed in
Paris Immediately after the declara>
ton was made. The streets, boule-
Yards, and avenues were filed with
people in the greatest state of en-.
thusiam and excitation, and the air
was filed with cries of "a Berlin en-
butt jours." The peoples hearts
were set on fire by the terrible re-
frain of the Marsellaise, that hymn
offree France:
GALLONS enfans de la Patris
lie jours de giorie est arrive.'
The number OF Germans in Paris
at the time of the breaking out of
the war was estimated at 30, 900 or
40, 1000, and their condition became
at once most embarrassing and crit
lcal. The German ambassador and
his legation being obliged to leave
Paris Immediately, it was necessary
the German population there should
have some protection ard then it
was that, upon the application of
Prince de Bismark, the minister OF
the United States, with tie assent of
the governments and the concurrence
of France became the protector of
Germans in France. The French
had issued a sweeping
order expel!ing every German from
France, but at the same time had
required that no one should leave
without passport from the Ameri-
can minister, and he gave passports
to over 10000, besides furnishing
means TO smaller number to aid
them in leaving the city. The con-
dition of the German population
from the time of the breaking ont of
the war until the gates of Paris clos
cd was described. 1t turned out
that there were some three or four
thousand Germans that were left in
Paris when the siege commenced,
and they fell upon the hands of the
American minister for support and
protection.
Mr.. Washburne spoke of the rela-
tons he held with Gambetta when
he was minister of the interior un-
der the government of the national
defense, and who at the last hour
rendered his assistance in getting
the Germans out of Paris. He said
it was there that he first made the
of M. Gambetta, which
afterwards ripened into
a firm friendship. He was struck by
the quickness of his perception, his
extraordinary executive ability, his
promptness, decision energy, patrio-
tism and supreme love of country.
In his colossal struggle to save his
country he had exhibited grand quail
tiles of courage and devotion, for
which the pen of history would one
day do him full justice. As the Ger
man armies approached Paris with
their sure and resistless tread, the
of the city was prey to
q vast natural emotion, and the city
put on serious air.
The effect produced by the news
of the crash Of Sedan was described,
as we'll as the revolution of the 4th
of September, when the national
guard and the citizens of Paris ex-
PEELED the deputies from the Pslais
Bourbon, and when sixty thousand
Of the population went to the Hotel
do Vile, and the government OF the
national defense was thrown ont
from the windows on little strips Of
paper, which government was &C !.