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diff --git a/10861-0.txt b/10861-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e4849a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/10861-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14304 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10861 *** + +[Illustration: the Column of July] + + + + +PARIS +UNDER THE COMMUNE: + +OR, + +THE SEVENTY-THREE DAYS OF THE +SECOND SIEGE + +WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, SKETCHES TAKEN ON THE SPOT, AND +PORTRAITS (FROM THE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS). + +BY JOHN LEIGHTON, F.S.A., + +&C. + +[Illustration:] + +LONDON: + +1871. + + + + +Socialism, or the Red Republic, is all one; for it would tear down the +tricolour and set up the red flag. It would make penny pieces out of +the Column Vendôme. It would knock down the statue of Napoleon and +raise up that of Marat in its stead. It would suppress the Académie, +the École Polytechnique, and the Legion of Honour. To the grand device +Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, it would add “Ou la mort.” It would +bring about a general bankruptcy. It would ruin the rich without +enriching the poor. It would destroy labour, which gives to each one +his bread. It would abolish property and family. It would march about +with the heads of the proscribed on pikes, fill the prisons with the +suspected, and empty them by massacres. It would convert France into +the country of gloom. It would strangle liberty, stifle the arts, +silence thought, and deny God. It would bring into action these two +fatal machines, one of which never works without the other—the assignat +press and the guillotine. In a word, it would do in cold blood what the +men of 1793 did in fever, and after the grand horrors which our fathers +saw, we should have the horrible in all that was low and small. + +(VICTOR HUGO, 1848.) + +[Illustration:] + + + + + PREFACE. + + +Early in June of the present year I was making notes and sketches, +without the least idea of what I should do with them. I was at the +Mont-Parnasse Station of the Western Railway, awaiting a train from +Paris to St. Cloud. Our fellow passengers, as we discovered afterwards, +were principally prisoners for Versailles; the guards, soldiers; and +the line, for two miles at least, appeared desolation and ruin. + +The façade of the station, a very large one, was pockmarked all over by +Federal bullets, whilst cannon balls had cut holes through the stone +wall as if it had been cheese, and gone down the line, towards +Cherbourg or Brest! The restaurant below was nearly annihilated, the +counters, tables, and chairs being reduced to a confused heap. But +there was a book-stall and on that book-stall reposed a little work, +entitled the “Bataille des Sept Jours,” a brochure which a friend +bought and gave to me, saying, “_Voilà la texte de vos croquis_,” From +seven days my ideas naturally wandered to seventy-three—the duration of +the reign of the Commune—and then again to two hundred and twenty +days—that included the Commune of 1871 and its antecedents. Hence this +volume, which I liken to a French château, to which I have added a +second storey and wings. + +And now that the house is finished, I must render my obligations to M. +Mendès and numerous French friends, for their kind assistance and +valuable aid, including my confrères of “_The Graphic_,” who have +allowed me to enliven the walls with pictures from their stores; and +last, and not least, my best thanks are due to an English Peer, who +placed at my disposal his unique collection of prints and journals of +the period bearing upon the subject—a subject I am pretty familiar +with. Powder has done its work, the smell of petroleum has passed away, +the house that called me master has vanished from the face of the +earth, and my concierge and his wife are reported _fusillés_ by the +Versaillais; and to add to the disaster, my rent was paid in advance, +having been deposited with a _notaire_ prior to the First Siege.... But +my neighbours, where are they? In my immediate neighbourhood six houses +were entirely destroyed, and as many more half ruined. I can only speak +of one friend, an amiable and able architect, who, alas! remonstrated +in person, and received a ball from a revolver through the back of his +neck. His head is bowed for life. He has lost his pleasure and his +treasure, a valuable museum of art,—happily they could not burn his +reputation, or the monument of his life—a range of goodly folio volumes +that exist “_pour tous_.” + +L. + +LONDON, 1871. + + + + +Contents + + +PREFACE +LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS +INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER The 30th October, 1870—The Hôtel de Ville + invaded—Governor Trochu resigns—A Revolt attempted—Meetings, Place + de la Bastille—The Prussians enter Paris—Hostility of the National + Guard + +I. The Memorable 18th of March—Line and Nationals + Fraternise—Discipline at a Discount +II. Assassination of Generals Lecomte and Clément Thomas +III. Proclamation of M. Picard—The Government retires to Versailles +IV. The New Regime Proclaimed—Obscurity of New Masters +V. Paris Hesitates—Small Sympathy with Versailles +VI. The Buttes Montmartre +VII. An Issue Possible—An Approved Proclamation +VIII. Demonstration of the Friends of Order +IX. The Drama of the Rue de la Paix—Victims to Order +X. A Wedding +XI. The Bourse and Belleville +XII. Watching and Waiting +XIII. A Timid but Prudent Person +XIV. Some Federal Opinions +XV. Proclamation of Admiral Saisset—Paris Satisfied. +XVI. A Widow +XVII. The Central Committee Triumphs +XVIII. Paris Elections +XIX. The Commune a Fact—A Motley Assembly +XX. Proclamation of the Elections +XXI. A Batch of Official Decrees—Landlord, and Tenant +XXII. Requisitions and Feasts +XXIII. Removals and Retirements +XXIV. A General Flight +XXV. An Envoy to Garibaldi +XXVI. Commencement of Civil War—Beyond the Arc de Triomphe +XXVII. Mont Valérien opens on the Federals—Contradictory News +XXVIII. Death of General Duval—Able Administration +XXIX. Antipathy to the Church—The Archbishop Interrogated +XXX. The Accomplices of Versailles +XXXI. Death of Colonel Flourens +XXXII. The Cross and the Red Flag +XXXIII. Colonel Assy of Creuzot—Disgrace of Lullier +XXXIV. Fighting goes on +XXXV. Federal Funerals +XXXVI. Prudent Counsel +XXXVII. Suppression of Newspapers +XXXVIII. The Second Bombardment—Avenue de la Grande Armée—Reckless Aim of the Versaillais +XXXIX. The Plan of Bergeret +XL. Another General—Police and Pressgang—A Citizen of the World +XLI. Women and Children +XLII. Why is Conciliation Impossible? +XLIII. The Portable Guillotine +XLIV. The Common Grave +XLV. Idle Paris +XLVI. The Press +XLVII. Day follows Day +XLVIII. The Condemned Column—Model Decrees +XLIX. Thiers and Conciliation—Paris and France +L. Communist Caricatures—Political Satire +LI. Gustave Courbet—Federation of Art—Courbet, President +LII. Camp, Place Vendôme +LIII. Elections of the 16th of April +LIV. The “Change” under the Commune +LV. Elections sans Electors—Farce of Universal Suffrage +LVI. À la Mode de Londres +LVII. The Little Sisters of the Poor +LVIII. Bécon and Asnières taken—Declaration to the French People—Federation of Communes—The Commune or the Deluge +LIX. A Court-Martial +LX. A Heroic Gamin +LXI. Killing the Dead +LXII. The Truce at Neuilly—Porte-Maillot destroyed—Neuilly in Ruins +LXIII. Masonic Mediation—The Envoy of Peace—Citizens and Brothers—A White Flag on Porte-Maillot +LXIV. Prudent Monsieur Pyat +LXV. Resources of the Commune—The Royal Road to Riches +LXVI. The Prophecy of Proudhon +LXVII. Revolutionary Balloons +LXVIII. A Confession of Conscience +LXIX. Communist Journalism—Sensation Articles +LXX. Fort Issy falls +LXXI. Cluseret arrested +LXXII. The Executive Commission—Committee of Public Safety +LXXIII. A Competent Tribunal +LXXIV. The Password betrayed +LXXV. The Condemned Chapel +LXXVI. Restitution is Robbery +LXXVII. The Nuns of Picpus +LXXVIII. Rossel resigns—The Semblance of a Government +LXXIX. Want of Funds—The Sinews of War +LXXX. Passwords—The Chariot of Apollo—Refractories +LXXXI. Sacrilege—Clubs in the Churches +LXXXII. Refractories in Danger +LXXXIII. The Home of M. Thiers, Demolition and Removal +LXXXIV. Filial Love +LXXXV. Communal Secessionists—Save himself who can +LXXXVI. The Failing Cause—The Column Vendôme falls +LXXXVII. A Concert at the Tuileries +LXXXVIII. Cartridge Magazine Explosion +LXXXIX. The Advent of Action—Paris ceases to smile +XC. The Troops enter—Street Fortifications—Insurgents at home +XCI. Arrests and Murders +XCII. Fire and Sword +XCIII. Barricade at the Place de Clichy +XCIV. Rack and Ruin +XCV. Bloodshed and Brigandage +XCVI. Hôtel de Ville on Fire—A Furnace +XCVII. Pétroleurs and Pétroleuses +XCVIII. Streets of Paris +XCIX. The Expiring Demons—The Hostages—Reprisals—Cemeteries +C. Sewers and Catacombs +CI. Mourning and Sadness + +APPENDIX + + Chronology of the Commune + Memoir of Rochefort. + The 18th of March + The Prussians and the Commune + Memoir of Gambon + Memoir of Lullier + Memoir of Protot + Translation from Victor Hugo + Note of Jourde + Last Proclamations of the Commune + Note of Férré + The Hostages—Gendarmes, &c. + President Bonjean + Note of Urbain. + Devastations of Paris + Official Report of General Ladmirault + Ammunition expended on Second Siege of Paris + List of Monuments and Buildings destroyed + Index to Plan—Damage by Fire, &c. + +[Illustration:] + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: + +FRONTISPIECE:—THE COLUMN OF JULY (HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF) + +PORTRAIT OF M. THIERS, PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC + +THE STATE OF PARTY—PICTURED By THEMSELVES. ALLEGORICAL PAGE—ROCHEFORT, +CLÉMENT THOMAS, &c. (_facsimile_) + +COLUMN OF JULY—PLACE DE LA BASTILLE + +THE BUTTES MONTMARTRE—FEDERAL ARTILLERY PARKED THERE + +MONTMARTRE—FIRST LINE OF SENTINELS + +THE RED FLAG OF THE COLUMN OF JULY + +PURIFICATION OF THE CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THE +PRUSSIANS—CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST BARRICADE, 18TH MARCH + +DEFENCE OF THE HOTEL DE VILLE + +SENTINELS, BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL + +BEHIND A BARRICADE—THE DÉJEUNER + +PORTRAIT OF GAMBON, MEMBER OF THE COMMUNE + +BEHIND A BARRICADE—THE EVENING MEAL + +PLACE DE LA CONCORDE—FEDERALS GOING OUT + +PORTRAIT OF GENERAL BERGERET + +PORTRAIT OF ABBÉ DEGUERRY, CURÉ OF THE MADELEINE + +PORTRAIT OF RAOUL RIGAULT, PROCUREUR OF THE COMMUNE + +PORTRAIT OF MONSEIGNEUR DARBOY, ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS + +PORTRAIT OF COLONEL FLOURENS + +PORTRAIT OF COLONEL ASSY, GOVERNOR OF THE HOTEL DE VILLE + +THE RED FLAG ON THE PANTHEON + +PORTRAIT OF GENERAL CLUSERET + +THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE DE L’ÉTOILE + +HORSE CHASSEUR ACTING AS COMMUNIST ARTILLERYMAN + +MARINE GUNNER AND STREET BOY + +THE CORPS LÉGISLATIF—HEAD QUARTERS OF GENERAL BERGERET + +PORTRAIT OF GENERAL DOMBROWSKI + +BURNING THE GUILLOTINE IN THE PLACE VOLTAIRE + +COLONNE VENDÔME + +CARICATURE DURING THE COMMUNE—LITTLE PARIS AND HIS PLAYTHINGS +(_facsimile_) + +THE MODERN “EROSTRATE”—COURBET AND THE DEBRIS OF THE VENDÔME COLUMN + +FEDERAL VISIT TO THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR + +PORTRAIT OF VERMOREL, DELEGATE OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMISSION + +FEMALE CURIOSITY AT PORTE MAILLOT + +PORTE MAILLOT AND CHAPEL OF ST. FERDINAND + +ARMISTICE—INHABITANTS OF NEUILLY ENTERING PARIS + +WATCHING FOR THE FIRST SHOT FROM FORT VALERIEN + +FEMALE IMPERTURBABILITY AFTER THE ARMISTICE + +PORTRAIT OF PROTOT, DELEGATE OF JUSTICE + +PORTRAIT OF FÉLIX PYAT, MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY + +FREEMASONS AT THE RAMPARTS + +PORTRAIT OF VERMESCH, EDITOR OF THE “PÈRE DUCHESNE” + +PORTRAIT OF PASCHAL CROUSSET, DELEGATE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS + +PORTRAIT OF DUPONT, COMMISSIONER OF TRADE AND COMMERCE + +CHAPELLE EXPIATOIRE (CONDEMNED BY THE COMMUNE) + +CARICATURE DURING THE COMMUNE—PARIS EATS A GENERAL A-DAY (_facsimile_) + +PORTRAIT OF DELESCLUZE, DELEGATE OF WAR + +PORTRAIT OF FONTAINE, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC DOMAINS AND REGISTRATION + +RÉFRACTAIRES ESCAPING FROM THE CITY BY NIGHT + +PORTRAIT OF GENERAL LA CÉCILIA + +CHURCH OF ST. EUSTACHE (EXTERIOR) + +INTERIOR OF ST. EUSTACHE, USED AS A RED CLUB + +HOUSE OF M. THIERS IN THE PLACE ST. GEORGES + +HOUSE DURING DEMOLITION—AFTER ITS SACK + +PORTRAIT OF COURNET, PREFECT OF POLICE + +PORTRAIT OF ARTHUR ARNOULD, COMMISSIONER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS + +THE SEINE: FOUNDERED GUN-BOATS—PORTE MAILLOT, DESOLATION AND +DESTRUCTION + +BARRICADE OF THE RUE CASTIGLIONE FROM THE PLACE VENDÔME + +PALACE OF THE TUILERIES + +PORTRAIT OF RAZOUA, GOVERNOR OF THE MILITARY SCHOOL + +CAFÉ LIFE UNDER THE COMMUNE—A SLIGHT INTERRUPTION—PLAY-BILLS AND +BURNT-OFFERINGS—“SPECTACLES DE PARIS” + +PLACE DE LA CONCORDE—STATUES OF LILLE AND STRASBOURG + +FIRE AND WATER—THE EFFECT OF FIRE ON THE FOUNTAINS OF THE PLACE DE LA +CONCORDE AND THE CHÂTEAU D’EAU—HIRONDELLES DE PARIS + +PORTRAIT OF JULES VALLÈS, DELEGATE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND OF PUBLIC +INSTRUCTION + +BARRICADE CLOSING THE RUE DE RIVOLI FROM THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE + +BULLET MARKS “EN FACE” AND “EN PROFIL”—THE TREES AND LAMPS + +RUE ROYALE, LOOKING FROM THE MADELEINE TO THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE + +A WARM CORNER OF THE TUILERIES + +PORTRAIT OF MILLIÈRE, EX-DEPUTY, MEMBER OF THE COMMUNE + +PALAIS DE JUSTICE + +POLICE OF PARIS—MINISTRY OF FINANCE, RUE DE RIVOLI + +PORTRAIT OF FERRÉ, PREFECT OF POLICE + +PALACE OF THE LUXEMBOURG (AMBULANCE HOSPITAL OF THE COMMUNE) + +PÉTROLEURS AND PÉTROLEUSES + +THE THEATRE OF THE PORTE ST-MARTIN—ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE HOME OF +SENSATION DRAMA + +CELL OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS IN THE PRISON OF LA ROQUETTE + +YARD OF LA ROQUETTE WHERE THE ARCHBISHOP AND HOSTAGES WERE SHOT + +MY NEIGHBOUR OPPOSITE, BUSINESS CARRIED ON AS USUAL—MY NEIGHBOUR NEXT +DOOR, HE THINKS HIMSELF FORTUNATE + +PARIS UNDERGROUND (SEWERS AND CATACOMBS) + +THE ENEMIES OF PROGRESS (LES ARISTOCRATES ENCORE)—CORPS DE GARDE DE +L’ARMÉE DE VERSAILLES + +THE PUBLIC PROMENADES—A CAMP IN THE LUXEMBOURG—THE NEW +MASTERS—PROCLAMATION OVER PROCLAMATION + +THE LUXEMBOURG (PRESENT TOWN HALL OF PARIS, 1871) + +PORTRAIT OF MARSHAL MACMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA + +LIGHT AND AIR ONCE MORE—THE FOSSE COMMUNE (THE END) + +APPENDIX. + +MUSÉE OF THE LOUVRE, FROM THE PLACE DU CARROUSEL + +PALAIS ROYAL + +HOTEL DE VILLE + +FOREIGN OFFICE + +PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR + +MAP OF PARIS, WITH INDICATIONS OF ALL THE PARTS DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. + +[Illustration: M. Thiers, Voted Chief of the Executive Power Feb. +18.1871, and President of the Republic, Sept. 1871.] + + + + +PARIS +UNDER THE COMMUNE. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +Liberté Égalité Fraternité Late in the day of the 30th October, 1870, +the agitation was great in Paris; the news had spread that the village +of Le Bourget had been retaken by the Prussians. The military report +had done what it could to render the pill less bitter by saying that +“_this village did not form a part of the system of defence_,” but the +people though kept in ignorance perceived instinctively that there must +be weakness on the part of the chiefs. After so much French blood had +been shed in taking the place, men of brave will would not have been +wanting to occupy it. We admit that Le Bourget may not have been +important from a military point of view, but as regarding its moral +effect its loss was much to be regretted. + +The irritation felt by the population of Paris was changed into +exasperation, when on the following day the news of the reduction of +Metz appeared in the _Official Journal_: + +“The Government has just been acquainted with the sad intelligence of +the capitulation of Metz. Marshal Bazaine and his army were compelled +to surrender, after heroic efforts, which the want of food and +ammunition alone rendered it impossible to maintain. They have been +made prisoners of war.” + +And after this the Government talks of an armistice! What! Strasburg, +Toul, Metz, and so many other towns have resisted to the last dire +extremity, and Paris, who expects succour from the provinces, is to +capitulate, while a single effort is left untried? Has she no more +bread? No more powder? Have her citizens no more blood in their veins? +No, no! No armistice! + +In the morning, a deputation, formed of officers of the National +Guards, went to the Hôtel de Ville to learn from the Government what +were its intentions. They were received by M. Etienne Arago, who +promised them that the decision should be made known to them about two +o’clock. + +The rappel was beaten at the time mentioned; battalions of the National +Guards poured into the Place, some armed, many without arms. + +Over the sea of heads the eye was attracted by banners, and enormous +placards bearing the inscriptions— + +“Vive la République! + +“No Armistice!” + +or else + +“Vive la Commune! + +“Death to Cowards!” + +Rochefort,[1] with several other members of the Government, shows +himself at the principal gate, which is guarded by a company of +Mobiles. General Trochu appears in undress; he is received with cries +of “_Vive la République! La levée en masse!_ No Armistice! The National +Guards, who demand the _levée en masse_, would but cause a slaughter. +We must have cannon first; we will have them.” Alas! it had been far +better to have had none whatever, as what follows will prove. While +some cry, “Vive Trochu!” others shout, “Down with Trochu!” Before long +the Hôtel de Ville is invaded; the courts, the saloons, the galleries, +all are filled. Each one offers his advice, but certain groups insist +positively on the resignation of the Government. Lists of names are +passed from hand to hand; among the names are those of Dorian +(president), Schoelcher, Delescluze, Ledru Rollin, Félix Pyat. + +THE STATE OF PARTY PICTURED By THEMSELVES + +Cries are raised that if the Government refuse to resign, its members +will be arrested. + +“Yes! yes! seize them!” And an officer springs forward to make them +prisoners as they sit in council. + +“Excuse me, Monsieur, but what warrant have you for so doing?” asks one +of the members. + +“I have nothing to do with warrants. I act in the name of the people!” + +“Have you consulted the people? Those assembled here do not constitute +the people.” + +The officer was disconcerted. Not long afterwards, however, the crowd +is informed that the members of the Government are arrested. + +The principal scene took place in the cabinet of the ex-prefect. +Citizen Blanqui approaches the table; addressing the people, he +requests them to evacuate the room so as to allow the commission to +deliberate. The commission! What commission? Where does it spring from? +No one knew anything of it, so the members must evidently have named +themselves. Monsieur Blanqui had seen to that, no doubt. During this +time the adjoining room is the theatre of the most extraordinary +excitement; the men of the 106th Battalion, who were on guard in the +interior of the Hôtel de Ville, are compelled to use their arms to +prevent any one else entering. After some tumult and struggling, but +without any spilling of blood, some National Guards of this battalion +manage to fight their way through to the room in which the members of +the Government are prisoners, and succeed in delivering them. + +At about two o’clock in the morning, the 106th Battalion had completely +cleared the Hôtel de Ville of the crowds. No violence had been done, +and General Trochu was reviewing a body of men ranged in battle order, +which extended from the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville to the Place de la +Concorde. An hour later, quiet was completely restored. + +The members of the Government, who had been incarcerated during several +hours, now wished to show their authority; they felt that their power +had been shaken, and saw the necessity of strengthening it. What can a +Government do in such a case? Call for a plébiscite. But this time +Paris alone was consulted, and for a good reason. Thus, on the 1st +November, the people, of Paris were enjoined to express their wishes by +answering yes or no to this simple question:— + +“Do the people of Paris recognise the authority of the Government for +the National Defence?” + +This was clear, positive, and free from all ambiguity. + +The partizans of the Commune declared vehemently that those who voted +in the affirmative were reactionists. “Give us the Commune of ’93!“ +shouted those who thought they knew a little more about the matter than +the rest. They were generally rather badly received. It is no use +speaking of ’93! Replace your Blanquis, your Félix Pyats, your Flourens +by men like those of the grand revolution, and then we shall be glad to +hear what you have to say on the subject. + +The inhabitants of Montmartre, La-Chapelle, Belleville, behaved like +good citizens, keeping a brave heart in the hour of misfortune. + +However it came about, the Government was maintained by a majority of +557,995 votes against 62,638. + +Well, Messieurs of the Commune, try again, or, still better, remain +quiet. + +During the night of the 21st of January the members of the National +Defence and the chief officers of the army were assembled around the +table in the council-room. They were still under the mournful +impression left by the fatal day of the nineteenth, on which hundreds +of citizens had fallen at Montretout, at Garches, and at Buzenval. +Thanks to the want of foresight of the Government, the people of Paris +were rationed to 300 grammes of detestable black bread a day for each +person. All representations made to them had been in vain. Ration our +bread by degrees, had been said, we should thus accustom ourselves to +privation, and be prepared insensibly, for greater sufferings, while +the duration of our provisions would be lengthened. But the answer +always was: “Bread? We shall have enough, and to spare.” When the great +crisis was seen approaching, the public feeling showed itself by +violent agitation. It was not surprising, therefore, that all the faces +of these gentlemen at the council-table bore marks of great depression. +The Governor of Paris offered his resignation, as he was in the habit +of doing after every rather stormy sitting; but his colleagues refused +to accept it, as they had before. What was to be done? Had not the +Governor of Paris sworn never to capitulate? After a night spent in +discussing the question, the members of Government decided on the +following plan of action. You will see that it was as simple as it was +innocent! The following announcement was placarded on all the walls:— + +“The Government for the National Defence has decided that the chief +commandment of the army of Paris shall in future be separate from the +presidency of the Government. + “General Vinoy is named Commandant-in-Chief of the army of Paris. + “The title and functions of the Governor of Paris are suppressed.” + +A trick was played: if they capitulate now, it will no longer be the +act of the Governor of Paris. How ingenious this would have been, if it +had not been pitiful! + +“General Trochu retains the presidency of the Government.” + +By the side of this placard was the proclamation of General Thomas. + +“TO THE NATIONAL GUARD. + +“Last night, a handful of insurgents forced open the prison of Mazas, +and delivered several of the prisoners, amongst whom was M. Flourens. +The same men attempted to occupy the _mairie_ of the 20th +arrondissement (Belleville), and to install the chiefs of the +insurrection there; your commander-in-chief relies on your patriotism +to repress this shameful sedition. + “The safety of Paris is at stake. + “While the enemy is bombarding our forts, the factions within our + walls use all their efforts to paralyse the defence. + “In the name of the public good, in the name of law, and of the + high and sacred duty that commands you all to unite in the defence + of Paris, hold yourselves ready to frustrate this most criminal + attempt; at the first call, let the National Guard rise to a man, + and the perturbators will be struck powerless. + “The Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard, + +“CLEMENT THOMAS. + +“A true copy. + + “Minister of the Interior ad interim, + “JULES FAVRE. + + “Paris, 22nd January, 1871.” + +In the morning, large groups of people assembled from mere curiosity, +appeared on the Place of the Hôtel de Ville, which however wore a +peaceful aspect. + +At about half-past two in the afternoon, a detachment of a hundred and +fifty armed National Guards issued from the Rue du Temple, and +stationed themselves before the Hôtel de Ville, crying, “Down with +Trochu!” “Long live the Commune!” A short colloquy was then held +between several of the National Guards and some officers of the +Mobiles, who spoke with perfect calmness. Suddenly, a shot is fired, +and at the same moment, as in the grand scene of a melodrama, the +windows and the great door are flung open, and two lines of Mobile +Guards are seen, the front rank kneeling, the second standing, and all +levelling their muskets and prepared to fire. Then came a volley which +spread terror amidst the crowds of people in the Place, who +precipitated themselves in all directions, uttering cries and shrieks. +In another moment the Place is cleared. Ah! those famous chassepots can +work miracles. + +The insurgents, during this mad flight of men, women, and children, had +answered the attack, some aiming from the shelter of angles and posts, +others discharging their rifles from the windows of neighbouring +houses. + +Then the order to cease firing is heard, and a train of litterbearers, +waving their handkerchiefs as flags, approach from the Avenue Victoria. +At the Hôtel de Ville one officer only is wounded, but on the Place lie +a dozen victims, two of whom are women. + +At four o’clock the 117th Battalion of the National Guard takes up its +position before the municipal palace. They are reinforced by a +detachment of _gendarmes_, mounted and on foot, and by companies of +Mobiles, under the command of General Carréard. + +General Clément Thomas hastens to address a few words to the 117th; +later, he paid with his life for thus appearing on the side of order. +Finally, General Vinoy arrives, followed by his staff, to take measures +against any renewed acts of aggression. Mitrailleuses and cannon are +stationed before the Hôtel de Ville; the drums beat the _rappel_ +throughout the town, and a great number of battalions of National +Guards assemble in the Rue de Rivoli, at the Louvre, and on the Place +de la Concorde; others bivouac before the Palais de l’Industrie, while +on the other side of the Champs Elysées regiments of cavalry, infantry, +and mobiles, are drawn out. The agitators have disappeared, calm is +restored, within the city be it understood, for all this did not +interrupt the animated interchange of shells between the French and +Prussian batteries, and a great number of Parisians, who had twice +helped to disperse the insurgents of October and January, thought +involuntarily of the Commune of the 10th of August, 1793, which headed +the revolution, and said to themselves that there were perhaps some +amongst the present insurgents who, like the former, would rise up to +deliver them from the Prussians. For these agitators have some +appearance of truth on their side: “You are weak and timorous,” they +cry to those in power; “you seem awaiting a defeat rather than +expecting a victory. Give place to the energetic, obscure though they +may be; for the men of the great Commune, of our first glorious +revolution, they also were for the greater part unknown. We have +confidence in the army of Paris, and we will break the iron circle of +invasion.” + +Though the Communists have since then shown bravery, and sometimes +heroism, in their struggle against the Versailles troops, we are very +doubtful, now that we have seen their chiefs in action, whether the +efforts they talked of would have been crowned with success. Their +object was power, and, having nothing to risk and all to gain, they +would have forthwith disposed of public property in order to procure +themselves enjoyment and honours. The few right-minded men who at first +committed themselves, proved this by the fact of their giving in their +resignation a few days after the Commune had established itself. + +Tranquillity had returned. In the morning of the 25th, guards patrolled +the Place de la Bastille, the Place du Château d’Eau, the Boulevard +Magenta, and the outer boulevards. Paris started as if she had been +aroused from some fearful dream, and the waking thought of the enemy at +her gates stirred up all her energies once more. + +The Communists had been defeated for the second time; but they were +soon to take a terrible revenge. + +The vow made by the Governor of Paris had been repeated by the majority +of the Parisians, and all parties seemed to have rallied round him +under the same device: vanquish or die. After the forts, the +barricades, and as a last resource, the burning of the city. Who knows? +Perhaps the fanatics of resistance had already made out the plan of +destruction which served later for the Commune. It has been proved that +nothing in this work of ruin was impromptu. + +The news of the convention of the 28th of January, the preliminary of +the capitulation of Paris, was thus very badly received, and M. +Gambetta, by exhorting the people, in his celebrated circular of the +31st of January, to resist to the death, sowed the seeds of civil war:— + + “CITIZENS,— + “The enemy has just inflicted upon France the most cruel insult + that she has yet had to endure in this accursed war, the too-heavy + punishment of the errors and weaknesses of a great people. + “Paris, the impregnable, vanquished by famine, is no longer able to + hold in respect the German hordes. On the 28th of January, the + capital succumbed, her forts surrendered to the enemy. The city + still remains intact, wresting, as it were, by her own power and + moral grandeur, a last homage from barbarity. + “But in falling, Paris leaves us the glorious legacy of her heroic + sacrifices. During five months of privation and suffering, she has + given to France the time to collect herself, to call her children + together, to find arms, to compose armies, young as yet, but + valiant and determined, and to whom is wanting only that solidity + which can be obtained but by experience. Thanks to Paris, we hold + in our hands, if we are but resolute and patriotic, all that is + needed to revenge, and set ourselves free once more. + “But, as though evil fortune had resolved to overwhelm us, + something even more terrible and more fraught with anguish than the + fall of Paris, was awaiting us. + “Without our knowledge, without either warning, us or consulting + us, an armistice, the culpable weakness of which was known to us + too late, has been signed, which delivers into the hands of the + Prussians the departments occupied by our soldiers, and which + obliges us to wait for three weeks, in the midst of the disastrous + circumstances in which the country is plunged, before a national + assembly can be assembled. + “We sent to Paris for some explanation, and then awaited in silence + the promised arrival of a member of the government, to whom we were + determined to resign our office. As delegates of government, we + desired to obey, and thereby prove to all, friends and dissidents, + by setting an example of moderation and respect of duty, that + democracy is not only the greatest of all political principles, but + also the most scrupulous of governments. + “However, no one has arrived from Paris, and it is necessary to + act, come what may; the perfidious machinations of the enemies of + France must be frustrated. + “Prussia relies upon the armistice to enervate and dissolve our + armies; she hopes that the Assembly, meeting after so long a + succession of disasters, and under the impression of the terrible + fall of Paris, wilt be timid and weak, and ready to submit to a + shameful peace. + “It is for us to upset these calculations, and to turn the very + instruments which are prepared to crush the spirit of resistance, + into spurs that shall arouse and excite it. + “Let us make this same armistice into a code of instruction for our + young troops; let us employ the three coming weeks in pushing on + the organization of the defence and of the war more ardently than + ever. + “Instead of the meeting of cowardly reactionists that our enemies + expect, let us form an assembly that shall be veritably national + and republican, desirous of peace, if peace can ensure the honour, + the rank, and the integrity of our country, but capable of voting + for war rather than aiding in the assassination of France. + “FRENCHMEN, + “Remember that our fathers left us France, whole and indivisible; + let us not be traitors to our history; let us not deliver up our + traditional domains into the hands of barbarians. Who then will + sign the armistice? Not you, legitimists, who fought so valiantly + under the flag of the Republic, in the defence of the ancient + kingdom of France; nor you, sons of the bourgeois of 1789, whose + work was to unite the old provinces in a pact of indissoluble + union; nor you, workmen of the towns, whose intelligence and + generous patriotism represent France in all her strength and + grandeur, the leader of modern nations; nor you, tillers of the + soil, who never have spared your blood in the defence of the + Revolution, which gave you the ownership of your land and your + title of citizen. + “No! Not one Frenchman will be found to sign this infamous act; the + enemy’s attempt to mutilate France will be frustrated, for, + animated with the same love of the mother country and bearing our + reverses with fortitude, we shall become strong once more and drive + out the foreign legions. + “To the attainment of this noble end, we must devote our hearts, + our wills, our lives, and, a still greater sacrifice perhaps, put + aside our preferences. + “We must close our ranks about the Republic, show presence of mind + and strength of purpose; and without passion or weakness, swear, + like free men, to defend France and the Republic against all and + everyone. + “To arms!” + +The Government, by obtaining from M. de Bismarck a condition that the +National Guards should retain their arms, hoped to win public favour +again, as one offers a rattle to a fractious child to keep him quiet; +and it published the news on the 3rd of February: + + “After the most strenuous efforts on our part, we have obtained, + for the National Guard, the condition ratified by the convention of + the 28th January.” + +Three days after, on the 6th of February, Gambetta wrote: + + “His conscience would not permit him to remain a member of a + government with which he no longer agreed in principle.” + +The candidates, elected in Paris on the 8th of February, were Louis +Blanc, Victor Hugo, Garibaldi, Gambetta, Rochefort, Delescluze, Pyat, +Lockroy, Floquet, Millière, Tolain, Malon. The provinces, on the other +hand, chose their deputies from among the party of reaction, the +members of which have been so well-known since under the name of +_rurals._ + +Loud murmurs arose in the ranks of the National Guard, when the decrees +of the 18th and 19th of February, concerning their pay, were published; +and later, when an order from headquarters required the marching +companies to send in to the state depôt all their campaigning +paraphernalia. + +On the 18th of February, M. Thiers was named chief of the executive +power by a vote of the Assembly. + +On Sunday, the 26th of February, the Place de la Bastille, in which +manifestations had been held for the last two days in celebration of +the revolution of February ’48, became as a shrine, to which whole +battalions of the National Guard marched to the sound of music, their +flags adorned with caps of liberty and cockades. The Column of July was +hung with banners and decorated with wreaths of immortelles. Violent +harangues, the theme of which was the upholding of the Republic “to the +death,” were uttered at its foot. One man, of the name of Budaille, +pretended that he held proofs of the treachery of the Government for +the National Defence, and promised that he would produce them at the +proper time and place. + +Up to this moment, the demonstrations seemed to have but one +result—that of impeding circulation; but they soon gave rise to scenes +of tumult and disorder. Towards one o’clock, when perhaps twenty or +thirty thousand persons were on the above Place, an individual, accused +of being a spy, was dragged by an infuriated mob to the river, and +flung, bound hand and foot, into the look by the Ile Saint Louis, +amidst the wild cries and imprecations of the madmen whose prey he had +become. + +The night of the 26th was very agitated; drums beat to arms, and on the +morning of the 27th the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard issued +a proclamation, in which he appealed to the good citizens of Paris, and +confided the care of the city to the National Guard. This had no +effect, however, on the aspect of the Place de la Bastille; the crowd +continued to applaud, frantically, the incendiary speeches of the +socialist party, who had sworn to raise Paris at any cost. + +[Illustration: Column of July, Place de La Bastille.] + +On the same day, the 27th of February, the Government informed the +people of Paris of the result of the negociations with Prussia, in the +following proclamation: + + “The Government appeals to your patriotism and your wisdom; you + hold in your hands the future of Paris and of France herself. It is + for you to save or to ruin both! + “After a heroic resistance, famine forced you to open your gates to + the victorious enemy; the armies that should have come to your aid + were driven over the Loire. These incontestable facts have + compelled the Government for the National Defence to open + negotiations of peace. + “For six days your negotiators have disputed the ground foot by + foot; they did all that was humanly possible, to obtain less + rigorous conditions. They have signed the preliminaries of peace, + which are about to be submitted to the National Assembly. + “During the time necessary for the examination and discussion of + these preliminaries, hostilities would have recommenced, and blood + would, have flowed afresh and uselessly, without a prolongation of + the armistice. + “This prolongation could only be obtained on the condition of a + partial and very temporary occupation of a portion of Paris: + absolutely to be limited to the quarter of the Champs Elysées. Not + more than thirty thousand men are to enter the city, and they are + to retire as soon as the preliminaries of peace have been ratified, + which act can only occupy a few days. + “If this convention were not to be respected the armistice would be + at an end: the enemy, already master of the forts, would occupy the + whole of Paris by force. Your property, your works of art, your + monuments, now guaranteed by the convention, would cease to exist. + “The misfortune would reach the whole of France. The frightful + ravages of the war, which have not heretofore passed the Loire, + would extend to the Pyrenees. + “It is then absolutely true to say that the salvation of France is + at stake. Do not imitate the error of those who would not listen to + us when, eight months ago, we abjured them not to undertake a war + which must be fatal. + “The French army which defended Paris with so much courage will + occupy the left of the Seine, to ensure the loyal execution of the + new armistice. It is for the National Guard to lend its aid, by + keeping order in the rest of the city. + “Let all good citizens who earned honour as its chiefs, and showed + themselves so brave before the enemy, reassume their authority, and + the cruel situation of the moment will be terminated by peace and + the return of public prosperity.” + +This clause of the occupation of Paris by the Prussians was regarded by +some people as a mere satisfaction of national vanity; but the greater +number considered it as an apple of discord thrown by M. de Bismarck, +who had every reason to desire that civil war should break out, thus +making himself an accomplice of the Socialists and the members of the +International. Confining ourselves simply to the analysis of facts, and +to those considerations which may enlighten public opinion respecting +the causes of events, we shall not allow ourselves to be carried over +the vast field of hypothesis, but preserve the modest character of +narrators. On the night of the 27th of February, the admiral commanding +the third section of the fortifications, having noticed the hostile +attitude of the National Guard, caused the troops which had been +disarmed in accordance with the conditions of the armistice to withdraw +into the interior of the city. The men of Belleville profited by the +circumstance to pillage the powder magazines which had been entrusted +to their charge, and on the following day they went, preceded by drums +and trumpets, to the barracks of the Rue de la Pépinière to invite the +sailors lodged there to join them in a patriotic manifestation on that +night. Believing that the object was to prevent the Prussians entering +Paris, a certain number of these brave fellows, who had behaved so +admirably during the siege, set out towards the Place de la Bastille +but having been met on their way by some of their officers, they soon +separated themselves from the rioters. Thirty of them had been invited +to an open-air banquet in the Place de la Bastille; but seeing the +probability of some disorder they nearly all retired, and on the +following morning only eight of them were missing at the roll-call. Not +one of the six thousand marines lodged in the barracks of the Ecole +Militaire absented himself. On the same day, the 28th, a secret +society, which we learned later to know and to fear, issued its first +circular under the name of the Central Committee of the National Guard; +the part since played by this body has been too important for us to +omit to insert this proclamation here: its decisions became official +acts which overthrew all constituted authority. + + “CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD. + “Citizens,— + “The general feeling of the population appears to be to offer no + opposition to the entry of the Prussians into Paris. The Central + Committee, which had emitted contrary advice, declares its + intention of adhering to the following resolutions:— + “‘All around the quarters occupied by the enemy, barricades shall + be raised so as to isolate completely that part of the town. The + inhabitants of the circumscribed portion should be required to quit + it immediately. + “‘The National Guard, in conjunction with the army, shall form an + unbroken line along the whole circuit, and take care that the + enemy, thus isolated upon ground which is no longer of our city, + shall communicate in no manner with any of the other parts of + Paris. + “‘The Central Committee engages the National Guard to lend, its aid + for the execution of the necessary measures to bring about this + result, and to avoid any aggressive acts which would have the + immediate effect of overthrowing the Republic.’” + +But here is a little treacherous placard, manuscript and anonymous, +which takes a much fairer tone:— + + “A convention has permitted the Prussians to occupy the Champs + Elysées, from the Seine to the Faubourg St. Honoré, and as far as + the Place de la Concorde. + “Be it so! The greater the injury, the more terrible the revenge. + “But, if some panderer dare to pass the circle of our shame, let + him be instantly declared traitor, let him become a target for our + balls, an object for our petroleum, a mark for our Orsini bombs,[2] + an aim for our daggers! + “Let this be told to all. + + “By decision of the Horatii, + “(Signed) POPULUS.” + +The effervescence in the minds of the people was so great, that the +entry of the Prussians was delayed for forty-eight hours, but on the +first of March, at ten in the morning, they had come into the city, and +the smoke of their bivouac fires was seen in the Champs Elysées. On the +evening of the same day, a telegram from Bordeaux announced that the +National Assembly had ratified the preliminaries of peace by a majority +of 546 voices against 107. On the following day the ex-Minister of +Foreign Affairs left for Versailles, and by nine o’clock in the +evening, everything was prepared for the evacuation of the troops, +which was effected by eleven, on the third of March. During the short +period of their stay, the city was in veritable mourning; the public +edifices (even the Bourse) were closed, as were the shops, the +warehouses, and the greater part of the cafés. At the windows hung +black flags, or the tricolour covered with black crape, and veils of +the same material concealed the faces of the statues[3] on the Place de +la Concorde. + +All these demonstrations had, however, a pacific character, and the +presence of the enemy in Paris gave rise to no serious incident. + +Nevertheless, the agitation of the public mind was not allayed; some +attributed this to a plot the Socialists had formed, and which had +arrived at maturity. Others believed that the Prussians had left +emissaries, creators of disorder, behind them, in revenge for their +reception on the Place de la Concorde. In truth, their entry was +anything but triumphal; their national airs were received with hisses; +their officers were hooted as they promenaded in the Tuileries, and +those who attempted to visit the Louvre were compelled to retreat +without having satisfied their curiosity. On the evening of the 3rd of +March, a note emanating from the Ministry of the Interior, pointed out +in the following terms the danger to be feared from the Central +Committee:— + + “Incidents of the most regrettable nature have occurred during the + last few days, and menace seriously the peace of the capital. + Certain National Guards in arms, following the orders, not of their + legitimate chiefs, but of an anonymous Central Committee, which + could not give them any instructions without committing a crime + severely punishable by the law, took possession of a considerable + quantity of arms and ammunition of war, under the pretext of saving + them from the enemy, whose invasion they pretended to fear. Such + acts should at any rate have ceased after the departure of the + Prussian army. But such is not the case, for this evening the + guard-house at the Gobelins was invaded, and a number of cartridges + stolen. + “Those who provoke these disorders draw upon themselves a most + terrible responsibility; it is at the very moment that the city of + Paris, relieved from contact with the foreigner, desires to + reassume its habits of serenity and industry, that these men are + sowing trouble and preparing civil war. The Government appeals to + all good citizens to aid in stifling in the germ these culpable + manifestations. + “Let all who have at heart the honour and the peace of the city + arise; let the National Guard, repulsing all perfidious + instigations, rally round its officers, and prevent evils of which + the consequences will be incalculable. The Government and the + Commander-in-Chief (General d’Aurelle de Paladines, nominated on + the same day by M. Thiers to the chief command of the National + Guard) are determined to do their duty energetically; they will + cause the laws to be executed; they count on the patriotism and the + devotion of all the inhabitants of Paris.” + +[Illustration: The Hill of Montmartre—with the Guns Of The National +Guard Parked There. View Taken from the Place St. Pierre.] + +It was indeed time to put a stop to the existing state of affairs, for +already twenty-six guns were in the possession of the insurgents, who +had formed a regular park of artillery in the Place d’Italie, and this +is the aspect of the Buttes Montmartre on the sixth of March, as +described by an eye-witness:— + + “The heights have become a veritable camp. Three or four hundred + National Guards, belonging partly to the 61st and 168th Battalions, + mount guard there day and night, and relieve each other regularly, + like old campaigners. They have two drummers and four trumpeters, + who beat the rappel or ring out the charge whenever the freak takes + them, without any one knowing why or wherefore. The officers, with + broad red belts, high boots, and their long swords dragging after + them, parade the Place with pipes or cigars in their months. They + glance disdainfully at the passers-by, and seem almost overpowered + with the importance of the high mission they imagine themselves + called upon to fulfil. + “This is of what their mission consists: at the moment of the entry + of the Prussians into Paris, the National Guard of Montmartre, + fearing that the artillery would be taken from them to be delivered + to the enemy, assembled and dragged their pieces, about twenty in + number, up to the plateau which forms the summit of Montmartre, and + then placed them in charge of a special guard. Now that the + Prussians have left, they still keep their stronghold, thinking to + use it in the defence of the Republic against the attacks of the + reactionists. The guns are pointed towards Paris, and guard is kept + without a moment’s relaxation. There are four principal posts, the + most important being at the foot of the hill, on the Place Saint + Pierre. The guards bivouac in the open air, their muskets piled, + ready at hand. Sentinels are placed at the corner of each street, + most of them lads of sixteen or seventeen; but they are thoroughly + in earnest, and treat the passers-by roughly enough. + “All the streets which debouche on the Place Saint-Pierre are + closed + by barricades of paving-stones. The most important was formed of an + overturned cart, filled with huge stones, and with a red flag + reared + upon the summit. A death-like silence reigned around. There were + but + few passers-by, none but National Guards with their guns on their + shoulders.” + +[Illustration: Sentinels at Montmartre] + +The appearance of the Boulevard de Clichy and Boulevard Rochechouart is +completely different. The cafés are overflowing with people, the +concert-rooms open. Men and women pass tranquilly to and fro, without +disturbing themselves about the cannon that are pointed towards them. + +The Government, before coming to active measures, appealed to the good +sense of the people in a proclamation, dated the 8th of March, saying +that this substitution of legal authority by a secret power would +retard the evacuation of the enemy, and perhaps expose us to disasters +still more complete and terrible. + + “Let us look our position calmly in the face. We have been + conquered; nearly half of our territory has been in the power of a + million of Germans, who have imposed upon us a fine of five + milliards. Our only means of discharging this weighty debt is by + the strictest economy, the most exemplary conduct and care. We must + not lose a moment before putting our hands to work, which is our + one and solitary hope. And at this awful moment shall our miserable + folly lead us into a civil strife?... + “If, while they are meeting to treat with the enemy, our + negotiators have sedition to fear, they will break down as they did + on the 31st of October, when the events of the Hôtel de Ville + authorised the enemy to refuse us an armistice which might have + saved us.” + +This form of reasoning was not illogical, but those who were working in +secret for the furtherance of their own ambition, oared little to be +convinced, and their myrmidons obeyed them blindly, and gloated over +the wild, bombastic language of the demagogic press, which, though they +did not understand it, impressed them no less with its inflated +phrases. + +The Government, perceiving that it would be perhaps necessary to use +rigorous measures, gave orders to hasten the arrival of the rest of the +Army of the North. + +Some few days after the 18th of March, they resolved to deal a decided +blow to the Democratic party in suppressing at once the _Vengeur_, the +_Mot d’Ordre_, the _Cri du Peuple_, the _Caricature_, the _Père +Duchesne_, and the _Bouche de Fer_. + +The National Guards had a perfect mania for collecting cannon; after +having placed in battery the mitrailleuses and pieces of seven, the +produce of patriotic subscriptions, they also seized upon others +belonging to the State, and carried them off to the Buttes Montmartre, +where they had about a hundred pieces. The retaking of this artillery +was the matter in question. While they at Versailles were occupied with +the solution of the problem, the National Guards continued their +manifestations at the Place de la Bastille, dragging these pieces of +artillery in triumph from the Champ de Mars to the Luxembourg, from the +park of Montrouge to Notre Dame, from the Place des Vosges to the Place +d’Italie, and from the Buttes Montmartre to the Buttes Chaumont. + +Before making use of force, the Government desired to make a last +effort at conciliation, and on the 17th of March the following +proclamation was posted on the walls:— + + “INHABITANTS of PARIS, + “Once more we address ourselves to you, to your reason, and your + patriotism, and we hope that you will listen to us. + “Your grand city, which cannot live except with order, is + profoundly troubled in some of its quarters, and this trouble, + without spreading to other parts, is sufficient nevertheless to + prevent the return of industry and comfort. + “For some time a number of ill-advised men, under the pretext of + resisting the Prussians, who are no longer within our walls, have + constituted themselves masters of a part of the city, thrown up + entrenchments, mounting guard there and forcing you to do the same, + all by order of a secret committee, which takes upon itself to + command a portion of the National Guard, thus setting aside the + authority of General d’Aurelle de Paladines so worthy to be at your + head, and would form a government in opposition to that which + exists legally, the offspring of universal suffrage. + “These men, who have already caused you so much harm, whom you + yourselves dispersed on the 31st of October, are placarding their + intention to protect you against the Prussians, who have only made + an appearance within our walls, and whose definite departure is + retarded by these disorders, and pointing guns, which if fired + would only ruin your houses and destroy your wives and yourselves; + in fact, compromising the very Republic they pretend to defend; for + if it is firmly established in the opinion of France that the + Republic is the necessary companion of disorder, the Republic will + be lost. Do not place any trust in them, but listen to the truth + which we tell you in all sincerity. + “The Government instituted by the whole nation could have retaken + before this these stolen guns, which at present only menace your + safety, seized these ridiculous entrenchments which hinder nothing + but business, and have placed in the hands of justice the criminals + who do not hesitate to create civil war immediately after that with + the foreigner, but it desired to give those who were misled the + time to separate themselves from those who deceived them. + “However, the time allowed for honourable men to separate + themselves from the others, and which is deducted from your + tranquillity, your welfare, and the welfare of France, cannot be + indefinitely prolonged. + “While such a state of things lasts, commerce is arrested, your + shops are deserted, orders which would come from all parts are + suspended; your arms are idle, credit cannot be recreated, the + capital which the Government requires to rid the territory of the + presence of the enemy, comes to hand but slowly. In your own + interest, in that of your city, as well as in that of France, the + Government is resolved to act. The culprits who pretend to + institute a Government of their own must be delivered up to + justice. The guns stolen from the State must be replaced in the + arsenals; and, in order to carry out this act of justice and + reason, the Government counts upon your assistance. + “Let all good citizens separate themselves from the bad; let them + aid, instead of opposing, the public forces; they will thus hasten + the return of comfort to the city, and render service to the + Republic itself, which disorder is ruining in the opinion of + France. + “Parisians! We use this language to you because we esteem your good + sense, your wisdom, your patriotism; but, this warning being given, + you will approve of our having resort to force at all costs, and + without a day’s delay, that order, the only condition of your + welfare, be re-established entirely, immediately, and unalterably.” + +As soon as the party of disorder saw the intentions of the Government +of Versailles thus set forth, a chorus of recriminations burst +forth:—“They want to put an end to the Republic!”—“They are about to +fire on our brothers!”—“They wish to set up a king,” &c. The same +strain for ever! In order to prevent as far as possible the mischievous +effects of this insurrectionary propaganda, the Government issued the +following proclamation, which bore date the 18th of March:— + + “NATIONAL GUARDS of PARIS!