November 4.—I have been requested to be Mayor of the Third, also of the Eleventh, Arrondissement. I refused.
I went to the rehearsal of Les Châtiments at the Porte Saint Martin. Frédérick Lemaitre and Mmes. Laurent, Lia Felix and Duguéret were present.
November 5.—To-day the public reading of Les Châtiments, the proceeds of which are to purchase a cannon for the defence of Paris, was given.
The Third, Eleventh and Fifteenth Arrondissements want me to stand for Mayor. I refuse.
Mérimée has died at Cannes. Dumas is not dead, but he is paralyzed.
November 7.—The 24th Battalion waited upon me and wanted me to give them a cannon.
November 8.—Last night, on returning from a visit to General Le Flo, I for the first time crossed the Pont des Tuileries, which has been built since my departure from France.
November 9.—The net receipts from the reading of Les Châtiments at the Porte Saint Martin for the gun which I have named the “Châteaudun” amounted to 7,000 francs, the balance going to pay the attendants, firemen, and lighting, the only expenses charged.
At the Cail works mitrailleuses of a new model, called the Gatling model, are being made.
Little Jeanne is beginning to chatter.