My mission is ended; I could return to China; but all that I see here interests me extremely. This civil war immediately succeeding a foreign war is a very curious occurrence. There is here, for a Chinaman, an excellent opportunity of study, on the spot and from life, of European civilization.
VERSAILLES, May 24, 1871.
Paris is burning, and on the terrace of the palace of Saint-Cloud, in the midst of the ruins of that palace, I passed my day looking at Paris burn. It is a dead, destroyed, and annihilated city.
PARIS, June 10, 1871.
Not at all. It is still the most beautiful city in Europe, and the most brilliant, and the most gay. I shall spend some time in Paris.
PARIS, June 29, 1871.
Yesterday M. Thiers, in the Bois de Boulogne, held a review of a hundred thousand men. Will there always be a France?
IN THE EXPRESS
"When one bears the name of Luynes or La Trémoille, I can readily understand the desire to continue the Luynes or the La Trémoilles; but really when one is named Chamblard, what possible object can there be in—Eh? Answer."