to me.  Our army opposed to him is about equal to his.  Let them fight it out between them.”  Jules Favre replied that this was impossible; for though France had not asked Garibaldi for his services, and had in the first instance refused them, circumstances had made him general-in-chief of a large corps d’armee composed almost entirely of Frenchmen, and to abandon him would be indefensible.  Then the anger of the chancellor blazed forth against Garibaldi.  “I want to parade him through the streets of Berlin,” he cried, “with a placard on his back:  ‘This is Gratitude!’”

Here d’Herisson interrupted his burst of anger by picking up the saucer from the table and holding it to his breast as beggars do at the church-doors.  The chancellor caught his idea after a moment.  He laughed, and Garibaldi, with his corps d’armee, was included in the armistice.

It was necessary, however, that a French general should come out to Versailles the next day and confer with Count von Moltke with regard to some military details.  The old general who was chosen for that service was furious at the appointment, and behaved with such rudeness that Bismarck requested that a man more courteous might replace him.

In the course of the conversation Bismarck, who was always breaking off upon side topics, replied to an observation made by Jules Favre about the love of France for a republic, by saying:  “Are you so sure of that?—­for I don’t think so.  Before treating with you, we naturally made it our business to obtain good information as to the state of public feeling in your country; and notwithstanding this unhappy war, which was forced by France upon Napoleon III., and notwithstanding the disasters of your armies, nothing would be easier, believe me, than to re-establish the emperor.  I will not say that his restoration would have been hailed by acclamations in Paris, but it would have been submitted to by the country.  A plebiscite would have done the rest.”

Jules Favre protested.  “Oh, you will become more inclined to monarchy as you grow older,” cried the chancellor.  “Look at me.  I began my public life by being a liberal; and now, by force of reason, by the teachings of experience, and by an increased knowledge of mankind, I have learned, loving my country, wishing her good and her greatness, to become a conservative,—­an upholder of authority.  My emperor converted me.  My gratitude to him, my respectful affection, date from the far-off time when he alone supported me.  If I am to-day the man you see me, if I have rendered any service to my country, I owe it all, as I am pleased to acknowledge, to the emperor.”

That night, as Jules Favre was returning to Paris to obtain from his colleagues the ratification of the armistice, Bismarck proposed that firing should cease at midnight.  Jules Favre assented, but asked as a courtesy that Paris might fire the last shot.

That night the terms of capitulation were signed by all the members of the Committee of Defence.  It is strange how the baptismal name of Jules predominated among them,—­Jules Favre, Jules Ferry, Jules Simon, Jules Trochu.  Trochu, however, did not sign, having resigned his post that he might not be called upon to do so.