The capitulation of Sedan proved fatal to the Empire. On
Saturday, the 3rd inst., Count Palikao officially recognized a great disaster, and during a midnight sitting he acknowledged to the Chamber the whole truth, which, on the following morning, was communicated through the Journal Officiel to all Paris. A sitting was ordered for noon on Sunday, and all Saturday night the leaders of parties made their preparations. The idea of Count Palikan was to form a Provisional Government, with himself as its head, and to support the Chamber in assuming the control of affairs. The idea of the Right was to proclaim Napoleon IV., with the Empress as Regent, and the Chamber, protected by Palikao, as the final authority. The idea of General Trochu was
to effect a fusion with the Left, turn the National Guards upon the Corps Legislatif, decree the overthrow of the dynasty, dismiss the Chamber, and establish some kind of a Provisional Dictator- ship. On the one side, the troops in Paris were ordered totlefend the Legislature ; on the other, the National Guards were ordered to surround it.
