A hundred years ago
From the 'Spectator,' 5 November 1870—Bad news seems to act on Frenchmen like acid on an alkali. The moment it falls there is a splutter. The news of an armistice was received in Tours and Paris exactly in the same way. Up sprang the population in a rage, rushed to the seat of Government, imprisoned the Ministry, and in- stalled a Committee of Public Safety. Then the respectables under arms marched down, released the Ministers, dispersed the pepulace, and re- stored order. In Tours, M. Gambetta was impri- soned for some hours; and in Paris, General Trochu. The latter, however, felt himself strong enough to put the question of confidence in the Government to a regular vote of the citizens; to issue a proclamation, stating that advantages were to be derived from an armistice; and to threaten to disarm any battalion of the Guard which appeared in the street without orders. The ultras in Paris seem bereft of the usual portion of sense, and actually nominated a triumvirate, consisting of Flourens, a daredevil of some ability and no judgment at all; M. Ledru Rollin, a worn-out socialist of 1848; and, of all man- kind, M. Victor Hugo,
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