— + “Absurd rumours are spread abroad that the Government contemplates + a _coup d’état._ + “The Government of the Republic has not, and cannot have, any other + object but the welfare of the Republic. + “The measures which have been taken were indispensable to the + maintenance of order; it was, and is still, determined to put an + end to an insurrectionary committee, the members of which, nearly + all unknown to the population of Paris, preach nothing but + Communist doctrines, will deliver up Paris to pillage, and bring + France into her grave, unless the National Guard and the army do + not rise with one accord in the defence of the country and of the + Republic.” + +The Government had many parleys with the insurrectionary National +Guards at Montmartre; at one moment there was a rumour that the guns +had been given up. It appeared that the guardians of this artillery had +manifested some intention of restoring it, horses had even been sent +without any military force to create mistrust, but the men declared +that they would not deliver the guns, except to the battalions to which +they properly belonged. Was there bad faith here? or had those who made +the promise undertaken to deliver up the skin before they had killed +the bear. + +Public opinion shaped itself generally in somewhat the following +form:—“If they are tricking each other, that is not very dangerous!” + +Many an honest citizen went to bed on the seventeenth of March full of +hope. He saw Paris marching with quick steps towards the +re-establishment of its business, and the resumption of its usual +aspect; the emigrants and foreigners would arrive in crowds, their +pockets overflowing with gold to make purchases and put the industry of +Paris under contributions the French and foreign bankers will rival +each other to pay the indemnity of five milliards. + +The dream of good M. Prudhomme[4] was, however, somewhat clouded by the +figure of the Buttes Montmartre bristling with cannon; but the number +of guards had become so diminished, and they seemed so tired of the +business, that it appeared as if they were about to quit for good. The +following chapter will inform you what were the waking thoughts of the +Parisians on the morning of the eighteenth of March. + +[Illustration: THE GENIUS OF THE RED FLAG.] + +NOTES: + + [1] Memoir, see Appendix I. + + [2] The police had seized, some time before, in Paris, ten thousand + Orsini bombs, and hundreds of others of a new construction, charged + with fulminating mercury. + + [3] The eight gigantic female figures, representing the principal + towns of France: Strasbourg, Lille, Metz, &c., &c. + + [4] “Joseph Prudhomme” is the typical representative of the Parisian + middle-class (_Bourgeois_); the honest simple father of family, + peaceful but patriotic, proud of his country and ready to die for it. + + +[Illustration: Purification of the Champs Élysées—After The Departure +of the Prussians Mar 1871. Building A Barricade. March 18. 1871.] + + + + + I. + + +Listen! What does that mean? Is it a transient squall or the first gust +of a tempest? Is it due to nature or to man’s agency; is it an émeute +or the advent of a revolution that is to overturn everything? + +Such were my reflections when awakened, on the 18th of March, 1871, at +about four in the morning, by a noise due to the tramp of many feet. +From my window, in the gloomy white fog, I could see detachments of +soldiers walking under the walls, proceeding slowly, wrapped in their +grey capotes; a soft drizzling rain falling at the time. Half awake, I +descended to the street in time to interrogate two soldiers passing in +the rear. + +“Where are you going?” asked I.—“We do not know,” says one; “Report +says we are going to Montmartre,” adds the other.[5] They were really +going to Montmartre. At five o’clock in the morning the 88th Regiment +of the line occupied the top of the hill and the little streets leading +to it, a place doubtless familiar to some of them, who on Sundays and +fête days had clambered up the hill-sides in company with apple-faced +rustics from the outskirts, and middle-class people of the quarter; +taking part in the crowd on the Place Saint-Pierre, with its games and +amusements, and “assisting,” as they would say, at shooting in a +barrel, admiring the ability of some, whilst reviling the stupidity of +others; when they had a few sous in their pockets they would try their +own skill at throwing big balls into the mouths of fantastic monsters, +painted upon a square board, while their country friends nibbled at +spice-nuts, and thought them delicious. But on this 18th of March +morning there are no women, nor spice-nuts, nor sport on the Place +Saint-Pierre: all is slush and dirt, and the poor lines-men are obliged +to stand at ease, resting upon their arms, not in the best of humour +with the weather or the prospect before them. + +Ah! and the guns of the National Guard that frown from their embrasures +on the top of the hill, have they been made use of against the +Prussians? No! they have made no report during the siege, and were only +heard on the days on which they were christened and paid for; elegant +things, hardly to be blackened with powder, that it was always hoped +would be pacific and never dangerous to the capital. Cruel irony! those +guns for which Paris paid, and those American mitrailleuses, made out +of the savings of both rich and poor, the farthings of the frugal +housewife, and the napoleons of the millionaires; the contributions of +the artists who designed, and the poets who pen’d, are ruining Paris +instead of protecting it. The brass mouths that ate the bread of +humanity are turned upon the nation itself to devour it also. + +But, to return to the 88th Regiment of Line, did they take the guns? +Yes, but they gave them up again, and to whom? why, to a crowd of women +and children; and as to the chiefs, no one seemed to know what had +become of them. It is related, however, that General Lecomte had been +made a prisoner and led to the Château-Rouge, and that at nine o’clock +some Chasseurs d’Afrique charged pretty vigorously in the Place Pigalle +a detachment of National Guards, who replied by a volley of bullets. An +officer of Chasseurs was shot, and his men ran away, the greater part, +it is said, into the wine-shops, where they fraternised with the +patriots, who offered them drink. I was told on the spot that General +Vinoy, who was on horseback, became encircled in a mob of women, had a +stone and a cap[6] thrown at him, and thought it prudent to escape, +leaving the National Guards and linesmen to promenade in good +fellowship three abreast, dispersing themselves about the outer +boulevards and about Paris. Indeed, I have just seen a drunken couple +full of wine and friendship, strongly reminding one of a duel ending in +a jolly breakfast. And who is to blame for this? Nobody knows. All +agree that it is a bungle,—the fault of maladministration and want of +tact. Certainly the National Guards at Montmartre had no right to hold +the cannons belonging to the National Guards, as a body, or to menace +the reviving trade and tranquillity of Paris, by means of guns turned +against its peaceful citizens and Government officials; but was it +necessary to use violence to obtain possession of the cannons? Should +not all the means of conciliation be exhausted first, and might we not +hope that the citizens at Montmartre would themselves end by abandoning +the pieces of artillery[7] which they hardly protected. In fact, they +were encumbered by their own barricades, and they might take upon +themselves to repave their streets and return to order. + +Monsieur Thiers and his ministers were not of that opinion. They +preferred acting, and with vigour. Very well! but when resolutions are +formed, one should be sure of fulfilling them, for in circumstances of +such importance failure itself makes the attempt an error.[8] + +Well! said the Government, who could imagine that the line would throw +up the butt ends of their muskets,[9] or that the Chasseurs, after the +loss of a single officer, would turn their backs upon the Nationals, +and that their only deeds should be the imbibing of plentiful potations +at the cost of the insurgents? But how could it be otherwise? Not many +days since the soldiers were wandering idly through the streets with +the National Guards; were billeted upon the people, eating their soup +and chatting with their wires and daughters, unaccustomed to discipline +and the rigour of military organisation; enervated by defeat, having +been maintained by their officers in the illusion of their +invincibility; annoyed by their uniform, of which they ceased to be +proud, the humiliated soldiers sought to escape into the citizen. Were +the commanding officers ignorant of the prevailing spirit of the +troops? Must we admit that they were grossly deceived, or that they +deceived the Government, when the latter might and ought to have been +in a position to foresee the result. Possibly the Assembly had the +right to coerce, but they had no right to be ignorant of their power. +They must have known that 100,000 arms (chassepots, tabatières,[10] and +muskets) were in the hands of disaffected men, clanking on the floors +of the dealers in adulterated wines and spirits, and low cabarets. The +fact is, the Government took a leap in the dark, and wondered when they +found the position difficult. + +NOTES: + + [5] Appendix, note 2. + + [6] A mark of insult. + + [7] This useless artillery was much ridiculed; jokers said that the + notary of General Trochu was working out faithfully the “plan” of his + illustrious client in these tardy fortifications. + + [8] How was the Government to act in the presence of these facts; to + await events, or to strike a great blow? + Some think that the resistance of the insurgents was strengthened + by the measures taken by Government, which ought to have been more + diplomatic and skilful. The agitation of these men of Montmartre, + at the entry of the Prussians, had calmed down in a few hours; it + was now the duty of Government to allay the irritation which had + caused the insurgents to form their Montmartre stronghold, and not + to follow the advice of infuriated reactionaries, who make no + allowance for events and circumstances, neither analysing the + elements of that which they are combating, nor weighing the + measures they do not even know how to apply with tact. + The guns had not been re-taken, but Paris was very calm. + Dissensions had broken out in the Montmartre Committee, some of + whose members wished the cannon to be returned (the Committee sat + at No, 8 of the Rue des Rosiers, with a court-martial on one hand, + and military head-quarters on the other). Danger seemed now to be + averted, and the authorities had but one thing to do, to allow all + agitation to die out, without listening to blind or treacherous + counsellors, who advocated a system of immediate repression. It was + said, however, that the greater number of the members of Government + were inclined to temporise, but the provisional appointment of + General Valentin to the direction of the Prefecture of Police, + seemed to contradict this assertion. + During this time, the leaders who held Montmartre, spurred on by + the ambitious around them, and by those desirous of kindling civil + war for the sake of the illicit gains to be obtained from it, were + getting up a manifestation, which was to claim for the National + Guard the right of electing its commander-in-chief; and the post + was to be offered to Menotti Garibaldi. But though the men of + Montmartre declared that all who did not sign the manifestos were + traitors, yet the addresses remained almost entirely blank. The + insurrection had evidently few supporters. According to others, the + insurrection of 1871 was the result of a vast conspiracy, planned + and nurtured under the influence of a six months’ siege. No simple + Paris _émeute_, but a grand social movement, organised by the great + and universal revolutionary power; the Société Internationale, + Garibaldiism, Mazziniism, and Fenianism, have given each other + rendezvous in Paris. Cluseret, the American; Frankel, the Prussian; + Dombrowski, the Russian; Brunswick, the Lithuanian; Romanelli, the + Italian; Okolowitz, the Pole; Spillthorn, the Belgian; and La + Cécilia, Wroblewski, Wenzel, Hertzfel, Bozyski, Syneck, Prolowitz, + and a hundred others, equally illustrious, brought together from + every quarter of the globe; such were these ardent conspirators, + all imbued, like their colleagues the Flourens, the Eudes, the + Henrys, the Duvals, and _tutti quanti_, with the principles of the + French school of democracy and socialism. + This strong and terrible band, we are told, is under the command of + a chief who remains hidden and mute, while ostensibly it obeys the + Pyats, Delescluzes, and Rocheforts, politicians, who not being + generals, never condescend to fight. + In the first days of March all was prepared for a coming explosion, + and in spite of the departure of the Prussians, the Socialist party + determined that it should take place. (_Guerre des Communeux_, p. + 61.) + + [9] A sign that they refused to fight. + + [10] A smooth-bore musket arranged as breech-loader, and called a + snuff-box, from the manner of opening the breech to adjust the charge. + + + + + II. + + +At three o’clock in the afternoon there was a dense group of linesmen +and Nationals in one of the streets bordering on the Elysée-Montmartre. +The person who told us this did not recollect the name of the street, +but men were eagerly haranguing the crowd, talking of General Lecomte, +and his having twice ordered the troops to fire upon the citizen +militia. + +“And what he did was right,” said an old gentleman who was listening. + +Words that were no sooner uttered than they provoked a torrent of +curses and imprecations from the by-standers. But he continued +observing that General Lecomte had only acted under the orders of his +superiors; being commanded to take the guns and to disperse the crowd, +his only duty was to obey. + +These remarks being received in no friendly spirit, hostility to the +stranger increased, when a vivandière approached, and looking the +gentleman who had exposed himself to the fury of the mob full in the +face, exclaimed, “It is Clément Thomas!” And in truth it was General +Clément Thomas; he was not in uniform. A torrent of abuse was poured +forth by a hundred voices at once, and the anger of the crowd seemed +about to extend itself to violence, when a ruffian cried out: “You +defend the rascal Lecomte! Well, we’ll put you both together, and a +pretty pair you’ll be!” and this project being approved of, the General +was hurried, not without having to submit to fresh insults, to where +General Lecomte had been imprisoned since the morning. + +From this moment the narrative I have collected differs but little from +that circulated through Paris. + +At about four o’clock in the afternoon the two generals were conducted +from their prison by a hundred National Guards, the hands of General +Lecomte being bound together, whilst those of Clément Thomas were free. +In this manner they were escorted to the top of the hill of Montmartre, +where they stopped before No. 6 of the Rue des Rosiers: it is a little +house I had often seen, a peaceful and comfortable habitation, with a +garden in front. What passed within it perhaps will never be known. Was +it there that the Central Committee of the National Guard held their +sittings in full conclave? or were they represented by a few of its +members? Many persons think that the house was not occupied, and that +the National Guards conducted their prisoners within its walls to make +the crowd believe they were proceeding to a trial, or at least to give +the appearance of legality to the execution of premeditated acts. Of +one thing there remains little doubt, namely, that soldiers of the line +stood round about at the time, and that the trial, if any took place, +was not long, the condemned being conducted to a walled enclosure at +the end of the street. + +[Illustration: Hotel de Ville, As Fortified by the National Guard, +March, 1871.] + +The Hôtel de Ville of Paris, Which Witnessed So Many National +Ceremonies and Republican Triumphs, Was Commenced in 1533, And It Was +Finished in 1628. Here the First Bourbon, Henry Iv., Celebrated His +Entry Into Paris After the Siege of 1589, and Bailly The maire, On The +17th July, 1789, Presented Louis Xvi. To the People, Wearing A Tricolor +Cockade. Henry Iv. Became a Catholic in Order to Enter “his Good City +of Paris” Whilst Louis Xvi. Wore the Democratic Insignia In Order to +Keep It. A Few Days Later the 172 Commissioners of Sections, +Representing the Municipality of Paris, Established The Commune. The +Hôtel de Ville Was the Seat of The First Committee Of Public Safety, +And From the Green Chamber, Robespierre Governed The Convention and +France Till his Fall on the 9th Thermidor. From 1800 to 1830 Fêtes Held +The Place of Political Manifestations. In 1810 Bonaparte Received +Marie-Louise Here; in 1821, the Baptism of The Duke Of Bordeaux Was +Celebrated Here; in 1825 Fêtes Were Given to the Duc D’angouleme on His +Return from Spain, and to Charles X., Arriving From Rheims. Five Years +Later, from the Same Balcony Where Bailly Presented Louis Xvi. To The +People, Lafayette, Standing by the Side of Louis Philippe, Said, “this +Is the Best of Republics!” It Was Here, in 1848, That de Lamartine +Courageously Declared to an Infuriated Mob That, As Long As he Lived, +The Red Flag Should Not Be the Flag of France. During The Fatal Days Of +June, 1848, the Hôtel de Ville Was Only Saved from Destruction by The +Intrepidity of a Few Brave Men. The Queen Of England Was Received Here +In 1865, and the Sovereigns Who Visited Paris Since Have Been Fêted +Therein. On the 4th of September The Bloodless Revolution Was +Proclaimed; and on the 31st of October, 1870, And The 22nd Of January, +1871, Flourens and Blanqui Made a Fruitless Attempt to Substitute The +Red Flag for the Tricolor; But Their Partisans Succeeded on The 18th Of +March, when It Was Fortified, and Became the Head-quarters of The +Commune of 1871. + +As soon as they had halted, an officer of the National Guard seized +General Clément Thomas by the collar of his coat and shook him +violently several times, exclaiming, whilst he held the muzzle of a +revolver close to his throat,—“Confess that you have betrayed the +Republic.” To this Monsieur Clément Thomas only replied by a shrug of +his shoulders; upon this the officer retired, leaving the General +standing alone in the front of the wall, with a line of soldiers +opposite. + +Who gave the signal to fire is unknown, but a report of twenty muskets +rent the air, and General Clément Thomas fell with his face to the +earth. + +“It is your turn now,” said one of the assassins, addressing General +Lecomte, who immediately advanced from the crowd, stepping over the +body of Clément Thomas to take his place, awaiting with his back to the +wall the fatal moment. + +“Fire!” cried the officer, and all was over. + +Half an hour after, in the Rue des Acacias, I came across an old woman +who wanted three francs for a bullet—a bullet she had extracted from +the plaster of a wall at the end of the Rue des Rosiers. + + + + + III. + + +It is ten o’clock in the evening, and if I were not so tired I would go +to the Hôtel de Ville, which, I am told, has been taken possession of +by the National Guards; the 18th of March is continuing the 31st of +October. But the events of this day have made me so weary that I can +hardly write all I have seen and heard. On the outer boulevards the +wine shops are crowded with tipsy people, the drunken braggarts who +boast they have made a revolution. When a stroke succeeds there are +plenty of rascals ready to say: I did it. Drinking, singing, and +talking are the order of the day. At every step you come upon “piled +arms.” At the corner of the Passage de l’Elysée-des-Beaux-Arts I met +crowds of people, some lying on the ground; here a battalion standing +at ease but ready to march; and at the entrance of the Rue Blanche and +the Rue Fontaine were some stones, ominously posed one on the other, +indicating symptoms of a barricade. In the Rue des Abbesses I counted +three cannons and a mitrailleuse, menacing the Rue des Martyrs. In the +Rue des Acacias, a man had been arrested, and was being conducted by +National Guards to the guard-house: I heard he was a thief. Such +arrests are characteristic features in a Parisian émeute. +Notwithstanding these little scenes the disorder is not excessive, and +but for the multitude of men in uniform one might believe it the +evening of a popular fête; the victors are amusing themselves. + +[Illustration: Sentinels, Rue du Val de Grâce and Boulevard St. Michel] + +Among the Federals this evening there are very few linesmen; perhaps +they have gone to their barracks to enjoy their meal of soup and bread. + +Upon the main boulevards noisy groups are commenting upon the events of +the day. At the corner of the Rue Drouot an officer of the 117th +Battalion is reading in a loud voice, or rather reciting, for he knows +it all by heart, the proclamation of M. Picard, the official poster of +the afternoon. + + “The Government appeals to you to defend your city, your home, your + children, and your property. + “Some frenzied men, commanded by unknown chiefs, direct against + Paris the guns defended from, the Prussians. + “They oppose force to the National Guard and the army. + “Will you suffer it? + “Will you, under the eyes of the strangers ready to profit by our + discord, abandon Paris to sedition? + “If you do not extinguish it in the germ, the Republic and France + will be ruined for ever. + “Their destiny is in your hands. + “The Government desires that you should hold your arms + energetically to maintain the law and preserve the Republic from + anarchy. Gather round your leaders; it is the only means of + escaping ruin and the domination of the foreigner. + + “The Minister of the Interior, + “ERNEST PICARD.” + +The crowd listened with attention, shouted two or three times “To +arms!” and then dispersed—I thought for an instant, to arm themselves, +though in reality it was only to reinforce another group forming on the +other side of the way. + +This day the Friends of Order have been very apathetic, so much so that +Paris is divided between two parties: the one active and the other +passive. + +To speak truly, I do not know what the population of Paris could have +done to resist the insurrection. “Gather round your chiefs,” says the +proclamation. This is more easily said than done, when we do not know +what has become of them. The division caused in the National Guard by +the Coup d’Etat of the Central Committee had for its consequence the +disorganisation of all command. Who was to distinguish, and where was +one to find the officers that had remained faithful to the cause of +order? + +It is true they sounded the “rappel”[11] and beat the “générale”;[12] +but who commanded it? Was it the regular Government or the +revolutionary Committee? + +More than one good citizen was ready to do his duty; but, after having +put on his uniform and buckled his belt, he felt very puzzled, afraid +of aiding the entente instead of strengthening the defenders of the +law. Therefore the peaceful citizen soldiers regarded not the call of +the trumpet and the drum. + +It is wise to stay at home when one knows not where to go. Besides, the +line has not replied, and bad examples are contagious; moreover, is it +fair to demand of fathers of families, of merchants and tradesmen, in +fact of soldiers of necessity, an effort before which professional +soldiers withdraw? The fact is the Government had fled. Perhaps a few +ministers still remained in Paris, but the main body had gone to join +the Assembly at Versailles. + +I do not blame their somewhat precipitate departure,[13] perhaps it was +necessary; nevertheless it seems to me that their presence would have +put an end to irresolution on the part of timid people. + +Meanwhile, from the Madeleine to the Gymnase, the cafés overflowed with +swells and idlers of both sexes. On the outer boulevards they got +drunk, and on the inner tipsy, the only difference being in the quality +of the liquors imbibed. + +What an extraordinary people are the French! + +NOTES: + + [11] The roll call. + + [12] Muster call in time of danger, which is beaten only by a superior + order emanating from the Commander-in-chief in a stronghold or + garrison town. + + [13] The army of Paris was drawn off to Versailles in the night of the + 18th of March, and on the 19th, the employés of all the ministries and + public offices left Paris for the same destination. + On the 19th of March, as early as eight in the morning, Monsieur + Thiers addressed the following circular to the authorities of all + the departments:— + “The whole of the Government is assembled at Versailles: the + National Assembly will meet there also. + “The army, to the number of forty thousand men, has been assembled + there in good order, under the command of General Vinoy. All the + chiefs of the army, and all the civil authorities have arrived + there. + “The civil and military authorities will execute no other orders + but those issued by the legitimate government residing at + Versailles, under penalty of dismissal. + “The members of the National Assembly are all requested to hasten + their return, so as to be present at the sitting of the 20th of + March. + “The present despatch will be made known to the public. + +“A. THIERS.” + + + + + IV. + + +Next morning, the 19th of March, I was in haste to know the events of +last night, what attitude Paris had assumed after her first surprise. +The night, doubtless, had brought counsel, and perhaps settled the +discord existing between the Government and the Central Committee. + +Early in the morning things appeared much as usual; the streets were +peaceful, servants shopping, and the ordinary passengers going to and +fro. In passing I met a casual acquaintance to whom I had spoken now +and then, a man with whom I had served during the siege when we mounted +guard on the ramparts. “Well,” said I, “good morning, have you any +news?”—“News,” replied he, “no, not that I know of. Ah I yes, there is +a rumour that something took place yesterday at Montmartre.” This was +told me in the centre of the city, in the Rue de la Grange-Batelière. +Truly there are in Paris persons marvellously apathetic and ignorant. I +would wager not a little that by searching in the retired quarters, +some might be found who believe they are still governed by Napoleon +III., and have never heard of the war with Prussia, except as a not +improbable eventuality. + +On the boulevards there was but little excitement. The newspaper +vendors were in plenty. I do not like to depend upon these public +sheets for information, for however impartial or sincere a reporter may +be, he cannot represent facts otherwise than according to the +impression they make upon him, and to value facts by the impression +they make upon others is next to impossible. + +I directed my steps to the Rue Drouot in search of placards, and +plentiful I found them, and white too, showing that Paris was not +without a government; for white is the official colour even under a red +Republic.[14] + +Taking out a pencil I copied hastily the proclamation of the new +masters, and I think that I did well, for we forget very quickly both +proclamations and persons. Where are they now, the official bills of +last year? + + “RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE. + “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.” + _To the People_. + + “Citizens,—The people of Paris have shaken off the yoke endeavoured + to be imposed upon them.” + +What yoke, gentlemen—I beg pardon, citizens of the Committee? I assure +you, as part of the people, that I have never felt that any one has +tried to impose one upon me. I recollect, if my memory serves me, that +a few guns were spoken of, but nothing about yokes. Then the expression +“People of Paris,” is a gross exaggeration. The inhabitants of +Montmartre and their neighbours of that industrious suburb are +certainly a part of the people, and not the less respectable or worthy +of our consideration because they live out of the centre (indeed, I +have always preferred a coal man of the Chaussée Clignancourt to a +coxcomb of the Rue Taitbout); but for all that, they are not the whole +population. Thus, your sentence does not imply anything, and moreover, +with all its superannuated metaphor, the rhetoric is out of date. I +think it would have been better to say simply— + + “Citizens,—The inhabitants of Montmartre and of Belleville have + taken their guns and intend to keep them.” + +But then it would not have the air of a proclamation. Extraordinary +fact! you may overturn an entire country, but you must not touch the +official style; it is immutable. One may triumph over empires, but must +respect red tape. Let us read on: + + “Tranquil, calm in our force, we have awaited without fear as + without provocation, the shameless madmen who menaced the + Republic.” + +The Republic? Again an improper expression, it was the cannons they +wanted to take. + +“This time, our brothers of the army....” + +Ah! your brothers of the army! They are your brothers because they +fraternised and threw up the butt-ends of their muskets. In your family +you acknowledge no brotherhood except those who hold the same opinion. + + “This time, our brothers of the army would not raise their hands + against the holy ark of our liberty.” + +Oh! So the guns are a holy ark now. A very holy metaphor, for people +not greatly enamoured of churchmen. + +“Thanks for all; and let Paris and France unite to build a Republic, +and accept with acclamations the only government that will close for +ever the flood gates of invasion and civil war. + “The state of siege is raised. + “The people of Paris are convoked in their sections to elect a + Commune. The safety of all citizens is assured by the body of the + National Guard. + “Hôtel de Ville of Paris, the 19th of March, 1871. + “The Central Committee of the National Guard: + “Assy, Billioray, Ferrat, Babick, Ed. Moreau, Oh. Dupont, Varlin, + Boursier, Mortier, Gouhier, Lavallette, Fr. Jourde, Rousseau, Ch. + Lullier, Blanchet, G. Gaillard, Barroud, H. Geresme, Fabre, + Pougeret.”[15] + +There is one reproach that the new Parisian Revolution could not be +charged with; it is that of having placed at the head men of proved +incapacity. Those who dared to assert that each of the persons named +above had not more genius than would be required to regenerate two or +three nations would greatly astonish me. In a drama of Victor Hugo it +is said a parentless child ought to be deemed a gentleman; thus an +obscure individual ought, on the same terms, to be considered a man of +genius. + +But on the walls of the Rue Drouot many more proclamations were to be +seen. + + “RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE. + “LIBERTÉ, EGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ, + “To the National Guards of Paris. + + “CITIZENS,—You had entrusted us with the charge of organising the + defence of Paris and of your rights.” + +Oh! as to that, no; a thousand times, no! I admit—since you appear to +cling to it—that Cannon are an ark of strength, but under no pretext +whatever will I allow that I entrusted you with the charge of +organising anything whatsoever. I know nothing of you; I have never +heard you spoken of. There is no one in the world of whom I am more +ignorant than Ferrat, Babick, unless it be Gaillard and Pougeret +(though I was national guard myself, and caught cold on the ramparts +for the King of Prussia[16] as much as anyone else). I neither know +what you wish nor where you are leading those who follow you; and I can +prove to you, if you like, that there are at least a hundred thousand +men who caught cold too, and who, at the present moment, are in exactly +the same state of mind concerning you “We are aware of having fulfilled +our mission.” + +You are very good to have taken so much trouble, but I have no +recollection of having given you a mission to fulfil of any kind +whatever! + + “Assisted by your courage and presence of mind!...” + +Ah, gentlemen, this is flattery! + + “We have driven out the government that was betraying you. + “Our mandate has now expired...” + +Always this same mandate which we gave you, eh? + + “We now return it to you, for we do not pretend to take the place + of those which the popular breath has overthrown. + “Prepare yourselves, let the Communal election commence forthwith, + and give to us the only reward we have ever hoped for—that of + seeing the establishment of a true republic. In the meanwhile we + retain the Hôtel de Ville in the name of the people. + “Hôtel de Ville, Paris, 19th March, 1871. + “The Central Committee of the National Guards: + “Assy, Billioray, and others.” + +Placarded up also is another proclamation[17] signed by the citizens +Assy, Billioray, and others, announcing that the Communal elections +will take place on Wednesday next, 22nd of March, that is to say in +three days. + +This then is the result of yesterday’s doings, and the revolution of +the 18th March can be told in a few words. + +There were cannon at Montmartre; the Government wished to take them but +was not able, thanks to the fraternal feeling and cowardice of the +soldiers of the Line. A secret society, composed of several delegates +of several battalions, took advantage of the occasion to assert loudly +that they represented the entire population, and commanded the people +to elect the Commune of Paris—whether they wished or not. + +What will Paris do now between these dictators, sprung from heaven +knows where, and the Government fled to Versailles? + +NOTES: + + [14] No one may use white placards—they are reserved by the + government. + The following is an extract from the _Official Journal_ of + Versailles, bearing the date of the 20th of March, which explains + the official form of the announcements made by the Central + Committee:— + “Yesterday, 19th March, the offices of the _Official Journal_, in + Paris, were broken into, the employés having escaped to Versailles + with the documents, to join the Government and the National + Assembly. The invaders took possession of the printing machines, + the materials, and even the official and non-official articles + which had been set up in type, and remained in the composing-rooms. + It is thus that they were enabled to give an appearance of + regularity to the publication of their decrees, and to deceive the + Parisian public by a false _Official Journal_.” + + [15] Here is an extract from the _Official Journal_ upon the subject + (numbers of the 29th March and 1st June):— + “In the insurrection, the momentary triumph of which has crushed + Paris beneath so odious and humiliating a yoke, carried the + distresses of France to their height, and put civilisation in + peril, the International Society has borne a part which has + suddenly revealed to all the fatal power of this dangerous + association. + “On the 19th of March, the day after the outbreak of the terrible + sedition, of which the last horrors will form one of the most + frightful pages in history, there appeared upon the walls a placard + which made known to Paris the names of its new masters. + “With the exception of one, alone, (Assy), who had acquired a + deplorable notoriety, these names were unknown to almost all who + read them; they had suddenly emerged from utter obscurity, and + people asked themselves with astonishment, with stupor, what unseen + power could have given them an influence and a meaning which they + did not possess in themselves. This power was the International; + these names were those of some of its members.” + + [16] _Travailler pour le Roi de Prusse_, “to work for the King of + Prussia,” is an old French saying, which means to work for nothing, to + no purpose. + + [17] “THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD. + “Inasmuch:— + “That it is most urgent that the Communal administration of the + City of Paris shall be formed immediately, + “Decrees:— + “1st. The elections for the Communal Council of the City of Paris + will take place on Wednesday next, the 22nd of March. + “2nd. The electors will vote with lists, and in their own + arrondissements. + Each arrondissement will elect a councillor for each twenty + thousand of inhabitants, and an extra one for a surplus of more + than ten thousand. + 3rd. The poll will be open from eight in the morning to six in the + evening. The result will be made known at once. + 4th. The municipalities of the twenty arrondissements are entrusted + with the proper execution of the present decree. + A placard indicating the number of councillors for each + arrondissement will shortly be posted up. + “Hôtel de Ville, Paris, 29th March, 1871.” + + + + + V. + + +Paris remains inactive, and watches events as one watches running +water. What does this indifference spring from? Surprise and the +disappearance of the chiefs might yesterday have excused the inaction +of Paris, but twenty-four hours have passed over, every man has +interrogated his conscience, and been able to listen to its answer. +There has been time to reconnoitre, to concert together; there would +have been time to act! + +Why is nothing done? Why has nothing been done yet? Generals Clément +Thomas and Lecomte have been assassinated; this is as incontestable as +it is odious. Does all Paris wish to partake with the criminals in the +responsibility of this crime? The regular Government has been expelled. +Does Paris consent to this expulsion? Men invested with no rights, or, +at least, with insufficient rights, have usurped the power. Does Paris +so far forget itself as to submit to this usurpation without +resistance? + +No, most assuredly no. Paris abominates crime, does not approve of the +expulsion of the Government, and does not acknowledge the right of the +members of the Central Committee to impose its wishes upon us. Why then +does Paris remain passive and patient? Does it not fear that it will be +said that silence implies consent? How is it that I myself, for +example, instead of writing my passing impressions on these pages, do +not take my musket to punish the criminals and resist this despotism? +It is that we all feel the present situation to be a, singularly +complicated one. The Government which has withdrawn to Versailles +committed so many faults that it would be difficult to side with it +without reserve. The weakness and inability the greater part of those +who composed it showed during the siege, their obstinacy in remaining +deaf to the legitimate wishes of the capital, have ill disposed us for +depending on a state of things which it would have been impossible to +approve of entirely. In fine, these unknown revolutionists, guilty most +certainly, but perhaps sincere, claim for Paris rights that almost the +whole of Paris is inclined to demand. It is impossible not to +acknowledge that the municipal franchise is wished for and becomes +henceforth necessary. + +It is for this reason that although aghast at the excesses in +perspective and those already committed by the dictators of the 18th +March, though revolted at the thought of all the blood spilled and yet +to be spilled—this is the reason that we side with no party. The past +misdeeds of the legitimate Government of Versailles damp our enthusiasm +for it, while some few laudable ideas put forth by the illegitimate +government of the Hôtel de Ville diminish our horror of its crimes, and +our apprehensions at its misdoings. + +Then—why not dare say it?—Paris, which is so impressionable, so +excitable, so romantic, in admiration before all that is bold, has but +a moderate sympathy for that which is prudent. We may smile, as I did +just now, at the emphatic proclamation of the Central Committee, but +that does not prevent us from recognizing that its power is real, and +the ferocious elements that it has so suddenly revealed are not without +a certain grandeur. It might have been spitefully remarked that more +than one patriot in his yesterday evening walk on the outer boulevards +and in the environs of the Hôtel de Ville, had taken more _petit vin_ +than was reasonable in honour of the Republic and of the Commune, but +that has not prevented our feeling a surprise akin to admiration at the +view of those battalions hastening from all quarters at some invisible +signal, and ready at any moment to give up their lives to defend ... +what? Their guns, and these guns were in their eyes the palpable +symbols of their rights and liberties. During this time the heroic +Assembly was pettifogging at Versailles, and the Government was going +to join them. Paris does not follow those who fly. + + + + + VI. + + +The Butte-Montmartre is _en fête_. The weather is charming, and every +one goes to see the cannon and inspect the barricades, Men, women, and +children mount the hilly streets, and they all appear joyous ... for +what, they cannot say themselves, but who can resist the charm of +sunshine? If it rained, the city would be in mourning. Now the citizens +have closed their shops and put on their best clothes, and are going to +dine at the restaurant. These are the very enemies of disorder, the +small shopkeepers and the humble citizens. Strange contradiction! But +what would you have? the sun is so bright, the weather is so lovely. +Yesterday no work was done because of the insurrection; it was like a +Sunday. To-day therefore is the holiday-Monday of the insurrection. + +[Illustration: Behind a Barricade: The Morning Meal—thirty Sous A Day +and nothing to eat] + + + + + VII. + + +In the midst of all these troubles, in which every one is borne along, +without any knowledge of where he is drifting—with the Central +Committee making proclamations on one side, and the Versailles +Government training troops on the other, a few men have arisen who have +spoken some words of reason. These men may be certain from this moment +that they are approved of by Paris, and will be obeyed By Paris—by the +honest and intelligent Paris—by the Paris which is ready to favour that +side which can prove that it has the most justice in it. + +The deputies and maires of Paris have placarded the following +proclamation:— + + “RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE. + “LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ. + + “Citizens,—Impressed with the absolute necessity of saving Paris + and the Republic by the removal of every cause of collision, and + convinced that the best means of attaining this grand object is to + give satisfaction to the legitimate wishes of the people, we have + resolved this very day to demand of the National Assembly the + adoption of two measures which we have every hope will contribute + to bring back tranquillity to the public mind. + “These two measures are: The election of all the officers of the + National Guard, without exception, and the establishment of a + municipal council, elected by the whole of the citizens. + “What we desire, and what the public welfare requires under all + circumstances; and which the present situation renders more + indispensable than ever, is, order in liberty and by liberty. + “_Vive la France!_ Vive la République! + + “_The representatives of the Seine_: + + “Louis Blanc, V. Schoelcher, Edmond Adam, Floquet, Martin Bernard, + Langlois, Edouard Lockroy, Farcy, Brisson, Greppo, Millière. + + “_The maires and adjoints of Paris_: + + “1st Arrondissement: Ad. Adam, Meline, adjoints.—2nd + Arrondissement: Tirard, maire, representative of the Seine; Ad. + Brelay, Chéron, Loiseau-Pinson, adjoints.—3rd Arrondissement; + Bonvalet, maire; Ch. Murat, adjoint.—4th Arrondissement: Vautrain, + maire; Loiseau, Callon, adjoints.—5th Arrondissement: Jourdan, + adjoint.—6th Arrondissement: Hérisson, maire; A. Leroy, + adjoint.—7th Arrondissement: Arnaud (de l’Ariége), maire, + representative of the Seine.—8th Arrondissement: Carnot, maire, + representative of the Seine.—9th Arrondissement: Desmaret, + maire.—10th Arrondissement: Dubail, maire; A. Murat, + Degoyves-Denunques, adjoints.—11th Arrondissement: Motu, maire, + representative of the Seine; Blanchon, Poirier, Tolain, + representative of the Seine.—12th Arrondissement: Denizot, Dumas, + Turillon, adjoints.—18th Arrondissement: Léo Meillet, Combes, + adjoints.—14th Arrondissement: Héligon, adjoint.—15th + Arrondissement: Jobbe-Duval, adjoint.—16th Arrondissement: Henri + Martin, maire and representative of the Seine,—17th. + Arrondissement: FRANÇOIS FAVRE, maire; MALOU, VILLENEUVE, CACHEUX, + adjoints.—18th. Arrondissement: CLÉMENCEAU, maire and + representative of the people; J.B. LAFONT, DEREURE, JACLARD, + adjoints.” + +This proclamation has now been posted two hours, and I have not yet met +a single person who does not approve of it entirely. The deputies of +the Seine and the _maires_ of Paris have, by the flight of the +Government to Versailles, become the legitimate chiefs. We have elected +them, it is for them to lead us. To them belongs the duty of +reconciling the Assembly with the city; and it appears to us that they +have taken the last means of bringing about that conciliation, by +disengaging all that is legitimate and practical in its claims from the +exaggeration of the _émeute_. Let them therefore have all praise for +this truly patriotic attempt. Let them hasten to obtain from the +Assembly a recognition of our rights. In acceding to the demands of the +deputies and the _maires_, the Government will not be treating with +insurrection; on the contrary, it will effect a radical triumph over +it, for it will take away from it every pretext of existence, and will +separate from it, in a definite way, all those men who have been +blinded to the illegal and violent manner in which this programme is +drawn up, by the justice of certain parts of it. + +If the Assembly consent to this, all that will remain of the 18th of +March will be the recollection—painful enough, without doubt—of one +sanguinary day, while out of a great evil will come a great benefit. + +Whatever may happen, we are resolute; we—that is to say, all those who, +without having followed the Government of Versailles, and without +having taken an active part in the insurrection, equally desire the +re-establishment of legitimate power and the development of municipal +liberties—we are resolved to follow where our deputies and the _maires_ +may lead us. They represent at this, moment the only legal authority +which seems to us to have fairly understood the difficulties of the +situation, and if, in the case of all hope of conciliation being lost, +they should tell us to take up arms, we will do so. + + + + + VIII. + + +Paris has this evening, the 21st of March, an air of extraordinary +contentment; it has belief in the deputies and the _maires_, it has +trust even, in the National Assembly. People talk of the manifestation +of the Friends of Order and approve of it. A foreigner, a Russian, +Monsieur A—— J——, who has inhabited Paris for ten years, and is +consequently Parisian, has given me the following information, of which +I took hasty note:— + +“At half-past one o’clock to-day a group, of which I made one, was +formed in the place of the New Opera-house. We numbered scarcely twenty +persons, and we had a flag on which was inscribed, ‘Meeting of the +Friends of Order.’ This flag was carried by a soldier of the line, an +employé, it is said, of the house of Siraudin, the great confectioners. +We marched along the boulevards as far as the Rue de Richelieu; windows +were opened as we passed, and the people cried, ‘_Vive l’Ordre! Vive +l’Assemblée Nationale! A bas la Commune!_’ Few as we were at starting +our numbers soon grew to three hundred, to five hundred, to a thousand. +Our troop followed the Rue de Richelieu, increasing as it went. At the +Place de la Bourse a captain at the head of his National Guards tried +to stop us. We continued our course, the company saluted our flag as, +we passed, and the drums beat to arms. After having traversed, still +increasing in numbers, the streets which surround the Bourse, we +returned to the boulevards, where the most lively enthusiasm burst out +around us. We halted opposite the Rue Drouot. The _mairie_ of the Ninth +Arrondissement was occupied by a battalion attached to the Central +Committee—the 229th, I believe. Although there was some danger of a +collision, we made our way into the street, resolved to do our duty, +which was to protest against the interference with order and the +disregard for established laws; but no resistance was opposed to us. +The National Guards came out in front of the door of the _mairie_ and +presented arms to us, and we were about to continue our way, when some +one remarked that our flag, on which, as I have already said, were the +woods ‘Meeting of the Friends of Order,’ might expose us to the danger +of being taken for ‘_réactionnaires_,’ and that we ought to add the +words ‘_Vive la République!_’ Those who headed the manifestation came +to a halt, and a few of them went into a café, and there wrote the +words on the flag with chalk. We then resumed our march, following the +widest and most frequented paths, and were received with acclamations +everywhere. A quarter of an hour later we arrived at the Rue de la Paix +and were marching towards the Place Vendôme, where the battalions of +the Committee were collected in masses, and where, as is well known, +the staff of the National Guard had its head-quarters. There, as in the +Rue Drouot, the drums were beaten and arms presented to us; more than +that, an officer came and informed the leaders of the manifestation +that a delegate of the Central Committee begged them to proceed to the +staff quarters. At this moment I was carrying the flag. We advanced in +silence. When we arrived beneath the balcony, surrounded by National +Guards, whose attitude was generally peaceful; there appeared on the +balcony a rather young man, without uniform, but wearing a red scarf, +and surrounded by several superior officers; he came forward and +said—‘Citizens, in the name of the Central Committee....’ when he was +interrupted by a storm of hisses and by cries of ‘_Vive l’Ordre! Vive +l’Assemblée Nationale! Vive la République!_’ In spite of these daring +interruptions we were not subjected to any violence, nor even to any +threats, and without troubling ourselves any more about the delegate, +we marched round the column, and having regained the boulevards +proceeded towards the Place de la Concorde. There, some one proposed +that we should visit Admiral Saisset, who lived in the Rue Pauquet, in +the quarter of the Champs Elysées, when a grave looking man with grey +hair said that Admiral Saisset was at Versailles. ‘But,’ he added, +‘there are several admirals amongst you.’ He gave his own name, it was +Admiral de Chaillé. From that moment he headed the manifestation, which +passed over the Pont de la Concorde to the Faubourg St. Germain. +Constantly received with acclamations, and increasing in numbers, we +paraded successively all the streets of the quarter, and each time that +we passed before a guard-house the men presented arms. On the Place St. +Sulpice a battalion drew up to allow us to pass. We afterwards went +along the Boulevard St. Michel and the Boulevard de Strasbourg. During +this part of our course we were joined by a large group, preceded by a +tricolor flag with the inscription, ‘_Vive l’Assemblée Nationale!_’ +From this time the two flags floated side by side at the head of the +augmented procession. As we were about to turn into the Boulevard +Bonne-Nouvelle, a man dressed in a paletot and wearing a grey felt hat, +threw himself upon me as I was carrying the standard of the Friends of +Order, but a negro, dressed in the uniform of the National Guard, who +marched beside me, kept the man off, who thereupon turned against the +person that carried the other flag, wrested it from him, and with +extraordinary strength broke the staff, which was a strong one, over +his knee. This incident caused some confusion; the man was seized and +carried off, and I fear he was rather maltreated. We then made our way +back to the boulevards. At our appearance the enthusiasm of the +passers-by was immense; and certainly, without exaggeration, we +numbered between three and four thousand persons by the time we got +back to the front of the New Opera-house, where we were to separate. A +Zouave climbed up a tree in front of the Grand Hôtel, and fixed our +flag on the highest branch. It was arranged that we should meet on the +following day, in uniform but without arms, at the same place.” + +This account differs a little from those given in the newspapers, but I +have the best reason to believe it absolutely true. + +What will be the effect of this manifestation? Will those who desire +“Order through Liberty and in Liberty” succeed in meeting in +sufficiently large numbers to bring to reason, without having recourse +to force, the numerous partizans of the Commune? Whatever may happen, +this manifestation proves that Paris has no intention of being disposed +of without her own consent. In connection with the action of the +deputies in the National Assembly, it cannot have been ineffective in +aiding the coming pacification. + +Many hopeful promises of concord and quiet circulate this evening +amongst the less violent groups. + + + + + IX. + + +What is this fusillade? Against whom is it directed? Against the +Prussians? No! Against Frenchmen, against passers-by, against those who +cry “_Vive la République et vive l’Ordre_.” Men are falling dead or +wounded, women flying, shops closing, amid the whistling of the +bullets,—all Paris terrified. This is what I have just seen or heard. +We are done for then at last. We shall see the barricades thrown up in +our streets; we shall meet the horrid litters, from which hang hands +black with powder; every woman will weep in the evening when her +husband is late in returning home, and all mothers will be seized with +terror. France, alas! France, herself a weeping mother, will fall by +the hands of her own children. + +I had started, in company with a friend, from the Passage Choiseul on +my way to the Tuileries, which has been occupied since yesterday by a +battalion devoted to the Central Committee. On arming at the corner of +the Rue St. Roch and the Rue Neuve des Petits Champs we perceived a +considerable crowd in the direction of the Rue de la Paix. “What is +going on now?” said I to my friend. “I think,” said he, “that it is an +unarmed manifestation going to the Place Vendôme; it passed along the +boulevards a short time since, crying “_Vive l’Ordre_.” + +As we talked we were approaching the Rue de la Paix. All at once a +horrible noise was heard. It was the report of musketry. A white smoke +rose along the walls, cries issued from all parts, the crowd fled +terrified, and a hundred yards before us I saw a woman fall. Is she +wounded or dead? What is this massacre? What fearful deeds are passing +in open day, in this glorious sunshine? We had scarcely time to escape +into one of the cross-streets, followed by the frightened crowd, when +the shops were closed, hurriedly, and the horrible news spread to all +parts of terrified Paris. + +Reports, varying extremely in form, spread with extraordinary rapidity; +some were grossly exaggerated, others the reverse. “Two hundred victims +have fallen,” said one. “There were no balls in the guns,” said +another. The opinions regarding the cause of the conflict were +strangely various. Perhaps we shall never know, with absolute +certainty, what passed in the Place, Vendôme and the Rue de la Paix. +For myself, I was at once; too far and too near the scene of action; +too near, for I had narrowly missed being killed; too far, for I saw +nothing but the smoke and the flight, of the terrified crowd. + +One thing certain is that the Friends of Order who, yesterday, +succeeded in assembling a large number of citizens, had to-day tried to +renew its attempt at pacification by unarmed numbers. Three or four +thousand persons entered the Rue de la Paix towards two o’clock in the +afternoon, crying, “_L’Ordre! L’Ordre! Vive l’Ordre!_” The Central +Committee had doubtless issued severe orders, for the foremost +sentinels of the Place, far from presenting arms to the “Friends of +Order,” as they had done the day before, formally refused to let them +continue their way. And then what happened? Two crowds were face to +face; one unarmed, the other armed, both under strong excitement, one +trying to press forward, the other determined to oppose its passage. A +pistol-shot was heard. This was a signal. Down went the muskets, the +armed crowd fired, and the unarmed dispersed in mad flight, leaving +dead and wounded on their path. + +But who fired that first pistol-shot? “One of the citizens of the +demonstration; and moreover, the sentinels had their muskets torn from +them;” affirm the partisans of the Central Committee, and they bring +forward, among other proofs; the evidence of an eye-witness, a foreign +general, who saw it all from a window of the Rue de la Paix. But these +assertions are but little to be relied upon. Can it be seriously +believed that a crowd, to all appearance peaceful, would commit such an +act of aggression? Who would have been insane enough to expose a mass +of unarmed people to such dire revenge, by a challenge as criminal as +it was useless? The account according to which the pistol was fired by +an officer of the Federal guard from the foot of the Place Vendôme, +thus giving the signal to those under his orders to fire upon the +citizens, improbable as appears such an excess of cold-blooded +barbarity, is much the more credible. And now how many women mourn +their husbands and son’s wounded, and perhaps dead? How many victims +have fallen? The number is not yet known. Monsieur Barle, a lieutenant +of the National Guard, was shot in the stomach. Monsieur Gaston +Jollivet, who some time ago committed the offence, grave in our eyes, +of publishing a comic ode in which he allows himself to ridicule our +illustrious and beloved master, Victor Hugo, but was certainly guilty +of none in desiring a return to order, had his arm fractured, it is +said. Monsieur Otto Hottinger, one of the directors of the French Bank, +fell, struck by two balls, while raising a wounded man from the ground. + +One of my friends assures me that half-an-hour after the fusillade he +was fired at, as he was coming out from a _porte-cochère_,[18] by +National Guards in ambuscade. + +At four o’clock, at the corner of the Rue de la Paix and the Rue Neuve +des Petits Champs, an old man, dressed in a blouse, still lay where he +had fallen across the body of a _cantinière_, and beside him a soldier +of the line, the staff of a tricolour flag grasped in his dead hand. Is +this soldier the same of whom my friend Monsieur A—— J—— speaks in his +account of the first demonstration, and who was said to be an employé +at Siraudin’s? + +There were many other victims—Monsieur de Péne, the editor of +_Paris-Journal_, dangerously wounded by a ball that penetrated the +thigh; Monsieur Portel, lieutenant in the Eclaireurs Franchetti, +wounded in the neck and right foot; Monsieur Bernard, a merchant, +killed; Monsieur Giraud, a stockbroker, also killed. Fresh names are +added to the funereal list every moment. + +Where will this revolution lead us, which was begun by the murder of +two Generals and is being carried on by the assassination of +passers-by? + +NOTES: + + [18] Porte-cochère (carriage gateway). + + + + + X. + + +In the midst of all this horror and terror I saw one little incident +which made me smile, though it was sad too; an idyl which might be an +elegy. Three hired carriages descended the Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. +It was a wedding. In the first carriage was the bride, young and +pretty, in tears; in the second, the bridegroom, looking anything but +pleased. As the horses were proceeding slowly on account of the hill, I +approached and inquired the cause of the discontent. A disagreeable +circumstance had happened, the _garçon d’honneur_ told me. They had +been to the _mairie_ to be married, but the _mairie_ had been turned +into a guard-house, and instead of the _mairie_ and his clerks, they +found soldiers of the Commune. The sergeant had offered to replace the +municipal functionary, but the grands-parents had not consented to such +an arrangement, and they were forced to return with the connubial knot +still to be tied. An unhappy state of things. “Pooh!” said an old woman +who was passing by, “they can marry to-morrow.