The capitulation at Sedan was signed on the morning of 2 September 1870, and the news reached Palikao that same day. But the public as yet knew nothing; the reports received by ministers were conflicting, the details uncertain, and Palikao preferred to delay any announcement of disaster until it was confirmed officially and beyond a doubt. On the morning of the 3rd rumours began to circulate; telegrams arrived from Brussels and passengers from Belgium spread the tidings of a great defeat. At the session of the Corps Législatif in the afternoon Palikao made a statement: the attempted junction with Bazaine had failed, MacMahon had been forced to retreat to Mézières and Sedan and “perhaps even in small numbers on to Belgian territory.” This cautious admission prepared his audience for the worst. Such a statement from the reticent Palikao had an ominous significance, and when the Minister further confessed that no news or instructions had been received from the Emperor, Jules Favre declared that, since the government had in fact ceased to exist, all parties should in order to avoid confusion give place to a soldier who would undertake the defence of the nation. Everyone understood who was the soldier thus referred to by a member of the Left. It was clear that once the news of complete disaster was officially confirmed deposition would be demanded in the streets and formally proposed in the Chamber. That fearful confirmation was soon to come. Not long after the close of the afternoon sitting the Empress, who as yet knew nothing, received a laconic telegram: “The army is defeated and captive; I myself am prisoner. Napoleon.”