ten o'clock
Paris had surrendered ! And I had entered it from the south just in time , if I wished , to witness the entry of His Majesty the Emperor Alexander from the north . Soon I found myself one of a crowd converging towards the bridges , to scatter northward along the line of His Majesty 's progress , from the Barrière de Pantin to the Champs Élysées , where the grand review was to be held . I chose this for my objective , and , making my way along the Quays , found myself shortly before ten o'clock in the Place de la Concorde , where a singular little scene brought me to a halt . About a score of young men -- aristocrats by their dress and carriage -- were gathered about the centre of the square . Each wore a white scarf and the Bourbon cockade in his hat ; and their leader , a weedy youth with hay-coloured hair , had drawn a paper from his pocket and was declaiming its contents at the top of a voice by several sizes too big for him : -- `` For Paris is reserved the privilege , under circumstances now existing , to accelerate the dawn of Universal Peace . Her suffrage is awaited with the interest which so immense a result naturally inspires , '' _ et cetera _ .