—There is always time +enough to commit suicide.” + +It is true, they can marry to-morrow; but these young people wished to +be married to-day. What are revolutions to them? What would it have +mattered to the Commune had these lovers been united to-day? Is one +ever sure of recovering happiness that has once escaped? Ah! this +insurrection, I hate it for the men it has killed, and the widows it +has made; and also for the sake of those pretty eyes that glistened +with tears under the bridal wreath. + + + + + XI. + + +The _mairie_ of the Second Arrondissement seems destined to be the +centre of resistance to the Central Committee. The Federals have not +been able, or have not dared, to occupy it. In the quarter of the Place +de la Bourse and the Place des Victoires, National Guards have +assembled and declared themselves Friends of Order. But they are few in +number. Yesterday morning, the 23rd of March, they were reinforced by +battalions that joined them, one by one, from all parts of Paris. They +obey the orders, they say, of Admiral Saisset, raised to the superior +command of the National Guard. It is believed that there are +mitrailleuses within the Bourse and in the court of the Messageries. +The massacre of the Rue de la Paix decided the most timorous. There is +a determination to have done, by some means or other, with tyrants who +represent in fact but a small part of the population of Paris, and who +wish to dominate over the whole city. The preparations for resistance +are being made between the Hôtel de Ville on the one hand, where the +members of the Committee are sitting, formidably defended, and the +Place Vendôme, crammed with insurgents, on the other. Is it civil +war—civil war, with all its horrors, that is about to commence? A +company of Gardes Mobiles has joined the battalions of Order. Pupils of +the Ecole Polytechnique come and go between the _mairie_ of the Second +Arrondissement and the Grand Hôtel, where Admiral Saisset and his staff +are said to be installed.[19] A triple line of National Guards closes +the entrance of the Rue Vivienne against carriages and everybody who +does not belong to the quarter. Nevertheless, a large number of people, +eager for information, manage to pass the sentries in spite of the +rule. On the Place de la Bourse a great crowd discusses, and +gesticulates around the piled bayonets which glitter in the sun. I +notice that the pockets of the National Guards are crammed full; a +large number of cartridges has been distributed. + +The orders are strict: no one is to quit his post. There are men, +however, who have been standing there, without sleep, for twenty-four +hours. No one must leave the camp of the Friends of Order even to go +and dine. Those who have no money either have rations given them or are +provided at the expense of the _mairie_, from a restaurant of the Rue +des Filles Saint-Thomas, with a dinner consisting of soup and bouilli, +a plate of meat, vegetables, and a bottle of wine. I hear one of them +exclaim, + +“If the Federals knew that we not only get our pay, but are also fed +like princes, they would come over to us, every man of them. As for us, +we are determined to obey the _maires_ and deputies of Paris.” Much +astonishment is manifested at the absence of Vice-Admiral Saisset; as +he has accepted the command he ought to show himself. Certain croakers +even insinuate that the vice-admiral hesitates to organise the +resistance, but we will not listen to them, and are on the whole full +of confidence and resolution. “We are numerous, determined; we have +right on our side, and will triumph.” + +At about four o’clock an alarm is sounded. We hear cries of “To arms! +To arms!” The drums beat, the trumpets sound, the ranks are formed. The +ominous click, click, as the men cock their rifles, is heard on all +sides. The moment of action has arrived. There are more than ten +thousand men, well armed and determined. A company of Mobiles and the +National Guards defend the entrance of the Rue Vivienne. All this +tumult is caused by one of the battalions from Belleville, passing +along the boulevards with three pieces of cannon. + +What is about to happen? When the insurgents reach the top of the Rue +Vivienne they seem to hesitate. In a few seconds the boulevards, which +were just now crowded, are suddenly deserted; and even the cafés are +closed. + +At such a moment as this, a single accidental shot (several such have +happened this morning; a woman standing at a window at the corner of +the Rue Saint Marc was nearly killed by the carelessness, of one of the +Guards),—a single shot, a cry even, or a menacing gesture would suffice +to kindle the blaze. Nobody. moves or speaks. I feel myself tremble +before the possibility of an irreparable disaster; it is a solemn and +terrible moment. + +The battalion from Belleville presents arms; we reply, and they pass +on. The danger is over; we breathe again. In a few seconds the crowd +has returned to the boulevards. + +NOTES: + + [19] Lieutenant-Colonel de Beaugrand had improvised staff-quarters at + the Grand Hôtel, and the nomination of Admiral Saisset, together with + M. Schoelcher and Langlois, had strengthened the enmity of the two + parties. The Central Committee, seeing the danger which threatened, + announced that the Communal elections were adjourned to Sunday the + 26th March. + + + + + XII. + + +It is two in the morning. Tired of doing nothing I take out my +note-book, seat myself on a doorstep opposite the Restaurant Catelain, +and jet down my memoranda by the light of a street lamp. + +As soon as night came on, every measure of precaution was taken. We +have no idea by whom we are commanded, but it would appear that a +serious defence is contemplated, and is being executed with prudence. +Is it Admiral Saisset who is at our head? We hope so. Although we have +been so often disappointed in our chiefs, we have not yet lost the +desire to place confidence in some one. To-night we believe in the +admiral. Ever and anon our superior officers retire to the _mairies_, +and receive strict orders concerning their duty. We are quite an army +in ourselves; our centre is in the Place de la Bourse, our wings extend +into the adjoining streets. Lines of Nationals guard all the openings; +sentinels are posted sixty feet in front to give the alarm. Within the +enclosed space there is no one to be seen, but the houses are inhabited +as usual. The doors have been left open by order, and also all the +windows on the first floors. Each company, divided under the command of +sergeants, has taken possession of three or four houses. At the first +signal of alarm the street-doors are to be closed, the men to rush to +the windows, and from there to fire on the assailants. “Hold yourselves +in readiness; it is very possible you may be attacked. On the approach +of the enemy the guards in the streets are to fall back under fire +towards the houses, and take shelter there. Those posted at the windows +are to keep up an unceasing fire on the insurgents. In the meantime the +bulk of our forces will come to our aid, and clear the streets with +their mitrailleuses.” + +So we waited, resolved on obedience, calm, with a silent but fervent +prayer that we might not be obliged to turn our arms against our +fellow-townsmen. + +The night is beautiful. Some of our men are talking in groups on the +thresholds of the doors, others, rolled in their blankets, are lying on +the ground asleep. In the upper storeys of some of the houses lights +are still twinkling through the muslin curtains; lower down all is +darkness. Scarcely a sound is to be heard, only now and then the rumble +of a heavy cart, or perhaps a cannon in the distance; and nearer to us +the sudden noise of a musket that slips from its resting-place on to +the pavement. Every hour the dull sound of many feet is heard; it is +the patrol of Mobiles making its round. We question them as they +pass.—“Anything fresh?”—“Nothing,” is the invariable reply.—“How far +have you been?”—“As far as the Rue de la Paix,” they answer, and pass +on. Interrupted conversations are resumed, and the sleepers, who had +been awakened by the noise, close their eyes again. We are watching and +waiting,—may we watch and wait in vain! + + + + + XIII. + + +Never have I seen the dawn break with greater pleasure. Almost everyone +has some time in his life passed such sleepless nights, when it seems +to him that the darkness will never disappear, and the desire for light +and day becomes a fearful longing. Never was dawn more grateful than +after that wretched night. And yet the fear of a disastrous collision +did not disappear with the night. It was even likely that the Federals +might have waited for the morning to begin their attack, just when +fatigue is greatest, sleep most difficult to fight against, and +therefore discipline necessarily slackened. Anyhow, the light seemed to +reassure us; we could scarcely believe that the crime of civil war +could be perpetrated in the day-time. The night had been full of fears, +the morning found us bright and happy. Not all of us, however. I smile +as I remember an incident which occurred a little before daylight. One +of our comrades, who had been lying near me, got up, went out into the +street, and paced up and down some time, as if to shake off cramp or +cold. My eyes followed him mechanically; he was walking in front of the +houses, the backs of which look out upon the Passage des Panoramas, and +as he did so he cast furtive glances through the open doorways. He went +into one, and came out with a disappointed expression on his face. +Having repeated this strange manoeuvre several times, he reached a +_porte-cochère_ that was down by the side of the Restaurant Catelain. +He remained a few minutes, then reappeared with a beaming countenance, +and made straight for where I was standing, rubbing his hands +gleefully. + +“Monsieur,” said he, in a low voice, so as not to be overheard, “do you +approve of this plan of action, which consists, in case of attack, of +shooting from the windows on the assailants?”—“A necessity of street +fighting,” said I. “Let us hope we shall not have to try it.”—“Oh! of +course; but I should have preferred it if they had taken other +measures.”—“Why?” I asked.—“Why, you see, when we are in the houses the +insurgents will try to force their way in.”—I could not see what he was +driving at, so I said, “Most probably.”—“But if they do get in?” he +insisted:—“I will trust to our being reinforced from the Place de la +Bourse before they can effect an entrance.”—“Doubtless! doubtless!” he +answered; but I saw he was anything but convinced.—“But you know +reinforcements often arrive too late, and if the Federals should get +in, we shall be shot down like dogs in those rooms overhead!”—I +acknowledged that this would be, to say the least, disagreeable, but +argued that in time of war one must take one’s chance.—“Do you think, +then, monsieur,” he continued, “that, if in the event of the insurgents +entering we were to look out for a back door to escape by, we should be +acting the part of cowards?”—“Of cowards? no; but of excessively +prudent individuals? yes.”:—“Well, monsieur, I am prudent, and there is +an end of it!” exclaimed my comrade, with an air of triumph, “and I +think I have found——” —“The back door in question?”—“Just go; look down +that passage in front of us; at the end there is a door which +leads—where do you think?”—“Into the Passage des Panoramas, does it +not?”—“Yes, monsieur, and now you see what I mean.”—I told him I did +not think I did.—“Why, you see,” he explained, “when the enemy comes we +must rush into that passage, shut the lower door, and make for our post +at the windows, where we will do our duty bravely to our last +cartridge. But suppose, in the meantime, that those devils, succeed in +breaking open the lower door with the butt end of their muskets—and it +is not very strong—what shall we do then?”—“Why, of course,” I said, +“we must plant ourselves at the top of the staircase and receive them +at the point of our bayonets.”—“By no means;” he expostulated.—“But we +must; it is our duty.”—“Oh! I fancied we might have gained the door +that leads into the passage,” he went on, looking rather +shame-faced.—“What, run away!”—“No, not exactly; only find some place +of safety!”—“Well, if it comes to that,” I replied, “you may do just as +you like; only I warn you that the passage is occupied by a hundred of +our men, and that all the outlets are barricaded.”—“No, not all,” he +said with conviction, “and that is why I appeal to you. You are a +journalist, are you not?”—“Sometimes.”—“Yes, but you are; and you know +actors and all those sort of people, and you go behind the scenes, I +dare say, and know where the actors dress themselves, and all that.”—I +looked at my brave comrade in some surprise, but he continued without +noticing me, “And, you know all the ins and outs of the theatre, the +corridors, the trapdoors.”—“Suppose I do, what good can that do +you?”—“All the good in the world, monsieur; it will be the saving of +me. Why we shall only have to find the actors’ entrance of the +_Variétés_, which is in the passage, then ring, at the bell; the porter +knows you, and will admit us. You can guide us both up the staircase +and behind the scenes, and we can easily hunt out some hole or corner +in which to hide until the fight is over.”—“Then,” said I, feeling +rather disgusted with my companion, “we can bravely walk out of the +front door on the boulevards, and go and eat a comfortable breakfast, +while the others are busy carrying away our dead comrades from the +staircase we ought to have helped to defend!” + +The poor man looked at me aghast, and then went off. I saw that I had +hurt his feelings, and I thought perhaps I had been wrong in making him +feel the cowardice of his proposition. I had known him for some months; +he lived in the same street as I did, and I remembered that he had a +wife and children. Perhaps he was right in wishing to protect his life +at any price. I thought it over for a minute or two, and then it went +out of my mind altogether. + +At four in the morning we had another alarm; in an instant every one +was on foot and rushing to the windows. The house to which I was +ordered was the very one that had inspired my ingenious friend with his +novel plan of evasion. I found him already installed in the room from +whence we were to fire into the street.—“You do not know what I have +done,” said he, coming up to me.—“No.”—“Well, you know the door which +opens on to the passage; you remember it?”—“Of course I do.”—“I found +there was a key; so what do you think I did? I double-locked the door, +and went and slipped the key down the nearest drain! Ha! ha! The fellow +who tries to escape that way will be finely caught!” + +I seized him cordially by the hand and shook it many times. He was +beaming, and I was pleased also. I could not help feeling that however +low France may have fallen, one must never despair of a country in +which cowards even can be brave. + + + + + XIV. + + +On Friday, the 24th of March, at nine in the morning, we are still in +the quarter of the Bourse. Some of the men have not slept for +forty-eight hours. We are tired but still resolved. Our numbers are +increasing every hour. I have just seen three battalions, with +trumpeters and all complete, come up and join us. They will now be able +to let the men who have been so long on duty get a little rest. As to +what is going on, we are but very incompletely informed. The Federals +are fortifying themselves more strongly than ever at the Place de +l’Hôtel de Ville and the Place Vendôme. They are very numerous, and +have lots of artillery. Why do they not act on the offensive? Or do +they want, as we do, to avoid a conflict? Certainly our hand shall not +be the first to spill French blood. These hours of hesitation on both +sides calm men’s minds. The deputies and mayors of Paris are trying to +obtain from the National Assembly the recognition of the municipal +franchise. If the Government has the good sense to make these +concessions, which are both legitimate and urgent, rather than remain +doggedly on the defensive, with the conviction that it has right on its +ride; if, in a word, it remembers the well-known maxim, “_Summum jus, +summa injuria_,” the horrors of civil war may be averted. We are told, +and I fancy correctly, that the Federal Guards are not without fear +concerning the issue of the events into which they have hurried. The +chiefs must also be uneasy. Even those who have declared themselves +irreconcileable in the hour of triumph would not perhaps be sorry now +if a little condescension on the part of the Assembly furnished them +with a pretext of not continuing the rebellion. Just now, several +Guards of the 117th Battalion, a part of which has declared for the +Central Committee, who happened to be passing, stopped to chat with our +outposts. Civil war to the knife did not at all appear to be their most +ardent desire. One of them said: “We were called to arms, what could we +do but obey? They give us our pay, and so here we are.” Were they +sincere in this? Did they come with the hope of joining us, or to spy +into what we were doing? Others, however, either more frank or less +clever at deception, declared that they wanted the Commune, and would +have, it at any price. This, however, was by far the smaller number; +the majority of the insurgents are of the opinion of these men who +joined in conversation with us. It is quite possible to believe that +some understanding might be brought about. A fact has just been related +to me which confirms me in my opinion. + +The Comptoir d’Escompte was occupied by a post of Federals. A company +of Government Guards from the 9th Arrondissement marched up to take +possession. “You have been here for two whole days; go home and rest,” +said the officer in command of the latter. But the Federals obstinately +refused to be sent away. The officer insisted.—“We are in our own +quarter, you are from Belleville; it is our place to guard the Comptoir +d’Escompte.”—It was all of no avail until the officer said: “Go away +directly, and we will give you a hundred francs.”—They did not wait for +the offer to be repeated, but accepted the money and marched off. Now +men who are willing to sell their consciences at two francs a head—for +there were fifty of them—cannot have any very formidable political +opinions. I forgot to say that this post of Federals was commanded by +the Italian Tibaldi, the same who had been arrested in one of the +passages of the Hôtel de Ville during the riots of the 31st October. + + + + + XV. + + +The news is excellent, in a few hours perhaps it will be better. We +rejoice beforehand at the almost certain prospect of pacification. The +sun shines, the boulevards are crowded with people, the faces of the +women especially are beaming. What is the cause of all this joy? A +placard has just been posted up on all the walls in the city. I copy it +with pleasure. + +“DEAR FELLOW CITIZENS,—I hasten to announce to you that together with +the Deputies of the Seine and the Mayors of Paris, we have obtained +from the Government of the National Assembly: 1st. The complete +recognition of your municipal franchises; 2nd. The right of electing +all the officers of the National Guard, as well as the +general-in-chief; 3rd. Modifications of the law on bills; 4th. A +project for a law on rents, favourable to tenants paying 1,200 francs a +year, or less than that sum. Until you have confirmed my nomination, or +until you name some one else in my stead, I shall continue to remain at +my post to watch over the execution of these conciliatory measures that +we have succeeded in obtaining, and to contribute to the well-being of +the Republic! + + “The Vice-Admiral and + Provisional Commander, + SAISSET + Paris, 23rd March.” + +Well! this is opportune and to the purpose. The National Assembly has +understood that, in a town like Paris, a revolution in which a third of +the population is engaged, cannot be alone actuated by motives of +robbery and murder;[20] and that if some of the demands of the people +are illegitimate or premature, there are at least others, which it is +but right should obtain justice. Paris is never entirely in the wrong. +Certainly among the authors and leaders of the 18th March, there are +many who are very guilty. The murderers of General Lecomte and General +Clément Thomas should be sought out and punished. All honest men must +demand and expect that a minute inquiry be instituted concerning the +massacres in the Place Vendôme. It must be acknowledged that all the +Federals, officers and soldiers, are not devils or drunkards. A few +hundred men getting drunk in the cabarets—(I have perhaps been wrong to +lay so much stress here upon the prevalence of this vice among the +insurrectionists)—a few tipsy brutes, ought not to be sufficient to +authorise us to condemn a hundred thousand men, among whom are +certainly to be found some right-minded persons who are convinced of +the justice of their cause. These unknown and suddenly elevated chiefs, +whom the revolution has singled out, are they all unworthy of our +esteem, and devoid of capacity? They possess, perhaps, a new and vital +force that it would be right and perhaps necessary to utilise somehow. +The ideas which they represent ought to be studied, and if they prove +useful, put into practice. This is what the Assembly has understood and +what it has done. By concessions which enlarge rather than diminish its +influence, it puts all right-minded men, soldiers and officers, under +the obligation of returning to their allegiance. Those who, having read +the proclamation of Admiral Saisset, still refuse to recognise the +Government, are no longer men acting for the sake of Paris and the +Republic, but rioters guilty of pursuing the most criminal paths, for +the gratification of their own bad passions. Thus the tares will be +separated from the wheat, and torn up without mercy. Yesterday and the +day before, at the Place de la Bourse, at the Place des Victoires and +the Bank, we were resolved on resistance—resistance, nothing more, for +none of us, I am sure, would have fired a shot without sufficient +provocation—and even this resolution cost us much pain and some +hesitation. We felt that in the event of our being attacked, our shots +might strike many an innocent breast—and perhaps at the last moment our +hearts would have failed us. Now, no thoughts of that kind can hinder +us. In recognising our demand, the Assembly has got right entirely on +its side, we shall now consider all rebellion against the authority of +which it makes so able a use, as an act entailing immediate punishment. +Until now, fearing to be abandoned or misunderstood by the Government, +we had determined to obey the mayors and deputies elected by the +people, but the Assembly, by its judicious conduct, has shown itself +worthy confidence. Let them command, we are ready to obey. + +Truly this change in the attitude of the Government is at once strange +and delightful. No later than yesterday their language was quite +different. The manner in which the majority received the mayors did not +lead us to expect a termination so favourable to the wishes of all +concerned. But this is all past, let us not recriminate. Let us rather +rejoice in our present good fortune, and try and forget the dangers +which seemed but now so imminent. I hear from all sides that the +Deputies of the Seine and the mayors, fully empowered, are busy +concluding the last arrangements. Municipal elections are talked of, +for the 2nd April; thus every cause for discontent is about to +disappear. Capital! Paris is satisfied. Shops re-open. The promenades +are crowded with people; the Place Vendôme alone does not brighten with +the rest, but it soon will. The weather is lovely, people accost each +other in the streets with a smile; one almost wonders they do not +embrace. Is to-day Friday? No, it is Sunday. Bravo! Assembly. + +NOTES: + + [20] At the same time that the proclamation of Admiral Saisset + encouraged the partizans of the Assembly, proofs were not wanting of + the poverty of the Commune in money, as well as men: a new loan + obtained from the Bank of France, which had already advanced half a + million of francs, and the military nominations which raised Brunel, + Eudes, and Duval from absolute obscurity to the rank of general. These + were indications decidedly favourable to the party of order. + + + + + XVI. + + +On the ground-floor of the house of my neighbour there is an +upholsterer’s workshop. The day before yesterday the master went out to +fetch some work, and this morning he had not yet returned. In an agony +of apprehension his wife went everywhere in search of him. His body has +just been found at the Morgue with a bullet through its head. Some say +he was walking across the Rue de la Paix on his way home, and was shot +by accident; but the _Journal Officiel_ announces that this poor man, +Wahlin, was a national guard, assassinated by the revolvers of the +manifestation. Whom are we to believe? Anyhow, the man is to be buried +tomorrow, and his poor wife is a widow. + + + + + XVII. + + +What is the meaning of all this! Are we deceiving ourselves, or being +deceived? We await in vain the consummation of Admiral Saisset’s +promises. In officially announcing that the Assembly had acceded to the +just demands of the mayors and deputies, did he take upon himself to +pass delusive hopes as accomplished facts? It seems pretty certain now +that the Government will make no concessions, that the proclamation is +only waste paper, and that the Provisional Commander of the National +Guard has been leading us into error—with a laudable intention +doubtless—or else has himself been deceived likewise. The united +efforts of the Deputies of the Seine and the Mayors of Paris have been +unequal to rouse the apathy of the Assembly.[21] In vain did Louis +Blanc entreat the representatives of France to approve the conciliatory +conduct of the representatives of Paris. “May the responsibility of +what may happen be on your own heads!” cried M. Clémenceau. He was +right; a little condescension might have saved all; such obstinacy is +fatal. Deprived of the countenance of the Assembly, and left to +themselves, the Deputies and Mayors of Paris, desirous above all of +avoiding civil war, have been obliged to accede to the wishes of the +Central Committee, and insist upon the municipal elections being +proceeded with immediately. They could not have acted otherwise, and +yet it is humiliating for them to have to bow before superior force, +and their authority is compromised by so doing. What the Assembly, +representing the whole of France, could have done with no loss of +dignity, and even with honour to itself, the former accomplish only at +the risk of losing their influence; what to the Assembly would have +been an honourable concession is to them dangerous although necessary +submission. The Committee would have been annulled if the Government +had consented to the municipal elections, but thanks to a tardy +consent, rung from the Deputies and Mayors of Paris, it triumphs. The +result of the humiliation to which the representatives of Paris have +been forced to submit to prevent the effusion of blood, will be the +entire abdication of their authority, which will remain vested in the +Central Committee until the members of the Commune are elected. +Abandoned by the Government since the departure of the chief of the +executive power and the ministers, we rallied round the +representatives, who, unsustained by the Government, are obliged to +submit to the revolutionists. We must now choose between the Commune +and anarchy. + +Therefore, to-day, Sunday, the 26th March, the male population of Paris +is hurrying to the poll. It is in vain that the journals have begged +the people not to vote; the elections were only announced yesterday, +and the electors have had no time to reconsider the choice they have to +make, and yet they insist on voting. Those who decline to obey the +suggestions of the Central Committee, will re-elect the late mayors or +choose among the deputies, but vote they will. The present attitude of +the regular Government has done much towards furthering the revolution. +The mistakes of the Assembly have diminished in the eyes of the public +the crime of revolt. Everywhere the murder of Generals Clément Thomas +and Lecomte is openly regretted; but those who repeat that the Central +Committee declares having had nothing to do with it, are listened to +with patience. The rumour that they were shot by soldiers gains ground, +and seems less incredulously received. As to the massacres of the Rue +de la Paix, we are told that this event is enveloped in mystery, that +the evidence is most contradictory, etc., etc.[22] There is evidently a +decided reactionary movement in favour of the partizans of the Commune. +Without approving their acts their activity is incontestable. They have +done much in a short time. People exclaim, “There are men for you!” +This state of things is very alarming to all those who have remained +faithful to the Assembly, which in spite of its errors has not ceased +to be the legal representative of the country. It is a cruel position +for the Parisians who are obliged to choose between a regular +Government which they would desire to obey, but which by its faults +renders such obedience impossible, and an illegitimate power, that, +although guilty in its acts, and stained with crime, still represents +the opinions of the republican majority. By to-night, therefore, the +Commune will have been called into existence; an illegal existence it +may be argued, doubtless, by the partizans of constitutional legality, +who would consider as null and void elections carried on without the +consent of the nation, as represented by the Assembly. Legal or not, +however, the elections have taken place, and the fact alone is of some +importance. In a few hours the Executive Power of the Republic will +have to treat, whether it will or no, with a force which has +constituted itself with as much legality as it had in its power to +assume under the circumstances. + +NOTES: + + [21] The news of the check which the Maires of Paris had suffered in + the Assembly suddenly loosened the bond which for two days had united + the friends of order, and profound discouragement seized upon the + public mind. It was at this moment that the deputies from the + Committee presented themselves at the Mairie of the first + arrondissement, preceded by three pieces of artillery, a very warlike + accompaniment to a deputation. It was arranged that the Communal + election should be managed by the existing Maires, and that the + battalions of each quarter of the city, whether federal or not, should + occupy the voting places of their sections; but this did not prevent + the Committee on the following morning occupying the Mairie of + Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, in spite of the arrangement, by their most + devoted battalions. + + [22] The following are the terms in which the Commune spoke of the + events of the 18th March, and excused the murder of the two generals: + “CITIZENS,—The day of the 18th of March, which for interested + reasons has been travestied in the most odious manner, will be + called in history, The Day of the People’s Justice! + The Government, now subverted—always maladroit—rushed into a + conflict without considering either its own unpopularity, or the + fraternal feeling that animates the armies; the entire army, when + ordered to commit fratricide, replied with cries of “Vive la + République!” “Vive la Garde Nationale!” + Two men alone, who had rendered themselves unpopular by acts which + we now pronounce as iniquitous, were struck down in a moment of + popular indignation. + The Committee of the Federation of the National Guard, in order to + render homage to truth, declare it was a stranger to these two + executions. + At the present moment the ministries are constituted, the prefect + of police has assumed his duties, the public offices are again + active, and we invite all citizens to maintain the utmost calmness + and order.” + + + + + XVIII. + + +Crowds in the streets and promenades. This evening all the theatres +will be re-opened. In the meantime the voting is going on. The weather +is delightful, so I take a stroll along the promenades. Under the +colonnade of the Châtelet there is a long line of electors awaiting +their turn. I fancy that in this quarter the candidates of the Central +Committee will be surely elected. Women, in bright-coloured dresses and +fresh spring bonnets, are walking to and fro. I hear some one say that +there are a great many cannon at the Hôtel de Ville. Two friends meet +together in the square of the Arts et Métiers.—“Are you alone, madame?” +says one lady to another.—“Yes, madame; I am waiting for my husband, +who is gone to vote.” + +A child, who is skipping, cries out, “Mama, mama, what is the Commune?” + +The fiacre drivers make the revolution an excuse for asking extravagant +fares; this does not prevent their having very decided political +opinions. One who, drove one would scarcely have been approved of by +the Central Committee.—“_Cocher_, what is the fare?” I ask.—“Five +francs, monsieur.”—“All right; take me to the mairie Place +Saint-Sulpice.”—“Beg pardon, monsieur, but if you are going to vote, it +will be ten francs!” + +On the Boulevard de Strasbourg there are streams of people dressed in +holiday attire; itinerant dealers in tops, pamphlets, souvenirs of the +siege—bits of black bread, made on purpose, and framed and glazed, also +bits of shells—and scented soap, and coloured pictures; crowds of +beggars everywhere. In this part of the town the revolution looks very +much like a fair. + +At the mairie of the 6th Arrondissement there are very few people. I +enter into conversation with one of the officials there. He tells me he +has never seen voting carried on with greater spirit. + +I meet a friend who has just returned from Belleville, and ask him the +news, of course.—“The voting is progressing in capital order,” he tells +me; “the men go up to the poll as they would mount the breach. They +have no choice but to obey blindly.”—“The Central Committee?” I +inquire.—“Yes, but the Committee itself only obeys +orders.”—“Whose?”—“Why those of the International, of course.” + +At a corner near the boulevards, a compact little knot of people is +stationed in front of a poster. I fancy they are studying the +proclamation of one of the candidates, but it turns out only to be a +play-bill. The crowd continues to thicken; the cafés are crammed; gold +chignons are plentiful enough at every table; here and there a red +Garibaldi shirt is visible, like poppies amongst the corn. Every now +and then a horseman gallops wildly past with dispatches from one +section to another. The results of some of the elections are creeping +out. At Montrouge, Bercy, Batignolles, and the Marais, they tell us the +members of the Central Committee are elected by a very large majority. +Here the hoarse voice of a boy strikes in,—“Buy the account of the +grand conspiracy of Citoyen Thiers against the Republic!” Then another +chimes in with wares of a less political and more vulgar nature. The +movement to and fro and the excitement is extraordinary. While the +populace basks in the sun the destiny of the city is being decided.—“M. +Desmarest is elected for the 9th Arrondissement,” says some one close +to me.—“Lesueur is capital in the ‘Partie de Piquet,’” says another. +Oh! people of Paris! + + + + +XIX. + + +It is over. We have a “Municipal Council,” according to some; a +“Commune,” according to others. Not quite legally elected, but +sufficiently so. Eighty councillors, sixty of whom are quite unknown +men. Who can have recommended them, or, rather, imposed them on the +electors? Can there really be some occult power at work under cover of +the ex-Central Committee? Is the Commune only a pretext, and are we at +the début of a social and political revolution? I overheard a partizan +of the new doctrines say,—“The Proletariat is vindicating its rights, +which have been unjustly trampled on by the aristocratic bourgeoisie. +This is the workman’s 1789!” + +Another person expresses the same thing in rather a different form. +“This is the revolt of the _canaille_ against all kind of supremacy, +the supremacy of fortune, and the supremacy of intellect. The equality +of man before the law has been acknowledged, now they want to proclaim +the equality of intellect. Soon universal suffrage will give place to +the drawing of lots. There was a time in Athens when the names of the +archontes were taken haphazard out of a bag, like the numbers at loto.” + +However, the revolution has not yet clearly defined its tendencies, and +in the meantime what are we to think of the unknown beings who +represent it? A man in whom I have the greatest confidence, and who has +passed his life in studying questions of social science, and who +therefore has mixed in nearly all the revolutionary circles, and is +personally acquainted with the chiefs, said to me just now, in speaking +of the new Municipal Council,[23] “It will be an assemblage of a very +motley character. There will be much good and much bad in it. We may +safely divide it into three distinct parts: firstly, ten or twelve men +belonging to the International, who have both thought and studied and +may be able to act, mixed with these several foreigners; secondly, a +number of young men, ardent but inexperienced, some of whom are imbued +with Jacobin principles; thirdly, and by far the largest portion, +unsuccessful plotters in former revolutions, journalists, orators, and +conspirators,—noisy, active, and effervescent, having no particular tie +amongst themselves except the absence of any common bond of unity with +the two former divisions, and being confounded now with one, now with +the other. The members of the International alone have any real +political value; they are Socialists. The Jacobin element is decidedly +dangerous.”—If in reality the Communal Assembly is thus composed, how +will it act? Let us wait and see; in the meantime the city is calm. +Never did so critical a moment wear so calm an exterior. By the bye, +where are the Prussians?[24] + +NOTES: + + [23] The _Figaro_ gives the following those who held service under the + Commune:— + +Anys-el-Bittar, Librarian MSS. Department, Bibliothèque Nationale. +(Egyptian) +Biondetti, Surgeon 233rd Battalion. (Italian.) +Babiok, a Member of the Commune. (Pole.) +Beoka, Adjutant to the 207th Battalion. (Pole.) +Cluseret, General, Delegate of War. (American.) +Cernatesco, Surgeon of Francs Tireurs. (Pole.) +Crapulinski, Colonel of Staff. (Pole.) +Carneiro de Cunha, Surgeon 38th Battalion. (Portuguese.) +Charalambo, Surgeon of the Federal Scouts. (Pole.) +Dombrowski, General. (Russian.) +Dombrowski (his brother), Colonel of Staff. (Russian.) +Durnoff, Commandant of Legion. (Pole.) +Echenlaub, Colonel. (German.) +Ferrera Gola, General Manager of Field Hospitals. (Portuguese.) +Frankel, a Member of the Commune. (Prussian.) +Giorok, Commandant of the Fort d’Issy. (Valachian.) +Grejorok, Commandant of the Artillery at Montmartre.(Valachian.) +Kertzfeld, Chief Manager of Field Hospitals. (German.) +Iziquerdo, Surgeon of the 88th Battalion. (Pole.) +Jalowski, Surgeon of the Zouaves de la République. (Pole.) +Kobosko, Despatch Bearer. +La Cecilia, General. (Italian.) +Landowski, Aide-de-Camp of General Dombrowski. (Pole.) +Mizara, Commandant of the 104th Battalion. (Italian.) +Maratuch, Surgeon’s mate of the 72nd Battalion. (Hungarian.) +Moro, Commandant of the 22nd Battalion. (Italian.) +Okolowicz and his brothers, General and Staff Officers. (Poles.) +Ostyn, a Member of the Commune. (Belgian.) +Olinski, Chief of the 17th Legion. (Pole.) +Pisani, Aide-de-Camp of Flourens. (Italian.) +Potampenki, Aide-de-Camp of General Dombrowski. (Pole.) +Ploubinski, Staff Officer. (Pole.) +Pazdzierswski, Commandant of the Fort de Vanves. (Pole.) +Piazza, Chief of Legion. (Italian.) +Pugno, Music-manager at the Opera-house. (Italian.) +Romanelli, Manager of the War Offices. (Italian.) +Rozyski, Surgeon of the 144th Battalion. (Pole.) +Rubinowicz, Surgeon of the Marines. (Pole.) +Syneck, Surgeon of the 151st Battalion. (German.) +Skalski, Surgeon of the 240th Battalion. (Pole.) +Soteriade, Surgeon. (Spaniard.) +Thaller, Under Governor of the Fort de Bicêtre. (German.) +Van Ostal, Commandant of the 115th Battalion. (Dutch.) +Vetzel, Commandant of the Southern Forts. (German.) +Wroblewski, General Commandant of the Southern Army. (Pole.) +Witton, Surgeon of the 72nd Battalion. (American.) +Zengerler, Surgeon of the 74th Battalion, (German.)] + + [24] The Prussians and the Commune, see Appendix 3. + + + + + XX. + + +Who can help being carried away by the enthusiasm of a crowd? I am not +a political man, I am only an observer who sees, hears, and feels. + +I was on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville at the moment when the names of +the successful candidates were proclaimed, and the emotion is still +fresh upon me.[25] There were perhaps a hundred thousand men there, +assembled from all quarters of the city. The neighbouring streets were +also full, and the bayonets glittering in the sun filled the Place with +brilliant flashes like miniature lightning. In the centre of the façade +of the building a platform was erected, over which presided a statue of +the Republic, wearing a Phrygian cap. The bronze basso-relievo of Henry +IV. had been carefully hidden with clusters of flags. Each window was +alive with faces. I saw several women on the roof, and the _gamins_ +were everywhere, hanging on to the sculptured ornaments, or riding +fearlessly on the shoulders of the marble busts. One by one the +battalions had taken up their position on the Place with their bands. +When they were all assembled they struck up the Marseillaise, which was +re-echoed by a thousand voices. It was grand in the extreme, and the +magnificent hymn, which late defeats had shorn of its glory, swelled +forth again with all its old splendour revived. Suddenly the cannon is +heard, the voices rise louder and louder; a sea of standards, bayonets, +and human heads waves backwards and forwards in front of the platform. +The cannon roars, but we only hear it between the intervals of the +hymn. Then all the sounds are confounded in one universal shout, that +shout of the vast multitude which seems to have but one heart and one +voice. The members of the Committee, each with a tricolor scarf across +his breast, have taken their places on the platform. One of them reads +out the names of the elected councillors. Then the cannon roars once +more, but is almost drowned by the deafening huzzas of the crowd. Oh! +people of Paris, who on the day of the “_Crosse en l’air_”[26] got +tipsy in the wine-shops of Montmartre, whose ranks furnished the +murderers of Thomas and Lecomte, who in the Rue de la Paix shot down +unconscious passengers, who are capable of the wildest extravagance and +most execrable deeds, you are also in your days of glory, grand and +magnificent, when a volcano of generous passions rages within, and the +hearts even of those who condemn you most, are scorched in the flames. + +NOTES: + + [25] The result of the voting was made known at four o’clock on the + 28th March. The papers devoted to the Commune asserted, on the + following day, that _two hundred and fifteen_ battalions were + assembled on that day, and that the average strength of each corps was + one thousand men. Who could have believed that the Place de l’Hôtel de + Ville was capable of accommodating so many! This farcical assertion of + the two hundred and fifteen battalions has passed into a proverb. + + [26] When they turned the butt-ends (_crosses_) of their guns in the + air, as a sign they would not fight. + + + + + XXI. + + +“Citizens,” says the _Official Journal_ this morning, “your Commune is +constituted.” Then follows decree upon decree. White posters are being +stuck up everywhere. Why are they at the Hôtel de Ville, if not to +publish decrees? The conscription is abolished. We shall see no more +poor young fellows marching through the town with their numbers in +their caps, and fired with that noble patriotism which is imbibed in +the cabarets at so much a glass. We shall have no more soldiers, but to +make up for that we shall all be National Guards. There’s a glorious +decree, as Edgar Poë says. As to the landlords, their vexation is +extreme; even the tenants do not seem so satisfied as they ought to be. +Not to have to pay any rent is very delightful, certainly, but they +scarcely dare believe in such good fortune. Thus when Orpheus, trying +to rescue Eurydice from “the infernal regions,” interrupts with “his +harmonious strains” the tortures of eternal punishment, Prometheus did +not doubtless show as much delight as he ought to have done, on +discovering that the beak of the vulture was no longer gnawing at his +vitals, “scarcely daring to believe in such good fortune.” Orpheus is +the Commune; Eurydice, Liberty; “the infernal regions,” the Government +of the 4th September; “the harmonious strains,” the decrees of the +Commune; Prometheus, the tenant; and the vulture, the landlord! + +In plain terms, however—forgive me for joking on such a subject—the +decree which annuls the payment of the rents for the quarters ending +October 1870, January 1871, and April 1871, does not appear to me at +all extravagant, and really I do not see what there is to object to in +the following lines which accompany it:— + +“In consideration of the expenses of the war having been chiefly +sustained by the industrial, commercial, and working portion of the +population, it is but just that the proprietors of houses and land +should also bear their part of the burthen....” + +Let us talk it over together, Mr. Landlord. You have a house and I live +in it. It is true that the chimneys smoke, and that you most +energetically refuse to have them repaired. However, the house is +yours, and you possess most decidedly the right of making a profit by +it. Understand, once for all, that I never contest your right. As for +me, I depend upon my wit, I do not possess much, but I have a tool—it +may be either a pen, or a pencil, or a hammer—which enables me, in the +ordinary course of things, to live and to pay with more or less +regularity my quarter’s rent. If I had not possessed this tool, you +would have taken good care not to let me inhabit your house or any part +or portion thereof, because you would have considered me in no position +to pay you your rent. Now, during the war my tool has unquestionably +rendered me but poor service. It has remained ignobly idle in the +inkstand, in the folio, or on the bench. Not only have I been unable to +use it, but I have also in some sort lost the knack of handling it; I +must have some time to get myself into working order again. While I was +working but little, and eating less, what were you doing? Oh! I do not +mean to say that you were as flourishing as in the triumphant days of +the Empire, but still I have not heard of any considerable number of +landlords being found begging at the corners of the streets, and I do +not fancy you made yourselves conspicuous by your assiduous attendance +at the Municipal Cantines. I have even heard that you or many of your +brother-landlords took pretty good care not to be in Paris during the +Prussian siege, and that you contented yourselves with forming the most +ardent wishes, for the final triumph of French arms, from beneath the +wide-spreading oaks of your châteaux in Touraine and Beauce, or from +the safe haven of a Normandy fishing village; while we, accompanied it +is true by your most fervent prayers, took our turn at mounting guard, +on the fortifications during the bitter cold nights, or knee-deep in +the mud of the trenches. However, I do not blame those who sought +safety in flight; each person is free to do as he pleases; what I +object to is your coming back and saying, “During seven or eight months +you have done no work, you have been obliged to pawn your furniture to +buy bread for your wife and children; I pity you from the bottom of my +heart—be so kind as to hand me over my three quarters’ rent.” No, a +thousand times no; such a demand is absurd, wicked, ridiculous; and I +declare that if there is no possible compromise between the strict +execution of the law and his decree of the Commune, I prefer, without +the least hesitation, to abide by the latter; I prefer to see a little +poverty replace for a time the long course of prosperity that has been +enjoyed by this very small class of individuals, than to see the last +articles of furniture of five hundred thousand suffering wretches, put +up to auction and knocked down for one-twentieth part of their value. +There must, however, be some way of conciliating the interests of both +landlords and tenants. Would it be sufficient to accord delays to the +latter, and force the former to wait a certain time for their money? I +think not; if I were allowed three years to pay off my three quarters’ +rent, I should still be embarrassed. The tool of the artisan is not +like the peasant’s plot of ground, which is more productive after +having lain fallow. During the last few sad months, when I had no work +to do, I was obliged to draw upon the future, a future heavily +mortgaged; when I shall perhaps scarcely be able to meet the expenses +of each day, will there be any possibility of acquitting the debts of +the past? You may sell my furniture if the law gives you the right to +do so, but I shall not pay! + +The only possible solution, believe me, is that in favour of the +tenants, only it ought not to be applied in so wholesale a fashion. +Inquiries should be instituted, and to those tenants from whom the war +has taken away all possibility of payment an unconditional receipt +should be delivered: to those who have suffered less, a proportionate +reduction should be allowed; but those whom the invasion has not ruined +or seriously impoverished—and the number is large, among provision +merchants, café keepers, and private residents—let those pay directly. +In this way the landlords will lose lees than one may imagine, because +it will be the lowest rents that will be forfeited. The decree of the +Commune is based on a right principle, but too generally applied. + +The new Government—for it is a Government—does not confine itself to +decrees. It has to install itself in its new quarters and make +arrangements.[27] + +In a few hours it has organized more than ten committees—the executive, +the financial, the public-service, the educational, the military, the +legal, and the committee of public safety. No end of committees and +committeemen: it is to be hoped that the business will be promptly +despatched! + +NOTES: + + [27] Organisation of the Commissions on the 31st of March: + +_Executive Commission_.—Citizens Eudes, Tridou, Vaillant, Lefrançais, +Duval, Félix Pyat, Bergeret. +_Commission of Finance_.—Victor Clément, Varlin, Jourde, Beslay, +Régère. +_Military Commission_.—General E. Duval, General Bergeret, General +Eudes, Colonel Chardon, Colonel Flourens, Colonel Pindly, Commandant +Ranvier. +_Commission of Public Justice_.—Ranc, Protot, Léo Meillet, Vermorel, +Ledroit, Babick. +_Commission of Public Safety_.—Raoul Rigault, Ferré, Assy, Cournet, +Oudet, Chalain, Gérardin. +_Victualling Commission_.—Dereure, Champy, Ostyn, Clément, Parizel, +Emile Clément, Fortuné Henry. +_Commission of Industry and Trade_.—Malon, Frankel, Theiz, Dupont, +Avrial, Loiseau-Pinson, Eugène Gérardin, Puget. +_Commission of Foreign Affairs_.—Delescluze, Ranc, Paschal Grousset, +Ulysse Parent, Arthur Arnould, Antoine Arnauld, Charles Gérardin. +_Commission of Public Service_.—Ostyn, Billioray, Clément (J.B.) +Martelet, Mortier, Rastoul. +_Commission of Education_.—Jules Vallès, Doctor Goupil, Lefèvre, +Urbain,[28] Albert Leroy, Verdure, Demay, Doctor Robinet.] + + [28] Memoir, see Appendix XIII. + + + + + XXII. + + +Come, let us understand each other. Who are you, members of the +Commune? Those among you who are in some sort known to the public do +not possess, however, enough of its confidence to make up for the want +of knowledge it has of the others. Have a care how you excite our +mistrust. You have published decrees that certainly are open to +criticism, but that are not entirely obnoxious, for their object is to +uphold the interests of that portion of the population, which you most +particularly represent, and from whom you hold your commission. We will +forgive the decrees if you do nothing worse. Yesterday, the 30th March, +during the night (why in the night?) some men wearing a red scarf and +followed by several others with arms, presented themselves at the Union +Insurance Company. On the porter refusing to deliver up the keys of the +offices he was arrested. They then proceeded to break open the doors +with the butt-end of their muskets, and put seals on the strong box. +What can this portend? Have you been elected to break open private +offices and put seals on cash-boxes? That same night, a friend of mine +who happened to be passing across one of the bridges on his way home, +noticed that the windows of the Hôtel de Ville were brilliantly +lighted. Could they be having a ball already? he wondered. He made +inquiries and discovered that it was not a ball, but a banquet; three +or four hundred National Guards from Belleville had invaded the +apartments and had ordered a dinner to be served to them. They were +accompanied by a corresponding number of female companions, and were +drinking, talking, and singing to their hearts’ content. What do you +mean by that, members of the Commune? Have you been elected to keep +open-house, and do you propose to inscribe over the entrance of the +municipal palace: “Ample accommodation for feasts and banquets,” as a +companion to your motto of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity?” + + + + + XXIII. + + +“I tell you, you shall not go!”—“But I will.”—“Well, you may, but not +your furniture.”—“And who shall prevent my carrying off my furniture if +I choose?”—“I will.”—“I defy you!”—“Thief!”—“Robber!” + +This animated discussion was being carried on at the door of a house, +in front of which a cart filled with furniture was standing; a crowd of +street boys was fast assembling, and the heads of curious neighbours +appeared grinning in all the windows. + +A partizan of the Commune had determined to profit by the decree. +Matters at first had seemed to go on quietly. The concierge, taken +aback by the sudden apparition of the van, had not summoned up courage +to prevent the furniture from being stowed away in it. The landlord, +however, had got scent of the affair, and had hastened to this spot. +Now, the tenant was a determined character, and as the van-men refused +to mix themselves up in the fray, he himself shouldered his last +article of furniture and carried it to the van. He was about to place +it within cover of the awning, when the landlord, like a miser deprived +of his treasure, seized it and deposited it on the pavement. The tenant +re-grasped his spoil and thrust it again into the cart, from whence it +was instantly drawn forth again by the enraged landlord. This game was +carried on for some time, each as determined as the other, grasping; +snatching, and pulling this unfortunate piece of furniture until one +wrench, stronger than the former, entirely dislocated its component +parts, and laid it in a ruined heap upon the ground. This was the +moment for the tenant to show himself a man of spirit. Taking advantage +of the surprise of the landlord, he swept the broken remains of his +property deftly into the van, bounded on to the driver’s seat, shook +the reins, cracked his whip, and started off at a thundering gallop, +pursued by the huzzas of the crowd, the cries of the van-men, and the +oaths of the disappointed landlord. The van and its team of lean cattle +were soon lost to view, and the landlord was left alone on his +doorstep, shaking his fist and muttering “Brigand!” + + + + + XXIV. + + +What a quantity of luggage! Even those who had the good fortune of +witnessing the emigration before the siege would never have supposed +that there could be so much luggage in Paris. Well-to-do looking trunks +with brass ornaments, black wooden boxes, hairy trunks, leathern +hat-boxes, and cardboard bonnet-boxes, portmanteaux and carpet bags are +piled up on vehicles of every description, of which more than ten +thousand block up the roads leading to the railway stations. Everybody +is wild to get away; it is whispered about that the Commune, the horrid +Commune, is about to issue a decree forbidding the Parisians to quit +Paris. So all prudent individuals are making off, with their bank-notes +and shares in their pocket-books. I see a man I know, walking very +fast, wearing a troubled expression on his face. I ask him where he is +going.—“you do not know what has happened to me?” he cries. I confess I +do not.—“The most extraordinary thing: I am condemned to death!”—“You!” +I exclaim.—“Yes! by the Commune!”—“And wherefore?” I ask.—“Because I +write on the _Figaro_.”—“Why, I never knew that!”—“Oh! not very often; +but last year I addressed a letter to the Editor, to explain to him +that my new farce called ‘My Aunt’s Garters’ had nothing at all to do +with ‘My Uncle’s Braces,’ which is by somebody else. You understand +that I did not want to change the title, which is rather good of its +kind, so I wrote to the _Figaro_, and as my letter was inserted, and as +the Commune condemns all the contributors.... You see ...!”—“Perfectly! +Why, my dear fellow, you ought to have been off before. Of course you +go to Versailles?”—“Why, yes.”—“By the railway?” I cannot help having a +joke at his expense.—“Yes, of course.”—“Well, if I were you, I would +not, really; the engine might blow up, or you might run into a luggage +train. Such things do happen in the best of times, and I think the +Commune capable of anything to get rid of so dangerous an +adversary.”—“You don’t mean to say,” says the poor little, man in a +tremor, “that they would go to such lengths! Well, at any rate I will +travel by the road.”[29] + +A little farther up the Boulevard des Italiens I see another +acquaintance. “What, still in Paris?” I say, shaking hands with him.—“I +am off this evening,” he answers.—“Are you condemned to death?”—“No, +but I shall be tried to-night.”—“The devil! Do you write on the +_Figaro_!”—“No, no, it is quite a long story. Three years ago, I made +the acquaintance of a charming blonde, who reciprocated my advances, +and made herself highly agreeable. In a word, I was smitten. +Unfortunately there was a husband in the case!”—“The devil there +was!”—“He made inquiries, and found out who I was, and ...”—“And +invited you to mortal combat?”—“Oh! no, he is a hosier. But from that +day forth he became my most bitter enemy.”—“Very disagreeable of him, I +am sure, but I do not see how the enmity of this retail dealer obliges +you to quit Paris?”—“Why, you see he has a cousin who is elected a +member of the Commune.”—“I understand your uneasiness; you fear the +latent revenge of this unreasonable hosier.”—“I am to be tried +to-night, but it is not the fear of death which makes me fly. It is +worse than that. Those Hôtel de Ville people are capable of anything, +and I hear they are going to make a law on divorce. I know the +malignity of the lady’s husband—and I believe he is capable of getting +a divorce, and forcing me to marry her!” + +So, under one pretext and another, almost everyone is going away. As +for me, I am like a hardened Parisian—my boots have a rooted dislike to +any other pavement than that of the boulevards. Who is right, I, or +those who are rushing off? Is there really danger here for those who +are not ardently attached to the principles of the Commune? I try to +believe not. True there have been arrests—domiciliary visits and other +illegal and tyrannical acts—but I do not think it can last.[30] May we +not hope that the dangerous element in the Commune will soon be +neutralised by the more intelligent portion of the Municipal Council, +if, indeed, that portion exists? I cannot believe that a revolution, +accomplished by one-third of the population of Paris, and tolerated by +another (the remaining fraction having taken flight), can be entirely +devoid of the spirit of generosity and usefulness, capable only of +appropriating the funds of others, and unjustly imprisoning innocent +citizens. Besides, even if the Commune, instead of trying to make us +forget the bloody deeds with which it preceded its establishment, or +seeking to repair the faults of which it has been guilty, on the +contrary continues to commit such excesses, thus harrying to its ruin a +city which has already suffered so much, even then I will not leave it. +I will cling to it to the last, as a sailor who has grown to love the +ship that has borne him gallantly in so many voyages, clings to the +wreck of his favourite, and refuses to be saved without it. + +NOTES: + + [29] The following is a document which completely justifies these + apprehensions:— + “30th March—The Commune of Paris—Orders from the Central Committee + to the officer in command, of the battalion on guard at the station + of Ouest-Ceinture. + “To stop all trains proceeding in the direction of Paris at the + Ouest-Ceinture station. + “To place an energetic man night and day at this post. This man is + to mount guard with a beam, which he is to throw across the rails + at the arrival of each train, so as to cause it to run off the + rails, if the engine-driver refuses to stop. + +“HENRI, Chief of a Legion.” + + [30] Vexatious measures accumulated: + +The pacific M. Glais-Bizoin was arrested in a tobacconist’s shop, where +he was, doubtless, lighting a reactionary cigar. He fancied at first +that there had been a mistake, but he was taken before the Committee, +which caused him, however, to be liberated. + +M. Maris Proth, a writer in _Charivari_, which is certainly not a +royalist journal, was arrested on the following day, and detained for a +longer time. + +On the same day a search was made at the house of the publisher +Lacroix.] + + +[Illustration: Gambon.] + + + + + XXV. + + +Garibaldi is expected. Gambon has gone to Corsica to meet him. He is to +be placed at the head of the National Guard. It is devoutly to be hoped +that he will not come.[31] + +Firstly, because his presence at this moment would create new dangers; +and secondly, because this admirable and honoured man would compromise +his glory uselessly in our sorry discords. If I, an obscure citizen, +had the honour of being one of those to whom the liberator of Naples +lends an ear, I would go to him without hesitation, and, after having +bent before him as I would before some ancient hero arisen from his +glorious sepulchre, say to him,—“General, you have delivered your +country. At the head of a few hundred men you have won battles and +taken towns. Your name recalls the name of William Tell. Wherever there +were chains to rend and yokes to break, you were seen to hasten. Like +the warriors Hugo exalts in his _Légende des Siècles_, you have been +the champion of justice, the knight-errant of liberty. You appear to us +victorious in a distant vision, as in the realm of legend. For the +glory of our age in which heroes are wanting, it befits you to remain +that which you are. Continue afar off, so that you may continue great. +It is not that your glory is such that it can only be seen at a +distance, and loses when regarded, too nearly. Not so! But you would be +hampered amongst us. There is not space enough here for you to draw +your sword freely. We are adroit, strange, and complicated. You are +simple, and in that lies your greatness. We belong to our time, you +have the honour to be an anachronism. You would be useless to your +friends, destructive to yourself. What would you, a giant fighting with +the sword, do against dwarfs who have cannon? You are courageous, but +they are cunning, and would conquer you. For the sake of the nineteenth +century you must not be vanquished. Do not come; in your simplicity you +would be caught in the spider’s web of clever mediocrity, and your +grand efforts to tear yourself free would only be laughed at. Great +man, you would be treated like a pigmy.” + +It is probable, however, that if I held such a discourse to General +Garibaldi, General Garibaldi would politely show me the door. Other and +more powerful counsellors have inspired him with different ideas. +Friendship dangerous indeed! How deeply painful is it that no man, +however intelligent or great, can clearly distinguish the line, where +the mission for which Heaven has endowed him ceases, and, disdaining +all celebrity foreign to his true glory, consent to remain such as +future ages will admire.[32] + +NOTES: + + [31] The Citizen Gambon, representative of the Department of the + Seine, left Paris charged with a mission to seek Garibaldi, but was + arrested at Bonifacio, in the island of Corsica, just as he was + embarking for Caprera. + For Memoir, see Appendix 4. + + [32] Garibaldi was chosen by the Central Committee for + Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard, but he refused in the + following terms, pretending not to be aware of the condition of + Paris:— + +“Caprera, 28th March, 1871. + +“CITIZENS,— +“Thanks for the honour you have conferred upon me by my nomination as +Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard of Paris, which I love, and +whose dangers and glory I should be proud to share. + “I owe you, however, the following explanations:— + “A commandant of the National Guard of Paris, a commander of the + Army of Paris, and a directing committee, whatever they may be, are + three powers which are not reconcilable with the present situation + of France. + “Despotism has the advantage over us, the advantage of the + concentration of power, and it is this same centralisation which + you should oppose to your enemies. + “Choose an honest citizen, and such are not wanting: Victor Hugo, + Louis Blanc, Félix Pyat, Edgar Quinet, or another of the elders of + radical democracy, would serve the purpose. The generals Oremer and + Billot, who, I see, have your confidence, may be counted in the + number. + “Be assured that one honest man should be charged with the supreme + command and full powers; such a man would choose other honest men + to assist him in the difficult task of saving the country. + “If you should have the good fortune to find a Washington, France + will recover from shipwreck, and in a short time will be grander + than ever. + “These conditions are not an excuse for escaping the duty of + serving republican France. No! I do not despair of fighting by the + side of these _braves_, and I am, + +“Yours devotedly, +(Signed), “G. GARIBALDI.” + + + + + XXVI. + + +Monday, the 3rd of April.[33] A fearful day! I have been hurrying this +way and that, looking, questioning, reading. It is now ten o’clock in +the evening. And what do I know? Nothing certain; nothing except this, +which is awful,—they are fighting. + +Yes, at the gates of Paris, Frenchmen against Frenchmen, beneath the +eyes of the Prussians, who are watching the battle-field like ravens: +they are fighting. I have seen ambulance waggons pass full of National +Guards. By whom have they been wounded? By Zouaves. Is this thing +credible, is it possible? Ah! those guns, cannon, and mitrailleuses, +why were they not all claimed by the enemy—all, every one, from +soldiers and Parisians alike? But little hindrance would that have +proved. It had been resolved—by what monstrous will?—that we should be +hurled to the very bottom of the precipice. These Frenchmen, who would +kill Frenchmen, would not be checked by lack of arms. If they could not +shoot each other, they would strangle each other. + +[Illustration: The Barricade: Evening Meal—soup and cigars, and a +“petit verre”] + +This, indeed, was unlooked for. An insurrection was feared; men thought +of the June days; that evening when the battalions devoted to the +National Assembly camped in the neighbourhood of the Bank, we imagined, +as a horrible possibility, muskets pointed from between the stones of +barricades, blood flowing in the streets, men killed, women in tears. +But who could have foretold that a new species of civil war was +preparing? That Paris, separated from France, would be blockaded by +Frenchmen? That it would once more be deprived of communication with +the provinces; once more starved perhaps? That there would be, not a +few men struggling to the death in one of the quarters of the town, but +two armies in presence, each with chiefs, fortifications and cannon? +That Paris, in a word, would be besieged anew? How abominable a +surprise of fate! + +The cannonading has been heard since morning. Ah! that sound, which, +during the siege, made our hearts beat with hope,—yes, with hope, for +it made us believe in a possible deliverance—how horrible it was this +morning. I went towards the Champs Elysées. Paris was deserted. Had it +understood at last that its honour, its existence even, were at stake +in this revolution, or was it only not up yet? Battalions were marching +along the boulevards, with music playing. They were going towards the +Place Vendôme, and were singing. The _cantinières_ were carrying guns. +Some one told me that men had been at work all night in the +neighbourhood of the Hôtel de Ville, and that the streets adjoining it +were blocked with barricades. But in fact no one knows anything, except +that there is fighting in Neuilly, that the “Royalists” have attacked, +and that “our brothers are being slaughtered.” A few groups are +assembled in the Place de la Concorde. I approach, and find them +discussing the question of the rents,—yes, of the rents! Ah! it is +certain those who are being killed at this moment will not have to pay +their landlord. On reaching the Rond Point I can distinctly perceive a +compact crowd round the Triumphal Arch, and I meet some tired National +Guards who are returning from the battle. They are ragged, dusty, and +dreary. “What has happened?”—“We are betrayed!” says one.—“Death to the +traitors!” cries another. + +No certain news from the field of battle. A runaway, seated outside a +café amidst a group of eager questioners, recounts that the barricade +at the Neuilly bridge has been attacked by _sergents de ville_ dressed +as soldiers, and Pontifical Zouaves carrying a white flag.—“A +parliamentary flag?” asks some one.—“No! a royalist flag,” answered the +runaway.—“And the barricade has been taken?”—“We had no cartridges; we +had not eaten for twenty-four hours; of course we had to decamp.” + +Farther on a soldier of the line affirms that the barricade has been +taken again. The cannon roars still. Mont Valérien is firing, it is +said, on the Courbevoie barracks, where a battalion of Federal guards +was stationed yesterday.—“But they were off before daybreak,” adds the +soldier. + +As I continue my road the groups become more numerous. I lift my head +and see a shell burst over the Avenue of the Grande Armée, leaving a +puff of white smoke hanging for a few seconds like a cloud-flake +detached by the wind. + +On I go still. The height on which the Arc de Triomphe stands is +covered with people; a great many women and children among them. They +are mounted on posts, clinging to the projections of the Arch, hanging +to the sculpture of the bas-reliefs. One man has put a plank upon the +tops of three chairs, and by paying a few _sous_ the gapers can hoist +themselves upon it. From this position one can perceive a motionless, +attentive crowd reaching down the whole length of the Avenue of the +Grande Armée, as far as the Porte Maillot, from which a great cloud of +white smoke springs up every moment followed by a violent explosion,—it +is the cannon of the ramparts firing on the Rond Point of Courbevoie; +and beyond this the Avenue de Neuilly stretching far out in the +sunshine, deserted and dusty, a human form crossing it rapidly from +time to time; and farthest of all, beyond the Seine, beyond the Avenue +de l’Empereur, deserted too, the hill of Courbevoie, where a battery of +the Versailles troops is established. But stretch my eyes as I may I +cannot distinguish the guns; but a few men, sentinels doubtless, can be +made out. They are _sergents de ville_, says my right-hand neighbour; +but he on my left says they are Pontifical Zouaves. They must have good +eyes to recognise the uniforms at this distance. The most contradictory +rumours circulate as to the barricade on the bridge; it is impossible +for one to ascertain whether it has remained in the possession of the +soldiers or the Federals. There has been but little fighting, moreover, +since I came. A little later, at twelve o’clock, the fusillade ceases +entirely. But the battery on the ramparts continues to fire upon +Courbevoie, and Mont Valérien still shells Neuilly at intervals. +Suddenly a flood of dust, coming from Porte Maillot, thrusts back the +thick of the crowd, and as it flies, widening, and whirling more madly +as it comes, everyone is seized with terror, and rushes away screaming +and gesticulating. A shell has just fallen, it is said, in the Avenue +of the Grande Armée. Not a soul remains about the Triumphal Arch. The +adjoining streets are filled with people who have run to take shelter +there. By little and little, however, the people begin to recover +themselves, the flight is stopped in the middle, and, laughing at their +momentary panic, they turn back again. A quarter of an hour afterwards +the crowd is everywhere as compact as before. + +[Illustration: Place de La Concorde and Champs Elysees, from the +Gardens of the Tuileries—Federalists going out to fight the +Versaillais:] + +This panorama gives an idea of the theatre of operations of the Second +Siege of Paris. The Prussians closed the eastern enceinte, whilst the +Federals held the southern forts to the last, with the exception of +Issy and Vanves that were abandoned. Point-du-Jour and Porte Maillot +were the parts particularly attacked; the former being defended by the +Federal gunboats on the Seine. Mont Valérien, it will be seen, commands +the whole of the distant plateau. About one mile and a half beyond the +Triumphal Arch the river Seine intersects the space from south to +north, enclosing the Bois de Boulogne and the villages of Neuilly, +Villiers, and Courcelles, being a sort of outer fortification. The +walls of Paris follow the same line, falling about half a mile on the +other side of the Arch, and parallel runs a line of railway within the +fortified wall. This view exhibits the portion the Prussians were +permitted to occupy for two days: all the outlets, except the west, +being barricaded and defended. + +This spectacle, however, of combatants and gapers distresses me, and in +despair of learning anything I return into the city. + +At some distance from the scene of events one gets better information, +or, at any rate, a great deal more of it. Imagination has better play +when it is farther from the fact. A hundred absurd stories reach me. +What appears tolerably certain is, that the Federals have received a +check, not very important in itself, the Versailles troops having made +but little advance, but at any rate a check which might have some +influence on the resolution of the National Guards. They have been told +that the army would not fight, that the soldiers of the line would turn +the butt-ends of their guns into the air at Neuilly as they had done at +Montmartre. But now they begin to believe that the army will fight, and +those who cry the loudest that it was the _sergents de ville_ and +Charette’s Zouaves who led the attack alone, seem as if they said it to +give themselves courage and keep up their illusions. + +But from which side did the first shot come? On this point everyone has +something to say, and no one knows what to believe. Official reports +are looked for with the utmost impatience. The walls, generally so +communicative, are mute up to this hour. The least improbable of the +versions circulated is the following: At break of day some shots are +said to have been exchanged between the Federal advanced guard and the +patrols of the Versailles troops. None dead or wounded; only powder +wasted, happily. A little later, and a few minutes after the arrival of +General Vinoy at Mont Valérien, a messenger with a flag of truce, +preceded by a trumpeter and accompanied by two _sergents de ville_ +(inevitably), is said to have presented himself at the bridge of +Courbevoie. The name of the messenger has been given,—Monsieur +Pasquier, surgeon-in-chief to the regiment of mounted _gendarmes_. Two +of the National Guards go to meet him; after some words exchanged, one +of the Federals blows out Monsieur Pasquier’s brains with his revolver, +and ten minutes later Mont Valérien opens a formidable fire, which +continues as fiercely four hours afterwards. + +Meanwhile the drams beat to arms, on all sides. A considerable number +of battalions defile along the Boulevard Montmartre; more than twenty +thousand men, some say, who pretend to know. On they march, singing and +shouting “_Vive la Commune! Vive la République!_” They are answered by +a few shouts. These are not the Montmartre and Belleville guards alone; +peaceful faces of citizens and merchants may be seen under the military +_képis_, and many hands are white as no workman’s are. They march in +good order,—they are calm and resolved; one feels that these men are +ready to die for a cause that they believe to be just. I raise my hat +as they pass; one must do honour to those who, even if they be guilty, +push their devotion so far as to expose themselves to death for their +convictions. + +But what are these convictions? What is the Commune? The men who sit at +the Hôtel de Ville have published no programme, yet they kill and are +killed for the sake of the Commune. Oh, words! words! What power they +have over you, heroic and most simple people! + +In the evening out came a proclamation. There was so great a crowd +wherever it was posted up that I had not the chance of copying it; but +it ran somewhat in these terms:— + + “CITIZENS,—This morning the Royalists have ATTACKED. + “Impatient, before our moderation they have ATTACKED. + “Unable to bring French bayonets against us, they have opposed us + with the Imperial Guard and Pontifical Zouaves. + “They have bombarded the inoffensive village of Neuilly. + “Charette’s _chouans_, Cathelineau’s _Vendéens_, Trochu’s + _Bretons_, Valentin’s _gendarmes_, have rushed upon us. + “There are dead and wounded. + “Against this attack, renewed from the Prussians, Paris should rise + to a man. + “Thanks to the support of the National Guard, the victory will be + ours!” + +Victory! What victory? Oh, the bitter pain! Paris shedding the blood of +France, France shedding the blood of Paris! From whatever side the +triumph comes, will it not be accursed? + +NOTES: + + [33] On the 1st of April several shots were fired under the walls of + Fort Issy, but it was not until the next day, the 2nd of April, at + nine o’clock in the morning, that the action commenced in earnest at + Courbevoie, by an attack of the Versailles army. The federals, who + thought themselves masters of the place, were stopped by the steady + firing of a regiment of gendarmerie and heavy cannonading from Mont + Valérien. At first the National Guards retreated, then disputed every + foot of ground with much courage. In the neighbourhood the desolation + and misery was extreme. + The revolution had now entered a new phase; the military + proceedings had begun, and it was about to be proved that, the + Communist generals had even less genius than those of the Défense + Nationale, although it must be admitted that the latter did not + know the extent of the resources they had at their disposal. When + we remember the small advantage those generals managed to derive + from the heroism of the Parisian population, who, during the second + siege showed that they knew how to fight and how to die, it is + marvellous that many people have gone so far as to regret that the + émeute of the 31st of October was not successful, believing that if + the Commune had triumphed at that time, Paris would have been + saved. All this seems very doubtful now, and opinions have veered + round considerably, for it is not such men as Duval, Cluseret, La + Cécilia, Eudes, or Bergeret, who could have protected Paris against + the science of the Prussian generals. + + +[Illustration: General Bergeret.] + + + + + XXVII. + + +To whom shall we listen? Whom believe? It would take a hundred pages, +and more, to relate all the different rumours which have circulated +to-day, the 4th of April, the second day of the horrible straggle. Let +us hastily note down the most persistent of these assertions; later I +will put some order into this pell-mell of news. + +All through the night the drums beat to arms in every quarter of the +town. Companies assembled rapidly, and directed their way towards the +Place Vendôme or the Porte Maillot, shouting, “_A Versailles!_” Since +five this morning, General Bergeret has occupied the Rond-Point of +Courbevoie. This position has been evacuated by the troops of the +Assembly. How was this? Were the Federals not beaten yesterday? + +(One thing goes against General Bergeret in the opinion of his troops: +he drives to battle in a carriage.) + +He has formed his troops into columns. No less than sixty thousand men +are under his orders; two batteries of seven guns support the infantry; +omnibuses follow, filled with provisions. They march towards the Mont +Valérien; after having taken the fort, they will march on Versailles by +Rueil and Nanterre.[34] After they have taken the Mont Valérien! there +is not a moment’s doubt about the success of the enterprise. “We were +assured,” said a Federal general to me, “that the fort would open its +doors at the first sight of us.” But they counted without General +Cholleton, who commands the fortress. The advance-guard of the Federals +is received by a formidable discharge of shot and shells. Panic! Cries +of rage! A regular rout to the words, “We are betrayed!”[35] The army +of the Commune is divided into two fragments: one—scarcely three +battalions strong—flies in the direction of Versailles, the other +regains Paris with praiseworthy precipitation. Must the Parisian +combatants be accused of cowardice for this flight? No! They were +surprised; had never expected such a reception from Mont Valérien; had +they been warned, they would have held out better. After all, there was +more fright than harm done in the affair; the huge fortress could have +annihilated the Communists, and it was satisfied with dispersing them. +But what has become of the three battalions that passed Mont Valérien? +Bravely they went forward. + +In the meantime another movement was being made upon Versailles by +Meudon and Clamart. A small number of battalions had marched out during +the night, and are massed under cover of the forts of Issy and Vanves. +They have managed to establish a battery of a few guns on a wooded +eminence, at the foot of the glacis of Fort. Issy, and their pieces are +firing upon the batteries of the Versailles troops at Meudon, which are +answering them furiously. It is a duel of artillery, as in the time—the +good time, alas!—of the Prussians. + +Up to this moment the information is tolerably clear; probable even, +and one is able to come to some idea of the respective positions of the +belligerents. But towards two o’clock in the afternoon all the reports +get confused and contradictory. + +An estafette, who has come from the Porte Maillot, cried to a group +formed on the place of the New Opera-house, “We are victorious! +Flourens has entered Versailles at the head of forty thousand men. A +hundred deputies have been taken. Thiers is a prisoner.” + +Elsewhere it is said that in the rout of that morning, at the foot of +Mont Valérien, Flourens had disappeared. And where could he have found +the forty thousand men to lead them to Versailles? + +At the same time a rumour spreads that General Bergeret has been +grievously wounded by a shell. “Pure exaggeration!” some one answers. +“The General has only had two horses killed under him.” + +Before him, rather, since he drives to battle. What appears most +certain of all is that there is furious fighting going on between +Sèvres and Meudon. I hear it said that the 118th of the line have +turned the butts of their guns into the air, and that the Parisians +have taken twelve mitrailleuses from the Versailles troops. + +There is fighting, too, at Châtillon. The Federals have won great +advantages. Nevertheless an individual who went out that side to +investigate, announces that he saw three battalions return with very +little air of triumph, and that other battalions, forming the reserve, +had refused to march. + +A shower of contradictions, in which the news for the most part has no +other source than the opinion and desire of the person who brings it. +It is by the result alone that we can appreciate what is passed. At one +moment I give up trying to get information as a bad job, but I begin +questioning again in spite of myself; the desire to know is even +stronger than the very strong certainty that I shall be able to learn +nothing. + +I turn to the Champs Elysées. The cannon is roaring; ambulance waggons +descend the Avenue, and stop before the Palais de l’Industrie; over the +way Punch is making his audience roar with laughter as usual. Oh! the +miserable times! The horrible fratricidal struggle! May those who were +its cause be accursed for ever! + +While some are killing and others dying, the members of the Commune are +rendering decrees, and the walls are white with official proclamations. + +“Messieurs Thiers, Favre, Picard, Dufaure, Simon and Pothuan are +impeached; their property will be seized and sequestrated until they +deliver themselves up to public justice.” + +This impeachment and sequestration, will it bring back husbands to the +widows and fathers to the orphans? + +“The Commune of Paris adopts the families of citizens who have fallen +or may fall in opposing the criminal aggression of the Royalists, +directed against Paris and against the French republic.” + +Infinitely better than adopting the orphans would be to save the +fathers from death. Oh, these absurd decrees! You separate the Church +from the State; you suppress the budget of public worship; you +confiscate the property of the clergy. A pretty time to think about +such acts! What is necessary, what is indispensable, is to restore +quiet, to avoid massacres, and to stifle hatred. That you will not +decree. No! no! That which is now happening you have desired, and you +still desire it; you have profited by the provocations you have +received to bring about the most frightful conflict which the history +of unfortunate France records; and you will persevere, and in order to +revive the fainting courage of those whom you have devoted to +inevitable defeat and death, you bring into action all the hypocrisy +with which you have charged your enemies! + +“Bergeret and Flourens have joined their forces; they are marching on +Versailles. Success is certain!” + +You cause this announcement to be placarded in the street—false news, +is it not? But men can only be led to their ruin by being deceived. You +add: + +“The fire of the army of Versailles has not occasioned us any +appreciable loss.” + +Ah! As to this let us ask the women who await at the gates of the city +the return of your soldiers, and crowd sobbing round the bloody +litters! + +NOTES: + + [34] The combined plan of the three generals of the Commune consisted, + like the famous plan of General Boum, in proceeding by three different + roads: the first column, under the orders of Bergeret, seconded by + Flourens, went by Rueil; the second, commanded by Duval, marched upon + Versailles by lower Meudon, Chaville, and Viroflay; covered by the + fire of Fort Issy, and the redoubt of Moulineaux; and lastly, the + third, with General Eudes at its head, took the Clamart road, + protected by the fort of Vanves. + + [35] Though no fort covered Bergeret’s eight battalions with its fire, + yet Bergeret was so sure that the artillerymen of Mont Valérien would + do as the line did on the 18th of March, i.e., refuse to fire, that he + advanced boldly as far as the bridge of Neuilly, and had made a halt + at the Rond-Point des Bergères, when a heavy cannonading from Mont + Valérien separated a part of the column from its main body. + + + + + XXVIII. + + +Every hour that flies by, becomes more sinister than the last. They +fight at Clamart as they fight at Neuilly, at Meudon and at Courbevoie. +Everywhere rage the mitrailleuses, the cannon, and the rifle; the +victories of the Communalists are lyingly proclaimed. The truth of +their pretended triumphs will soon be known; and unhappily victory will +be as detestable as defeat. + +General Duval has been made prisoner and put to death. “If you had +taken me,” asked General Vinoy, “would you not have shot me?”—“Without +hesitation,” replied Duval. And Vinoy gave the word of command, “Fire!” + +But this anecdote, though widely spread, is probably false. It is +scarcely likely that a Commander-in-Chief of the Versailles troops +would have consented to hold such a dialogue with an “_insurgent_.” + +Flourens also is killed. Where and how is not yet known with any +certainty. Several versions are given. Some speak of a ball in the +head, or the neck, or the chest; others spread the report that his +skull was cut open by a sword. + +Flourens is thought about and talked of by men of the most opposite +opinions. This singular man inspires no antipathy even amongst those +who might hold him in the greatest detestation. I shall one day try to +account for the partiality of opinion in favour of this young and +romantic insurgent. + +Duval shot, Flourens killed, Bergeret lying in the pangs of death; the +enthusiasm of the Federals might well be cooled down. Not in the least! +The battalions that march along the boulevards have the same resolute +air, as they sing and shout “_Vive la Commune!_” Are they the dupes of +their chiefs to that extent as to believe the pompous proclamations +with their hourly announcements of attacks repelled, of redoubts taken, +of soldiers of the line made prisoners? It is not probable. And +besides, the guards of the respective quarters must see the return of +those who have been to the fight, and whose anxious wives are waiting +on the steps of the doors; must learn from them that the forward +marches have in reality been routs, and that many dead and wounded have +been left on the field, when the Commune reports only declare “losses +of little importance.” Whence comes this ardour that the first rush and +defeat cannot check? Is it nourished by the reports, true or false, of +the cruelties of the Versaillais which are spread by the hundred? The +“murder” of Duval, the “assassination” of Flourens, prisoners shot, +_vivandières_ violated, all these culpable inventions—can they be +inventions, or does civil war make such barbarians of us?—are indeed of +a nature to excite the enthusiasm of hate, and the men march to a +probable defeat with the same air as they would march to certain +victory. Ah! whether led astray or not, whether guilty, even, or +whatever the motive that impels them, they are brave! And when they +pass thus they are grand. Yes! in spite of the rags that serve the +greater number of them for uniforms, in spite of the drunken gait of +some, as a whole they are superb! And the reason of the coldest +partisan of order at any price, struggles in vain against the +admiration which these men inspire as they march to their death. + +It must be admitted, too, that there is much less disorder in the +command than might be expected. The battalions all know whom they are +to obey. Some go to the Hôtel de Ville, others to the Place Vendôme, +many to the forts, a few to the advanced posts; marches and +counter-marches are managed without confusion, and the combatants are +in general well provided with ammunition, and supplied with provisions. +Far as one is from esteeming the chiefs of the Federals, one is obliged +to admit that there is something remarkable in this rapid organisation +of a whole army in the midst of one of the most complete political +convulsions. Who, then, directs? Who commands? The members of the +Commune, divided as they are in opinion, do not appear capable, on +account of their number and lamentable inexperience, of taking the sole +lead in military affairs. Is there not some one either amongst them or +in the background, who knows how to think, direct, and act? Is it +Bergeret? Is it Cluseret? The future perhaps will unravel the mystery. +In the meantime, and in spite of the reverses to which the Federals +have had to submit during these last days, the whole of Paris unites in +unanimous surprise at the extreme regularity with which the +administrative system of the war seems to work, the surprise being the +greater that, during the siege, the “legitimate” chiefs with much more +powerful means, and having disciplined troops at their command, did not +succeed in obtaining the same striking results. + +But would it not have been better far that that order had never +existed? Better a thousand times that the command had been less precise +than that those commanded should have been led to a death without +glory? For the last few days Neuilly, so joyous in times gone by with +its busy shops, its frequented _restaurants_ and princely parks; +Neuilly, with the Versailles batteries on one side and the Paris guns +on the other, under an incessant rain of shells and _mitraille_ from +Mont Valérien; Neuilly, with her bridge taken and re-taken, her +barricades abandoned and re-conquered, has been for the last few days +like a vast abyss, into which the Federal battalions, seized with +mortal giddiness, are precipitated one after another. Each house is a +fortress. Yesterday, the _gendarmes_ had advanced as far as the market +of Sablonville; this morning they were driven back beyond the church. +Upon this church, a child; the son of Monsieur Leullier, planted a red +flag amidst a shower of projectiles. “That child will make a true man,” +said Cluseret, the war delegate. Ah, yes! provided he is not a corpse +ere then. Shots are fired from window to window. A house is assaulted; +there are encounters, on the stairs; it is a horrible struggle in which +no quarter is given, night and day, through all hours. The rage and +fury on both sides are terrific. Men that were friends a week ago have +but one desire—to assassinate each other. An inhabitant of Neuilly, who +succeeded in escaping, related this to me: Two enemies, a soldier of +the line and a Federal, had an encounter in the bathing establishment +of the Avenue de Neuilly, a little above the Rue des Huissiers. Now +pursuing, now flying from each other in their bayonet-fight, they +reached the roof of the house, and there, flinging down their arms, +they closed in a mad struggle. On the sloping roof, the tiles of which +crush beneath them, at a hundred feet from the ground, they struggled +without mercy, without respite, until at last the soldier felt his +strength give way, and endeavoured to escape from the gripe of his +adversary. Then, the Federal—the person from whom I learnt this was at +an opposite window and lost not a single one of their movements—the +Federal drew a knife from his pocket and prepared himself to strike his +half-prostrate antagonist, who, feeling that all hope was lost, threw +himself flat on the roof, seized his enemy by the leg, and dragging him +with him by a sudden movement, they rolled over and fell on to the +pavement below. Neither was killed, but the soldier had his face +crimsoned with blood and dust, and the Federal, who had fallen across +his adversary, despatched him by plunging his knife in his chest. + +Such is this infamous struggle! Such is this savage strife! Will it not +cease until there is no more blood to shed? In the meantime, Paris of +the boulevards, the elegant and fast-living Paris, lounges, strolls, +and smiles. In spite of the numerous departures there are still enough +blasé dandies and beauties of light locks and lighter reputation to +bring the blush to an honest man’s cheek. The theatres are open; “_La +Pièce du Pape_” is being played. Do you know “The Pope’s Money?” It is +a suitable piece for diverting the thoughts from the horrors of civil +war. A year ago the Pope was supported by French bayonets, but his +light coinage would not pass in Paris. Now Papal zouaves are killing +the citizens of Paris, and we take light silver and lighter paper. The +piece is flimsy enough. It is not its political significance that makes +it diverting, but the _double-entendre_ therein. One must laugh a +little, you understand. Men are dying out yonder, we might as well +laugh a little here. Low whispers in the _baignoires_, munching of +sugared violets in the stage boxes—everything’s for the best. +Mademoiselle Nénuphar (named so by antithesis) is said to have the most +beautiful eyes in the world. I will wager that that handsome man behind +her has already compared them to mitraille shot, seeing the ravages +they commit. It would be impossible to be more complimentary,—more +witty and to the point. Ah! look you, those who are fighting at this +moment, who to-day by their cannon and chassepots are exposing Paris to +a terrible revenge, guilty as these men are, I hold them higher than +those who roar with laughter when the whole city is in despair, who +have not even the modesty to hide their joys from our distresses, and +who amuse themselves openly with shameless women, while mothers are +weeping for their children! + +On the boulevards it is worse still; there, vice exhibits itself and +triumphs. Is it then true what a young fellow, a poor student and +bitter philosopher, said to me just now: “When all Paris is destroyed, +when its houses, its palaces, and its monuments thrown down and +crushed, strew its accursed soil and form but one vast ruin beneath the +sky, then, from out of this shapeless mass will rise as from a huge +sepulchre, the phantom of a woman, a skeleton dressed in a brilliant +dress, with shoulders bared, and a toquet on its head; and this +phantom, running from ruin to ruin, turning its head every now and then +to see if some libertine is following her through the waste—this +phantom is the leprous soul of Paris!” + +When midnight approaches, the _cafés_ are shut. The delegates of the +Central Committee at the ex-prefecture have the habit of sending +patrols of National Guards to hasten and overlook the closing of all +public places. But this precaution, like so many others, is useless. +There are secret doors which escape the closest investigations. When +the shutters are put up, light filters through the interstices of the +boards. Go close up to them, apply your eye to one of those lighted +crevices, listen to the cannon roaring, the mitrailleuses horribly +spitting, the musketry cracking, and then look into the interior of the +closed rooms. People are talking, eating, and smoking; waiters go to +and fro. There are women too. The men are gay and silly. Champagne +bottles are being uncorked. “Ah! ah! it’s the fusillade!” Lovers and +mistresses are in common here. This orgie has the most telling effect, +I tell you, in the midst of the city loaded with maledictions, a few +steps from the battle-field where the bayonets are dealing their death +thrusts, and the shells are scattering blood. And later, after the +laughter and the songs and the drink, they take an open carriage, if +the night is fine, and go to the Champs Elysées, and there mount upon +the box by the coachman to try and see the fight—if “those people” knew +how to die as well as they know how to laugh it would be better for +them. + +Other _bons viveurs_, more discreet, hide themselves on the first +floors of some houses and in some of the clubs. But they are betrayed +by the sparkle of the chandeliers which pierces the heavy curtains. If +you walk along by the walls you will hear the conversation of the +gamesters and the joyous clink of the gold pieces. + +Ah! the cowardice of the merry ones! Oh, thrice pardonable anger of +those who starve! + + + + + XXIX. + + +At one o’clock this morning, the 5th of April, on my return from one of +these nightly excursions through Paris, I was following the Rue du Mont +Thabor so as to gain the boulevards, when on crossing the Rue +Saint-Honoré I perceived a small number of National Guards ranged along +the pavement. The incident was a common one, and I took no notice of +it. In the Rue du Mont Thabor not a person was to be seen; all was in +silence and solitude. Suddenly a door opened a few steps in front of +me; a man came out and hurried away in the direction opposite to that +of the church. This departure looked like a flight. I stopped and lent +my attention. Soon two National Guards rushed out by the same door, +ran, shouting as they went, after the fugitive, who had had but a short +start of them, and overtaking him, without difficulty brought him back +between them, while the National Guards that I had seen in the Rue +Saint-Honoré ran up at the noise. The exclamations and insults of all +kinds that were vociferated led me to ascertain that the man they had +arrested was the Abbé Deguerry, _curé_ of the Madeleine. He was dragged +into the house, the door was shut, and all sank into silence again. + +That morning I learned that Monseigneur Darboy, the Archbishop of +Paris, was taken at the same hour and in almost similar circumstances. + +[Illustration: ABBÉ DEGUERRY, Curé of the Madeleine.] + +The arrests of several other ecclesiastics are cited. The _curé_ of St. +Séverin and the _curé_ of St. Eustache have been made prisoners, it is +said; the first in his own house, the second at the moment when he was +leaving his church. The _curé_ of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires was to have +been arrested also, but warned in time, he was able to place himself in +safety. + +Monseigneur Darboy, being conducted to the ex-prefecture (why the +_ex_-prefecture? It seems to me it works just as well as when it was +purely and simply a prefecture), was cross-examined there by the +citizen delegate Rigault. It must be said that Monsieur Rigault had +begun to make himself talked about during these last few days. He is +evidently a man who has a natural vocation for the employment he has +chosen, for he arrests, and arrests, and still arrests. He is young, +cold, and cynical. But his cynicism does not exclude him from a certain +gaiety, as we shall see. It was the Citizen Rigault, then, who examined +the Archbishop of Paris. I am not inordinately curious, but I should +very much like to know what the cynical member of the Commune could ask +of Monseigneur Darboy. Having committed apparently but one crime, that +of being a priest, and having no inclination to disguise it, it is +difficult to know what the interrogatory could turn upon. Monsieur +Rigault’s imagination furnished him no doubt with ample materials for +the interview, and he has probably as much vocation for the part of a +magistrate as for that of a police officer. But however it may be, the +journals of the Commune record this fragment with ill-disguised +admiration. + +[Illustration: Raoul Rigault[36]] + +[Illustration: Monseigneur Darboy, Archbishop of Paris.] + +“My children”—the white-haired Archbishop of Paris is reported to have +said at one moment. + +“Citizen,” interrupted the Citizen Rigault, who is not yet thirty, “you +are not before children, but before magistrates.” + +That was smart! And I can conceive the enthusiasm with which Monsieur +Rigault inspires the members of the Commune. But this excellent citizen +did not confine himself to this haughty repartee. I am informed (and I +have reason to believe with truth) that he added: “Moreover, that’s too +old a tale. You have been trying it on these eighteen hundred years.” + +Now everyone must admit that this is as remarkable for its wit as for +its elegance, and it is just what might be expected of the amiable +delegate, who, the other day, in a moment of exaggerated clemency, +permitted an abbé to visit a prisoner in the Conciergerie, and +furnished him with a _laisser-passer_ that ran thus: “Admit the bearer, +who styles himself the servant of one of the name of God.” Oh! what +graceful, charming wit! + +NOTES: + + [36] Rigault became connected with Rochefort in the year 1869, and + with him was engaged on the journal called the _Marseillaise_, and + produced articles which subjected him more than once to fine and + imprisonment. In the month of September, 1870, he was appointed by the + Government of the National Defence, Commissaire of Police, but having + taken part in the insurrection of the 31st of October, he was, on the + following day, dismissed from office. Shortly after this he made his + appearance as a writer in Blanqui’s paper the _Patrie en Danger_; but, + presently, he took a military turn, and got himself elected to the + command of a battalion of the National Guard. He seems to have been + born an informer or police spy, for we are told when at school, he + used to amuse himself by filling up lists of proscriptions, with the + names of his fellow-pupils. With such charming natural instincts, it + is not at all surprising that he was on the 18th of March, appointed + by the Commune Government, Prefect of Police. + + + + + XXX. + + +I am beginning to feel decidedly uncomfortable. This new decree of the +Commune seriously endangers the liberty of all those who are so +unfortunate as to have incurred the ill-will of their concierge, or +whose dealings with his next-door neighbour have not been of a strictly +amicable nature. Let us copy the 1st article of this ferocious decree. + +“All persons accused of complicity with the Government of Versailles +shall be immediately taken and incarcerated.”[37] + +Pest! they do not mince matters! Why, the first good-for-nothing +rascal—to whom, perhaps, I refused to lend five francs seven years +ago—may go round to Citizen Rigault and tell him that I am in regular +communication with Versailles, whereupon I am immediately incarcerated. +For, I beg it may be observed, it is not necessary that the complicity +with “the traitors” should be proved. The denunciation is quite +sufficient for one to be sent to contemplate the blue sky through the +bars of the Conciergerie.[38] Besides, what do the words “complicity +with the Government of Versailles” mean? All depends upon the way one +looks at those things. I am not sure that I am innocent. I remember +distinctly having several times bowed to a pleasant fellow—I say +pleasant fellow, hoping that these lines will not fall under the +observation of any one at the Prefecture of Police—who at this very +moment is quite capable, the rogue, of eating a comfortable dinner at +the Hôtel des Réservoirs at Versailles in company with one or more of +the members of the National Assembly. You can understand now why I am +beginning to feel rather uncomfortable. To know a man who knows a +deputy, constitutes, I am fully persuaded—otherwise I am unworthy to +live under the paternal government of the Commune—a most decided +complicity with the men of Versailles. I really think it would be only +commonly prudent to steal out of Paris in a coal sack, as a friend of +mine did the other day, or in some other agreeable fashion.[39] See +what may come of a bow! + +NOTES: + + [37] DECREE CONCERNING THE SUSPECTED. + +“Commune of Paris: + +“Considering that the Government of Versailles has wantonly trampled on +the rights of humanity, and set at defiance the rights of war; that it +has perpetrated horrors such as even the invaders of our soil have +shrunk from committing; + “Considering that the representatives of the Commune of Paris have + an imperative duty devolving upon them,—that of defending the lives + and honour of two millions of inhabitants, who have committed their + destinies to their charge; and that it behoves them at once to take + measures equal to the gravity of the situation; + “Considering that the politicians and magistrates of the city ought + to reconcile the general weal with respect for public liberty, + “Decrees: + “Art. 1. All persons charged with complicity with the Government of + Versailles will be immediately brought to justice and incarcerated. + “Art. 2. A ‘jury, of accusation’ will be summoned within the + twenty-four hours to examine the charges brought before it. + “Art. 3. The jury must pass sentence within the forty-eight hours. + “Art. 4. All the accused, convicted by the jury, will be retained + as hostages by the People of Paris. + “Art. 6. Every execution of a prisoner of war, or of a member of + the regular Government of the Commune of Paris, will be at once + followed by the execution of a triple number of hostages, retained + by virtue of article 4, who will be chosen by lot. + “Art. 6. All prisoners of war will be summoned before the ‘jury of + accusation,’ who will decide whether they be immediately set at + liberty or retained as hostages.” + + [38] Prison of Detention. + + [39] The following is still more naïve:—A man takes a return-ticket + for the environs, and sometimes finds a guard silly enough to allow + him to pass on the supposition that such a ticket was sufficient proof + of his intention of returning to Paris. + Others get into the waiting-room without tickets, under the pretext + of speaking to some one there. + M. Bergerat, a poet, passed the barrier in a cart-load of charcoal. + +[Illustration: Colonel Flourens.[40]] + + + + + XXXI. + + +Flourens is dead: we heard that last night for certain. A National +Guard had previously brought back the colonel’s horse from Bougival, +but it was only a few hours ago that we heard any details. An attempt +was made to take him prisoner at Rueil. A gendarme called out to him to +surrender, he replied by a pistol shot; another gendarme advanced, and +wounded him in the side, a third cleft his skull with a sabre out. Some +people do not believe in the pistol shot, and talk of assassination. +How many such events are there, the truth of which will never be +clearly proved! One thing certain is, that Flourens is dead. His body +was recognised at Versailles by some one in the service of Garnier +frères. His mother started this morning to fetch the corpse of her son. +It is strange that one is so painfully affected by the violent death of +this man. He has been mixed up in all the revolutionary attempts of the +last few years, and ought to be particularly obnoxious to all peaceful +and order-loving citizens; but the truth is, his was a sincerely ardent +and enthusiastic spirit. He was a thorough believer in the principles +he maintained. Whatever may be the religion he professes, the apostle +inspires esteem, and the martyr compassion. This apostle, this martyr, +was born to affluence; son of an illustrious savant, he may be almost +said to have been born to hereditary distinction. He was still quite +young when he threw himself heart and soul into politics. There was +fighting in Crete, and so off he went. There he revolted against the +revolt itself, got imprisoned, escaped, outwitted the gendarmes, got +retaken: his adventures sound like a legend or romance. It is because +he was so romantic, that he is so interesting. He returned to France +full of generous impulses. He was as prodigal of his money as he had +been of his blood. In the bitter cold winters he fed and clothed the +poor of Belleville, going from attic to attic with money and +consolation. You remember what Victor Hugo says of the sublime Pauline +Roland. The spirit of Flourens much resembled hers. The patriot could +act the part of a sister of charity. At other times, an enthusiast in +search of a social Eldorado, he would put himself at the service of the +most forlorn cause; never was anyone so imprudent. He was of a most +active and critical disposition: it was impossible for him to remain +quiet. When he was not seemingly employed, he was agitating something +in the shade. His friendship for Rochefort was great. These two +turbulent spirits, one with his pen, the other with his physical +activity, remind us each of the other. Both ran to extremes, Rochefort +in his literary invectives, Flourens in his hairbreadth adventures. +Although they were often allied, these two, they were sometimes +opposed. Have you never, seen two young artists in a studio performing +the old trick, one making a speech, while the other, with his head and +body hidden in the folds of a cloak, stretches forth his arms and +executes the most extravagant gestures? Rochefort and Flourens +performed this farce in politics, the former talking, the latter +gesticulating; but on the day of the burial of Victor Noir they went +different ways. On that day Rochefort, to do him justice, saved a large +multitude of men from terrible danger. Flourens, always the same, +wished the body to be carried to Père Lachaise; on the road there must +have been a collision; that was what he desired, but he was defeated. +The tongue prevailed, a hundred thousand cries of vengeance filled the +air, but they were only cries, and no mischief was done, except to a +few graves in the Neuilly cemetery. Flourens awaited a better occasion, +but by no means passively. He was a man of barricades; he did not seem +to think that paving-stones were made to walk on, he only cared to see +them heaped up across a street for the protection of armed patriots. +Although he always wore the dress of a gentleman, he was not one of +those black-coated individuals who incite the men to rebellion and keep +out of the way while the fight is going on; he helped to defend the +barricades he had ordered to be thrown up. Wherever there was a chance +of being killed, he was sure to be; and in the midst of all this he +never lost his placid expression, nor the politeness of a gentleman, +nor the look of extreme youth which beamed from his eyes, and must have +been on his face even when he fell under the cruel blows of the +gendarmes. Now he is dead. He is judged harshly, he is condemned, but +he cannot be hated. He was a madman, but he was a hero. The conduct of +Flourens at the Hôtel de Ville in the night of the 31st October is +hardly in keeping with so favourable a view. The French forgive and +forget with facility—let that pass. + +NOTES: + + [40] Flourens was born in 1838, and was the son of the well-known + _savant_ and physiologist of this name. He completed his studies with + brilliancy, and succeeded his father as professor of the Collège de + France. His opening lecture on the History of Man made a profound + impression on the scientific world. However, he retired from this post + in 1864, and turned his undivided attention to the political questions + of the day. Deeply compromised by certain pamphlets written by him, he + left France for Candia, where he espoused the popular cause against + the Turks. On his return to France he was imprisoned for three months + for political offences. Rochefort’s candidature was hotly supported by + him. In 1870 he rose against the Government, with a large force of the + Belleville _faubouriens_. He was prosecuted, and took refuge in + London. After the fourth of September he was placed at the head of + five battalions of National Guards. He was again imprisoned for having + instigated the rising of October, and it was not till the + twenty-second of March that he was set at liberty. On the second of + April he set out for Versailles at the head of an insurgent troop. He + was met midway by a mounted patrol, and in the _mêlée_ that ensued he + was killed. + + + + + XXXII. + + +In the midst of so many horrible events, which interest the whole mass +of the people, ought I to mention an incident which broke but one +heart? Yes, I think the sad episode is not without importance, even in +so vast a picture. It was a child’s funeral. The little wooden coffin, +scantily covered with a black pall, was not larger, as Théophile +Gautier says, “than a violin case.” There were few mourners. A woman, +the mother doubtless, in a black stuff dress and white crimped cap, +holding by the hand a boy, who had not yet reached the age of sorrowing +tears, and behind them a little knot of neighbours and friends. The +small procession crept along the wide street in the bright sunlight. + +When it reached the church they found the door closed, and yet the +money for the mass had been paid the night before, and the hour for the +ceremony fixed. One of the women went forward towards the door of the +vestry, where she was met by a National Guard, who told her with a +superfluity of oaths that she must not go in, that the —— curé, the +sacristan, and all the d—— fellows of the church were locked up, and +that they would no longer have anything to do with patriots. Then the +mother approached and said, “But who will bury my poor child if the +curé is in prison?” and then she began to weep bitterly at the thought +that there would be no prayers put up for the good of the little +spirit, and that no holy water would be sprinkled on its coffin. Yes, +members of the Commune, she wept, and she wept longer and more bitterly +later at the cemetery, when she saw them lower the body of her child +into the grave, without a prayer or a recommendation to God’s mercy. +You must not scoff at her, you see she was a poor weak woman, with +ideas of the narrowest sort; but there are other mothers like her, +quite unworthy of course to bear the children of patriots, who do not +want their dear ones to be buried like dogs; who cannot understand that +to pray is a crime, and to kneel down before God an offence to +humanity, and who still are weak enough to wish to see a cross planted +on the tombs of those they have loved and lost! Not the cross of the +nineteenth century—a red flag! such as now graces the dome of the +church of the Pantheon.[41] + +NOTES: + + [41] Early in April the Commune forbade divine service in the + Pantheon. They cut off the arms of the cross, and replaced it by the + red flag during a salute of artillery. + +[Illustration: Colonel Assy.] + + + + + XXXIII. + + +Communal fraternity is decidedly in the ascendant; it is putting into +practice this admirable precept, “Arrest each other.” They say M. +Delescluze has been sent to the Conciergerie. Yesterday Lullier was +arrested, to-day Assy. It was not sufficient to change Executive +Committees—if I may be allowed to say so—with no more ceremony than one +would change one’s boots; the Commune conducts itself, in respect to +those members that become obnoxious to it, absolutely as if they were +no more than ordinary archbishops. + +[Illustration: Placing the Red Flag on the Pantheon. (The hole in the +dome was occasioned by a Prussian shell.)] + +What! Assy—Assy[42] of Creuzot—who signed before all his comrades the +proclamations of the Central Committee, in virtue, not only of his +ability, but in obedience to the alphabetical order of the thing—Assy +no longer reigns at the Hôtel de Ville!—publishes no more decrees, +discusses no longer with F. Cournet, nor with G. Tridon. Wherefore this +fall after so much glory? It is whispered about that Assy has thought +it prudent to put aside a few rolls of bank notes found in the drawers +of the late Government. What, is that all? How long have politicians +been so scrupulous? Members of the Commune, how very punctilious you +have grown. Now if the Citizen Assy were accused of having in 1843 been +intimately acquainted with a lady whose son is now valet to M. Thiers’ +first cousin, or if he had been seen in a church, and it were clearly +proved that he was there with any other intention than that of +delicately picking the pockets of the faithful, then I could understand +your indignation. But the idea of arresting a man because he has +appropriated the booty of the traitors, is too absurd; if you go on +acting in that way people will think you are growing conscientious! + +As to Citizen Lullier,[43] who was one of the first victims of +“fraternity,” he is imprisoned because he did not succeed in capturing +Mont Valérien. I think with horror that if I had been in the place of +Citizen Lullier I should most certainly have had to undergo the same +punishment, for how in the devil’s name I could have managed to +transport that impregnable fortress on to the council-table at the +Hôtel de Ville I have not the least conception. It is as bad as if you +were in Switzerland, and asked the first child you met to go and fetch +Mont Blanc; of course the child would go and have a game of marbles +with his companions, and come back without the smallest trace of Mont +Blanc in his arms, thereupon you would whip the youngster within an ace +of his life. However, it appears that M. Lullier objected to being +whipped, or rather imprisoned, and being as full of cunning as of +valour he managed to slip out of his place of confinement, without drum +or trumpet. “Dear Rochefort,” he writes to the editor of _Le Mot +d’Ordre_, “you know of what infamous machinations I have been the +victim.” I suppose M. Rochefort does, but I am obliged to confess that +I have not the least idea, unless indeed M. Lullier means by +“machinations” the order that was given him to bring Mont Valérien in +his waistcoat pocket. “Imprisoned without motive,” he continues, “by +order of the Central Committee, I was thrown ...” (Oh! you should not +have _thrown_ M. Lullier) “into the Prefecture of Police,” (the +ex-Prefecture, if you please), “and put in solitary confinement at the +very moment when Paris was in want of men of action and military +experience.” Oh, fie! men of the Commune, you had at your disposal a +man of action—who does not know the noble actions of Citizen Lullier? A +man of military experience—who does not know what profound experience +M. Lullier has acquired in his numerous campaigns—and yet you put him, +or rather throw him, into the Prefecture! This is bad, very bad. “The +Prefecture is transformed into a state prison, and the most rigorous +discipline is maintained.” It appears then that the Communal prison is +anything but a fool’s paradise. “However, in spite of everything, I and +my secretary managed to make our escape calmly ...”—the calm of the +high-minded—“from a cell where I was strictly guarded, to pass two +court-yards and a dozen or two of soldiers, to have three doors opened +for me while the sentinels presented arms as I passed ...” What a +wonderful escape: the adventures of Baron Munchausen are nothing to it. +What a fine chapter poor old Dumas might have made of it. The door of +the cell is passed under the very nose of the jailer, who has doubtless +been drugged with some narcotic, of which M. Lullier has learnt the +secret during his travels in the East Indies; the twelve guards in the +court-yards are seized one after another by the throat, thrown on the +ground, bound with cords, and prevented from giving the alarm by twelve +gags thrust into their twelve mouths; the three doors are opened by +three enormous false keys, the work of a member of the Commune, +locksmith by trade, who has remained faithful to the cause of M. +Lullier; and last, but not least, the sentinels, plunged in ecstasy at +the sight of the glorious fugitive, present arms. What a scene for a +melodrama! The most interesting figure, however, in my opinion, is the +secretary. I have the greatest respect for that secretary, who never +dreamt one instant of abandoning his master, and I can see him, while +Lullier is accomplishing his miracles, calmly writing in the midst of +the danger, with a firm hand, the faithful account of these immortal +adventures. “I have now,” continues the ex-prisoner of the +ex-Prefecture, “two hundred determined men, who serve me as a guard, +and three excellent revolvers, loaded, in my pocket. I had foolishly +remained too long without arms and without friends; now I am resolved +to blow the brains out of the first man who tries to arrest me!” I +heard a bourgeois who had read this exclaim, that he wished to Heaven +each member of the Commune would come to arrest him in turn. Oh! +blood-thirsty bourgeois! Then Lullier finishes up by declaring that he +scorns to hide, but continues to show himself freely and openly on the +boulevards. What a proud, what a noble nature! Oh, ye marionettes, ye +fantoccini! Yet let me not be unjust; I will try and believe in you +once more, in spite of armed requisitions, in spite of arrests, of +robberies—for there have been robberies in spite of your decrees—I will +try and believe that you have not only taken possession of the Hôtel de +Ville for the purpose of setting up a Punch and Judy show and playing +your sinister farces; I want to believe that you had and still have +honourable and avowable intentions; that it is only your natural +inexperience joined to the difficulties of the moment which is the +cause of your faults and your follies; I want to believe that there are +among you, even after the successive dismissal of so many of your +members, some honourable men who deplore the evil that has been done, +who wish to repair it, and who will try to make us forget the crimes +and forfeits of the civil war by the benefits which revolution +sometimes brings in its train. Yes, I am naturally full of hope, and +will try and believe this; but, honestly, what hope can you have of +inspiring confidence in those who are not prejudiced as I am in favour +of innovators, when they see you arrest each other in this fashion, and +know that you have among you such generals as Bergeret, such honest +citizens as Assy, and such escaped lunatics as Lullier? + +NOTES: + + [42] Assy, who first became publicly known as the leader of the strike + at Messrs. Schneider’s works at Creuzot, was an engineer. He was born + in 1840. He became a member of the International Society, and was + selected in 1870 to organise the Creuzot strike. Being threatened with + arrest, he went to Paris, but did not remain there long, and on the + 21st of March in that year, a few days after his return to Creuzot, + the strike of the miners commenced. Assy was, finally, arrested and + tried before the Correctional Tribune of Paris as chief and founder of + a secret society, but he was acquitted of that charge. + At the siege of Paris, Assy was appointed as an officer in a free + guerilla corps of the Isle of France. Subsequently he was a + lieutenant in the 192nd battalion of the National Guard. Getting on + the Central Committee, he took an active share in the events that + occurred. Appointed commander of the 67th battalion on the 17th + March, we find him on the morning of the 18th as Governor of the + Hôtel de Ville, and colonel of the National Guard, organising with + the members of the committee the means of a serious + resistance—giving orders for the construction of + barricades—stopping the transport of munitions and provisions from + Paris. Becoming a member of the Commune, he took an active part in + carrying into effect the decrees which led, among other things, to + the demolition of the Vendôme Column and of the house of M. Thiers. + He was arrested in April, and was succeeded as Governor of the + Hôtel de Ville by one Pindy, who retained the office till the army + entered Paris. Assy was held prisoner, _sur parole_, at the Hôtel + de Ville, till the 19th April, when he was liberated. After this + Assy was engaged in superintending the manufacture of munitions of + war. He was the sole superintendent of the supply, especially as + regards quality. Among the warlike stores manufactured were + incendiary shells filled with petroleum, intended to be thrown into + Paris during the insurrection. It is certain that these engines of + destruction could only have been made at the factory superintended + by Assi. He was arrested on the 21st May. Assy was one of the + chiefs of the insurrection; he denied signing the decrees for the + execution of the hostages, or order for the enrolment of the + military in the National Guard. Assy was condemned by the tribunal + of Versailles, Sept. 2, to confinement for life in a French + fortress—a light penalty for the deeds of this important insurgent. + + [43] Memoir, see Appendix 5. + +[Illustration: General Cluseret.] + + + + +XXXIV. + + +The fighting still continues, the cannonading is almost incessant. +However, the damage done is but small. To-day, the 7th April, things +seem to be in pretty much the same position as they were after Bergeret +had been beaten back and Flourens killed. The forts of Vanves and Issy +bombard the Versailles batteries, which in their turn vomit shot and +shell on Vanves and Issy. Idle spectators, watching from the Trocadéro, +see long lines of white smoke arise in the distance. Every morning, +Citizen Cluseret,[44] the war delegate, announces that an assault of +gendarmes has been victoriously repulsed by the garrisons in the forts. +It is quite certain that if the Versaillais do attack they are +repulsed, as they make no progress whatever; but do they attack, that +is the question? I am rather inclined to think that these attacks and +repulses are mere inventions. It seems evident to me that the generals +of the National Assembly, who are now busy establishing batteries and +concentrating their forces, will not make a serious attempt until they +are certain of victory. In the meantime they are satisfied to complete +the ruin of the forts which were already so much damaged by the +Prussians. + +Between Courbevoie and the Porte Maillot the fighting is continual. +Ground is lost and gained, such and such a house that was just now +occupied by the Versaillais is now in the hands of the Federals, and +_vice versâ_. Neither side is wholly victorious, but the fighting goes +on. What! is there no one to cry out “Enough! Enough blood, enough +tears! Enough Frenchmen killed by Frenchmen, Republicans killed by +Republicans.” Men fall on each side with the same war cry on their +lips. Oh! when will all this dreadful misunderstanding cease? + +NOTES: + + [44] The biography of this general of the Commune is very imperfect, + down to the time when he was elected for the 1st Arrondissement of + Paris, and was thereupon appointed Minister of War, or in Communal + phraseology, Delegate at the War Department. He seems to have been one + of those beings, without country or family, but who are blessed, by + way of compensation, with a plurality of names; we do not know whether + Cluseret was really his own, or how many aliases he had made use of. + It is said that he was formerly captain in a battalion of Chasseurs + d’Afrique, but was dismissed the army upon being convicted of + defalcations, in connection with the purchase of horses, and, that + soon after his dismissal from the French army, he went to the + United States, where he served in the revolutionary war, and + attained to the rank of General. Then we have another story, to the + effect that having been entrusted with the care of a flock of + lambs, the number of the animals decreased so rapidly, that nothing + but the existence of a large pack of wolves near at hand, could + possibly have accounted for it in an honest way; this affair is + said to have occurred at Churchill, Such vague charges as these + however deserve but little credit. + After closing his career as a shepherd, he became a defender of the + Pope’s flock, enlisting in the brigade against which Garibaldi took + the field. The next we hear of him is that he joined the Fenians, + and made an attempt to get possession of Chester Castle, but that + he fell under suspicion of being a traitor, and was glad to escape + to France, where, report says, he found refuge with a religious + community. + + “When the devil was sick, + The devil a monk would be; + But when the devil was well, + The devil a monk was he! + + + + + XXXV. + + +Thirty men carrying muffled drums, thirty more with trumpets draped in +crape, head a long procession; every now and then the drums roll +dismally, and the trumpets give a long sad wail. + +Numerous detachments of all the battalions come next, marching slowly, +their arms reversed. A small bunch of red immortelles is on every +breast. Has the choice of the colour a political signification, or is +it a symbol of a bloody death? + +Next appears an immense funeral car draped with black, and drawn by +four black horses; the gigantic pall is of velvet, with silver stars. +At the corners float four great trophies of red flags. + +Then another car of the same sort appears, another, and again another; +in each of them there are thirty-two corpses. Behind the cars march the +members of the Commune bare-headed, and wearing red scarfs. Alas! +always that sanguinary colour! Last of all, between a double row of +National Guards, follows a vast multitude of men, women, and children, +all sorrowful and dejected, many in tears. + +The procession proceeds along the boulevards; it started from the +Beaujon hospital, and is going to the Père Lachaise: as it passes all +heads are bared. One man alone up at a window remains covered; the +crowd hiss him. Shame on him who will not bow before those who died for +a cause, whether it may be a worthy one or not! On looking on those +corpses, do not remember the evil they caused when they were alive. +They are dead now, and have become sacred. But remember, oh! remember, +that it is to the crimes of a few that are due the deaths of so many, +and let us help to hasten the hour when the criminals, whoever they be, +and to whatever party they belong; will feel the weight of the +inexorable Nemesis of human destiny. + + + + + XXXVI. + + +We are to have no more letters! As in the time of the siege, if you +desire to obtain news of your mother or your wife, you have no other +alternative than to consult a somnambulist or a fortune-teller. This is +not at all a complicated operation; of course you possess a ribbon or a +look of hair, something appertaining to the absent person. This +suffices to keep you informed, hour by hour, of what she says, does, +and thinks. Perhaps you would prefer the ordinary course of things, and +that you would rather receive a letter than consult a charlatan. But if +so, I would advise you not to say so. They would accuse you of being, +what you are doubtless, a reactionist, and you might get into trouble. + +Yesterday a young man was walking in the Champs Elysées, a Guard +National stalked up to him and asked him for a light for his cigar.—“I +am really very sorry,” said he, “but my cigar has gone out.”—“Oh! your +cigar is out, is it? Oh! so you blush to render a service to a patriot! +Reactionist that you are!” Thereupon a torrent of invectives was poured +on the poor young man, who was quickly surrounded by a crowd of eager +faces: One charming young person exclaimed, “Why, he is a disguised +sergent-de-ville!”—“Yes, yes; he is a gendarme!” is echoed on all +sides.—“I think he looks like Ernest Picard,” says one.—“Throw him into +the Seine,” says another.—“To the Seine, to the Seine, the spy!” and +the unfortunate victim is pushed, jostled, and hurried off. A dense +crowd of National Guards, women, and children had by this time +collected, all crying out at the top of their voices, and without any +idea of what was the matter, “Shoot him! throw him the water! hang +him!” Superstitious individuals leaned towards hanging for the sake of +the cords. As to the original cause of the commotion, no one seemed to +remember anything about it. I overheard one man say,—“It appears that +they arrested him just as he was setting fire to the ambulance at the +Palais de l’Industrie!” As to what became of the young man I do not +know; I trust he was neither hanged, shot, nor drowned. At any rate, +let it be a lesson to others not to get embroiled in dangerous +adventures of that kind; and whatever your anxiety may be concerning +your family or affairs, you would do well to hide it carefully under a +smiling exterior. Suppose you meet one of your friends, who says to +you, “My dear fellow, how anxious you must be?” You must answer, +“Anxious! oh, not at all. On the contrary, I never felt more free of +care in my life.”—“Oh! I thought your aunt was ill, and as you do not +receive any letters ...”—“Not receive any letters!” you continue in the +same strain, “who told you that? Not receive any letters! why, I have +more than I want! what an idea!”—“Then you must be strangely favoured,” +says your mystified companion; “for since Citizen Theiz[45] has taken +possession of the Post-office, the communications are stopped.”—“Don’t +believe it. It is a rumour set on float by the reactionists. Why, those +terrible reactionists go so far as to pretend that the Commune has +imprisoned the priests, arrested journalists, and stopped the +newspapers!”—“Well, you may say what you please, but a proclamation of +Citizen Theiz announces that communication with the departments will +not be re-established for some days.”—“Nothing but modesty on his part; +he has only to show himself at the Post-office, and the service, which +has been put out of order by those wretched reactionists, will be +immediately reorganised.”—“So I am to understand that you have news +every day of your aunt.”—“Of course.”—“Well, I am delighted to hear it; +for one of my friends, who arrived from Marseilles this morning, told +me that your aunt was dead.”—“Dead, good heavens! what do you mean? Now +I think of it, I did not get a letter this morning.”—“There you see!” + +You must not, however, allow your sorrow to carry you away, at the risk +of your personal safety, but answer readily. “I see it all, for a +wonder I did not get a letter this morning; Citizen Theiz is a +kind-hearted man, and did not want to make me unhappy.” + +NOTES: + + [45] A working chaser, and one of the most active and influential + members of the International Society. He was among the accused who + were tried in July, 1870, and was condemned to two years’ + imprisonment. On the formation of the Central Committee, he was + appointed Vice-President. It was Theiz who saved the General Post + Office, Rue J.J. Rousseau, from the total destruction decreed by other + members of the Commune. His fate is not well known. Director of the + General Post-office in the Rue J.J. Rousseau, he is said to have saved + that important establishment, doomed to destruction by the Commune. + Theiz escaped from Paris to London on the 29th of July; he took an + active part in the struggle to the last, and was close to Vermorel + when wounded at the barricade of the Château d’Eau. + + + + + XXXVII. + + +The queen of the age is the Press. Lately dethroned and somewhat shorn +of her majesty, but still a queen. It is in vain that the press has +sometimes degraded itself in the eyes of honest men by stooping to +applaud and approve of crimes and excesses, that journalists have done +what they can to lower it; still the august offspring of the human +mind, the press, has really lost neither its power nor its fascination. +Misunderstood, misapplied, it may have done some harm, but no one can +question the signal service which it has been able to render, or the +nobility of its mission. If it has sometimes been the organ of false +prophets, its voice has also been often raised to instruct and +encourage. + +When last night you went secretly, in a manner worthy of the act, to +seize on the printing presses of the _Journal des Débats_, the _Paris +Journal_, and the _Constitutionnel_, were you aware of what you were +doing? You imagined, perhaps, this act would have no other result than +that of suppressing violently a private concern—which is one kind of +robbery—and of reducing to a state of beggary—which is a crime—the +numerous individuals, journalists, printers, compositors, and others +who are employed on the journal, and who live by its means. You have +done worse than this. You have stopped, as far as it was in your power, +the current of human progress. You have suppressed man’s noblest. +right—the right of expressing his opinions to the world; you are no +better than the pickpocket who appropriates your handkerchief. You have +taken our freedom of thought by the throat, and said, “It is in my way, +I will strangle it.” Wherefore have you acted thus? To shut the mouths +of those who contradict you, is to admit that you are not so very sure +of being in the right. To suppress the journals is to confess your fear +of them; to avoid the light is to excite our suspicion concerning the +deeds you are perpetrating in the darkness. We shut our windows when we +do not desire to be seen. Little confidence is inspired by closed +doors. Your councils at the Hôtel de Ville are secret as the +proceedings of certain legal cases, the details of which might be +hurtful to public morality. Again I say, wherefore this mystery? What +strange projects have you on foot? Do you discuss among you, +propositions of a nature which your modesty declines to make known to +the world? This fear of publicity, of opposition, you have proved +afresh, by the nocturnal visits of your National Guards to the printing +offices, wherein they forced an entrance like housebreakers. Shall we +be reduced to judge of your acts, and of the bloody incidents of the +civil war, only by your own asseverations and those of your +accomplices? You must be very determined to act guiltily and to be +obliged to tell lies, as you take so much trouble to get rid of those, +who might pass sentence on you, and who might convict you of falsehood. +Therefore you have not only committed a crime in so doing, but made a +great mistake as well. No one can meddle with the liberty of the press +with impunity. The persecution of the press always brings with it its +own punishment. Look back to the many years of the Imperial Government, +to the few months of the Government of the 4th of September; of all the +crimes perpetrated by the former, of all the errors committed by the +latter, those crimes and errors which most particularly hastened the +end were those that were levelled against the freedom of the press. The +most valable excuse in favour of the revolt of the 18th of March was +certainly the suppression of several journals by General Vinoy, with +the consent of M. Thiers. How can you be so rash as to make the very +same mistakes which have been the destruction of former governments, +and also so unmindful of your own honour as to commit the very crime +which reduces you to the same level as your enemies? + +Ah I truly those who were ready to judge you with patience and +impartiality, those who at first were perhaps, on the whole, favourable +to you, because it seemed to them that you represented some of the +legitimate aspirations of Paris, even those, seeing you act like +thoughtless tyrants, will feel it quite impossible to blind themselves +any longer to your faults; those who having wished to esteem you for +the sake of liberty, will for the sake of liberty, be obliged to +despise you! + + + + + XXXVIII. + + +It cannot be true. I will not believe it. It cannot be possible that +Paris is to be again bombarded: and by whom? By Frenchmen! In spite of +the danger I was told there was to be apprehended near Neuilly, I +wished to see with my own eyes what was going on. So this morning, the +8th April, I went to the Champs Elysées. + +Until I reached the Rond Point there was nothing unusual, only perhaps +fewer people to be seen about. The omnibus does not go any farther than +the corner of the Avenue Marigny. An Englishwoman, whom the conductor +had just helped down, came up to me and asked me the way; she wanted to +go to the Rue Galilée, but did not like to walk up the wide avenue. I +pointed out to her a side-street, and continued my way. A little higher +up a line of National Guards, standing about ten feet distant from each +other, had orders to stop passengers from going any farther. “You can’t +pass.”—“But ...,” and I stopped to think of some plausible motive to +justify my curiosity. However, I was saved the trouble. Although I had +only uttered a hesitating “but,” the sentinel seemed to consider that +sufficient, and replied, “Oh, very well, you can pass.” + +The avenue seemed more and more deserted as I advanced. The shutters of +all the houses were closed. Here and there a passenger slipped along +close to the walls of the houses, ready to take refuge within the +street-doors, which had been left open by order, directly they heard +the whizzing of a shell. In front of the shop of a carriage-builder, +securely closed, were piled heaps of rifles; most of the National +Guards were stretched on the pavement fast asleep, while some few were +walking up and down smoking their pipes, and others playing at the +plebeian game of “bouchon.”[46] I was told that a shell had burst a +quarter of an hour before at the corner of the Rue de Morny. A captain +was seated there on the ground beside his wife, who had just brought +him his breakfast; the poor fellow was literally cut in two, and the +woman had been carried away to a neighbouring chemist’s shop +dangerously wounded. I was told she was still there, so I turned my +steps in that direction. A small group of people were assembled before +the door. I managed to get near, but saw nothing, as the poor thing had +been carried into the surgery. They told me that she had been wounded +in the neck by a bit of the shell, and that she was now under the care +of one of the surgeons of the Press Ambulance. I then continued my walk +up the avenue. The cannonading, which had seemed to cease for some +little time, now began again with greater intensity than ever. Clouds +of white smoke arose in the direction of the Porte Maillot, while bombs +from Mont Valérien burst over the Arc de Triomphe. On the right and +left of me were companies of Federals. A little further on a battalion, +fully equipped, with blankets and saucepans strapped to their +knapsacks, and loaves of bread stuck aloft on their bayonets, moved in +the direction of Porte Maillot. By the side of the captain in command +of the first company marched a woman in a strange costume, the skirt of +a vivandière and the jacket of a National Guard, a Phrygian cap on her +head, a chassepot in her hand, and a revolver stuck in her belt. From +the distance at which I was standing she looked both young and pretty. +I asked some Federals who she was; one told me she was the wife of +Citizen Eudes,[47] a member of the Commune, and another that she was a +newspaper seller in the Avenue des Ternes, whose child had been killed +in the Rue des Acacias the night before by a fragment of a shell, and +that she had sworn to revenge him. It appeared the battalion was on its +way to support the combatants at Neuilly, who were in want of help. +From what I hear the gendarmes and sergents de ville had fought their +way as far as the Rue des Huissiers. Now I had no doubt the Versailles +generals had made use of the gendarmes and sergents de ville, who were +most of them old and tried soldiers, but if in very truth they were +wherever the imagination of the Federals persisted in placing them, +they must either have been as numerous as the grains of sand on the +sea-shore, or else their leaders must have found out a way of making +them serve in several places at once. Having followed the battalion, I +found myself a few yards in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Suddenly a +hissing, whizzing sound is heard in the distance, and rapidly +approaches us; it sounds very much like the noise of a sky-rocket. “A +shell!” cried the sergeant, and the whole battalion to a man, threw +itself on the ground with a load jingling of saucepans and bayonets. +Indeed there was some danger. The terrible projectile lowered as it +approached, and then fell with a terrific noise a little way from us, +in front of the last house on the left-hand side of the avenue. I had +never seen a shell burst so near me before; a good idea of what it is +like may be had from those sinister looking paintings, that one sees +sometimes suspended round the necks of certain blind beggars, supposed +to represent an explosion in a mine. I think no one was hurt, and the +mischief done seemed to consist in a Wide hole in the asphalte and a +door reduced to splinters. The National Guards got up from the ground, +and several of them proceeded to pick up fragments of the shell. They +had, however, not gone many yards when another cry of alarm was given, +and again we heard the ominous Whizzing sound; in an instant we were +all on our faces. The second shell burst, but we did not see it; we +only saw at the top of the house that had already been struck, a window +open suddenly and broken panes fall to the ground. The shell had most +likely gone through the roof and burst in the attic. Was there anyone +in those upper stories? However, we were on our legs again and had +doubled the Arc de Triomphe. I had succeeded in ingratiating myself +with the men of the rear-guard, and I hoped to be able to go as far +with them as I pleased. Strange enough, and I confess it with _naif_ +delight, I did not feel at all afraid. Although half an inch difference +in the inclination of the cannon might have cost me my life, still I +felt inclined to proceed on my way. I begin to think that it is not +difficult to be brave when one is not naturally a coward! Beneath the +great arch were assembled a hundred or so of persons who seemed to +consider themselves in safety, and who from time to time ventured a few +steps forward, for the purpose of examining the damage done to Etex’s +sculptured group by three successive shells. But in the Avenue de la +Grande Armée only three Federals were to be seen, and I think I was the +only man in plain clothes they had allowed to go so far. I could +distinctly perceive a small barricade erected in front of the Porte +Maillot on this side of the ramparts. The bastion to the right was hard +at work cannonading the heights of Courbevoie; great columns of smoke, +succeeded by terrific explosions, testified to the zeal of the +Communist artillerymen. Beyond the ramparts the Avenue de Neuilly +extended, dusty and deserted. Unfortunately the sun blinded me, and I +could not distinguish well what was going on in the distance. By this +time the sound of musketry was heard distinctly. I was told they were +fighting principally at Saint James and in the park of Neuilly. I tried +to pass out of the gates with the battalion, but an officer caught +sight of me, and in no measured tones ordered me back. I ought not to +complain, however, he rendered me good service; for although the fire +of the Versaillais had somewhat diminished, I do not think the place +could have been much longer tenable, to judge from the quantities of +bits of shell that strewed the road; from the numerous litters that +were being borne away with their bloody burthens; from the +railway-station in ruins, and the condition of the neighbouring houses, +which had nearly all of them great black holes in their fronts. The +Federals did not seem at all impressed by their critical position; +sounds of laughter reached me from the interior of a casemate, from the +chimney of which smoke was arising, and guards running hither and +thither were whistling merrily the _Chant du Départ_, with a look of +complete satisfaction. + +[Illustration: The Arc de Triomphe, East Side (the Finest), Uninjured.] + +Damaged on the other side. During the Prussian siege it was defended +from injury, though no shells reached it. Uncovered before the civil +war. + +I managed to reach the Rue du Débarcadère, which is situated close to +the ramparts. An acquaintance of mine lives there. I knew he was away, +but I thought the porter would recognise and allow me to take up a +position at one of the windows. Next door, the corner house, I found a +shell had gone into a wine-merchant’s shop there, who could very well +have dispensed with such a visitor, and had behaved in the most unruly +fashion, breaking the glass, smashing the tables and counter, but +neither killing nor wounding anybody. The porter knew me quite well, +and invited me to walk upstairs to the apartments of my friend, +situated on the third floor. From the windows I could not see the +bastion, which was hidden by the station; but to the left, in the +distance, beyond the Bois de Boulogne, wherein I fancied I perceived +troops moving between the branches, but whether Versaillais or +Parisians I could not tell, arose the tremendous Mont Valérien bathed +in sunlight. The flashes from the cannon, which in daylight have a pale +silver tint, succeeded each other rapidly; the explosions were +formidable, and the fort was crowned with a wreath of smoke. They +appeared to be firing in the direction of Levallois, rather than on the +Porte Maillot. The Federals did not seem to attempt to reply. Turning +myself towards the right I could scan nearly the whole length of the +Avenue de Neuilly. The bare piece of ground which constitutes the +military zone was completely deserted; several shells fell there that +had been aimed doubtless at the Porte Maillot or the bastion. The +position I had taken up at the window was rather a perilous one. I was +just behind the bastion. Beyond the military zone most of the houses +seemed uninhabited, but I saw distinctly the National Guards in front +of the Restaurant Gilet, making their soup on the side-walk. I was too +far away to judge of the extent of the mischief done by the +cannonading, but I was told that several roofs had fallen in and many +walls had been thrown down in that quarter. All that I could see of the +market-place was empty; but the sound of musketry, and the smoke which +issued from the houses on one side of it, told me that the Federals +were there in sufficient numbers. A little further on I saw the barrels +of the rifles sticking out of the windows, with little wreaths of smoke +curling out of them; small knots of armed men every now and then +marched hurriedly across the avenue, and disappeared into the opposite +houses. Partly on account of the distance, and partly on account of the +blinding sun, and partly, perhaps, on account of the emotion I +experienced, which made me desire and yet fear to see, I could +distinguish the bridge but indistinctly, with the dark line of a +barricade in front of it. What surprised me most in the battle which I +was busily observing, was the extraordinarily small number of +combatants that were visible, when suddenly—it was about two o’clock in +the afternoon—the Versailles batteries at Courbevoie, which had been +silent for some time, began firing furiously. The horrid screech of the +mitrailleuse drowned the hissing of the shells; the whole breadth of +the long avenue was covered by a kind of white mist. The bastion in +front of me replied energetically. It seemed to me as if the interior +part of my ear was being rent asunder, when suddenly I heard a dull +heavy sound, such as I had not heard before, and I felt the house +tremble beneath me. Loud cries arose from the National Guards on the +ramparts. I fancied that a rain of shot and shell had destroyed the +drawbridge of the Porte Maillot; but it was not so; in the distance I +saw that the clouds of smoke were rolling nearer and nearer, and that +the roar of the musketry, which had greatly increased, sounded close +by. I felt sure that a rush was being made from Courbevoie—that the +Versaillais were advancing. The shells were flying over our heads in +the direction of the Champs Elysées. I began to distinguish that a +tumultuous mass of human beings were marching on in the smoke, in the +dust, in the sun. The guns on the bastion now thundered forth +incessantly. There was no mistaking by this time, there were the +Versaillais; I could see the red trowsers of the men of the line. The +Federals were shooting them down from the windows. Then I saw the +advanced guard stop, hesitate beneath the balls which seemed to rain on +them from the Place du Marché, and presently retire. Whereupon a large +number of Federals poured forth from the houses, and, walking close to +the walls, to be as much as possible out of the way of the projectiles, +hurried after the retreating enemy. But suddenly, when they had arrived +a little too far for me to distinguish anything very clearly, they in +their turn came to a standstill, and then retraced their steps, and +returned to their positions within the houses. The fire from the +Versaillais then sensibly diminished, but that of the bastions +continued its furious attack. It was thus that I witnessed one of those +_chassé-croisés_ under fire, which have become so frequent since this +dreadful civil war was concentrated at Neuilly. + +[Illustration: Horse Chasseur acting as a communist artillery man, +attended by a gamin sponger.] + +As it would have been most imprudent to follow the railway cutting, or +to have gone back by the Avenue de la Grande Armée, where the +Versailles shells were still falling, I walked up the Rue du +Débarcadère, and then turned into the Rue Saint-Ferdinand, and soon +found myself in the Place des Ternes, in front of the church. There was +a most dismal aspect about the whole of this quarter. Situated close to +the ramparts, it is very much exposed, and had suffered greatly. Nearly +all the shops were shut; some of the doors, however, of those where +wine or provisions, are sold, were standing open, while on the shutters +of others were inscribed in chalk, “The entrance is beneath the +gateway.” I was astonished to see that the church was open, a rare +sight in these days. Why, is it possible that the Commune has committed +the unqualifiable imprudence of not arresting the curé of +Saint-Ferdinand, and that she is weak enough—may she not have to regret +it!—to permit the inhabitants of Ternes to be baptised, married, and +buried according to the deplorable rites and ceremonies of Catholicism, +which has happily fallen into disuse in the other quarters of Paris? I +can now understand why the shells fall so persistently in this poor +arrondissement: the anger of the goddess of Reason (shall we not soon +have a goddess of Reason?) lies heavily on this quarter, the shame of +the capital, where the inhabitants still try to look as if they +believed in heaven! In spite of everything, however, I entered the +church; there were a great many women on their knees, and several men +too. The prayers of the dead were being said over the coffin of a woman +who, I was told, was killed yesterday by a ball in the chest, whilst +crossing the Avenue des Ternes, just a little above the railway bridge. +A ball, how strange! yet I was assured such was the case. It is pretty +evident, then, that the Versaillais were considerably nearer to Paris, +on this side at least, than the official despatches lead us to suppose. + +On returning to the street I directed my steps in the direction of the +Place d’Eylau. Two National Guards passed me, bearing a litter between +them.—“Oh, you can look if you like,” said one. So I drew back the +checked curtain. On the mattress was stretched a woman, decently +dressed, with a child of two or three years lying on her breast. They +both looked very pale; one of the woman’s arms was hanging down; her +sleeve was stained with blood; the hand had been carried away.—“Where +were they wounded?” I asked.—“Wounded! they are dead. It is the wife +and child of the velocipede-maker in the Avenue de Wagram; if you will +go and break the news to him you will do us a good service.” + +It was therefore quite true, certain, incontestable. The balls and +shells of the Versaillais were not content with killing the combatants +and knocking down the forts and ramparts. They were also killing women +and children, ordinary passers-by; not only those who were attracted by +an imprudent curiosity to go where they had no business, but +unfortunates who were necessarily obliged to venture into the +neighbouring streets, for the purpose of buying bread. Not only do the +shells of the National Assembly reach the buildings situated close to +the city walls, but they often fall considerably farther in, crushing +inoffensive houses, and breaking the sculpture on the public monuments. +No one can deny this. I have seen it with my own eyes. Anyhow, the +projectiles fall nearer and nearer the centre. Yesterday they fell in +the Avenue de la Grande Armée; to-day they fly over the Arc de +Triomphe, and fall in the Place d’Eylau and the Avenue d’Uhrich. Who +knows but what to-morrow they will have reached the Place de la +Concorde, and the next day perhaps I may be killed by one on the +Boulevard Montmartre? Paris bombarded! Take care, gentlemen of the +National Assembly! What the Prussians did, and what gave rise to such a +clamour of indignation on the part of the Government of the 4th +September, it will be both infamous and imprudent for you to attempt. +You kill Frenchmen who are in arms against their countrymen,—alas! that +is a horrible necessity in civil war,—but spare the lives and the +dwellings of those who are not arrayed against you, and who are perhaps +your allies. It is all very well to argue that guns are not endowed +with the gifts of intelligence and mercy, and that one cannot make them +do exactly what one likes; but what have you done with those marvellous +marksmen who, during the siege, continually threw down the enemy’s +batteries and interrupted his works with such extraordinary precision, +and who pretended that at a distance of seven thousand metres they +could hit the gilded spike of a Prussian helmet? Wherefore have they +become so clumsy since they changed places with their adversaries? +Joking apart, in a word, you are doing yourself the greatest injury in +being so uselessly cruel; every shell overleaping the fortifications is +not only a crime, but a great mistake. Remember, that in this horrible +duel which is going on, victory will not really remain with that party +which shall have triumphed over the other, by the force of arms (yours +undoubtedly), but to the one who, by his conduct, shall have succeeded +in proving to the neutral population, which observes and judges, that +right was on his side. I do not say but what your cause is the best; +for although we may have to reproach you with an imprudent resistance, +unnecessary attacks, and a wilful obstinacy not to see what was +legitimate and honourable in the wishes of the Parisians, still we must +consider that you represent, legally, the whole of France. I do not +say, therefore, but what your cause is the best; frankly though, can +you hope to bring over to your side that large body of citizens, whose +confidence you had shaken, by massacring innocent people in the +streets, and destroying their dwellings? If this bombardment continues, +if it increases in violence as it seems likely to do, you will become +odious, and then, were you a hundred times in the right, you will still +be in the wrong. Therefore, it is most urgent that you give orders to +the artillerymen of Courbevoie and Mont Valérien, to moderate their +zeal, if you do not desire that Paris—neutral Paris—should make +dangerous comparisons between the Assembly which flings us its shells, +and the Commune which launches its decrees, and come to the conclusion +that decrees are less dangerous missiles than cannon-balls. As to the +legality of the thing, we do not much care about that; we have seen so +many governments, more or less legal, that we are somewhat _blasés_ on +that point; and a few millions of votes have scarcely power enough to +put us in good humour with shot and shell. Certainly the Commune, such +as the men at the Hôtel de Ville have constituted it, is not a +brilliant prospect. It arrests priests, stops newspapers, wishes to +incorporate us, in spite of ourselves, in the National Guard; robs +us—so we are told; lies inveterately—that is incontestable, and +altogether makes itself a great bore; but what does that matter?—human +nature is full of weaknesses, and prefers to be bored than bombarded. + +[Illustration: Marine Gunner and Street-boy.] + +During the Prussian siege the sailors of the French navy played an +important part, their bravery, activity, and ingenuity being much +esteemed by the Parisians. Some, of them took the red side, and manned +the gun-boats on the Seine. Knowing the prestige attached to the brave +marines, the Communist generals made use of the naval clothes found in +the marine stores, and dressed therein some of the valliant heroes of +Belleville and Montmartre. + +NOTES: + + [46] The game of pitch-halfpenny, in, which, in France, a cork + (_bouchon_), with halfpence on the top of it, is placed on the ground. + + [47] General Eudes was the Alcibiades, or rather the Saint Just, of + the Commune. He had the face and manners of a fashionable _tenorino_, + the luxurious taste of the Athenian, the cruel inflexibility of + Robespierre’s protégé. He was born at Bonay, in the arrondissement of + Coutances. His father was a tradesman of the Boulevard des Italians. + In his examination before the Council of War in August, 1870, Eudes + called himself a shorthand writer and law student, though his real + position was said to be that of a linendraper’s clerk. His first + notable exploit was the assassination of a fireman at La Villette. For + this crime he was brought before the First Council of War at Paris. + Here he informed the President, in somewhat unparliamentary terms, + that “the betrayers of the country were not the Republicans, and that + to destroy the Imperial Government was to annihilate the Prussians.” + In spite of the eloquent appeal of his counsel, he was condemned to + death. The events of the fourth of September prevented the execution + of this sentence, and he lived to take an active part in the agitation + of the thirty-first of October. He was again tried for this conduct + and acquitted, together with Vermorel, Ribaldi, Lefrançais and others. + Eudes’ name figures in the first decrees of the Commune, and on the + last of those of the Committee of Public Safety. On the second of + April he was appointed Delegate for War, and, conjointly with + Cluseret, organised ten corps of the Enfants Perdus of Belleville. He + promised to each of his volunteers an annuity of 300 francs and a + decoration. Eudes was an atheist of the most violent type, and sayings + are attributed to him which make one shudder. + + + + + XXXIX. + + +Where is Bergeret? What have they done with Bergeret? We miss Bergeret. +They have no right to suppress Bergeret, who, according to the official +document, was “himself” at Neuilly; Bergeret, who drove to battle in an +open carriage; who enlivened our ennui with a little fun. They were +perfectly at liberty to take away his command and give it to whomsoever +they chose; I am quite agreeable to that, but they had no right to take +him away and prevent him amusing us. Alas! we do not have the chance so +often![48] + +Rumours are afloat that he has been taken to the Conciergerie. Poor +Bergeret! and why is he so treated? Because he got the Federals beaten +in trying to lead them to Versailles? + +[Illustration: CORPS LEGISLATIF.—THE HEAD-QUARTERS OF GENERAL BERGERET] + +Citizens, if you will allow me to express my humble opinion on the +subject, I shall take the opportunity of insinuating that the plan of +Citizen Bergeret—which has, I acknowledge, been completely +unsuccessful—was the only possible one capable of transforming into a +triumphant revolution, the émeute of Montmartre, now the Commune of +Paris. + +Let us look at it from a logical point of view, if you please. Does it +seem possible to you, that Paris can hold its own against the whole of +the rest of France? No, most certainly not. Today, especially, after +the disasters that have occurred to the communal insurrectionists of +Marseilles, Lyons, and Toulouse—disasters which your lying official +reports have in vain tried to transform into successes; today, I say, +you cannot possibly nourish any delusive hopes of help from the +provinces. In a few days, you will have the whole country in array in +front of your ramparts and your ruined fortresses, and then you are +lost; yes, lost, in spite of all the blinded heroism of those whom you +have beguiled to the slaughter. The only hope you could reasonably have +conceived was that of profiting by the first moment of surprise and +disorder, which the victorious revolt had occasioned among the small +number of hesitating soldiery which then constituted the whole of the +French army; to surprise Versailles, inadequately defended, and seize, +if it were possible, on the Assembly and the Government. Your sudden +revolution wanted to be followed up by a brusque attack, there would +then have been some hope—a faint one, I confess, but still a hope, and +this plan of Bergeret, by the very reason of its audacity, should not +have been condemned by you, who have only succeeded through violence +and audacity, and can only go on prospering by the same means. Now what +do you mean to do? To resist the whole of France? To resist your +enemies inside the walls, besides those enemies outside, who increase +in numbers and confidence every day? Your defeat is certain, and from +this day forth is only a question of time. You were decidedly wrong to +put Bergeret “in the shade” as they say at the Hôtel de Ville,—firstly, +because he amused us; and secondly, because he tried the only thing +that could possibly have succeeded—an enterprise worthy of a brilliant +madman. + +NOTES: + + [48] General Bergeret, Member of the Central Committee, Delegate of + War, &c., was a bookseller’s assistant. He emerged in 1869 from a + printing-office to support the irreconcileable candidates in the + election meetings. + Events progressed, and on the 18th of March Victor Bergeret + reappeared, resplendent in gold lace and embroidery, happy to have + found at last a government, to which Jules Favre did not belong. + When Bergeret, who never had any higher grade than that of sergeant + in the National Guard, was made general, he believed himself to be + a soldier. A friend of this pasteboard officer said one day, “If + Bergeret were to live a hundred years, he would always swear he had + been a general.” + On the 8th April, Victor Bergeret was arrested by order of the + Executive Commission for having refused obedience to Cluseret, a + general too, and his superior, and he was incarcerated in the + prison of Mazas, where he remained for a short time, until the day + when Cluseret was shut up there himself. In fact, Cluseret went + into the very cell which Bergeret had just quitted, and found an + autograph note written on the wall by his predecessor, and + addressed to himself. The words ran thus:— + + “CITIZEN CLUSERET,— + “You have had me shut up here, and you will be here yourself before + eight days are over. + +“GÉNÉRAL BERGERET.” + +On leaving the prison of Mazas, Bergeret was still kept a prisoner for +a time in a magnificent apartment of the Hôtel de Ville, decorated with +gilded panneling and cerise-coloured satin. His wife was allowed to +join him here, and he also obtained permission to keep with him a +little terrier, of which he was extremely fond. Shortly afterwards he +was reinstated, took his place again in the Communal Assembly, and was +attached to the commission of war. The beautiful palace of the +president of the Corps Législatif was now his residence, and there he +delighted in receiving the friends who had known him when he was poor. +His invariable home-dress in palace as in prison, was red from head to +foot: red jacket, red trousers, and red Phrygian cap. + One day, a short time after his release from prison, he said to an + intimate friend:—“Affairs are going well, but the Commune is in + need of money, I know it, and they are wrong not to confide in me. + I would lend them ten thousand francs willingly.” The generalship + had singularly enriched Jules Bergeret (himself). + +[Illustration: General Dombrowski.] + + + + +XL. + + +Who takes Bergeret’s place? Dombrowski.[49] Who had the idea of doing +this? Cluseret. First of all we had the Central Committee, then we had +the Commune, and now we have Cluseret. It looks as if Cluseret had +swallowed the Commune, which had previously swallowed and only half +digested the Central Committee. We are told that Cluseret is a great +man, that Cluseret is strong, that Cluseret will save Paris. Cluseret +issues decrees, and sees that they are executed. The Commune says, “_we +wish_;” but Cluseret says, “_I wish_.” It is he who has conceived and +promulgated the following edict: + +“In consideration of the patriotic demands of a large number of +National Guards, who, although they are married men, wish to have the +honour of defending their municipal rights, even at the expense of +their lives ...” + +I should like to know some of those National Guards who attach so +little importance to their lives! Show me two, and I will myself +consent to be the third. But I am interrupting Dictator Cluseret. + +“The decree of the fifth of April is therefore modified:” + +The decree of the fifth of April was made by the Commune, but Cluseret +does not care a straw for that. + + “From seventeen to nineteen, service in the marching-companies is + voluntary, but from nineteen to forty it is obligatory for the + National Guards, married or unmarried. + “I recommend all good patriots to be their own police, and to see + that this edict is carried out in their respective quartern, and to + force the refractory to serve.” + +As to the last paragraph of Cluseret’s decree it is impossible to joke +about it, it is by far too odious. This exhortation in favour of a +press-gang,—this wish that each man should become a spy upon his +neighbour (he says it in so many words), fills me with anger and +disgust. What! I may be passing in the streets, going about my own +business, and the first Federal who pleases, anybody with dirty hands, +a wretch you may be sure, for none but a wretch would follow the +recommendations of Cluseret,—an escaped convict, may take me by the +collar and say, “Come along and be killed for the sake of my municipal +independence.” Or else I may be in bed at night, quietly asleep, as it +is clearly my right to be, and four or five fellows, fired with +patriotic ardour, may break in my door, if I do not hasten to open it +on the first summons like a willing slave, and, whether I like it or +not, drag me in night-cap and slippers, in my shirt perhaps, if it so +pleases the brave _sans-culottes_, to the nearest outpost. Now I swear +to you, Cluseret, I would not bear this, if I had not, during the last +few hungry days of the siege, sold to a curiosity dealer—your colleague +now in the Commune—my revolver, which I had hoped naïvely might defend +me against the Prussians! Think, a revolver with six balls, if you +please, and which, alas! I forgot to discharge! + +We can only hope that even at this moment, when the revolution has +brought out of the darkness into the light, so many rascals and +cowards, just as the sediment rises to the top when the wine is shaken, +we must hope, that there will be found in Paris, nobody to undertake +the mean office of spy and detective; and that the decree of M. +Cluseret will remain a dead-letter, like so many other decrees of the +Commune. I will not believe all I am told; I will not believe that last +night several men, without any precise orders, without any legal +character whatever, merely National Guards, introduced themselves into +peaceful families; waking the wife and children, and carrying off the +husband as one carries off a housebreaker or an escaped convict. I am +told that this is a fact, that it has happened more than fifty times at +Montmartre, Batignolles, and Belleville; yet I will not believe it.[50] +I prefer to believe that these tales are “inventions of Versailles” +than to admit the possibility of such infamy. + +Come now, Cluseret, War Delegate, whatever he likes to call himself. +Where does he come from, what has he done, and what services has he +rendered, to give him a right thus to impose his sovereign wishes upon +us? + +He is not a Frenchman; nor is he an American; for the honour of France +I prefer his being an American. His history is as short as it is +inglorious. He once served in the French army, and left, one does not +know why; then went to fight in America during the war. His enemies +affirm that he fought for the Slave States, his friends the contrary. +It does not seem very clear which side he was on—both, perhaps. Oh, +America! you had taken him from us, why did you not keep him? Cluseret +came back to us with the glory of having forsworn his country. +Immediately the revolutionists received him with open arms. Only think, +an American! Do you like America? People want to make an America +everywhere. Modern Republics have had formidable enemies to contend +with—America and the revolution of ’98. We are sad parodists. We cannot +be free in our own fashion, but are always obliged to imitate what has +been or what is. But that which is adapted to one climate or country, +is it always that which is the fittest thing for another? I will +return, however, to this subject another time. America, who is so +vaunted, and whom I should admire as much as could reasonably be +wished, if men did not try to remodel France after her image, one must +be blind not to see what she has of weakness and of narrowness, amid +much that is truly grand. It was said to me once by some one, “The +American mind may be compared to a compound liqueur, composed of the +yeast of Anglo-Saxon beer, the foam of Spanish wines, and the dregs of +the _petit-bleu_ of Suresnes, heated to boiling point by the applause +and admiration given by the genuine pale ale, the true sherry, and +authentic Château-Margaux to these their deposits. From time to time +the caldron seethes with a little too much violence, and the bubbling +drink pours over upon the old world, bringing back to the pure source, +to the true vintage, their deteriorated products. Oh! The poor wines of +France! How many adulterations have they been submitted to!” Calumny +and exaggeration no doubt; but I am angry with America for sending +Cluseret back, as I am angry with the Commune for having imposed him on +Paris. The Commune, however, has an admirable excuse: it has not, +perhaps, found among true Frenchmen one with an ambition criminal +enough to direct, according to her wishes, the destruction of Paris by +Paris, and France by France. + +NOTES: + + [49] There are two versions of Dombrowski’s earlier history. By his + admirers he was said to have headed the last Polish insurrection: the + party of order stigmatise him as a Russian adventurer, who had fought + in Poland, but against the Poles, and in the Caucasus, in Italy, and + in France—wherever; in fine, blows were to be given and money earned. + He entered France, like many other adventurous knights, in Garibaldi’s + suite, came to Paris after the siege, and immediately after the + outbreak of the eighteenth of March was created general by the + Commune, and gathered round him in guise of staff the most + illustrious, or least ignoble, of those foreign parasites and + vagabonds, who have made of Paris a grand occidental Bohemian Babel. + These soldiers of fortune, most of whom had been “unfortunate” at + home, formed the marrow of the Commune’s military strength. + Dombrowski had gained a name for intrepidity even among these men + of reckless courage and adventurous lives. He maintained strict + discipline, albeit to a not very moral purpose. Whoever dared + connect his name with the word defeat was shot. Like many other + Communist generals he took the most stringent measures for + concealing the truth from his soldiers, and thus staved off total + demoralisation until the Versailles troops were in the heart of + Paris. His relations with the Federal authorities were not of an + uniformly amiable character. + + [50] A poor Italian smith told me he had three men seized. They had + taken a stove near the fortifications of Ternes, when they were + arrested. “But we are Italians!” they cried. It was no excuse, for the + Federals replied, “Italians! so much the better; you shall serve as + Garibaldians!” + + + + + XLI. + + +It was not enough that men should be riddled with balls and torn to +pieces by shells. The women are also seized with a strange enthusiasm +in their turn, and they too fall on the battle-field, victims of a +terrible heroism. What extraordinary beings are these who exchange the +needle for the needle-gun, the broom for the bayonet, who quit their +children that they may die by the sides of their husbands or lovers? +Amazons of the rabble, magnificent and abject, something between +Penthesilea and Théroigne de Méricourt. There they are seen to pass as +cantinières, among those who go forth to fight. The men are furious, +the women are ferocious,—nothing can appal, nothing discourage them. At +Neuilly, a vivandière is wounded in the head; she turns back a moment +to staunch the blood, then returns to her post of danger. Another, in +the 61st Battalion, boasts of having killed three _gardiens de la +paix_[51] and several _gendarmes_. On the plain of Châtillon a woman +joins a group of National Guards, takes her stand amongst them, loads +her gun, fires, re-loads and fires again, without the slightest +interruption. She is the last to retire, and even then turns back again +and again to fire. A _cantinière_ of the 68th Battalion was killed by a +fragment of shell which broke the little spirit-barrel she carried, and +sent the splinters into her stomach. After the engagement of the 3rd of +April, nine bodies were brought to the _mairie_ of Vaugirard. The poor +women of the quarter crowd there, chattering and groaning, to look for +husbands, brothers and son’s. They tear a dingy lantern from each +other, and put it close to the pale faces of the dead, amongst whom +they find the body of a young woman literally riddled with shot. What +means the wild rage that seizes upon these furies? Are they conscious +of the crimes they commit; do they understand the cause for which they +die? Yesterday, in a shop of the Rue de Montreuil, a woman entered with +her gun on her shoulder and her bayonet covered with blood. “Wouldn’t +you do better to stay at home and wash your brats?” said an indignant +neighbour. Whereupon arose a furious altercation, the virago working +herself into such a fury that she sprang upon her adversary, and bit +her violently in the throat, then withdrew a few steps, seized her gun, +and was going to fire, when she suddenly turned pale, her weapon fell +from her hands, and she sank back dead. In her wild passion she had +broken a blood vessel. Such are the women of the people in this +terrible year of 1871. It has its _cantinières_ as ’93 had its +_tricoteuses_,[52] but the cantinières are preferable, for the horrible +in them partakes of a savage grandeur. Fighting as they are against +brothers and kinsfolk, they are revolting, but against a foreign enemy, +they would have been sublime. + +Children, even, do not remain passive in this fearful conflict. The +children! you cry,—but do not smile; one of my friends has just seen a +poor boy whose eye has been knocked in with the point of a nail. It +happened thus. It was on Friday evening in the principal street of +Neuilly. Two hundred boys—the eldest scarcely twelve years old—had +assembled there; they carried sticks on their shoulders, with knives +and nails stuck at the end of them. They had their army roll, and their +numbers were called over in form, and their chiefs—for they had +chiefs—gave the order to form into half sections, then to march in the +direction of Charenton; a mite of a child trudged before, blowing in a +penny trumpet bought at a toy-shop, and they had a cantinière, a little +girl of six. Soon, they met another troop of children of about the same +numbers. Had the encounter been previously arranged? Had it been +decided that they should give battle? I cannot tell you this, but at +all events the battle took place, one party being for the Versailles +troops, the other for the Federals. Such a battle, that the inhabitants +of the quarter had the greatest difficulty in separating the +combatants, and there were killed and wounded, as the official +despatches of the Commune would give it; Alexis Mercier, a lad of +twelve, whom his comrades had raised to the dignity of captain, was +killed by the blow of a knife in the stomach. + +Ah! believe it, these women drunk with hate, these children playing at +murder, are symptoms of the terrible malady of the times. A few days +hence, and this fury for slaughter will have seized all Paris. + +NOTES: + + [51] The Gardiens de la Paix replaced the Sergents de Ville. They + carried no sword, and wore a cap with a tricoloured band and cockade; + in fact were the policemen of Paris. The Gendarmerie are the country + police. + + [52] Tricoteuses (knitters), women who attended political + clubs—working whilst they listened—1871 refined upon the idea of 1793. + The first revolution had its Tricoteuses, that of 1871 its + Petroleuses!!! + + + + + XLII. + + +May conciliation be hoped for yet? Alas! I can scarcely think so. The +bloody fight will have a bloody end. It is not alone between the +Commune of Paris and the Assembly of Versailles that there lies an +abyss which only corpses can fill. Paris itself, at this moment—I mean +the Paris sincerely desirous of peace—is no longer understood by +France; a few days of separation have caused strange divisions in men’s +minds; the capital seems to speak the country’s language no longer. +Timbuctoo is not as far from Pekin, as Versailles is distant from +Paris. How can one hope under such circumstances, that the +misunderstanding, the sole cause of our misfortunes, can be cleared +away? How can one believe that the Government of Monsieur Thiers will +lend an ear to the propositions carried there by the members of the +Republican Union of the rights of Paris,[53] by the delegates of +Parisian trade and by the emissaries of the Freemasons;[54] when the +principal object of all these propositions is the definitive +establishment of the Republic, and the fall and entire recognition of +our municipal liberties. The National Assembly is at the same point as +it was on the eve of the 18th of March; it disregards now, as it did +then, the legitimate wishes of the population, and, moreover, it will +not perceive the fact that the triumphant insurrection—in spite of the +excesses that everyone condemns—has naturally added to the validity of +our just revendications. The “Communists” are wrong, but the Commune, +the true Commune, is right; this is what Paris believes, and, +unhappily, this is what Versailles will not understand; it wants to +remain, as to the form of its government, weakly stationary; it makes a +municipal law that will be judged insufficient; and, as it obstinately +persists in errors which were worn out a month ago and are rotten now, +they will soon consider the “conciliators” whose ideas have progressed +from day to day, as the veritable agents of the insurrection, and send +them, purely and simply, about their business. + +Nevertheless, the desire of seeing this fratricidal war at an end, is +so great, so ardent, so general, that convinced as we are of the +uselessness of their efforts, we admire and encourage those who +undertake the almost hopeless task of pacification with persistent +courage. True Paris has now but one flag, which is neither the crimson +rag nor the tricolour standard, but the white flag of truce. + +NOTES: + + [53] The citizens, united under the denomination of the League of + Republican Union of the Rights of Paris, had adopted the following + programme, which seemed to them to express the wishes of the + population:— + “Recognition of the Republic. + “Recognition of the rights of Paris to govern itself, to regulate + its police, its finances, its public charities, its public + instruction, and the exercise of its religious liberty by a council + freely elected and all-powerful within the scope of its action. + “The protection of Paris exclusively confided to the National + Guard, formed of all citizens fit to serve. + “It is to the defence of this programme that the members of the + League wish to devote their efforts, and they appeal to all + citizens to aid them in the work, by making known their adhesion, + so that the members of the League, thereby strengthened and + supported, may exercise a powerful mediatory influence, tending to + bring about the return of peace, and to secure the maintenance of + the Republic. + “Paris, 6th April, 1871.” + Here follow the signatures of former representatives, _maires_, + doctors, lawyers, literary men, merchants, and others. + + [54] MANIFESTO OF THE FREEMASONS. + +“In the presence of the fearful events which make all France shudder +and mourn, in the sight of the precious blood that flows in streams, +the Freemasons, who represent the sentiments of humanity and have +spread them through the world, come once more to declare before you, +government and members of the Assembly, and before you, members of the +Commune, these great principles which are their law and which ought to +be the law of every one who has the heart of a man. + “The flag of the Freemasons bears inscribed upon it, the noble + device—Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Union. The Freemasons uphold + peace among men, and, in the name of humanity, proclaim the + inviolability of human life. The Freemasons detest all wars, and + cannot sufficiently express grief and horror at civil warfare. + Their duty and their right are to come between you and to say: + “‘In the name of humanity, in the name of fraternity, in the name + of the distracted country, put a stop to this effusion of blood; we + ask of you, we implore of you, to listen to our appeal.’” + + + + + XLIII. + + +Do you know what the Abbaye de Cinq-Pierres is, or rather what it was? +Mind, not Saint-Pierre, but Cinq-Pierres (Five Stones). Gavroche,[55] +who loves puns and is very fond of slang, gave this nickname to a set +of huge stones which stood before the prison of La Roquette, and on +which the guillotine used to be erected on the mornings when a capital +punishment was to take place. The executioner was the Abbé de +Cinq-Pierres, for Gavroche is as logical as he is ingenious. Well! the +abbey exists no longer, swept clean away from the front of the Roquette +prison. This is splendid! and as for the guillotine itself, you know +what has been done with that. Oh! we had a narrow escape! Would you +believe that that infamous, that abominable Government of Versailles, +conceived the idea, at the time it sat in Paris, of having a new and +exquisitely improved guillotine, constructed by anonymous carpenters? +It is exactly as I have the honour of telling you. You can easily +verify the fact by reading the proclamation of the “_sous-comité en +exercice._” What is the “active under-committee?” I admit that I am in +total ignorance on the subject; but, what does it matter! In these +times when committees spring up like mushrooms, it would be absurd to +allow oneself to be astonished at a committee—and especially a +sub-committee—more or less. Here is the proclamation:— + +“CITIZENS,—Being informed that a guillotine is at this moment in course +of construction,...” Dear me, yes, while you were fast asleep and +dreaming, with no other apprehension than that of being sent to prison +by the members of the Commune, a guillotine was being made. Happily, +the sub-committee was not asleep. No, not they! “... a guillotine +ordered and paid for ...”. Are you quite sure it was paid for, good +sub-committee? For that Government, you know, had such a habit of +cheating poor people out of their rights. “... by the late odious +government; a portable and rapid guillotine.” Ha! What do you say to +that? Does not that make your blood run cold? Rapid, you understand; +that is to say, that the guillotining of twelve or fifteen hundred +patriots in a morning would have been play to the Abbé of Cinq-Pierres. +And portable, too! A sort of pocket guillotine. When the members of the +Government had a circuit to make in the provinces, they would have +carried their guillotine with their seals of office, and if, at Lyons, +Marseilles, or any other great town, they had met a certain number of +scoundrels—Snip, snap! In the twinkling of an eye, no more scoundrels +left. Oh! how cunning! But let us go on reading. “The sub-committee of +the eleventh arrondissement ...” Oh! so there is a sub-committee for +each arrondisement, is there? “... has had these infamous instruments +of monarchical domination ...” One for you, Monsieur Thiers! “... +seized, and has voted their destruction for ever.” Very good +intentions, sub-committee, but you can’t write grammar. “In +consequence, they will be burnt in front of the _mairie_, for the +purification of the arrondissement and the preservation of the new +liberties.” And accordingly, a guillotine was burnt on the 7th of +April, at ten o’clock in the morning, before the statue of Voltaire. + +The ceremony was not without a certain weirdness. In the midst of a +compact crowd of men, women, and children, who shook their fists at the +odious instrument, some National Guards of the 187th Battalion fed the +huge flames with broken pieces of the guillotine, which crackled, +blistered, and blazed, while the statue of the old philosopher, wrapped +in the smoke, must have sniffed the incense with delight. When nothing +remained but a heap of glowing ashes, the crowd shouted with joy; and +for my own part, I fully approved of what had just been done as well as +of the approbation of the spectators. But, between you and me, do you +not think that many of the persons there had often stationed themselves +around the guillotine with rather different intentions than that of +seeing it burnt? And then, if in reducing this instrument of death to +ashes, they wished to prove that the time is past when men put men to +death, it seems to me that they ought not to stop at this. While we are +at it, let us burn the muskets too,—what say you? + +NOTES: + + [55] Gavroche is a street boy of Paris, a _gamin_ immortalized by + Victor Hugo in “Les Misérables,” a master of Parisian _argot_ (slang). + + + + + XLIV. + + +I have just witnessed a horrible scene. Alas! what harrowing spectacles +meet our eyes on every side, and will still before all this comes to an +end. I accompanied a poor old woman to a cemetery in the east of Paris. +Her son, who had engaged himself in a battalion of Federal guards, had +not been home for five days. He was most likely dead, the neighbours +said, and one bade her “go and look at the Cimetière de l’Est, they +have brought in a load of bodies there.” Imagine a deep trench and +about thirty coffins placed side by side. Numbers of people came there +to claim their own among the dead. To avoid crowding, the National +Guards made the people walk in order, two or three abreast, and thus +they were marshalled among the tombs and crosses. The poor woman and I +followed the others. From time to time I heard a burst of sobs; some +one amongst the dead had been recognised. On we go slowly, step by +step, as if we were at the doors of a theatre. At last we arrive before +the first coffin. The poor mother I have come with is very weak and +very sad; it is I who lift up the thin lid of the coffin. A grey-haired +corpse is lying within it, from the shoulders downwards nothing but a +heap of torn flesh, and clothes, and congealed blood. We continue on. +The second coffin also contains the body of an old man; no wounds are +to be seen; he was probably killed by a ball. Still we advance. I +observe that the old men are in far greater number than the young. The +wounds are often fearful. Sometimes the face is entirely mutilated. +When I had closed the lid of the last coffin the poor mother uttered a +cry of relief; her son was not there! For myself, I was stupefied with +horror, and only recovered my senses on being pushed on by the men +behind me, who wanted to see in their turn. “Well! when will he have +done?” said one. “I suppose he thinks that it is all for him.” + +[Illustration: Burning the Guillotine. April] + + + + + XLV. + + +What is absolutely stupefying in the midst of all this, is the smiling +aspect of the streets and the promenades. The constantly increasing +emigration is only felt by the diminution in the number of depraved +women and dissipated men; enough, however, remain to fill the cafés and +give life to the boulevards. It might almost be said that Paris is in +its normal state. + +Every morning, from the Champs Elysées, Les Ternes, and Vaugirard, +families are seen removing into the town, out of the way of the +bombardment, as at the time when Jules Favre anathematised the +barbarity of the Prussians. Some pass in cabs, others on foot, walking +sadly, with their bedding and household furniture piled on a cart. If +you question these poor people, they will all tell you of the shells +from the Versailles batteries, destroying houses and killing women and +children. What matters it? Paris goes her usual round of business and +pleasure. The Commune suppresses journals and imprisons journalists. +Monsieur Richardet, of the _National_, was marched off to prison +yesterday, for the sole crime of having requested a passport of the +savage Monsieur Rigault; the Commune thrusts the priests into cells, +and turns out the young girls from the convents, imprisons Monsieur +O’yan, one of the directors of the Seminary of St. Sulpice; hurls a +warrant of arrest at Monsieur Tresca, who escapes; tries to capture +Monsieur Henri Vrignault, who however, succeeds in reaching a place of +safety; the Commune causes perquisitions to be made by armed men in the +banking houses, seizes upon title deeds and money; has strong-boxes +burst open by willing locksmiths; when the locksmiths are tired, the +soldiers of the Commune help them with the butt-ends of their muskets. +They do worse still, these Communists—they do all that the +consciousness of supreme power can suggest to despots without +experience; each day they send honest fathers of families to their +death, who think they are suffering for the good cause, when they are +only dying for the good pleasure of Monsieur Avrial and Monsieur +Billioray. Well! and what is Paris doing all this time? Paris reads the +papers, lounges, runs after the last news and ejaculates: “Ah! ah! they +have put Amouroux into prison! The Archbishop of Paris has been +transferred from the Conciergerie to Mazas! Several thousand francs +have been stolen from Monsieur Denouille! Diable! Diable!” And then +Paris begins the same round of newspaper reading, lounging, and +gossiping again. Nothing seems changed. Nothing seems interrupted. Even +the proclamation of the famous Cluseret, who threatens us all with +active service in the marching regiments, has not succeeded in +troubling the tranquillity and indifference of the greater number of +Parisians. They look on at what is taking place, as at a performance, +and only bestow just enough interest upon it to afford them amusement. +This evening the cannonading has increased; on listening attentively, +we can distinguish the sounds of platoon-firing; but Paris takes its +glass of beer tranquilly at the Café de Madrid and its Mazagran at the +Café Riche. Sometimes, towards midnight, when the sky is clear, Paris +goes to the Champs Elysées, to see things a little nearer, strolls +under the trees, and smoking a cigar exclaims: “Ah! there go the +shells.” Then leisurely compares the roar of the battle of to-day to +that of yesterday. In strolling about thus in the neighbourhood of the +shells, Paris exposes itself voluntarily to danger; Paris is +indifferent, and use is second nature. Then bed-time comes, Paris looks +over the evening papers, and asks, with a yawn, where the devil all +this will end? By a conciliation? Or the Prussians perhaps? And then +Paris falls asleep, and gets up the next morning, just as fresh and +lusty as if Napoleon the Third were still Emperor by the grace of God +and the will of the French nation. + + + + + XLVI. + + +An insertion in the _Journal Officiel_ of Versailles has justly +irritated the greater part of the French press. This is the paragraph. +“False news of the most infamous kind has been spread in Paris where no +independent journal is allowed to appear.” From these few lines it may +be concluded, that in the eyes of the Government of Versailles the +whole of the Paris newspapers, whose editors have not deserted their +posts, have entirely submitted to the Commune, and only think and say +what the Commune permits them to think and say. This is an egregious +calumny. No, thank heaven! The Parisian press has not renounced its +independence, and if no account is taken (as is perfectly justifiable) +of a heap of miserable little sheets which no sooner appear than they +die, and of some few others edited by members of the Commune, one would +be obliged to acknowledge, on the contrary, that since the 18th of +March the great majority of journals have exhibited proofs of a proud +and courageous independence. Each day, without allowing themselves to +be intimidated, either by menaces of forcible suppression or threats of +arrest, they have fearlessly told the members of the Commune their +opinion without concealment or circumlocution. The French press has +undoubtedly committed many offences during the last few years, and is +not altogether irresponsible for the troubles which have overwhelmed +the unhappy country; but reparation is being made for these offences in +this present hour of danger, and the fearless attitude which it has +maintained before these men of the Hôtel de Ville, atones nobly for the +past. It has constituted itself judge; condemns what is condemnable, +resists violence, endeavours to enlighten the masses. Sometimes too—and +this is perhaps its greatest crime in the eyes of the Versailles +Government—it permits itself to disapprove entirely of the acts of the +National Assembly; some journals going as far as to insinuate that the +Government is not altogether innocent of the present calamities. But +what does this prove? That the press is no more the servant of the +Assembly than it is the slave of the Commune; in a word, that it is +free. + +And what false news is this of which the _Journal Officiel_ of +Versailles complains, and against which it seems to warn us? Does it +think it likely that we should be silly enough to give credence to the +shouts of victory that are recorded each morning, on the handbills of +the Commune? Does it suppose that we look upon the deputies as nothing +but a race of anthropophagi who dine every day off Communists and +Federals at the _tables d’hôte_ of the Hôtel des Réservoirs? Not at +all. We easily unravel the truth, from the entanglement of +exaggerations forged by the men of the Hôtel de Ville; and it is +precisely this just appreciation of things that we owe to those papers +which the _Journal Officiel_ condemns so inconsiderately. + +But it is not of fake news alone, probably, that the Versailles +Assembly is afraid. It would not perhaps be sorry that we should ignore +the real state of things, and I wager that if it had the power it would +willingly suppress ill-informed journals—although they are not +Communist the least in the world—who allow themselves to state that for +six days the shells of Versailles have fallen upon Les Ternes, the +Champs Elysées and the Avenue Wagram, and have already cost as many +tears and as much bloodshed, as the Prussian shells of fearful memory. + + + + + XLVII. + + +Wednesday, 12th April.—Another day passed as yesterday was, as +to-morrow will be. The Versaillais attack the forts of Vanves and Issy +and are repulsed. There is fighting at Neuilly, at Bagneux, at +Asnières. In the town requisitions and arrests are being made. A +detachment of National Guards arrives before the Northern +railway-station. They inquire for the director, but director there is +none. Embarrassing situation this. The National Guards cannot come all +this way for nothing. Determined on arresting some one, they carry off +M. Félix Mathias, head of the works, and M. Coutin, chief inspector. An +hour later other National Guards imprison M. Lucien Dubois, general +inspector of markets, in the depôt of the ex-Prefecture of Police. Here +and there a few journalists are arrested without cause, to serve as +examples; some priests are despatched to Mazas, among others M. +Lartigues, _curé_ of _Saint Leu_. Yesterday the following was placarded +on the shut doors of the church at Montmartre: + +“Since priests are bandits and churches retreats where they have +morally assassinated the masses, causing _France to cower beneath the +clutches of the infamous Bonapartes, Favres, and Trochus_, the +delegates of the stone masons at the ex-Prefecture of Police give +orders that the church of Saint-Pierre (not Cinq-Pierres this time) +shall be closed, and decrees the imprisonment of its priests and its +_Frères Ignorantins_. Signed by Le Mousau.” + +To-day it is the turn of the church of Notre Dame de Lorette. A +considerable number of worshippers had assembled in the holy place. The +National Guards arrive, headed by men in plain clothes. Under the +Empire such men were called spies. The women found praying are turned +out, those who do not obey promptly enough, with blows. This done, the +guards retire. What they had come there for is not known. But what we +are certain of is, that they will begin again to-morrow in this same +church, or in another. The days resemble each other as the children of +an accursed family. What frightful catastrophe will break this shameful +monotony? + + + + + XLVIII. + + +Eh! What? It is impossible! Are your brains scattered? I speak +figuratively, awaiting the time when they will be scattered in earnest. +It must be some miserable jester who has worded, printed, and placarded +this unconscionable decree. But no, it is in the usual form, the usual +type. This is rather too much, Gentlemen of the Commune; it outsteps +the bounds of the ridiculous; you count a little too much this time on +the complicity of some of the population, and on the patience of +others. Here is the decree: + +[Illustration: The Column in the Place Vendôme.] + +Erected by the first Napoleon to commemorate his German campaign of +1805. An imitation of the Column of Trajan, at Rome, slightly taller. +It cost 1,500,000 francs! + + “THE COMMUNE OF PARIS, + + “Considering that the Imperial column of the Place Vendôme is a + monument of barbarian, a symbol of brute force, of false glory, an + encouragement of military spirit, a denial of international rights, + a permanent insult offered by the conquerors to the conquered, a + perpetual conspiracy against one of the great principles of the + French Republic, namely: Fraternity, + “Decrees: + “_Sole article_.—The Colonne Vendôme is to be demolished.” + +Now I must tell you plainly, you are absurd, contemptible, and odious! +This sorry farce outstrips all one could have imagined, and all that +the Versailles papers said of you must have been true; for what you are +doing now is worse than anything they could ever have dared to imagine. +It was not enough to violate the churches, to suppress the +liberties,—the liberty of writing, the liberty of speaking, the liberty +of free circulation, the liberty of risking one’s life or not. It was +not enough that blood should be recklessly spilled, that women should +be made widows and children orphans, trade stopped and commerce ruined; +it was not enough that the dignity of defeat—the only glory +remaining—should be swallowed up in the shameful disaster of civil war; +in a word, it was not sufficient to have destroyed the present, +compromised the future; you wish now to obliterate the past! Funereal +mischief! Why, the Colonne Vendôme is France, and a trophy of its past +greatness,—alas, at present in the shade—is not the monument, but the +record of a victorious race who strode through the world conquering as +they went, planting the tricolour everywhere. In destroying the Colonne +Vendôme, do not imagine that you are simply overthrowing a bronze +column surmounted by the statue of an emperor; you disinter the remains +of your forefathers to shake their fleshless bones, and say to them, +“You were wrong in being brave and proud and great; you were wrong to +conquer towns, to win battles; you were wrong to astound the universe +by raising the vision of France glorified. It is scattering to the wind +the ashes of heroes! It is telling those aged soldiers, seen formerly +in the streets (where are they now? Why do we meet them no longer? Have +you killed them, or does their glory refuse to come in contact with +your infamy?) It is telling the maimed soldiers of the Invalides, “You +are but blockheads and brigands. So you have lost a leg, and you an +arm! So much the worse for you idle scamps. Look on these rascals +crippled for their country’s honour!” It is like snatching from them +the crosses they have won, and delivering them into the hands of the +shameless street urchins, who will cry, “A hero! a hero!” as they cry +“Thief! thief!” There is certainly purer and less costly grandeur than +that which results from war and conquests. You are free to dream for +your country a glory different to the ancient glory; but the heroic +past, do not overthrow it, do not suppress it, now especially, when you +have nothing with which to replace it, but the disgraces of the +present. Yet, no! Complete your work, continue in the same path. The +destruction of the Colonne Vendôme is but a beginning, be logical and +continue; I propose a few decrees: + + “The Commune of Paris, considering that the Church of Notre Dame de + Paris is a monument of superstition, a symbol of divine tyranny, an + affirmation of fanaticism, a denial of human rights, a permanent + insult offered by believers to atheists, a perpetual conspiracy + against one of the great principles of the Commune, namely, the + convenience of its members, + “Decrees: + “The Church of Notre Dame shall be demolished.” + +What say you to my proposition? Does it not agree with your dearest +desire? But you can do better and better: believe me you ought to have +the courage of your opinions. + + “The Commune of Paris, considering that the Museum of the Louvre + contains a great number of pictures, of statues, and other objects + of art, which, by the subjects they represent, bring eternally to + the mind of the people the actions of gods, and kings, and priests; + that these actions indicated by flattering brush or chisel are + often delineated in such a way as to diminish the hatred that + priests, kings, and gods should inspire to all good citizens; + moreover, the admiration excited by the works of human genius is a + perpetual assault on one of the great principles of the Commune, + namely, its imbecility, + “Decrees: + “_Sole article_.—The Museum of the Louvre shall be burned to the + ground.” + +Do not attempt to reply that in spite of the recollections of religion +and despotism attached to these monuments you would leave Notre Dame +and the Museum of the Louvre untouched for the sake of their artistic +importance. Beware of insinuating that you would have respected the +Colonne Vendôme had it possessed some merit as a work of art. You! +respect the masterpieces of human art! Wherefore? Since when, and by +what right? No, little as you may have been known before you were +masters, you were yet known enough for us to assert that one of +you—whom I will name: M. Lefrançais—wished in 1848 to set fire to the +_Salon Carré_; there is another of you—whom I will also name: M. Jules +Vallès—asserts that Homer was an old fool. It is true that M. Jules +Vallès is Minister of Public Instruction. If you have spared Notre Dame +and the Museum of the Louvre up to this moment, it is that you dared +not touch them, which is a proof, not of respect but of cowardice. + +Ah! our eyes are open at last! We are no longer dazzled by the +chimerical hopes we nourished for a moment, of obtaining, through you +communal liberties. You did but adopt those opinions for the sake of +misleading us, as a thief assumes the livery of a house to enter his +master’s room and lay hands on his money. We see you now as you are. We +had hoped that you were revolutionists, too ardent, too venturous +perhaps, but on the whole impelled by a noble intention: you are +nothing but insurgents, insurgents whose aim is to sack and pillage, +favoured by disturbances and darkness. If a few well-intentioned men +were among you, they have fled in horror. Count your numbers, you are +but a handful. If there still remain any among you, who have not lost +all power of discriminating between justice and injustice, they look +towards the door, and would fly if they dared. Yet this handful of +furious fools governs Paris still. Some among us have been ordered to +their death, and they have gone! How long will this last? Did we not +surrender our arms? Can we not assemble, as we did a month ago near the +Bank, and deal justice ourselves without awaiting an army from +Versailles? Ah I we must acknowledge that the deputies of the Seine and +the Maires of Paris, misled like ourselves, erred in siding with the +insurrectionists. They wished to avert street fighting. Is the strife +we are witnessing not far more horrible than that we have escaped? One +day’s struggle, and it would have ended. Yes, we were wrong to lay down +our arms; but who could have believed—the excesses of the first few +days seemed more like the sad consequences of popular effervescence +than like premeditated crimes—who could have believed that the chiefs +of the insurrection lied with such impudence as is now only too +evident, and that before long the Commune would be the first to deprive +us of the liberties it was its duty to protect and develope? The +“Rurals” were right then,—they who had been so completely in the wrong +in refusing to lend an attentive ear to the just prayers of a people +eager for liberty, they were right when they warned us against the +ignorance and wickedness of these men. Ah! were the National Assembly +but to will it, there would yet be time to save Paris. If it really +wished to establish a definite Republic, and concede to the capital of +France the right, free and entire, of electing an independent +municipality, with what ardour should we not rally round the legitimate +Government! How soon would the Hôtel de Ville be delivered from the +contemptible men who have planted themselves there. If the National +Assembly could only comprehend us! If it would only consent to give +Paris its liberty, and France its tranquillity, by means of honourable +concessions! + + + + + XLIX. + + +The delegates of the League of the Republican Union of the Rights of +Paris returned from Versailles to-day, the 14th April, and published +the following reports:— + + “CITIZENS,—The undersigned, chosen by you to present your programme + to the Government of Versailles, and to proffer the good offices of + the League to aid in the conclusion of an armistice, have the + honour of submitting you an account of their mission. + “The delegates, having made known to Monsieur Thiers the programme + of the League, he replied that as chief of the sole legal + government existing in France he had not to discuss the basis of a + treaty, but notwithstanding he was quite ready to treat with such + persons whom he considered as representing Republican principles, + and to acquaint them with the intentions of the chief of the + executive power. + “It is in accordance with these observations, which denote, in + fact, the true character of our mission, that Monsieur Thiers has + made the following declarations on different points of our + programme. + “Respecting the recognition of the Republic, Monsieur Thiers + answers for its existence as long as he remains in power. A + Republican state was put into his hands, and he stakes his honour + on its conservation.” + +Ay! it is precisely that which will not satisfy Paris—Paris sighing for +peace and liberty. We have all the most implicit faith in Thiers’ +honour. We are assured that the words, “French Republic” will head the +white Government placards as long as he remains in power. But when +Thiers is withdrawn from power—National Assemblies can be capricious +sometimes—what assures us that we shall not fall victims to a +monarchical or even an imperial restoration? Ghosts can appear in +French history as well as in Anne Radcliffe’s novels. To attempt to +consider the elected members who sit at Versailles as sincere +Republicans is an effort beyond the powers of our credulity. You see +that Thiers himself dares not speak his thoughts on what might happen +were he to withdraw from power. Thus we find ourselves, as before, in a +state of transition, and this state of transition is just what appals +us. We address ourselves to the Assembly, and ask of it, “We are +Republican; are you Republican?” And the Assembly pretends to be deaf, +and the deputies content themselves with humming under their breaths, +some the royal tune of “The White Cockade,” and others the imperial air +of “Partant pour la Syrie.” This does not quite satisfy us. It is true +that Thiers says he will maintain the form of government established in +Paris as long as he possibly can; but he only promises for himself, and +it results clearly from all this that we shall not keep the Republic +long, since its definite establishment depends in fact on the majority +in the Assembly, while the Assembly is royalist, with a slight sprinkle +of imperialism here and there. But let us continue the reading of the +reports. + +“Respecting the municipal franchise of Paris, Monsieur Thiers declares +that Paris will enjoy its franchise on the same conditions as those of +the other towns, according to a common law, such as will be set forth +by the Assembly of the representatives of all France. Paris will have +the common right, nothing less and nothing more.” + +This again is little satisfactory. What will this common right be? What +will the law set forth by the representatives of all France be worth? +Once more we have the most entire confidence in Thiers. But have we the +right to expect a law conformable to our wishes from an assembly of men +who hold opinions radically opposed to ours on the point which is in +fact the most important in the question—on the form of government? + +“Concerning the protection of Paris, now exclusively confided to the +National Guards, Monsieur Thiers declares that he will proceed at once +to the organization of the National Guard, but that cannot be to the +absolute exclusion of the army.” + +In my personal opinion, the President is perfectly right here; but from +the point of view which it was the mission of the delegates of the +Republican Union to take, is not this third declaration as evasive as +the preceding? + +“Respecting the actual situation and the means of putting an end to the +effusion of blood, Monsieur Thiers declares that not recognising as +belligerents the persons engaged in the struggle against the National +Assembly, he neither can nor will treat the question of an armistice; +but he declares that if the National Guards of Paris make no hostile +attack, the troops of Versailles will make none either, until the +moment, yet undetermined, when the executive power shall resolve upon +action and commence the war.” + +Oh, words! words! We are perfectly aware that Thiers has the right to +speak thus, and that all combatants are not belligerents. But what! Is +it as just as it is legal to argue the point so closely, when the lives +of so many men are at stake; and is a small grammatical concession so +serious a thing, that sooner than make it one should expose oneself to +all the horrible feelings of remorse that the most rightful conqueror +experiences at the sight of the battle-field? + +“Monsieur Thiers adds: ‘Those who abandon the contest, that is to say, +who return to their homes and renounce their hostile attitude, will be +safe from all pursuit.’” + +Is Thiers quite certain that he will not find himself abandoned by the +Assembly at the moment when he enters upon this path of mercy and +forgiveness? + +“Monsieur Thiers alone excepts the assassins of General Lecomte and +General Clément Thomas, who if taken will be tried for the crime.” + +And here he is undoubtedly right. We must have been blind indeed the +day that this double crime failed to open our eyes to the true +characters of the men who, if they did not commit it or cause it to be +committed, made at least no attempt to discover the criminals! + +“Monsieur Thiers, recognising the impossibility for a great part of the +population, now deprived of work, to live without the allotted pay, +will continue to distribute that pay for several weeks longer. “Such, +citizens, is, etc., etc.” + +This report is signed by A. Dessonnaz, A. Adam, and Donvallet. Alas! we +had foreseen what the result of the honourable attempt made by the +delegates of the Republican Union would be. And this result proves that +not only is the National Guard at war with the regular troops, but that +a persistent opposition is also made by the National Assembly of +Versailles to the most reasonable portion of the people of Paris. And +yet the Assembly represents France, and speaks and acts only as she is +commissioned to speak and act. The truth then is this,—Paris is +republican and France is not republican; there is division between the +capital and the country. The present convulsion, brought about by a +group of madmen, has its source in this divergence of feeling. And what +will happen? Will Paris, once more vanquished by universal suffrage, +bend her neck and accept the yoke of the provincials and rustics? The +right of these is incontestable; but will it, by reason of superiority +of numbers, take precedence of our right, as incontestable as theirs? +These are dark questions, which hold the minds of men in suspense, and +which, in spite of our desire to bring the National Assembly over to +our side, the greater part of whose members could not join us without +betraying their trust, cause us to bear the intolerable tyranny of the +men of the Hôtel de Ville, even while their sinister lucubrations +inspire us with disgust. + + + + +L. + + +During this time the walls resound with fun. Paris of the street and +gutter—Paris, Gavroche and blackguard, rolls with laughter before the +caricatures which ingenious salesmen stick with pins on shutters and +house doors. Who designed these wild pictures, glaringly coloured and +common, seldom amusing and often outrageously coarse? They are signed +with unknown names—pseudonyms doubtless; their authors, amongst whom it +is sad to think that artists of talent must be counted, are like women, +high born and depraved, mixing with their faces masked in hideous +orgies. + +These vile pictures with their infamous calumnies keep up and even +kindle contempt and hatred in ignorant minds. Laughter is often far +from innocent. But the passers-by think little of this, and are amused +enough when they see Jules Favre’s head represented by a radish, or the +_embonpoint_ of Monsieur Picard by a pumpkin. Where will all this +unwholesome stuff be scattered in a few days? Flown away and dispersed. +Eccentric amateurs will tear their hair at the impossibility of +obtaining for their collections these frivolous witnesses of troubled +times. I will make a few notes so as to diminish their despair as far +as I am able. + +A green soil and a red sky—In a black coffin is a half-naked woman, +with a Phrygian cap on her head, endeavouring to push up the lid with +all her might. Jules Favre, lean, small, head enormous, under lip thick +and protruding, hair wildly flying like a willow in a storm, wearing a +dress coat, and holding a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, +with his knee pressed upon the coffin-lid, is trying to nail it down, +in spite of the very natural protestations of the half-naked woman. In +the distance, and running towards them, is Monsieur Thiers, with a +great broad face and spectacles, also armed with a hammer. Below is +written: “If one were to listen to these accursed Republics, they would +never die.” Signed, Faustin. Same author—Same woman. But this time she +lies in a bed hung with red flags for curtains. Her shoulders a little +too bare, perhaps, for a Republic, but she must be made attractive to +her good friends the Federals. At the head of the bed a portrait of +Rochefort; Rochefort is the favoured one of this lady, it seems. Were I +he, I should persuade her to dress a little more decently. Three black +men, in brigands’ hats, their limbs dragging, and their faces +distorted, approach the bed, singing like the robbers in Fra Diavolo: +“Ad.... vance ... ad ... vance ... with ... pru ... dence ...!” The +first, Monsieur Thiers, carries a heavy club and a dark lantern; Jules +Favre, the second, brandishes a knife, and the third, carries nothing, +but wears a peacock’s feather in his hat, and.... I have never seen +Monsieur Picard, but they tell me that it is he. + +The young Republic again, with shoulders bare and the style of face of +a _petite dame_ of the Rue Bossuet. She comes to beg Monsieur Thiers, +cobbler and cookshop-keeper, who “finds places for pretenders out of +employ, and changes their old boots for new at the most reasonable +prices,” to have her shoes mended. “Wait a bit! wait a bit!” says the +cobbler to himself, “I’ll manage ’em so as to put an end to her +walking.” + +Here is a green monkey perched on the extreme height of a microscopic +tribune. At the end of his tail he wears a crown; on his head is a +Phrygian cap. It is Monsieur Thiers of course. “Gentlemen,” says he, “I +assure you that I am republican, and that I adore the vile multitude.” +But underneath is written: “We’ll pluck the Gallic cock!” The author of +this is also Monsieur Faustin. I have here a special reproach to add to +what I have already said of these objectionable stupidities. I do not +like the manner in which the author takes off Monsieur Thiers; he quite +forgets the old and well-known resemblance of the chief of the +executive power to Monsieur Prud’homme, or what is the same thing, to +Prud’homme’s inventor, Henri Monnier. One day Gil Perez the actor, met +Henri Monnier on the Boulevard Montmartre. “Well, old fellow!” cried +he, “are you back? When are you and I going to get at our practical +jokes again?” Henri Monnier looked profoundly astonished; it was +Monsieur Thiers! + +The next one is signed Pilotel. Pilotel, the savage commissioner! He +who arrested Monsieur Chaudey, and who pocketed eight hundred and +fifteen francs found in Monsieur Chaudey’s drawers. Ah! Pilotel, if by +some unlucky adventure you were to succumb behind a barricade, you +would cry like Nero: “Qualis artifex pereo!” But let us leave the +author to criticise the work. A Gavroche, not the Gavroche of the +_Misérables_, but the boy of Belleville, chewing tobacco like a +Jack-tar, drunk as a Federal, in a purple blouse, green trousers, his +hands in his pockets, his cap on the nape of his neck; squat, violent, +and brutish. With an impudent jerk of the head he grumbles out: “I +don’t want any of your kings!” This coarse sketch is graphic and not +without merit. + +Horror of horrors! “Council of Revision of the Amazons of Paris,” this +next is called. Oh! if the brave Amazons are like these formidable +monstrosities, it would be quite sufficient to place them in the first +rank, and I am sure that not a soldier of the line, not a guardian of +the peace, not a _gendarme_ would hesitate a moment at the sight, but +all would fly without exception, in hot haste and in agonised terror, +forgetting in their panic even to turn the butt ends of their muskets +in the air. One of these Amazons—but how has my sympathy for the +amateurs of collections led me into the description of these creatures +of ugliness and immodesty?—one of them.... but no, I prefer leaving to +your imagination those Himalayan masses of flesh, and pyramids of +bone—these Penthesileas of the Commune of Paris that are before me. + +Ah! Here is choleric old “Father Duchesne” in a towering passion, with +short legs, bare arms, and rubicund face, topped with an immense red +cap. In one hand he holds a diminutive Monsieur Thiers and stifles him +as if he were a sparrow. Here, the drawing is not only vile, but stupid +too. + +This time we have the nude, and it is not the Republic, but France that +is represented. If the Republic can afford to bare her shoulders, +France may dispense with drapery entirely. She has a dove which she +presses to her bosom. On one side is a portrait of Monsieur Rochefort. +Again! Why this unlovely-looking journalist is a regular Lovelace. +Finally, two cats (M. Jules Favre and M. Thiers) are to be seen outside +the garret window with their claws ready for pouncing. “Poor dove!” is +the tame inscription below the sketch.[56] + +Next we find a Holy Family, by Murillo. Jules Favre, as Joseph, leads +the ass by the reins, and a wet-nurse, who holds the Comte de Paris in +her arms instead of the infant Jesus, is seated between the two +panniers, trying to look at once like Monsieur Thiers and the Holy +Virgin. The sketch is called “The Flight.... to Versailles.” Oh! fie! +fie! Messieurs the Caricaturists, can you not be funny without +trenching on sacred ground? + +We might refer to dozens more. Some date from the day when Paris shook +off the Empire, and are so infamous that, by a natural reaction of +feeling, they inspire a sort of esteem for those they try to make you +despise; others, those which were seen by everyone during the siege, +are less vile, because, of the patriotic rage which originated them, +and excused them; but they are as odious as they can be nevertheless. +But the amateurs of collections who neglected to buy fly-sheets one by +one as they appeared, must be satisfied with the above. + +NOTES: + + [56] As a power for the encouragement of virtue and the suppression of + vice, caricature cannot be too highly estimated, though often abused. + It is doubtful which exercises the greater influence, poem or picture. + In England, perhaps, picture wields the greater power; in France, + song. Yet, “let me write the ballads and you may govern the people,” + is an English axiom which was well known before pictures became so + plentiful or so popular, or the refined cartoons of Mr. Punch were + ever dreamt of. In Paris, where art-education is highly developed, + fugitive designs seems to have, with but few exceptions, descended + into vile abuse and indecent metaphor, the wildest invective being + exhausted upon trivial matters—hence the failure. + The art advocates of the Commune, with but few exceptions, seem to + have been of the most humble sort, inspired with the melodramatic + taste of our Seven Dials or the New Out, venting itself in + ill-drawn heroic females, symbols of the Republic, clad in white, + wearing either mural crowns or Phrygian caps, and waving red flags. + They are the work of aspiring juvenile artists or uneducated men. I + allude to art favourable to the Commune, and not that coëval with + it, or the vast mass of pictorial unpleasantly born of gallic rage + during the Franco-Prussian war, including such designs as the + horrible allegory of Bayard, “Sedan, 1870,” a large work depicting + Napoleon III. drawn in a calèche and four, over legions of his + dying soldiers, in the presence of a victorious enemy and the + shades of his forefathers’, and the well-known subject, so popular + in photography, of “The Pillory,” Napoleon between King William and + Bismarck, also set in the midst of a mass of dead and dying + humanity. Paper pillories are always very popular in Paris, and + under the Commune the heads of Tropmann and Thiers were exhibited + in a wooden vice, inscribed Pantin and Neuilly underneath. And, + again, in another print, entitled “The Infamous,” we have Thiers, + Favre, and MacMahon, seen in a heavenly upper storey, fixed to + stakes, contemplating a dead mother and her child, slain in their + happy home, the wounds very sanguine and visible, the only + remaining relict being a child of very tender years in an + overturned cradle; beneath is the inscription “Their Works.” + Communal art seems also to have been very severe upon landlords, + who are depicted with long faces and threadbare garments, seeking + alms in the street, or flying with empty bags and lean stomachs + from a very yellow sun, bearing the words “The Commune, 1871.” + Whilst as a contrast, a fat labourer, with a patch on his blouse, + luxuriates in the same golden sunshine. + As a sample of the better kind of French art, we give two + fac-similes, by Bertal, from _The Grelot_, a courageous journal + started during the Commune; it existed unmolested, and still + continues. We here insert a fac-simile of a sketch called “Paris + and his Playthings.” + “What destruction the unhappy, spoiled, and ill-bred child whose + name is Paris has done, especially of late! + “France, his strapping nurse, put herself in a passion in vain, the + child would not listen to reason. He broke Trochu’s arms, ripped up + Gambetta, to see what there was inside. He blew out the lantern of + Rochefort; as to Bergeret himself, he trampled him under foot. + “He has dislocated all his puppets, strewed the ground with the + _débris_ of his fancies, and he is not yet content,—‘What do you + want, you wretched baby?’—‘I want the moon!’ The old woman called + the Assembly was right in refusing this demand,—‘The moon, you + little wretch, and what would you do with it if you had it?’—‘I + would pull it to bits, as I did the rest.’” + Further on will be found “Paris eating a General a day” (Chapter + LXXVIII). Early in June, 1871 there appeared in the same journal + “The International Centipede,” “John Bull and the Blanche Albion.” + The Queen of England, clad in white, holding in her hands a model + of the Palace of Westminster, and sundry docks, resists the + approach of an interminable centipede, on which she stamps, vainly + endeavouring to impede the progress of the coil of fire and blood + approaching to soil and fire her fair robe; beside her stands John + Bull, in a queer mixed costume, half sailor, with the smalls and + gaiters of a coalheaver. He bears the Habeas Corpus Act under his + arm, but stands aghast and paralysed, it never seeming to have + occurred to the artist that this “Monsieur John Boule, Esquire,” + was well adapted by his beetle-crushers to stamp out the vermin. + Perhaps, it is needless to add, that the snake-like form issues + from a hole in distant Prussia, meandering through many nations, + causing great consternation, and that M. Thiers is finishing off + the French section in admirable style. + +[Illustration: Little Paris and his Playthings. Nurse. Mais! Sacré +mille noms d’un moutard! what will you want next?