views found frequent expression in private, and in public too; I myself particularly remember the Chancellor’s speaking thus most unguardedly at a dinner in Rheims.  But he could not prevent the march to Paris; it was impossible to stop the Germans, flushed with success.  “On to Paris” was written by the soldiers on every door, and every fence-board along the route to the capital, and the thought of a triumphant march down the Champs Elysees was uppermost with every German, from the highest to the lowest grade.

The 5th of September we set out for Rheims.  There it was said the Germans would meet with strong resistance, for the French intended to die to the last man before giving up that city.  But this proved all fudge, as is usual with these “last ditch” promises, the garrison decamping immediately at the approach of a few Uhlans.  So far as I could learn, but a single casualty happened; this occurred to an Uhlan, wounded by a shot which it was reported was fired from a house after the town was taken; so, to punish this breach of faith, a levy of several hundred bottles of champagne was made, and the wine divided about headquarters, being the only seizure made in the city, I believe, for though Rheims, the centre of the champagne district, had its cellars well stocked, yet most of them being owned by German firms, they received every protection.

The land about Rheims is of a white, chalky character, and very poor, but having been terraced and enriched with fertilizers, it produces the champagne grape in such abundance that the region, once considered valueless, and named by the peasantry the “land of the louse,” now supports a dense population.  We remained in Rheims eight days, and through the politeness of the American Consul—­Mr. Adolph Gill—­had the pleasure of seeing all the famous wine cellars, and inspecting the processes followed in champagne making, from the step of pressing the juice from the grape to that which shows the wine ready for the market.  Mr. Gill also took us to see everything else of special interest about the city, and there being much to look at —­fine old churches, ancient fortifications, a Roman gateway, etc. —­the days slipped by very quickly, though the incessant rains somewhat interfered with our enjoyment.

For three or four days all sorts of rumors were rife as to what was doing in Paris, but nothing definite was learned till about the 9th; then Count Bismarck informed me that the Regency had been overthrown on the 4th, and that the Empress Eugenie had escaped to Belgium.  The King of Prussia offered her an asylum with the Emperor at Wilhelmshohe, “where she ought to go,” said the Chancellor, “for her proper place is with her husband,” but he feared she would not.  On the same occasion he also told me that Jules Favre—­the head of the Provisional Government—­had sent him the suggestion that, the Empire being gone, peace should be made and the Germans withdrawn, but that he (Bismarck) was now compelled to recognize the impossibility of doing this till Paris was taken, for although immediately after the surrender of Sedan he desired peace, the past few days had made it plain that the troops would not be satisfied with anything short of Paris, no matter what form of Government the French should ultimately adopt.