The lower-class Parisians, taught for half a century to believe
France the greatest of military powers, ascribe all defeats to treachery, and display the old temper of 1792. Every foreigner is a spy of Bismarck's, and the faintest suspicion of an accent is sufficient to cost a man his life. The rich French are also sus- pected, so since Thursday are all who leave the capital ; so are all with too much gold ; and so, among others, are the courtesans. The temper of the people is horribly fierce, and it is believed that one main reason for the attempts to delude them with pleasant things is the belief of all statesmen that the truth would produce a social war. That this opinion is widely shared is evident from the fact that throughout the week General Palikao has made no state- ment even to the Corps Legislatif.
Previous page