—PETIT PARIS: I’ll +have the moon!] + + + + + LI. + + +What has Monsieur Courbet to do among these people? He is a painter, +not a politician. A few beery speeches uttered at the Hautefeuille Café +cannot turn his past into a revolutionary one, and an order refused for +the simple reason that it is more piquant for a man to have his +button-hole without ornament than with a slip of red ribbon in it, when +it is well known that he disdains whatever every one else admires, is +but a poor title to fame. To your last, Napoleon Gaillard![57] To your +paint-brushes, Gustave Courbet! And if we say this, it is not only from +fear that the meagre lights of Monsieur Courbet are insufficient, and +may draw the Commune into new acts of folly,—(though we scarcely know, +alas! if there be any folly the Commune has left undone,)—but it is, +above all, because we fear the odium and ridicule that the false +politician may throw upon the painter. Yes! whatever may be our horror +for the nude women and unsightly productions with which Monsieur +Courbet[58] has honoured the exhibitions of paintings, we remember with +delight several, admirably true to nature, with sunshine and summer +breezes playing among the leaves, and streams murmuring refreshingly +over the pebbles, and rocks whereon climbing plants cling closely; and, +besides these landscapes, a good picture here and there, executed, if +not by the hand of an artist—for the word artist possesses a higher +meaning in our eyes—at least by the hand of a man of some power, and we +hate that this painter should be at the Hôtel de Ville at the moment +when the spring is awakening in forest and field, and when he would do +so much better to go into the woods of Meudon or Fontainebleau to study +the waving of the branches and the eccentric twists and turns of the +oak-tree’s huge trunk, than in making answers to Monsieur +Lefrançais—iconoclast in theory only as yet—and to Monsieur Jules +Vallès, who has read Homer in Madame Dacier’s translation, or has never +read it at all. That one should try a little of everything, even of +polities, when one is capable of nothing else, is, if not excusable, at +any rate comprehensible; but when a man can make excellent boots like +Napoleon Gaillard, or good paintings like Gustave Courbet, that he +should deliberately lay himself open to ridicule, and perhaps to +everlasting execration, is what we cannot admit. To this Monsieur +Courbet would reply: “It is the artists that I represent; it is the +rights and claims of modern art that I uphold. There must be a great +revolution in painting as in politics; we must federate too, I tell +you; we’ll decapitate those aristocrats, the Titians and Paul +Veroneses; we’ll establish, instead of a jury, a revolutionary +tribunal, which shall condemn to instant death any man who troubles +himself about the ideal—that king whom we have knocked off his throne; +and at this tribunal I will be at once complainant, lawyer, and judge. +Yes! my brother painters, rally around me, and we will die for the +Commune of Art. As to those who are not of my opinion, I don’t care the +snap of a finger about them.” By this last expression the friends of +Monsieur Gustave Courbet will perceive that we are not without some +experience of his style of conversation. Courbet, my master, you don’t +know what you are talking about, and all true artists will send you to +old Harry, you and your federation. Do you know what an artistic +association, such as you understand it, would result in? In serving the +puerile ambition of one man—its chief, for there will be a chief, will +there not, Monsieur Courbet?—and the puerile rancours of a parcel of +daubers, without name and without talent. Artist in our way we assert, +that no matter, what painter, even had he composed works superior in +their way to Courbet’s “_Combat de Cerfs_” and “_Femme au Perroquet_,” +who came and said, “Let us federate,” we would answer him plainly: +“Leave us in peace, messieurs of the federation, we are dreamers and +workers; when we exhibit or publish and are happy enough to meet with a +man who will buy or print a few thousand copies of our work without +reducing himself to beggary, we are happy. When that is done, we do not +trouble ourselves much about our work; the indulgence of a few friends, +and the indignation of a few fools, is all we ask or hope for. We +federate? Why? With whom? If our work is bad, will the association with +any society in the world make it good? Will the works of others gain +anything by their association with ours? Let us go home, _messieurs les +artistes_, let us shut our doors, let us say to our servants—if we have +any—that we are at home to no one, and, after having cut our best +pencil, or seized our best pen, let us labour in solitude, without +relaxation, with no other thought than that of doing the best we can, +with no higher judge than that of our own artistic conscience; and when +the work is completed, let us cordially shake hands with those of our +comrades who love us; let us help them, and let them bring help to us, +but freely, without obligation, without subscriptions, without +societies, and without statutes. We have nothing to do with these +free-masonries, absurd when brought into the domain of intelligence, +and in which two or three hundred people get together to do that, which +some new-comer, however unknown his budding fame, would accomplish at a +blow, in the face of all the associations in the world.” This is what I +should naïvely reply to Monsieur Courbet if he took it into his head to +offer me any advice or compact whatsoever to sign. + +[Illustration: The Modern “Erostrate” Courbet. In progress of removal. +June 1871.] + +The artists have done still better than we should; they have not +answered at all, for one cannot call the “General Assembly of all the +Artists in Design,” presided over by Monsieur Gustave Courbet, and held +on the 13th of April, 1871, in the great amphitheatre of the Ecole de +Médecine, a real meeting of French artists. We know several celebrated +painters, and we saw none of them there. The citizens Potier and +Boulaix had been named secretaries. We congratulate them; for this high +distinction may, perhaps, aid in founding their reputation, which was +in great want of a basis of some kind. But there were some sculptors +there, perhaps? We saw some long beards, beards that were quite unknown +to us, and their owners may have been sculptors, perhaps. For Paris is +a city of sculptors. But if artists were wanting, there were talkers +enough. Have you ever remarked that there are no orators so +indefatigable as those who have nothing to say? And the interruptions, +the clamour, the apostrophising, more highly coloured than courteous! +Such an overwhelming tumult was never heard:— + +“No more jury!” +“Yes! yes! a jury! a jury!” +“Out with the reactionist!” +“Down with Cabanel!” +“And the women? Are the women to be on the jury?” +“Neither the women, nor the infirm.” + +And all the time there is Monsieur Gustave Courbet, the chairman, +desperately ringing his bell for order, and launching some expressive +exclamation from time to time. And the result of all this? Absolutely +nothing at all! No! stop! There were a few statutes proposed—and every +one amused himself immensely. “Well! so much the better,” said one. +“Every one laughed, and no harm was done to anybody.” + +We beg your pardon! There was a great deal of harm done—to Monsieur +Courbet. + +NOTES: + + [57] Gaillard Senior (a sort of Odger), cobbler of Belleville and + democratic stump orator. Appointed, April 8, to the Presidency of the + Commission of Barricades. + + [58] As a painter Courbet has been very diversely judged. He was the + chief of the ultra-realistic school, and therefore a natural subject + for the contempt and abuse of the admirers of “legitimate art.” But + his later use of the political power entrusted to him has drawn down + upon him the wrath of an immense majority of the French public, which + his artistic misdemeanours had scarcely touched. On the sixteenth of + April he was elected a member of the Commune by the 6th arrondissement + of Paris, and forthwith appointed Director of the Beaux Arts. Until + this time his life had been purely professional, and consequently of + mediocre interest for the general public. He was born at Ornans, + department of the Doubs, in 1819, and received his primary + instructions from the Abbé Gousset, afterwards Archbishop of Rheims. + He first applied himself to the study of mathematics, painting the + while, and apparently aiming at a fusion of both pursuits. He + subsequently read for the bar for a short time, and, finally, adopting + art as his sole profession, threw himself heart and soul into a + Rénaissance movement as the apostle of a new style. The peculiarities + of his manner soon brought him into notoriety, and a school of + imitators grouped itself around him. His pride became a proverb. In + 1870 he was offered the cross of the Legion of Honour, and refused it, + arrogantly declaring that he would have none of a distinction given to + tradesmen and ministers. The part he took in the destruction of the + Colonne Vendôme is familiar to all readers of the English press. Three + weeks after the fall of the Commune he was denounced by a Federal + officer, and discovered at the house of a friend hiding in a wardrobe, + and in September was condemned by the tribunal at Versailles to six + months’ imprisonment and a fine of 600 francs—a slight penalty that + astonished everyone. + + + + + LII. + + +It is forbidden to cross the Place Vendôme, and naturally, walking +there is prohibited too. I had been prowling about every afternoon for +the last few days, trying to pass the sentinels of the Rue de la Paix, +hoping that some lucky chance might enable me to evade the military +order; all I got for my pains was a sharply articulated “_Passes au +large!_” and I remained shut out. + +To-day, as I was watching for a favourable opportunity, a _petite dame_ +who held up her skirts to show her stockings, which were as red as the +flag of the Hôtel de Ville—out upon you for a female +Communist!—approached the sentinel and addressed him with her most +gracious, smile. And oh, these Federals! The man in office forgot his +duty, and at once began with the lady a conversation of such an +intimate description, that for discretion’s sake I felt myself obliged +to take a slight turn to the left, and a minute later I had slipped +into the forbidden Place. + +A Place?—no, a camp it might more properly be called. Here and there, +are seen a crowd of little tents, which would be white if they were +washed, and littered about with straw. Under the tents lie National +Guards; they are not seen, but plainly heard, for they are snoring. You +remember the absurd old bit of chop-logic often repeated in the classes +of philosophy? One might apply it thus: he sleeps well who has a good +conscience; the Federals sleep well; ergo, the Federals have a good +conscience. Guards walk to and fro with their pipes in their mouths. If +I were to say that these honourable Communists show by their easy +manner, gentlemanly bearing, and superior conversation, that they +belong to the cream of Parisian society, you would perhaps be +impertinent enough not to believe one word of what I said. I think it, +therefore, preferable in every way to assert the direct contrary. There +is a group of them flinging away their pay at the usual game of +_bouchon_. “The Soldier’s Pay and the Game of Cork” is the title that +might be given by those who would write the history of the National +Guard from the beginning of the siege to the present time. And if to +the cork they added the bottle, they might pride themselves upon having +found a perfect one. This is how it comes to pass. The wife is hungry, +and the children are hungry, but the father is thirsty, and he receives +the pay. What does he do? He is thirsty, and he must drink; one must +think of oneself in this world. When he has satisfied his thirst, what +remains? A few sous, the empty bottle, and the cork. Very good. He +plays his last sou on the famous game, and in the evening, when he +returns home, he carries to his family—what?—the empty bottle! + +On the Place two barricades have been made, one across the Rue de la +Paix, and the other before the Rue Castiglione. “Two formidable +barricades,” say the newspapers, which may be read thus: “A heap of +paving stones to the right, and a heap of paving stones to the left.” I +whisper to myself that two small field-pieces, one on the place of the +New Opera-house, and the other at the Rue de Rivoli, would not be long +before they got the better of these two barricades, in spite of the +guns that here and there display their long, bright cylinders. + +The Federals have decidedly a taste for gallantry. About twenty women—I +say young women, but not pretty women—are selling coffee to the +National Guards, and add to their change a few ogling smiles meant to +be engaging. + +As to the Column, it has not the least appearance of being frightened +by the decree of the Commune which threatens it with a speedy fall. +There it stands like a huge bronze I, and the emperor is the dot upon +it. The four eagles are still there, at the four corners of the +pedestal, with their wreaths of immortelles, and the two red flags +which wave from the top seem but little out of place. The column is +like the ancient honour of France, that neither decrees nor bayonets +can intimidate, and which in the midst of threats and tumult, holds +itself aloft in serene and noble dignity. + + + + + LIII. + + +Who would think it? They are voting. When I say “they are voting,” I +mean to say “they might vote;” for as for going to the poll, Paris +seems to trouble itself but little about it. The Commune, too, seems +somewhat embarrassed. You remember Victor Hugo’s song of the +Adventurers of the Sea: + +“En partant du golfe d’Otrente + Nous étions trente, +Mais en arrivant à Cadix + Nous n’étions que dix.”[59] + +The gentlemen of the Hôtel de Ville might sing this song with a few +slight variations. The Gulf of Otranto was not their starting point, +but the Buttes Montmartre; though to make up for it they were eighty in +number. On arriving at C——, no, I mean, the decree of the Colonne +Vendôme, they were a few more than ten, but not many. What charming +stanzas in imitation of Victor Hugo might Théodore de Banville and +Albert Glatigny write on the successive desertions of the members of +the Commune. The first to withdraw were the _maires_ of Paris, +frightened to death at having been sent by the votes of their +fellow-citizens into an assembly which was not at all, it appears, +their ideal of a municipal council. And upon this subject Monsieur +Desmarest, Monsieur Tirard, and their _adjoints_ will perhaps permit me +an unimportant question. What right had they to persuade their electors +and the Friends of Order, to vote for the Commune of Paris if they were +resolved to decline all responsibility when the votes had been given +them? Their presence at the Hôtel de Ville, would it not have +infused—as we hoped—a powerful spirit of moderation even in the midst +of excesses that could even then be foretold? When they have done all +they can to persuade people to vote, have they the right to consider +themselves ineligible? In a word, why did they propose to us to elect +the Commune of Paris if the Commune were a bad thing? and if it were a +good thing, why did they refuse to take their part in it? Whatever the +cause, no sooner were they elected than they sent in their +resignations. Then the hesitating and the timid disappeared one after +another, not having the courage to continue the absurdity to the end. +Add to all this the arrests made in its very bosom by the Assembly of +the Hôtel de Ville itself, and you will then have an idea of the extent +of the dilemma. A few days more and the Commune will come to an end for +want of Communists, and then we shall cry, “Haste to the poll, citizens +of Paris!” And the white official handbills will announce supplementary +elections for Sunday, 16th of April. + +But here comes the difficulty; there may be elections, but not the +shadow of an elector. Of candidates there are enough, more than enough, +even to spare; Toting lists where the electors’ names are inscribed; +ballot-urns-no, ballot-boxes this time-to receive the lists; these are +all to be found, but voters to put the lists into the ballot-boxes, to +elect the candidates, we seek them in vain. The voting localities may +be compared to the desert of Sahara viewed at the moment when not a +caravan is to be seen on the whole extent of the horizon, so complete +is the solitude wherever the eager crowd of voters was expected to +hasten to the poll. Are we then so far from the day when the Commune of +Paris, in spite of the numerous absentees, was formed—thanks to the +strenuous efforts of the few electors left to us? Alas! At that time we +had still some illusions left to us, whilst now.... Have you ever been +at the second representation of a piece when the first was a failure? +The first day there was a cram, the second day only the claque +remained. People had found oat the worth of the piece, you see. +Nevertheless, though the place is peopled only with silence and +solitude, the claque continues to do its duty, for it receives its pay. +For the same reason one sees a few battalions marching to the poll, all +together, in step, just as they would march to the fighting at the +Porte Maillot; and as they return they cry, “Oh! citizens, how the +people are voting! Never was such enthusiasm seen!” But behind the +scenes,—I mean in the Hôtel de Ville,—authors and actors whisper to +each other: “There is no doubt about it, it is a failure!” + +NOTES: + + [59] +On leaving the gulf of Otranto + There were thirty of us there, +But on arriving at Cadiz + There were no more than ten. + + + + + LIV. + + +And what has become of the Bourse? What are the brokers and jobbers +saying and doing now? I ask myself this question for the first time, as +in ordinary circumstances, the Bourse is of all sublunary things that +which occupies me the least. I am one of those excessively stupid +people, who have never yet been able to understand how all those +black-coated individuals can occupy three mortal hours of every day, in +coming and going beneath the colonnade of the “temple of Plutus.” I +know perfectly well that stockbrokers and jobbers exist; but if I were +asked what these stockbrokers and jobbers do, I should be incapable of +answering a single word. We have all our special ignorances. I have +heard, it is true, of the _Corbeille_,[60] but I ingeniously imagined, +in my simple ignorance, that this famous basket was made in wicker +work, and crammed with sweet-scented leaves and flowers, which the +gentlemen of the Bourse, with the true gallantry of their nation, made +up into emblematical bouquets to offer to their lady friends. I was +shown, however, how much I was deceived by a friend who enlightened me, +more or less, as to what is really done in the Bourse in usual times, +and what they are doing there now. + +I must begin by acknowledging that in using the worn metaphor of the +“temple of Plutus” just now, I knew little of what I was talking about. + +The Bourse is not a temple; if it were it would necessarily be a church +or something like one, and consequently would have been closed long ago +by our most gracious sovereign, the Commune of Paris. + +The Bourse, then, is open; but what is the good of that? you will say, +for all those who haunt it now, could get in just as well through +closed doors and opposing railings; spectres and other supernatural +beings never find any difficulty in insinuating themselves through +keyholes and slipping between bars. ‘Poor phantoms! Thanks to the +weakness of our Government, which has neglected to put seals on the +portals of the Bourse, they are under the obligation of going in and +coming out like the most ordinary individuals; and a Parisian, who has +not learned, by a long intimacy with Hoffmann and Edgar Poë, to +distinguish the living from the dead, might take these ghosts of the +money-market for simple _boursiers_. Thank heaven! I am not a man to +allow myself to be deceived by specious appearances on such a subject, +and I saw at once with whom I had to do. + +On the grand staircase there were four or five of them, spectres lean +as vampires who have not sucked blood for three months; they were +walking in silence, with the creeping, furtive step peculiar to +apparitions who glide among the yew-trees in church-yards. From time to +time one of them pulled a ghost of a notebook from his ghost of a +waistcoat-pocket, and wrote appearances of notes with the shadow of a +pencil. Others gathered together in groups, and one could distinctly +hear the rattling of bones beneath their shadowy overcoats. They spoke +in that peculiar voice which is only understood by the _confrères_ of +the magi Eliphas Levy, and they recall to each other’s mind the +quotations of former days, Austrian funds triumphant, Government stock +at 70 (_quantum mutata ab illâ_), bonds of the city of Paris 1860-1869, +and the fugitive apotheosis of the Suez shares. They said with sighs: +“You remember the premiums? In former times there were reports made, in +former times there were settling days at the end of the month, and huge +pocket-book’s were so well filled, that they nearly burst; but now, we +wander amidst the ruins of our defunct splendour, as the shade of +Diomedes wandered amid the ruins of his house at Pompeii. We are of +those who were; the imaginary quotations of shares that have +disappeared, are like vain epitaphs on tombs, and we, despairing +ghosts, we should die a second time of grief, if we were not allowed to +appear to each other in this deserted palace, here to brood over our +past financial glories!” Thus spoke the phantoms of the money market, +and then added: “Oh! Commune, Commune, give us back our settling days?” +From time to time a phantom, which still retains its haughty air, and +in which we recognise a defunct of distinction, passes near them. In +the days of Napoleon the Third and the Prussians this was a +stockbroker; it passed along with a mass of documents under its arm,—as +the father of Hamlet, rising from the grave, still wore his helmet and +his sword. It enters the building, goes towards the _Corbeille_, shouts +out once or twice, is answered only by an echo in the solitude, and +then returns, saluted on his passage by his fellow-ghost. And to think +that a little bombardment, followed by a successful attack, seven or +eight houses set on fire by the Versailles shells, seven or eight +hundred Federals shot, a few women blown to pieces, and a few children +killed, would suffice to restore these desolate spectres to life and +joy. But, alas! hope for them is deferred; the last circular of +Monsieur Thiers announces that the great military operations will not +commence for several days. They must wait still longer yet. The people +who cross the Place de la Bourse draw aside with a sort of religious +terror from the necropolis where sleep the three per cents and the +shares of the _Crédit Foncier_; and if the churches were not closed, +more than one charitable soul would perhaps burn a candle to lay the +unquiet spirits of these despairing jobbers. + +NOTES: + + [60] A circular space in the great hall of the Bourse, enclosed with a + railing, and in which the stockbrokers stand to take bids. It is + nicknamed the basket (_corbeille_). + + + + + LV. + + +The game is played, the Commune is _au complet_. In the first +arrondissement 21260 electors, are inscribed, and there were 9 voters! +Monsieur Vésinier had 2 votes, and Monsieur Vésinier was elected. +Monsieur Lacord—more clever still—has no votes at all, and, triumphing +by the unanimity of his electors, Monsieur Lacord will preside over the +Commune of Paris in future. A very logical arrangement. It must be +evident to all serious minds that the legislators of the Hôtel de Ville +have promulgated _in petto_ a law which they did not think it necessary +to make known, but which exists nevertheless, and most be couched +somewhat in the following terms:—“Clause 1st. The elections will not be +considered valid, if the number of voters exceed a thousandth part of +the electors entered.—Clause 2nd. Every candidate who has less than +fifteen votes will be elected; if he has sixteen his election will be a +matter of discussion.” The poll is just like the game called, “He who +loses gains, and he who gains loses!” and the probable advantages of +such an arrangement are seen at once. Now let us do a bit of Communal +reasoning. By whom was France led within an inch of destruction? By +Napoleon the Third. How many votes did Napoleon the Third obtain? Seven +millions and more. By whom was Paris delivered into the hands of the +Prussians? By the dictators of the 4th September. How many votes did +the dictators of the 4th September get for themselves in the city of +Paris? More than three hundred thousand. _Ergo_, the candidates who +obtain the greatest number of votes are swindlers and fools. The +Commune of Paris cannot allow such abuses to exist; the Commune +maintains universal suffrage—the grand basis of republican +institutions—but turns it topsy-turvy. Michon has only had half a +vote,—then Michon is our master! + +Ah! you do not only make us tremble and weep, you make us laugh too. +What is this miserable parody of universal suffrage? What is this farce +of the will of the people being represented by a half a dozen electors? +The unknown individual, who owes his triumph to the kindness of his +concierge and his water-carrier, becomes a member of the Commune. I +shall be governed by Vésinier, with Briosne and Viard as supporters. Do +you not see that the few men, with any sense left, who still support +you, have refused to present themselves as candidates, and that even +amongst those who were mad enough to declare themselves eligible, there +are some who dispute the validity of the elections? No; you see nothing +of all this, or rather it suits you to be blind. What are right and +justice to you? Let us reign, let us govern, let us decree, let us +triumph. All is contained in that. Rogeard pleases us, so we’ll have +Rogeard. If the people won’t have Rogeard, so much the worse for the +people. Beautiful! admirable! But why don’t you speak out your opinion +frankly? There were some honest brigands (_par pari refertur_) in the +Roman States who were perhaps no better than you are, but at least they +made no pretension of being otherwise than lawless, and followed their +calling of brigands without hypocrisy. When, by the course of various +adventures, the band got diminished in numbers, they stuck no handbills +on the walls to invite people to elect new brigands to fill up the +vacant places; they simply chose among the vagabonds and such like +individuals those, who seemed to them, the most capable of dealing a +blow with a stiletto or stripping a traveller of his valuables, and the +band, thus properly reinforced, went about its usual occupations. The +devil! _Messieurs_, one must say what is what, and call things by their +names. Let us call a cat a cat, and Pilotel a thief. The time of +illusions is past; you need not be so careful to keep your masks on; we +have seen your faces. We have had the carnival of the Commune, and now +Ash-Wednesday is come. You disguised yourselves cunningly, _Messieurs_; +you routed out from the old cupboards and corners of history the +cast-off revolutionary rags of the men of ’98; and, sticking some +ornaments of the present fashion upon them,—waistcoats à la Commune and +hats à la Federation,—you dressed yourselves up in them and then struck +attitudes. People perceived, it is true, that the clothes that were +made for giants, were too wide for you pigmies; they hung round your +figures like collapsed balloons; but you, cunning that you were, you +said, “We have been wasted by persecution.” And when, at the very +beginning, some stains of blood were seen upon your old disguises; “Pay +no attention,” said you, “it is only the red flag we have in our +pockets that is sticking out.” And it happened that some few believed +you. We ourselves, in the very face of all our suspicions, let +ourselves be caught by the waving of your big Scaramouche sleeves, that +were a great deal too long for your arms. Then you talked of such +beautiful things: liberty, emancipation of workmen, association of the +working-classes, that we listened and thought we would see you at your +task before we condemned you utterly. And now we have seen you at your +task, and knowing how you work, we won’t give you any more work to do. +Down with your mask, I tell you! Come, false Danton, be Rigault again, +and let Sérailler’s[61] face come out from behind that Saint Just mask +he has on. You, Napoléon Gaillard, though you are a shoemaker, you are +not even a Simon. Drop the Robespierre, Rogeard! Off with the trappings +borrowed from the dark, grand days! Be mean, small, and ridiculous,—be +yourselves; we shall all be a great deal more at our ease when you are +despicable and we are despising you again. + +Paris said to you yesterday just what I am telling you now. This almost +general abstention of electors, compared with the eagerness of former +times, is but the avowal of the error to which your masquerade has +given rise. And what does it prove but the resolution to mix in your +carnival no more? We see clearly through it now, I tell you, that the +saturnalia is wearing to its end. In vain does the orchestra of cannon +and mitrailleuses, under the direction of the conductor, Cluseret, play +madly on and invite us to the fête. We will dance no more, and there is +an end of it! + +But it will be fatal to Paris if, after saying this, she sit satisfied. +Contempt is not enough, there must be abhorrence too, and actual +measures taken against those we abhor. It is not sufficient to neglect +the poll, one abstains when one is in doubt, but now that we doubt no +longer it is time to act. While wrongful work is being done, those that +stand aside with folded arms become accomplices. Think that for more +than a fortnight the firing has not ceased; that Neuilly and Asnières +have been turned into cemeteries; that husbands are falling, wives +weeping, children suffering. Think that yesterday, the 18th of April, +the chapel of Longchamps became a dependance—an extra dead-house—of the +ambulances of the Press, so numerous were that day’s dead. Think of the +savage decrees passed upon the hostages and the refractory, those who +shunned the Federates; of the requisitions and robberies; of the +crowded prisons and the empty workshops, of the possible massacres and +the certain pillage. Think of our own compromised honour, and let us be +up and doing, so that those who have remained in Paris during these +mournful hours, shall not have stood by her only to see her fall and +die. + +NOTES: + + [61] Sérailler, a member of the International, intrusted with a + commission to London on behalf of the Central Committee to borrow cash + for the daily pay of thirty sous to the National Guard. + + + + + LVI. + + +Paris! for once I defy you to remain indifferent. You have had much to +bear, during these latter days; it has been said to you, that you +should kneel in your churches no more, and you have not knelt there; +that the newspapers that pleased you, should be read no more, and you +have not read them. You have continued to smile—with but the tips of +your lips, it is true—and to promenade on the boulevards. But now comes +stalking on that which will make you shudder indeed! Do you know what I +have just read in the _Indépendance Belge_? Ah! poor Paris, the days of +your glory are past, your ancient fame is destroyed, the old nursery +rhyme will mock you, “_Vous n’irez plus au Bois, vos lauriers sont +coupés._”[62] This is what has happened; you are supplanted on the +throne of fashion. The world, uneasy about the form of bonnet to be +worn this sorrowful year, and seeing you occupied with your internal +discords, anxiously turned to London for help, and London henceforth +dictates to all the modistes of the universe. City of desolation, I +pity you! No more will you impose your sovereign laws, concerning +_Suivez-moi-jeune-homme_[63] and dog-skin gloves. No more will your +boots and shirt-collars reach, by the force of their reputation, the +sparely-dressed inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands. And, deepest of +humiliations, it is your old rival, it is your tall and angular sister, +it is the black city of London, who takes your glittering sword and +transforms it into a policeman’s baton of wood! You are destined to see +within your walls—if any walls remain to you—your own wives and +daughters clog their dainty tread with encumbrances of English leather, +flatten their heads beneath mushroom-shaped hats, surround themselves +with crinoline and flounces, and wear magenta, that abominable mixture +of red and blue which always filled your soul with horror. Then, to +increase the resemblance of your Parisian women with the Londoners or +Cockneys (for it is time you learnt the fashionable language of +England), your dentists will sell them new sets of teeth, called +insular sets, which can be fitted over their natural front teeth, and +will protrude about a third of an inch beyond the upper lip. And they +will have corsets offered them whose aim is to prolong the waist to the +farthest possible limits and compress the fairest forms—a fact, for +report says they lace in London, whilst here we have nearly abandoned +the corset. Well, my Paris, do you tremble and shiver? Oh! when those +days of horror come to pass! when you see that not only have you +forfeited your pride, but your vanity too; when you are convinced that +the Commune has not only rendered you odious, but ridiculous as well; +ah! then, when you wear bonnets that you have not invented, how deeply +will you regret that you did not rebel on that day, when some of the +best of your citizens were put _au secret_ in the cells of Mazas +prison![64] + +NOTES: + + [62] The refrain of a nursery song,— + +“Go no more to the wood, for all the laurels are cut.” + + [63] The long floating ends of the neck ribbons. + + [64] The Parisian play-writer’s English exhibits all the typical + peculiarities noted above. We have our ideal, if not typical, + Frenchman, little less truthful perhaps—taken from refugees and + excursionists, from the close-cropped, dingy denizen of Leicester + Square; our tourist suits, heavy pedestrian toots, “wide-awakes,” and + faded fashions, used up in travel—all these things are put down to + insular peculiarities. + + + + + LVII. + + +I have just heard or read, a touching story; and here it is as I +remember it. In the Faubourg Saint Antoine lives a community of women +with whom the aged of the poor find shelter; those who have become +infirm, or have dropped into helpless childishness, whether men or +women, are received there without question or payment. There they are +lodged, fed and clothed, and humbly prayed for. + +Last evening, sleep was just beginning to reign in the little +community. The old people had been put to rest, each Little Sister had +done her duty and was asleep, when the report of a gun resounded at the +house-door. You can imagine the startings and the terror. The Little +Sisters of the poor are not accustomed to have such noises in their +ears, and there was a tumult and hubbub such as the house had never +known, while they hurriedly rose, and the old people stared at each +other from their white beds in the long dormitories. When the +house-door was got open, a party of men, with a menacing look about +them, strode in with their guns and swords, making a horrible racket. +One of them was the chief, and he had a great beard and a terrible +voice. All the Little Sisters gathered in a trembling crowd about the +superior. + +“Shut the doors,” cried the captain, “and if one of these women attempt +to escape—one, two, three, fire!” Then the Good Mother—that is the +Little Sisters’ name for their superior—made a step forward and said, +“What do you wish, messieurs?” + +“Citizens, _sacrebleu!_” + +The Good Mother crossed herself and, repeated, “What do you wish, my +brothers?” + +[Illustration: Federal Visit to the Little Sisters of The Poor.] + +“That I will,” bravely answered the captain; “give me your hand. And +now, if any one wants to harm you, he will have me to deal with first.” + +A few minutes later, the National Guards were gone, the Little Sisters +and the old nurslings were at rest again, and the house was just as +silent and peaceful as if it were no abominable resort of plotters and +conspirators. + +But if I had been the Commune of Paris, would I not have shot that +captain! + + + + + LVIII. + + +The people of the Hôtel de Ville said to themselves, “All our fine +doings and talking come to nothing, the delegate Cluseret and the +commandant Dombrowski send us the most encouraging despatches in vain, +we shall never succeed in persuading the Parisian population, that our +struggle against the army of Versailles is a long string of decisive +victories; whatever we may do, they will finish by finding out that the +federate battalions gave way strangely in face of the iron-plated +mitrailleuses the day before yesterday at Asnières, and it would be +difficult to make them believe that this village, so celebrated for +fried fish and Paris Cockneys, is still in our possession, unless we +can manage to persuade them that although we have evacuated Asnières, +we still energetically maintain our position there. The fact is, +affairs are taking a tolerably bad turn for us. How are we to get over +the inconvenience of being vanquished? What are we to do to destroy the +bad impression produced by our doubtful triumphs?” And thereupon the +members of the Commune fell to musing. “Parbleu!” cried they, after a +few moments’ reflection—the elect of Paris are capable of more in a +single second than all the deputies of the National Assembly in three +years—“Let decrees, proclamations, and placards be prepared. By what +means, did we succeed in imposing on the donkeys of Paris? Why, by +decrees, by proclamations, by placards. Courage, then, let us +persevere. Ha! the traitors have taken the château of Bécon, and have +seized upon Asnières. What matters! quick, eighty pens and eighty +inkstands. To work, men of letters; painters and shoemakers, to work! +Franckel, who is Hungarian; Napoléon Gaillard, who is a cobbler; +Dombrowski, who is a Pole; and Billioray, who writes _omelette_ with an +h, will make perhaps rather a mess of it. But, thank heaven! We have +amongst us Félix Pyat, the great dramatist; Pierre Denis, who has made +such bad verses that he must write good prose; and lastly, Vermorel, +the author of ‘_Ces Dames_,’ a little book illustrated with photographs +for the use of schools, and ‘_Desperanza_,’ a novel which caused +Gustave Flaubert many a nightmare. To work, comrades, to work! We have +been asked for a long time what we understand by the words—La Commune. +Tell them, if you know. Write it, proclaim it, and we will placard it. +Even if you don’t know, tell them all the same; the great art of a good +cook consists in making jugged hare without hare of any kind.” And this +is why there appeared this morning on the walls an immense placard, +with the following words in enormous letters: “Declaration to the +French people.” + +Twenty days ago a long proclamation, which pretended to express and +define the tendencies of the revolution of the eighteenth of March, +would perhaps have had some effect. To-day we have awaked from many +illusions, and the finest phrases in the world will not overcome our +obstinate indifference. Let us, however, read and note. + +[Illustration: Vermorel,[65] Delegate of Public Safety.] + +“In the painful and terrible conflict which once more imposes upon +Paris the horrors of the siege and the bombardment, which makes French +blood flow, which causes our brothers, our wives, our children, to +perish, crushed by shot and shell, it is urgent that public opinion +should not be divided, that the national conscience should not be +troubled.” + +That’s right! I entirely agree with you; it is undoubtedly very urgent +that public opinion should not be divided. But let us see what means +you are going to take to obtain so desirable a result. + +“Paris and the whole nation must know what is the nature, the reason, +the object of the revolution which is now being accomplished.” + +Doubtless; but if that be indispensable to-day, would it have been less +useful on the very first day of the revolution; we do not see why you +have made us wait quite so long for it. + +“The responsibility of the mourning, the suffering, and the misfortunes +of which we are the victims should fall upon those who, after having +betrayed France and delivered Paris to the foreigner, pursue with blind +obstinacy the destruction of the capital, in order to bury under the +ruins of the Republic and of Liberty the double evidence of their +treason and their crime.” + +Heigho! what a phrase! These clear and precise expressions, that throw +so much light on the gloom of the situation, are these yours, Félix +Pyat? Did the Commune say “_Pyat Lux!_” Or were they yours, Pierre +Denis? Or yours, Vermorel? I particularly admire the double evidence +buried under the ruins of the Republic. Happy metaphor! + +“The duty of the Commune is to affirm and determine the aspirations and +the views of the population of Paris; to fix precisely the character of +the movement of the 18th of March, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and +vilified by the men who sit at Versailles.” + +Ah, yes, that is the duty of the Commune, but for heaven’s sake don’t +keep us waiting, you see we are dying with impatience. + +“Once more, Paris labours and suffers for the whole of France, and by +her combats and her sacrifices prepares the way for intellectual, +moral, administrative and economic regeneration, glory and prosperity.” + +That is so true that since the Commune existed in Paris, the workshops +are closed, the factories are idle, and France, for whom the capital +sacrifices herself, loses something like fifty millions a day. These +are facts, it seems to me; and I don’t see what the traitors of +Versailles can say in reply. + +“What does Paris demand?” + +Ah! yes, what does she ask? Truly we should not be sorry to know. Or +rather, what do you ask; for in the same way as Louis le Grand had the +right to say, “The State, I am the State,” you may say “Paris, we are +Paris.” + +“Paris demands the recognition and the consolidation of the Republic, +the only form of government compatible with the rights of the people, +and the regular and free development of society.” + +This once you are right. Paris demands the Republic, and must yearn for +it eagerly indeed, since neither your excesses nor your follies have +succeeded in changing its mind. + +“It demands the absolute entirety of the Commune extended to all the +localities of France, ensuring to everyone the integrity of its rights, +and to every Frenchman the free exercise of his faculties and abilities +as man, citizen, and workman. The rights of the Commune should have no +other limit, but the equal rights of all other Communes adhering to the +contract, an association which would assure the unity of France.” + +This is a little obscure. What I understand is something like this. You +would make France a federation of Communes, but what is the meaning of +words “adherence to the contract?” You admit then that certain Communes +might refuse their adhesion. In that case what would be the situation +of these rebels? Would you leave them free? Or would you force them to +obey the conventions of the majority? Do you think it would be +sufficient, in the case of such a town as Pezenas, for example, +refusing to adhere, that the association would be incomplete? That is +to say, that French unity would not exist? Are you very sure about +Pezenas? Who tells you that Pezenas may not have its own idea of +independence, and that, we may not hear presently that it has elected a +duke who raises an army and coins money. Duke of Pezenas! that sounds +well. Remember, also, that many other localities might follow the +example of Pezenas, and perhaps in order to insure the entirety of the +Commune, it might have been wise to have asked them if they wanted it. +Now, what do you understand by “localities?” Marseilles is a locality; +an isolated farm in the middle of a field is also a locality. So France +would be divided into an infinite number of Communes. Would they agree +amongst themselves, these innumerable little states? Supposing they are +agreed to the contract, it is not impossible that petty rivalries +should lead to quarrels, or even to blows; an action about a party-wall +might lead to a civil war. How would you reduce the recalcitrant +localities to reason? for even supposing that the Communes have the +right to subjugate a Commune, the disaffected one could always escape +you by declaring that it no longer adheres to the social compact. So +that if this secession were produced not only by the vanity of one or +more little hamlets, but by the pride of one or more great towns, +France would find herself all at once deprived of her most important +cities. Ah! messieurs, this part of your programme certainly leaves +something to be desired, and I recommend you to improve it, unless +indeed you prefer to suppress it altogether. + +“The inherent rights of the Commune are ‘the vote of the Commmunal +budget, the levying and the division of taxes, the direction of the +local services, the organisation of the magistrature, of the police, +and of education, and of the administration of the property belonging +to the Commune.’” + +This paragraph is cunning. It does not seem so at first sight, but look +at it closely, and you will see that the most Machiavellic spirit has +presided over its production. The ability consists in placing side by +side with the rights which incontestably belong to the Commune, other +rights which do not belong to it the least in the world, and in not +appearing to attach more importance to one than to the other, so that +the reader, carried away by the evident legitimacy of many of your +claims, may say to himself, “Really all that is very just.” Let us +unravel if you please this skein of red worsted so ingeniously tangled. +The vote of the Communal budget, receipts and expenses, the levying and +division of taxes, the administration of the Communal property, are +rights which certainly belong to the Commune; if it had not got them it +would not exist. And why do they belong to it? Because it alone could +know what is good for it in these matters, and could come to such +decision upon them, as it thought fit, without injuring the whole +country. But it is not the same as regards measures concerning the +magistracy, the police, and education. Well, suppose one fine day a +Commune should say, “Magistrates? I don’t want any magistrates; these +black-robed gentry are no use to me; let others nourish these idlers, +who send brave thieves and honest assassins to the galleys; I love +assassins and I honour thieves, and more, I choose that the culprits +should judge the magistrates of the Republic.” Now, if a Commune were +to say that, or something like that, what could you answer in reply? +Absolutely nothing; for, according to your system, each locality in +France has the right to organise its magistracy as it pleases. As +regards the police and education, it would be easy to make out similar +hypotheses, and thus to exhibit the absurdity of your Communal +pretensions. Should a Commune say, “No person shall be arrested in +future, and it is prohibited under pain of death to learn by heart the +fable of the wolf and the fox.” What could you say to that? Nothing, +unless you admitted that you were mistaken just now in supposing, that +the integrity of the Commune ought to have no other limit but the right +of equal independence of all the other Communes. There exists another +limit, and that is the general interests of the country, which cannot +permit one part of it to injure the rest, by bad example or in any +other way; the central power alone can judge those questions where a +single absurd measure—of which more than one “locality” may probably be +guilty—might compromise the honour or the interests of France; the +magistracy, the police, and education, are evidently questions of that +nature. + +The other rights of the Commune are, always be it understood, according +to the declaration made to the French people: + + “The choice by election or competition; with the responsibility and + the permanent right of control over magistrates and communal + functionaries of every class; + “The absolute guarantee of individual liberty, of liberty of + conscience, and of liberty of labour; + “The permanent participation of the citizens in Communal affairs by + the free manifestations of their opinions, and the free defence of + their interests: guarantees to this effect to be given by the + Commune, the only power charged with the surveillance and the + protection of the full and just exercise of the rights of meeting + and publicity; + “The organisation of the city defences and of the National Guard, + which elects its own officers, and alone ensures the maintenance of + order in the city.” + +With regard to the affirmation of these rights we may repeat that which +we have said above, that some of them really belong to the Commune, but +that the greater part of them do not. + + “Paris desires nothing more in the way of local guarantees, on + condition, let it be understood, of finding in the great central + administration ...” + “... In the great central administration appointed by the federated + Commune the realisation and the practice of the same principles.” + +That is to say, in other words, that Paris will consent willingly to be +of the same opinion as others, if all the world is of the same opinion +as itself. + +“But, thanks to its independence, and profiting by its liberty of +action, Paris reserves to itself the right of effecting, as it pleases, +the administrative and economic reforms demanded by the population; to +create proper institutions for the development and propagation of +instruction, production, commerce, and credit; to universalize power +and property,...” + +Whew! Universalize property! Pray what does that mean, may I ask? +Communalism here presents a singular likeness to Communism! + + “... According to the necessities of the moment, the desire of + those interested, and the lessons famished by experience: + “Our enemies deceive themselves or the country when they accuse + Paris of wishing to impose its will or its supremacy on the rest of + the nation, and to pretend to a dictatorship which would be a + positive offence against the independence and the sovereignty of + the other Communes: + “They deceive themselves, or they deceive the country, when they + accuse Paris of desiring the destruction of French unity, + constituted by the Revolution amid the acclamations of our fathers + hurrying to the Festival of the Federation from all points of + ancient France: + “Political unity as imposed upon us up to the present time by the + empire, the monarchy, and parliamentarism, is nothing more than + despotic centralization, whether intelligent, arbitrary, or + onerous. + “Political unity, such as Paris demands, is the voluntary + association of all local initiatives, the spontaneous and free + cooperation of individual energies with one single common + object—the well-being and the security of all. + “The Communal revolution, inaugurated by the popular action of the + 18th of March, ushers in a new era of experimental, positive, and + scientific politics.” + +Do you not think that during the last paragraphs the tone of the +declaration is somewhat modified? It would seem as though Felix Pyat +had become tired, and handed the pen to Pierre Denis or to +Delescluze,—after Communalism comes socialism. + +“Communal revolution is the end of the old governmental and clerical +world, of militarism, of officialism (this new editor seems fond of +words ending in ism), of exploitation, of commission, of monopolies, +and of privileges to which the proletariat owes his thralldom, and the +country her misfortunes and disasters.” + +Of course there is nothing in the world that would please me better; +but if I were very certain that Citizen Rigault did not possess an +improved glass enabling him to observe me from a distance of several +miles, without leaving his study or his armchair, if I were very +certain that Citizen Rigault could not read over my shoulder what I am +writing at this moment, I might perhaps venture to insinuate, that the +revolution of the 18th of March appears to me to be, at the present +moment, the apotheosis of most of the crimes which it pretends to have +suppressed. + +“Let then our grand and beloved country, deceived by falsehood and +calumnies, be reassured!” + +Well, in order that she may be reassured there is only one thing to be +done,—be off with you! + + “The struggle going on between Paris and Versailles is one of those + which can never be terminated by deceitful compromises. There can + be no doubt as to the issue. (Oh, no! there is no doubt about it.) + Victory, pursued with indomitable energy by the National Guard, + will remain with principle and justice. + We ask it of France.” + +Where is the necessity, since you have the indomitable energy of the +National Guard?”. + +“Convinced that Paris under arms possesses as much calmness as bravery +...” + +You will find that a very difficult thing to persuade France to +believe. + +“... That it maintains order with equal energy and enthusiasm ...” + +Order? No doubt, that which reigned at Warsaw; the order that reigned +on the day after the 2nd of December. + +“... That it sacrifices itself with as much judgment as heroism ...” + +Yes; the judgment of a man who throws himself out of a fourth-floor +window to prove that his head is harder than the paving-stones. + +“... That it is only armed through devotion for the glory and liberty +of all—let France cause this bloody conflict to cease!” + +She’ll cause it to cease, never fear, but not in the way you understand +it. + +“It is for France to disarm Versailles ...” + +Up to the present time she has certainly done precisely the contrary. + +“... by the manifestations of her irresistible will. As she will be +partaker in our conquests, let her take part in our efforts, let her be +our ally in this conflict, which can only finish by the triumph of the +Communal idea, or the ruin of Paris.” + +The ruin of Paris! That is only, I suppose, a figurative expression. + + “For ourselves, citizens of Paris, it is our mission to accomplish + the modern revolution, the grandest and most fruitful of all those + that have illuminated history. + “Our duty is to struggle and to conquer! + “THE COMMUNE OF PARIS.” + +Such is this long, emphatic, but often obscure declaration. It is not +wanting, however, in a certain eloquence; and, although frequently +disfigured by glaring exaggerations, it contains here and there some +just ideas, or at least, such as conform to the views of the great +majority. Will it destroy the bad effect produced by the successive +defeats of the Federals at Neuilly and at Asnières? Will it produce any +good feeling towards the Commune in the minds of those who are daily +drawing farther and farther from the men of the Commune? No; it is too +late. Had this proclamation been placarded fifteen or twenty days +sooner, some parts of it might have been approved and the rest +discussed. Today we pass it by with a smile. Ah! many things have +happened during the last three days. The acts of the Commune of Paris +no longer allow us to take its declarations seriously, and we look upon +its members as too mad—if not worse—to believe that by any accident +they can be reasonable. These men have finished by rendering detestable +whatever good there originally was in their idea. + +NOTES: + + [65] He was born in 1841, in the department of the Rhône. His + education was completed very early. At the age of twenty he was + engaged on two journals of the opposition, _La Jeune France_, and _La + Jeunesse_. Those papers were soon suppressed, and their young + contributor was imprisoned for three months. In 1864 he became one of + the staff of the _Presse_, whence he passed to the _Liberté_ in 1866. + Two years later he founded the _Courrier Français_; but from the + multiplicity of fines imposed upon it, and from the imprisonment of + its founder, the new journal expired very shortly. After a year’s + incarceration at Sainte-Pélagie, Vermorel was engaged on the + _Réforme_, which continued to appear until the fall of the Empire. + During the siege he served as a private in the National Guard. He + became a member of the Committee of Justice under the Commune, and was + one of those who, at its fall, neither deserted nor disgraced it. He + is reported to have mounted a barricade armed only with a cane, crying + “I come here to die and not to fight.” His mother obtained permission + to transport his remains to Venice. + + + + + LIX. + + +We have a court-martial; it is presided over by the citizen Rossel, +chief of the grand staff of the army. It has just condemned to death +the Commandant Girod, who refused to march against the “enemy.” The +Executive Committee, however, has pardoned Commandant Girod. Let us +look at this matter a little. If the Executive Committee occupies its +time in undoing what the court-martial has done, I can’t quite +understand why the executive has instituted a court-martial at all. If +I were a member of the latter I should get angry. “What! I should say, +they instal me in the hall where the courts-martial are held, they +appoint guards to attend upon me, and my president has the right to +say, ‘Guards, remove the prisoner.’ In a word, they convert me into +something which resembles a judge as much as a parody can resemble the +work burlesqued, and when I, a member of the court-martial, desire to +take advantage of the rights that have been conferred upon me, and +order the Commandant Girod to be shot, they stand in the way of +justice, and save the life of him I have condemned. This is absurd! I +had a liking for this commandant, and I wished him to die by my hands.” + +Never mind, court-martial, take it coolly; you will have your revenge +before long. At this moment there are at least sixty-three +ecclesiastics in the prisons of Mazas, the Conciergerie, and La Santé. +Although they are not precisely soldiers, they will be sent before you +to be judged, and you may do just what you like with them, without any +fear of the executive commission interposing its veto. The refractory +also will give you work to do, and against them you can exercise your +pleasure. As to the Commandant Girod, his is a different case, you +understand. He is the friend of citizen Delescluze. The members of the +Commune have not so many friends that they can afford to have any of +them suppressed. But don’t be downcast; a dozen priests are well worth +a major of the National Guard. + + + + + LX. + + +It is precisely because the men that the Commune sends to the front, +fight and die so gloriously, that we feel exasperated against its +members. A curse upon them, for thus wasting the moral riches of Paris! +Confusion to them, for enlisting into so bad a service, the first-rate +forces which a successful revolt leaves at their disposal. I will tell +you what happened yesterday, the 22nd of April, on the Boulevard +Bineau; and then I think you will agree with me that France, who has +lost so much, still retains some of the bright, dauntless courage which +was her. pride of old. + +A trumpeter, a mere lad of seventeen, was marching at the head of his +detachment, which had been ordered to take possession of a barricade +that the Versailles troops were supposed to have abandoned. When I say, +“he marched,” I am making a most incorrect statement, for he turned +somersets and executed flying leaps on the road, far in advance of his +comrades, until his progress was arrested by the barricade; this he +greeted with a mocking gesture, and then, with a bound or two, was on +the other side. There had been some mistake, the barricade had not been +abandoned. Our young trumpeter was immediately surrounded by a pretty +large number of troops of the line, who had lain hidden among the sacks +of earth and piles of stones, in the hope of surprising the company +which was advancing towards them. Several rifles were pointed at the +poor boy, and a sergeant said: “If you move a foot, if you utter a +sound, you die!” The lad’s reply was to leap to the highest part of the +barricade and cry out, with all the strength of his young voice, “Don’t +come on! They are here!” Then he fell backwards, pierced by four balls, +but his comrades were saved! + + + + + LXI. + + +Another, and a sadder scene happened in the Avenue des Ternes. A +funeral procession was passing along. The coffin, borne by two men, was +very small, the coffin of a young child. The father, a workman in a +blouse, walked behind with a little knot of other mourners. A sad +sight, but the catastrophe was horrible. Suddenly a shell from Mont +Valérien fell on the tiny coffin, and, bursting, scattered the remains +of the dead child upon the living father. The corpse was entirely +destroyed, with the trappings that had surrounded it. Massacring the +dead! Truly those cannons are a wonderful, a refined invention! + + + + + LXII. + + +At last the unhappy inhabitants of Neuilly are able to leave their +cellars. For three weeks, they have been hourly expecting the roofs of +their houses to fall in and crush them; and with much difficulty have +managed during the quieter moments of the day to procure enough to keep +them from dying of starvation. For three weeks they have endured all +the terrors, all the dangers of battle and bombardment. Many are +dead—they all thought themselves sure to die. Horrible details are +told. A little past Gilet’s restaurant, where the omnibus office used +to be, lived an old couple, man and wife. At the beginning of the civil +war, two shells burst, one after another, in their poor lodging, +destroying every article of furniture. Utterly destitute, they took +refuge in the cellar, where after a few hours of horrible suspense, the +old man died. He was seventy, and the fright killed him; his wife was +younger and stronger, and survived. In the rare intervals between the +firing she went out and spoke to her neighbours through the cellar +gratings—“My husband is dead. He must be buried; what am I to +do?”—Carrying him to the cemetery was of course out of the question; no +one could have been found to render this mournful duty. Besides, the +bearers would probably have met a shell or a bullet on the way, and +then others must have been found to carry them. One day, the old woman +ventured as far as the Porte Maillot, and cried out as loud as she +could, “My husband is dead in a cellar; come and fetch him, and let us +both through the gates!”—The sentinel facetiously (let us hope it was +nothing worse) took aim at her with his rifle, and she fled back to her +cellar. At night, she slept by the side of the corpse, and when the +light of morning filtered into her dreary place of refuge, and lighted +up the body lying there, she sobbed with grief and terror. Her husband +had been dead four days, when putrefaction set in, and she, able to +bear it no longer, rushed out screaming to her neighbours: “You must +bury him, or I will go into the middle of the avenue and await death +there!”—They took pity on her, and came down into her cellar, dug a +hole there and put the corpse in it. During three weeks she continued +there, resting herself on the newly-turned earth. To-day, when they +went to fetch her she fainted with horror; the grave had been dug too +shallow, and one of the legs of the corpse was exposed to gaze. + +[Illustration: Female Curiosity at Porte Maillot. +“Prenez Garde, Mam’zelle”] + +This morning, the 25th of April, at nine o’clock, a dense crowd moved +up the Champs Elysées: pedestrians of all ages and classes, and +vehicles of every description. The truce obtained by the members of the +_Republican Union of the rights of Paris_ was about to begin, and +relief was to be carried to the sufferers at Neuilly. However, some +precautions were necessary, for neither the shooting nor the cannonade +had ceased yet, and every moment one expected to see some projectile or +other fall among the advancing multitude. In the Avenue de la Grande +Armée a shell had struck a house, and set fire to it. Gradually the +sound of the artillery diminished, and then died away entirely; the +crowd hastened to the ramparts. + +[Illustration: Porte Maillot and Chapel of St. Ferdinand.] + +The chapel was erected by Louis Philippe in memory of the Duke of +Orleans, killed on the spot, July 18th, 1842. + +The Porte Maillot has been entirely destroyed for some time, in spite +of what the Commune has told us to the contrary; the drawbridge is torn +from its place, the ruined walls and bastions have fallen into the +moat. The railway-station is a shapeless mass of blackened bricks, +broken stones, glass, and iron-work; the cutting where the trains used +to pass is half filled up with the ruins. It is impossible to get along +that way. Fancy the hopeless confusion here, arising among this myriad +of anxious beings, these hundreds of carts and waggons, all crowding to +the same spot. Each one presses onwards, pushing his neighbour, +screaming and vociferating; the National Guards try in vain to keep +order. To add to the difficulties there is some form to be gone through +about passes. I manage to hang on to a cart which is just going over +the bridge; after a thousand stoppages and a great deal of pushing and +squeezing, I succeeded in getting out, my clothes in rags. A desolate +scene meets my eyes. In front of us, is the open space called the +military zone, a dusty desert, with but one building remaining, the +chapel of Longchamps; it has been converted into an ambulance, and the +white flag with the red cross is waving above it. Truly the wounded +there must be in no little danger from the shells, as it lies directly +in their path. To the left is the Bois de Boulogne, or rather what used +to be the wood, for from where I stand but few trees are visible, the +rest is a barren waste. I hasten on, besides I am hard pressed from +behind. Here we are in Neuilly, at last. The desolation is fearful, the +reality surpassing all I could have imagined. Nearly all the roofs of +the houses are battered in, rafters stick out of the broken windows; +some of the walls, too, have fallen, and those that remain standing are +riddled with blackened holes. It is there that the dreadful shells have +entered, breaking, grinding furniture, pictures, glasses, and even +human beings. We crunch broken glass beneath our feet at every step; +there is not a whole pane in all the windows. Here and there are houses +which the bullets seemed to have delighted to pound to atoms, and from +which dense clouds of red and white dust are wafted towards us. Well, +Parisians, what do you say to that? Do you not think that Citizen +Cluseret, although an American, is an excellent patriot, and “In +consideration of Neuilly being in ruins, and of this happy result being +chiefly due to the glorious resistance organized by the delegate +Citizen Cluseret, decrees: That the destroyer of Neuilly, Citizen +Cluseret, has merited the gratitude of France and the Republic.” + +[Illustration: The Inhabitants of Neuilly Entering Paris During The +Armisctice of the 18th of April.] + +The firing ceased from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon, +when Paris cabs, furniture-vans, ambulance-waggons, band-barrows, and +all sorts of vehicles were requisitioned to bring in the sad remains +and dilapidated household goods of the suburban bombardés. They entered +by the gate of Ternes—for that of Porte Maillot was in ruins and +impassable. Many went to the Palais de l’Industrie, in the Champs +Elysées, where a commission sat to allot vacant apartments in Paris. On +this occasion some robberies were committed, and refractories escaped: +it is even said that hard-hearted landlords wished to prevent their +lodgers from departing—an object in which the proprietors were not very +successful. The poor woman perched on the top of her relics, saved from +the cellar in which she had lived in terror for fourteen days, deplores +the loss of her husband and the shapeless mass of ruin and rubbish she +once called her happy home; whilst her boys bring in green stuff from +the surburban gardens, and a middle-aged neighbour stalks along with +his pet parrot, the bird all the while amusing himself with elaborate +imitations of the growl of the mitrailleuse and the hissing of shells +ending with terrific and oft-repeated explosions. + +Out of all the houses, or rather from what was once the houses, emerge +the inhabitants carrying different articles of furniture, tables, +mattresses, boxes. They come out as it were from their graves. +Relations meet and embrace, after having suffered almost the bitterness +of death. Thousands run backwards and forwards; the carts are heaped up +to overflowing, everything that is not destroyed must be carried away. +A large van filled with orphan children moves on towards the barrier; a +sister of charity is seated beside the driver. The most impatient of +the refugees are already through the Porte Maillot; who will give them +hospitality there? No one seems to think of that. The excitement caused +by all this movement is almost joyous under the brilliant rays of the +sun. But time presses, in a few minutes the short truce will have +expired. Stragglers hurry along with heavy loads. At the gates, the +crowding and confusion are greater than in the morning. Carts heavily +laden, move slowly and with difficulty; the contents of several are +spilled on the highway. More shouting, crowding, and pushing, until the +gates are passed at last, and the emigrant crowd disperses along the +different streets and avenues into the heart of Paris. A happy release +from bondage, but what a dismal promised land! + +Then the cannonading and musketry on either side recommences. Destroy, +kill, this horrible quarrel can only end with the annihilation of one +of the two parties engaged. Go on killing each other if you will have +it so, combatants, fellow-countrymen. Some wretched women and children +will at least sleep in safety to-night, in spite of you! + +[Illustration: _Federal Officer_. Pardon, Monsieur, but we cannot allow +civilians to remain here. +_Monsieur_. I wait for Valérien to open upon us.] + +Yes, my good friends and idlers, the sad scene would not have been +complete without your presence to relieve its sadness. If respect for +your persons kept you away from danger, it at least gives zest to the +place, a locality that in a few short minutes will be dangerous again. +At five the armistice was over, but for all that, the National Guard +had great difficulty in clearing the ground, until real danger, the +excitement sought for, arrived, and sent the spectators much further up +the Avenue de la Grande Armée. + +[Illustration: Mdlle, et Ses Cousines.] + +5.30. Great Guns of Valérien, Why do you not begin? Know you that tubes +charged with bright eyes are directed against you? + + + + + LXIII. + + +I had almost made up my mind not to continue these notes. Tired and +weary, I remained two days at home, wishing to see nothing, hear +nothing, trying to absorb myself in my books, and to take up the lost +thread of my interrupted studies, but all to no purpose. + +It is ten in the morning, and I am out again in search of news. How +many things may have happened in two days! Not far from the Hôtel de +Ville excited groups are assembled at the corners of the streets that +lead out of the Rue de Rivoli. They seem waiting for something—what are +they waiting for? Vague rumours, principally of a peaceful and +conciliatory nature, circulate from group to group, where women +decidedly predominate. + +“If _they_ help us we are saved!” says a workwoman, who is holding a +little boy in the dress of a national guard by the hand.—“Who?” I +ask.—“Ah! Monsieur, it is the Freemasons who are taking the side of the +Commune; they are going to cross Paris before our eyes. The Commune +must be in the right if the Freemasons think so.”—“Here they come!” +says the little boy, pulling his mother along with all his strength. + +[Illustration: Protot[66], Delegate of Justice.] + +The vehicles draw up on one side to make room, the crowd presses to the +edge of the pavement. The drums beat, a military band strikes up the +“Marseillaise.” First come five staff-officers, and then six members of +the Commune, wearing their red scarfs, fringed with gold. I fancy I +recognize Citizens Delescluze and Protot among them. “They are going to +the Hôtel de Ville!” cries an enthusiastic butcher-boy, holding a large +basket of meat on his head, which he steadies with one hand, while with +the other he makes wild signs to two companions on the other side of +the way. “I saw them this morning in the Place du Carrousel,” he +continues in the same strain. “That was fine, I tell you! And then this +battalion came to fetch them, with the music and all. Now they are +going to salute the Republic; come along, I say. Double quick time!” So +the butcher-boy, and the woman with the child, and myself, and all the +rest of the bystanders, turn and follow the eight or ten thousand +members of Parisian freemasonry who are crowding along the Rue de +Rivoli. In the front and rear of the procession I notice a large number +of unarmed men, dressed in loose Zouave trousers of dark-blue cloth, +with white gaiters, white bands, and blue jackets. Their heads are +mostly bare. I am told these are the Communist sharpshooters. Ever so +far on in front of us a large white banner is floating, bearing an +inscription which I cannot manage to read on account of the distance. +However, the butcher-boy has made it out, and informs us that “Love one +another” is written there. Happy, delusive Freemasons! “Tolerate one +another” is scarcely practicable! In the meantime we continue to follow +at the heels of the procession. There is much shouting and noise, here +and there a feeble “_Vive la Commune!_” But the principal cries are, +“Down with the murderers! Death to assassins! Down with Versailles!” A +Freemason doffs his hat and shouts, “_Vive la Paix!_ It is peace we are +going to seek!” + +I am still sadly confused, and cannot make up my mind what all this is +about. Patience, however, I shall know all at the Hôtel de Ville. Here +we are. The National Guard keeps the ground, and the whole procession +files into the Cour d’Honneur. Carried on by the crowd, I find myself +near the entrance and can see what is going on inside. The whole of the +Commune is out on the balcony, at the top of the grand staircase, in +front of the statue of the Republic, which like the Communists wears a +red scarf. Great trophies of red flags are waving everywhere. Men +bearing the banners of the society are stationed on every step; on each +is inscribed, in golden letters, mottos of peace and fraternity. A +patriarchal Freemason, wearing his collar and badges, has arrived in a +carriage; they help him to alight with marks of the greatest respect. +The court is by this time full to overflowing, an enthusiastic cry of +“Vive la Franc Maçonnerie! Vive la République Universelle!” is +re-echoed from mouth to mouth. Citizen Félix Pyat, member of the +Commune, who is on the balcony, comes forward to speak. I congratulate +myself on being at last about to hear what all this means. But I am +disappointed. The pushing and squeezing is unbearable. I have +vigorously to defend my hat, stick, purse, and cigar-case, and am half +stifled besides. I almost despair of catching a single word, but at +last succeed in hearing a few detached sentences:—“Universal +nationality.... liberty, equality, and fraternity.... manifestos of the +heart....” (what is that?) “the standard of humanity.... ramparts....” +If I could only get a little nearer—the words “homicidal balls.... +fratricidal bullets.... universal peace....” alone reach me. Is it to +hear such stuff as this, that the Freemasons have come to the Hôtel de +Ville? I suppose so, for after a little more of the same kind the whole +is drowned in a stupendous roar of “Vive la Commune!” and “Vive la +République!” I have given up all hope of ever understanding. + +[Illustration: Félix Pyat.[67]] + +“They have come to draw lots to see who is to go and kill M. Thiers,” +cries a red-haired gamin.—“Idiot,” retorts his comrade, “they have no +arms!”—“Listen, and you will hear,” says the first, which is capital +advice, if I could but follow it. The pushing becomes intolerable, when +suddenly the bald head of an unfortunate citizen executes a fatal +plunge—I can breathe at last—and the following words reach me pretty +clearly:—“The Commune has decided that we shall choose five members who +are to have the honour of escorting you, and we are to draw +lots....”—“There! was I not right?” cries he of the carrotty hair; “I +knew they were going to draw lots!” A cleverly administered blow, +however, soon silences his elation, and we hear that the lots have been +drawn, and that five members are chosen to aid “this glorious, this +victorious act.” There seems more rhyme than reason in this. “An act +that will be read of in the future history of France and of humanity.” +Here the irrepressible breaks out again:—“Now I am sure they are going +to kill M. Thiers!” Whereupon his irritated adversary seizes him by the +collar, gives his head some well-applied blows against the curb-stone, +and then, pushing through the crowd, carries him off bodily. As for me, +my curiosity unsatisfied, I grow resigned—may the will of the Commune +be done—and I give it up. More hopeless mystification from the Citizen +Beslay, who regrets not having been chosen to aid in this “heroic act.” +He also alludes to the drawing of lots, and I begin after all to fancy +poor M. Thiers must be at the bottom of it all, but he +continues:—“Citizens, what can I say after the eloquent discourse of +Félix Pyat? You are about to interest yourselves in an act of +fraternity....” (then something horrible is surely contemplated) “in +hoisting your banner on the walls of our city, and mixing in our ranks +against our enemies of Versailles.” A sudden light breaks upon me. In +the meantime Citizen Beslay is embracing the nearest Freemason, while +another begs the honour of being the first to plant his banner, the +Persévérance, which was unfurled in 1790, on the ramparts. Here a band +plays the “Marseillaise,” horribly out of tune; a red flag is given to +the Freemasons, with an appropriate harangue; then the Citizen Térifocq +takes back the flag, with another harangue, and ends by waving it aloft +and roaring, “Now, citizens, no more words; to action!” + +This is clear, the Freemasons are to hoist their banner on to the walls +of Paris side by side with the standard of the Commune; and who is +blind enough to imagine, that the shells and bullets, indiscriminately +homicidal, fratricidal, and infanticidal as they prove, are imbued with +tact sufficient to steer clear of the Freemasons’ banners, and injure +in their flight only those of the Commune? As the Versailles +projectiles have only one end in view, that of piercing both the +Parisians and their standards, as a national consequence if both +Parisians and standards are pierced, it is likewise most probable that +the Masonic banners will not remain unscathed in so dangerous a +neighbourhood. And if so, what will be the result? According to Citizen +Térifocq “the Freemasons of Paris will call to their aid the direst +vengeance; the Masons of all the provinces of France will follow their +example; everywhere the brothers will fraternise with the troops which +are marching on to help Paris. On the other hand, if the Versailles +gunners do not aim at the Masons, but only at the National Guards +(_sic!_), then the Masons will join the battalions in the field, and +encourage by their example the gallant soldiers, defenders of the +city.” This is all rather complicated—what can come of it? Escorted by +an ever-increasing crowd, we reach the Place de la Bastille. Several +discourses are spouted forth at the foot of the column, but the +combined effects of noise, dust, and fatigue have blunted my senses, +and I hear nothing; it seems, however to be about the same thing over +again, for the same acclamations of the crowd greet the same gestures +on the part of the orators. + +We are off again down the Boulevards; the long procession, with its +waving banners and glittering signs, is hailed by the populace with +delight. Having reached the Place de la Concorde, I loiter behind. +Groups are stationed here and there. I go from one to another, trying +to gather what these open-air politicians think of all this Masonic +parade. Shortly fugitives are seen hurrying back from the Champs +Elysées, shouting, and gesticulating. “Horror! Abomination! They +respect nothing! Vengeance!” I hear a brother-mason has been killed by +a shell opposite the Rue du Colysée; that the white flag is riddled +with shot; that the Versailles rifles have singled out, killed and +wounded several masons. + +In a very short time the terrible news, increased and exaggerated as it +spread, filled every quarter of Paris with consternation. I returned +home in a most perplexed state of mind, from which I could not arouse +myself until the arrival, towards evening, of a friend, a freemason, +and consequently well informed. This, it appears, is what took place. + +“At the moment when the procession arrived in the Champs Elysées it +formed itself into several groups, each choosing a separate avenue or +street. One followed the Faubourg St. Honoré and the Avenue Friedland +as far as the Triumphal Arch, till it reached the Porte Maillot; a +second proceeded to the Porte des Ternes by the Avenue des Ternes; a +third to the Porte Dauphine by the Avenue Ührich. Not a single +freemason was wounded on the way, though shells fell on their passage +from time to time. The VV.·. of each lodge marched at the head, +displaying their masonic banners. + +[Illustration: The Freemasons at the Ramparts. Gamins collecting +shells.] + +“As soon as the white flag was seen flying from the bastion on the +right of the Porte Maillot, the Versailles batteries ceased firing. The +freemasons were then able to pass the ramparts and proceed towards +Neuilly. There they were received rather coldly by the colonel in +command of the detachment. The officers, including those in high +command, were violently indignant against Paris. But the soldiers +themselves seemed utterly weary of war. + +“After some parleying the members of the manifestation obtained leave +to send a certain number of delegates to Versailles, in order to make a +second attempt at conciliation with the Government.” + +Will this new effort be more successful than the preceding one? Will +the company of freemasons obtain what the Republican Union failed in +procuring? I would fain believe it, but cannot. The obstinacy of the +Versailles Assembly has become absolute deafness, though we must admit +that the freemasons’ way of trying to bring about reconciliation was +rather singular, somewhat like holding a knife at Monsieur Thiers’ +throat and crying out, “Peace or your life!” + +NOTES: + + [66] Memoir, see Appendix 6. + + [67] Félix Pyat was born in 1810 at Vierzon. He came to Paris for the + purpose of studying law, but soon abandoned his intention for the more + genial profession of journalist. He contributed to the _Figaro_, the + _Charivari_, the _Revue de Paris_, and the _National_. In 1848 he was + named Commissary-General, and subsequently deputy of the department of + the Cher. Having signed Ledru-Rollin’s call to arms, he was obliged + after the events of June to take refuge in England. Profiting by the + amnesty of the fifteenth of August, 1869, he returned to France, but + made himself so obnoxious to the Government by his virulent abuse of + the Empire, that he was again expelled. The revolution of the fourth + of September allowed him to re-enter France. He commenced an immediate + and violent attack on the new government, which he continued until his + journal, _Le Combat_, was suppressed. Needless to say that he was one + of the chief actors in the insurrections of the thirty-first of + October and the twenty-second of January. He was elected deputy, but + soon resigned, for the purpose of connecting himself with the cause of + the Commune. He edited the _Vengeur_ and the _Commune_ newspapers, and + obtained a decree suppressing nearly all rival or antagonistic + publications. At the fall of the Commune he fled no one knows where. + + + + + LXIV. + + +No! no! Monsieur Félix Pyat, you must remain, if you please. You have +been of it, you are of it, and you shall be of it. It is well that you +should go through all the tenses of the verb, I am not astonished that +a man as clever as you, finding that things were taking a bad turn, +should have thought fit to give in your resignation. When the house is +burning, one jumps out of window. But your cleverness has been so much +pure loss, for your amiable confederates are waiting in the street to +thrust you back into the midst of the flames again. It is in vain that +you have written the following letter, a chef-d’oeuvre in its way, to +the president of + + “CITIZEN PRESIDENT,—If I had not been detained at the Ministry of + War on the day when the election took place, I should have voted + with the minority of the Commune. I think that the majority, for + this once, is in the wrong.” + “For this once” is polite. + “I doubt if she will ever retrieve her error.” + If the Commune were to retrace its steps at each error it made, it + would advance slowly. + “I think that the elected have not the right of replacing the + electors. I think that the representatives have not the right of + taking the place of the sovereign power. I think that the Commune + cannot create a single one of its own members, neither make them + nor unmake them; and, therefore, that it cannot of itself furnish + that which is wanted to legalise their nominations’.” + +Oh! Monsieur Félix Pyat, legality is strangely out of fashion, and it +is well for Versailles that it is so. + +“I think also, seeing that the war has changed the population....” + +Yes; the war has changed the population, if not in the way you +understand it, at least in this sense, that a great many reasonable +people have gone mad, and that many—ah! how many?—are now dead. + +“I think that it was more just to change the law than to violate it. +The ballot gave birth to the Commune, and in completing itself without +it, the Commune commits suicide. I will not be an accomplice in the +fault.” + +We understand that; it is quite enough to be an accomplice in the +crime. + + “I am so convinced of this truth, that if the Commune persist in + what I call an usurpation of the elective power, I could not + reconcile the respect due to the rote of the majority with the + respect due to my own conscience; I shall therefore be obliged, + much to my regret, to give in my resignation to the Commune before + the victory. + + “_Salut et Fraternité_. + “FÉLIX PYAT.” + +“Before the victory” is exquisitely comic! But, carried away by the +desire of exhibiting the wit of which he is master, Monsieur Félix Pyat +fails to perceive that his irony is a little too transparent, that +“before the victory” evidently meant “before the defeat,” and that +consequently, without taking into account the excellent reasons given +in his letter to the president of the Commune, we shall only recollect +that rats run away when the vessel is about to sink. But this time the +rats must remain at the bottom of the hold. Tour colleagues, Monsieur +Pyat, will not permit you to be the only one to withdraw from the +honours, since you have been with them in the strife. Not daring to fly +themselves, they will make you stay. Vermorel will seize you by the +collar at the moment you are about to open the door and make your +escape; and Monsieur Pierre Denis,[68] who used to be a poet as well as +a cobbler, will murmur in your ear these verses of Victor Hugo[69], +which, with a few slight modifications, will suit your case exactly:— + +“Maintenant il se dit: ‘L’empire est chancelant; + La victoire est peu sûre.’ +Il cherche à s’en aller, furtif et reculant. + Reste dans la masure!” + +“Tu dis: ‘Le plafond croule; ils vont, si l’on me voit, + Empêcher que je sorte.’ +N’osant rester ni fuir, tu regardes le toit, + Tu regardes la porte. + +“Tu mets timidement la main sur le verrou; + Reste en leurs rangs funèbres! +Reste! La loi qu’ils ont enfouie en un trou + Est là dans les ténèbres. + +“Reste! Elle est là, le flanc percé de leurs couteaux, + Gisante, et sur sa bière +Ils ont mis une dalle. Un pan de ton manteau + Est pris sous cette pierre. + +“Tu ne t’en iras pas! Quoi! quitter leur maison! + Et fuir leur destinée! +Quoi! tu voudrais trahir jusqu’à la trahison + Elle-même indignée! + +“Quoi! n’as-tu pas tenu l’échelle à ces fripons + En pleine connivence? +Le sac de ces voleurs ne fut-il pas, réponds, + Cousu par toi d’avance? + +“Les mensonges, la haine au dard froid et visqueux, + Habitent ce repaire; +Tu t’en vas! De quel droit, étant plus renard qu’eux + Et plus qu’elle vipère?” + +And Monsieur Félix Pyat will remain, in spite of the thousand and one +good reasons he would find to make a short tour in Belgium. His +colleagues will try persuasion, if necessary—“You are good, you are +great, you are pure; what would become of us without you?” and they +will hold on to him to the end, like cowards who in the midst of danger +cling to their companions, shrieking out, “We will die together!” and +embrace them convulsively to prevent their escape. + +NOTES: + + [68] A writer in the _Vengeur_. + + [69] For translation, see Appendix 7. + + + + + LXV. + + +An anonymous writer, who is no other, it is said, than the citizen +Delescluze, has just published the following:— + +“The Commune has assured to itself the receipt of a sum of 600,000 +francs a day—eighteen millions a month.” + +There was once upon a time a French forger, named Collé, celebrated for +the extent and importance of his swindling, and who possessed, it was +said, a very large fortune. When questioned upon the subject, he used +to answer: “I have assured to myself a receipt of a hundred francs a +day—three thousand francs a month.” + +Between Collé and the Commune there exists a difference, however: in +the first place, Collé affected a particular liking for the clergy, +whose various garbs he used frequently to assume, and the Commune +cannot endure _curés_ and secondly, while Collé, in assuring himself a +receipt of three thousand francs a month, had done all that was +possible for him to do, the Commune puts up with a miserable eighteen +millions, when it might have ensured to itself a great deal more. It is +astounding, and, I may add, little in accordance with its dignity, that +it should be satisfied with so moderate an allowance. You show too much +modesty; it is not worth while being victorious for so little. Eighteen +millions—a mere nothing! Your delicacy might be better understood were +you more scrupulous as to the choice of your means. Thank Heaven! you +do not err on that score. Come! a little more energy, if you please. +“But!” sighs the Commune, “I have done my best, it seems to me. Thanks +to Jourde,[70] who throws Law into the shade, and to Dereure,[71] the +shoemaker—Financier and Cobbler of La Fontaine’s Fable—I pocket daily +the gross value of the sale of tobacco, which is a pretty speculation +enough, since I have had to pay neither the cost of the raw materials +nor of the manufacture. I have besides this, thanks to what I call the +‘regular income from the public departments,’ a good number of little +revenues which do not cost me much and bring me in a good deal. Now +there’s the Post, for instance. I take good care to despatch none of +the letters that are confided to me, but I manage to secure the price +of the postage by an arrangement with my employés. This shows +cleverness and tact, I think. Finally, in addition to this, I get the +railway companies to be kind enough to drop into my pockets the sum of +two millions of francs: the Northern Railway Company will supply me +with three hundred and ninety-three thousand francs; the Western, with +two hundred and seventy-five thousand; the Eastern, three hundred and +fifty-four thousand francs; the Lyons Railway Company, with six hundred +and ninety-two thousand francs; the Orleans Railway, three hundred and +seventy-six thousand francs. It is the financial delegate, Monsieur +Jourde, who has the most brains of the whole band, who planned this +ingenious arrangement. And, in truth, I consider that I have done all +that is in my power, and you are wrong in trying to humiliate me by +drawing comparisons between myself and Collé, who had some good, in +him, but who was in no way equal to me.” My dear, good Commune, I do +not deny that, you have the most excellent intentions; I approve the +tobacco speculation and the funds drawn from the public service money, +in which you include, I suppose, the profits made in your nocturnal +visits to the public and other coffers, and your fruitful rounds in the +churches. As to the tax levied on railways, it inspires me with an +admiration approaching enthusiasm. But, for mercy’s sake, do not allow +yourself to stop there. Nothing is achieved so long as anything remains +to be done. You waste your time in counting up the present sources of +your revenues, while so many opportunities remain of increasing them. +Are there no bankers, no stock-brokers, no notaries, in Paris? Send a +few of these honest patriots of yours to the houses of the +reactionaries. A hundred thousand francs from one, two hundred thousand +francs from another; it is always worth the taking. From small streams +come great rivers. In your place I would not neglect the shopkeepers’ +tills either, or the money-chests of the rich. They are of the +_bourgeoisie_, those people, and the _bourgeois_ are your enemies. Tax +them, _morbleu!_ Tax them by all means. Have you not all your friends +and your friends’ friends to look after? Is it false keys that fail +you? But they are easily made, and amongst your number you will +certainly find one or two locksmiths quite ready to help you. Take +Pilotel, for instance: a sane man, that! There were only eight hundred +francs in the escritoire of Monsieur Chaudey, and he appropriated the +eight hundred francs. Thus, you see, how great houses and good +governments are founded. And when there is no longer any money, you +must seize hold of the goods and furniture of your fellow-citizens. You +will find receivers of stolen goods among you, no doubt. They told me +yesterday that you had sent the Titiens and Paul Veroneses of the +Louvre to London, in order to be able to make money out of them. A most +excellent measure, that I can well explain to myself, because I can +understand that Monsieur Courbet must have a great desire to get rid of +these two painters, for whom he feels so legitimate and profound a +hatred. But, alas! it was but a false report. You confined yourselves +to putting up for sale the materials composing the Column of the Place +Vendôme; dividing them into four lots, two lots of stone and cement, +and two lots of metal. Two lots only? Why! you know nothing about +making the best of your merchandise. There is something better than +stone and metal in this column. There is that in it which a number of +silly people used to call in other times the glory of France. What a +pretty spectacle—when the sale by auction is over—to see the buyers +carrying away under their arms—one, a bit of Wagram; another, a bit of +Jena; and some, who had thought to be buying a pound or two of bronze, +having made the acquisition of the First Consul at Arcole or the +Emperor at Austerlitz. It is a sad pity that you did not puff up the +value and importance of your sale to the bidders. Your speculation +would then have turned out better. You have managed badly, my dear +Commune; you have not known how to take advantage of your position. +Repair your faults, impose your taxes, appropriate, confiscate! All may +be yours, disdain nothing, and have no fear of resistance; everyone is +afraid of you. Here! I have five francs in my own pocket, will you have +them? + +NOTES: + + [70] Jourde occupied the position of financial Minister under the + Commune Government. He is well-educated, and is said to be one of the + most intellectually distinguished of the Federal functionaries. He is + a medical student, and said to be twenty-seven years of age. See + Appendix 8. + + [71] A working cobbler, and member of the International Society, which + he represented at the Congress of Bâle. He occupied a post on the + _Marseillaise_ newspaper, became a Commissary of Police after the + fourth of September, and took part on the popular side in the outbreak + of the thirty-first of October. He was deprived of his office by + General Trochu’s government, and appointed one of the delegates for + justice, by the authorities of the Commune. + + + + + LXVI. + + + “The social revolution could end but in one great catastrophe, of + which the immediate effects would be— + “To make the land a barren waste: + “To put a strait jacket upon society: + “And, if it were possible that such a state of things could be + prolonged for several weeks— + “To cause three or four millions of human beings to perish by + horrible famine. + “When the Government shall be without resources, when the country + shall be without produce and without commerce: + “When starving Paris, blockaded by the departments, will no longer + discharge its debts and make payments, no longer export nor import: + “When workmen, demoralised by the politics taught at the clubs and + the closing of the workshops, will have found a means of living, no + matter how: + “When the State appropriates to itself the silver and ornaments of + the citizens for the purpose of sending them to the Mint: + “When perquisitions made in the private houses are the only means + of collecting taxes: + “When hungry bands spread over the country, committing robbery and + devastation: + “When the peasant, armed with loaded gun, has to neglect the + cultivation of his crops in order to protect them: + “When the first sheaf shall have been stolen, the first house + forced, the first church profaned, the first torch fired, the first + woman violated: + “When the first blood shall have been spilt: + “When the first head shall have fallen: + “When abomination and desolation shall have spread over all France— + “Oh! then you will know what we mean by a social revolution: + “A multitude let loose, arms in hand, mad with revenge and fury: + “Soldiers, pikes, empty homes, knives and crowbars: + “The city, silent and oppressed; the police in our very homes, + opinions suspected, words noted down, tears observed, sighs counted, + silence watched; spying and denunciations: + “Inexorable requisitions, forced and progressive loans, paper money + made worthless: + “Civil war, and the enemy on the frontiers: + “Pitiless proconsuls, a supreme committee, with hearts of stone— + “This would be the fruits of what they call democratic and social + revolution.” + +Who wrote this admirable page?—Proudhon. + +O all-merciful Providence! Take pity on France, for she has come to +this. + + + + + LXVII. + + +A balloon! A balloon! Quick! A balloon! There is not a moment to be +lost. The inhabitants of Brive-la-Gaillarde and the mountaineers of +Savoy are thirsting for news; let us shower manna on them. Write away! +Pierre Denis! Pump in your gas, emulators of Godard! And may the four +winds of heaven carry our “Declarations” to the four quarters of +France! Ah! ah! The Versaillais—band of traitors that they are!—did not +calculate on this. They raise soldiers, the simpletons; they bombard +our forts and our houses, the idiots! But we make decrees, and +distribute our proclamations throughout the country by means of an +unlimited number of revolutionary aeronauts. May they be guided by the +wind which blows across the mountains! How the honest labourers, the +good farmers, the eager workers of the departments will rejoice when +they receive, dropping, from the sky, the pages on which are inscribed +the rights and duties of the man of the present day! They will not +hesitate one single instant. They will leave their fields, their homes, +their workshops, and cry, “A musket! a musket!” with no thought that +they leave behind them women without husbands, and children without +fathers! They will fly to us, happy to conquer or die for the glory of +Citizen Delescluze and Citizen Vermorel! What ardour! What patriotism! +Already they are on their way; they are coming, they are come! Those +who had no fire-arms have seized their pickaxes or pieces of their +broken ploughs! Hurrah! Forward! March! To arms, citizens, to arms! +Hail to France, who comes to the rescue of Paris! + +All to no purpose. I tell you the people of Brive-la-Gaillarde and the +mountaineers of Savoy have not once thought of taking up arms. They +have never been more tranquil or more resolute on remaining in peace +and quiet than now. When they see one of your balloons—always supposing +that it has any other end in view than of depositing repentant +communists in safe, snug corners, pass the lines of the Versailles +troops—when they see one of your balloons, they simply exclaim, +“Hulloa! Here’s a balloon! Where in the world can it come from?” If +some printed papers fall from the sky, the peasant picks them up, +saying, “I shall give them to my son to read, when he returns from +school.” The evening comes, the son spells them out, while the father +listens. The son cannot understand; the father falls asleep. “Ah! those +Parisians!” cries the mother. Can you wonder? These people are born to +live and die without knowing all that is admirable in the men of the +Hôtel de Ville. They are fools enough to cling to their own lives and +the lives of those near them. They do not go to war amongst themselves; +they are poor ignorant creatures, and you will never make them believe +that when once they have paid their taxes, worked, fed their wives and +children, there still remains to them one duty to fulfil, more holy, +more imperative than all others,—that of coming to the Porte-Maillot to +receive a ball or a fragment of shell in their skulls. + +But these balloons might be made of some use, nevertheless. Pick out +one, the best made, the largest in size, the best rigged; put in +Citizen Félix Pyat—who, you may be sure, will not be the last to sit +down—and Citizen Delescluze too, nor must we omit Citizen Cluseret, nor +any of the citizens who at the present moment constitute the happiness +of Paris and the tranquillity of France! Now inflate this admirable +balloon, which is to bear off all your hopes, with the lightest gases. +Then blow, ye winds, terrifically, furiously, and bear it from us! +Balloons can be capricious at times. Have you read, the story of Hans +Pfaal? Good Heavens! if the wind could only carry them away, up to the +moon, or even a great deal further still. + + + + + LXVIII. + + +I’m surprised myself, as I re-read the preceding pages, at the strange +contradictions I meet with. During the first few days I was almost +favourable to the Commune; I waited, I hoped. To-day all is very +different. When I write down in the evening what I have seen and +thought in the day, I allow myself to blame with severity men that +inspired me formerly with some kind of sympathy. What has taken place? +Have my opinions changed? I do not think so. Besides, I have in reality +but one opinion. I receive impressions, describing these impressions +without reserve, without prejudice. If these stray leaves should ever +be collected in a volume, they will at least possess the rare merit of +being thoroughly sincere. Is it then, that my nature is modified? By no +means. If I were indulgent a month ago, it was that I did not know +those of whom I spoke, and that I am of a naturally hopeful and +benevolent disposition: if I now show myself severe, it is that—like +the rest of Paris—I have learned to know them better. + + + + + LXIX. + + +The Commune has naturally brought an infinite number of journals into +existence. Try, if you will, to count the leaves of the forest, the +grains of sand on the seashore, the stars in the heavens, but do not, +in your wildest dreams, attempt to enumerate the newspapers that have +seen the light since the famous day of the 18th of March. Félix Pyat +has a journal, _Le Vengeur_; Vermorel has a journal, _Le Cri du +People_; Delescluze has a journal, _Le Reveil_; there is not a member +of the Commune but indulges in the luxury of a sheet in which he tells +his colleagues daily all the evil he thinks of them. It must be +acknowledged that these gentlemen have an extremely bad opinion one of +the other. I defy even the _Gaulois_ of Versailles—yes, the _Gaulois_ +itself—to treat Félix Pyat as Vermorel treats him, and if it be +remembered on the other hand what Félix Pyat says of Vermorel, the +_Gaulois_ will be found singularly good-natured. Napoleon cautioned us +long ago “to wash our dirty linen at home,” but good patriots cannot be +expected to profit by the counsels of a tyrant. So the columns of the +Commune papers are devoted to the daily and mutual pulling to pieces of +the Commune’s members. But where will these ephemeral sheets be in six +months, in one month, or in a week’s time perhaps? The wind which wafts +away the leaves of the rose and the laurel, will be no less cruel for +the political leaves. Let us then, for the sake of posterity, offer a +specimen of what is—or as we shall soon say, what was—the Communalist +press of to-day. Be they edited by Marotteau, or Duchesne, or Paschal +Grousset, or by any other emulator of Paul-Louis Courier, these worthy +journals are all much alike, and one example will suffice for the +whole. + +[Illustration: Vermesch (père Duchesne).[72]] + +First of all, and generally in enormous type, stand the LATEST NEWS, +the news from the Porte Maillot where the friends of the Commune are +fighting, and the news from Versailles where the enemies of the country +are sitting. They usually run somewhat in this style:— + + “It is more and more confirmed that the Assembly of Versailles is + surrounded and made prisoner by the troops returned from Germany. + The generals of the Empire have newly proclaimed Napoleon: the + Third, Emperor. After a violent quarrel about two National Guards + whom Marshal MacMahon had had shot, but had omitted to have cooked + for his soldiers, Monsieur Thiers sent a challenge to the Marshal, + by his two seconds. These seconds were no other than the Comte de + Chambord and the Comte de Paris. Marshal MacMahon chose the + ex-Emperor and Paul de Cassagnac. The duel took place in the Rue + des Reservoirs, in the midst of an immense crowd. The Marshal was + killed, and was therefore obliged to renounce the command of the + troops. But the Assembly would not accept his resignation. + “We are in the position to assert that a company of the 132nd + Battalion has this morning surrounded fifteen thousand gendarmes + and sergents-de-ville, in the park of Neuilly. Seeing that all + resistance was useless, the supporters of Monsieur Thiers + surrendered without reserve. Among them were seventeen members of + the National Assembly, who, not content with ordering the + assassination of our brothers, had wished also to be present at the + massacre. + “A person worthy of credit has related to us the following fact:—A + _cantinière_ of the 44th Battalion (from the Batignolles quarter), + was in the act of pouring out a glass of brandy for an artilleryman + of the Fort of Vanves, when suddenly the artilleryman was out in + two by a Versailles shell; the brave _cantinière_ drank off the + contents of the glass just poured out for the dead man who lay in + bits at her feet, and took his place at the guns. She performed her + new part of artilleryman so bravely, that ten minutes later there + was not a single gun uninjured in the Meudon battery. As to those + who were serving the pieces there, they were all hurled to a + distance of several miles, and amongst them were said to have been + recognised—we give this news however with great reserve—Monsieur + Ollivier, the ex-minister of the ex-Emperor, and Count von + Bismarck, who wished to verify for himself the actual range of the + guns that he had lent to his good friends of Versailles.” + +[Illustration: PASCHAL GROUSSET, DELEGATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.[73]] + +After the LATEST NEWS come the reports of the day, the _bulletin du +jour_ as it is called now, and it is in this that the editor, a member +of the Commune, reveals his talent. We trust that the following example +is not quite unworthy of the pen of Monsieur Félix Pyat, or the +signature of Monsieur Vermorel:— + +“Paris, 29th April, 1871. + + “They are lying in wait for us, these tigers athirst for blood. + “They are there, these Vandals, who have sworn that in all Paris + not a single man shall be spared, nor a single stone, left + standing. + “But we are not in their power yet. No, nor shall we ever be. + “The National Guard is on the watch; victorious and sublime, their + soldierly breasts are not of flesh and blood, but of bronze, from + which the balls rebound as they stand, dauntless, before the enemy. + “Ah! so these lachrymose Jules Favres, these fat Picards, these + hungry Jules Ferrys, said amongst themselves, ‘We will take Paris, + we will tear it up, and its soil shall be divided after the victory + between the wives of the _sergents de ville!_’ “They are beginning + to understand all the insanity of their plan. Why, it is Paris that + will take Versailles, that will take all those blear-eyed old men + who, because they cannot look steadily at Monsieur Thiers’ face, + fancy that it is the sun. + “It is in vain that they gorge with blood and wine their deceived + soldiers; the moment is approaching when these men will no longer + consent to march against the city which is fighting for them. + Already, yesterday, the mêlée of a battle could be distinguished + from the fort of Vanves; the line had come to blows with the + _gendarmes_ of Valentin and Charette’s Zouaves. Courage, Parisians! + A few more days and you will have triumphed over all the infamy + that dares to stop the march of the victorious Commune! + “But it is not enough to vanquish the enemies without, we must get + rid also of the enemies that are within. + “No more pity! no more vacillation! The justice of the people is + wearied of formalities, and cries out for vengeance. Death to + spies! Death to the _réactionaires_! Death to the priests! Why does + the Commune feed this collection of malefactors in your prisons, + while the money they cost us daily would be so useful to the women + and children of those who are fighting for the cause of Paris? We + are assured that one of the prisoners ate half a chicken for his + dinner yesterday; how many good patriots might have been saved from + suffering with the sum which was taken from the chests of the + Republic for this orgie! There is no longer time to hesitate; the + Versaillais are shooting and mutilating the prisoners; we must + revenge ourselves! We must show them such an example, that in + perceiving from afar the heads of their infamous accomplices, the + traitors of Versailles, stuck upon our ramparts, confounded by the + magnanimity of the Commune, they will lay down their arms at last, + and deliver themselves up as prisoners. + “As to the refractory of Paris, we cannot find words to express the + astonishment we experience at the weakness that has been shown with + regard to them. + “What! we permit that there should still be cowards in Paris? I + thought they were all at Versailles. We allow still to remain + amongst us men who are not of our opinion? This state of things has + lasted too long. Let them take their muskets or die. Shoot them + down, those who refuse to go forward. They have wives and children, + they are fathers of families, they say; a fine reason indeed! The + Commune before everything! And, besides, there must be no pity for + the wives of _réactionaires_ and the children of spies!” + +The _bulletins du jour_ are sometimes set forth in gentler terms; but +we have chosen a fair average specimen between the lukewarm and the +most violent. + +Then comes the solid, serious article, generally written by a pen +invested with all due authority, by the man who has the most head in +the place. The subject varies according to circumstances; but the main +point of the article is generally to show that Paris has never been so +rich, so free, nor so happy, as under the government of the Commune; +and this is a truth that is certainly not difficult to prove. Is not +the fact of being able to live without working the best possible proof +that people are well off? Well! look at the National Guards; they have +not touched a tool for a whole month, and they have such a supply of +money that they are obliged to make over some of it to the +wineshop-keepers in exchange for an unlimited number of litres and +sealed bottles. Then, who could say that we are not free? The journals +that allowed themselves to assert the contrary have been prudently +suppressed. Besides, is it not being free to have shaken off the +shameful yoke of the men who sold France; to be no longer subjected to +the oppression of snobs, _réactionaires_, and traitors? And as to the +most perfect happiness, it stands to reason, since we are both free and +rich, that we must be in the incontestable enjoyment of it. Finally, +after the official dispatches edited in the style you are acquainted +with, and after the accounts of the last battles, come the +miscellaneous news, the _faits divers_; and here it is that the +ingenuity of the writers displays itself to the greatest advantage. + + “Yesterday evening, towards ten o’clock, the attention of the + passers-by in the Rue St. Denis was attracted by cries which seemed + to proceed from a four-storied house situated at the corner of the + Rue Sainte-Apolline. The cries were evidently cries of despair. + Some people went to the nearest guardhouse to make the fact known, + and four National Guards, preceded by their corporal, entered the + house. Guided by the sound of the cries they arrived at the fourth + storey, and broke open the door. A horrible spectacle was then + exposed to the view of the Guards and of the persons who had + followed them in their quest. Three young children lay stretched on + the floor of the room, the disorder of which denoted a recent + struggle. The poor little things were without any covering + whatever, and there were traces of blows upon their bodies; one of + them had a cut across the forehead. The National Guards questioned + the children with an almost maternal kindness. They had not eaten + for four days, and, in consequence of this prolonged fast, they + were in such a state of moral and physical abasement that no + precise information could be obtained from them. The corporal then + addressed himself to the neighbours, and soon became acquainted + with a part of the terrible truth. + “In this room lived a poor work-girl, young and pretty. One day, as + she was carrying back her work to the shop, she observed that she + was followed by a well-dressed man, whose physiognomy indicated the + lowest passions. He spoke to her, and was at first repulsed; but, + like the tempter Faust offering jewels to Marguerite, he tempted + her with bright promises, and the poor girl, to whom work did not + always come, listened to the base seducer. Blame her not too + harshly, pity her rather, and reserve all your indignation for the + wretch who betrayed her. + “After three years, which were but anguish and remorse to the + miserable woman, and during which she had no other consolation but + the smiles of the children whose very existence was a crime, she + was becoming reconciled at last to her life, when the father of her + children deserted her. + “This desertion coincided with the glorious revolution of the 18th + of March; and the poor work-girl, who had still room in her heart + for patriotism, found some consolation in reflecting that the day, + so miserable for her, had at least brought happiness to France. + “A fortnight passed, the poor abandoned mother had given up all + hope of ever seeing the father of her three children again, when + one evening—it was last Friday—a man, wrapped in a black cloak, + introduced himself into the house, and made inquiries of the + _concierge_—a great patriot, and commander of the 114th + Battalion—whether Mademoiselle O... were at home? Upon an answer in + the affirmative from the heroic defender of Right and Liberties of + Paris, the man mounted the stairs to the poor workwoman’s rooms. It + was he—the seducer; the _concierge_ had recognised him. What passed + between the murderer and his victims? That will be known, + perhaps—never! But certain it is, that an hour afterwards he went + out, still enveloped in his black mantle. + “The next day, and the days following, the _concierge_ was much + astonished not to see his lodger of the fourth floor, who was + accustomed to stop and talk with him on her way to fetch her _café + au lait_. But his deep sense of duty as commander of the 114th + Battalion occupied his mind so thoroughly, that he paid but little + attention to the incident. Neither did he regard the sighs and sobs + which were heard from the upper stories. He can scarcely be blamed + for this negligence; he was studying his _vade-mecum_. + “On the fourth day, however, the cries were so violent that they + began to inspire the passers-by with alarm, and we have related how + four men, headed by their _caporal_, were sought for to inquire + into the cause. + “We have already told what was seen and heard, but the explanations + of the neighbours were not sufficient to clear up the darkest side + of the mystery, and perhaps the truth would never have been known + if the _caporal_—exhibiting, by a rare proof of intelligence, how + far he was worthy of the grade with which his comrades had honoured + him—had not been inspired with the idea of lifting up the curtain + of the bed. + “Horror! Upon the bed lay stretched the corpse of the unhappy + mother, a dagger plunged into her heart, and in her clutched hand + was found a paper upon which the victim, before rendering her last + breath, had traced the following lines:— + “‘I die, murdered by him who has betrayed me; he would have + murdered also my three children, if a noise in the next room had + not caused him to take flight. He had come from Versailles for the + express purpose of accomplishing this quadruple crime, and, by this + means, obliterate every trace of his past villany. His name is + Jules Ferry. You who read this, revenge me!’” + +NOTES: + + [72] