“CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD. “Citizens,— “The general feeling of the population appears to be to offer no opposition to the entry of the Prussians into Paris. The Central Committee, which had emitted contrary advice, declares its intention of adhering to the following resolutions:— “‘All around the quarters occupied by the enemy, barricades shall be raised so as to isolate completely that part of the town. The inhabitants of the circumscribed portion should be required to quit it immediately. “‘The National Guard, in conjunction with the army, shall form an unbroken line along the whole circuit, and take care that the enemy, thus isolated upon ground which is no longer of our city, shall communicate in no manner with any of the other parts of Paris. “‘The Central Committee engages the National Guard to lend, its aid for the execution of the necessary measures to bring about this result, and to avoid any aggressive acts which would have the immediate effect of overthrowing the Republic.’” But here is a little treacherous placard, manuscript and anonymous, which takes a much fairer tone:— “A convention has permitted the Prussians to occupy the Champs Elysées, from the Seine to the Faubourg St. Honoré, and as far as the Place de la Concorde. “Be it so! The greater the injury, the more terrible the revenge. “But, if some panderer dare to pass the circle of our shame, let him be instantly declared traitor, let him become a target for our balls, an object for our petroleum, a mark for our Orsini bombs,[2] an aim for our daggers! “Let this be told to all. “By decision of the Horatii, “(Signed) POPULUS.” The effervescence in the minds of the people was so great, that the entry of the Prussians was delayed for forty-eight hours, but on the first of March, at ten in the morning, they had come into the city, and the smoke of their bivouac fires was seen in the Champs Elysées. On the evening of the same day, a telegram from Bordeaux announced that the National Assembly had ratified the preliminaries of peace by a majority of 546 voices against 107. On the following day the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs left for Versailles, and by nine o’clock in the evening, everything was prepared for the evacuation of the troops, which was effected by eleven, on the third of March. During the short period of their stay, the city was in veritable mourning; the public edifices (even the Bourse) were closed, as were the shops, the warehouses, and the greater part of the cafés. At the windows hung black flags, or the tricolour covered with black crape, and veils of the same material concealed the faces of the statues[3] on the Place de la Concorde. All these demonstrations had, however, a pacific character, and the presence of the enemy in Paris gave rise to no serious incident.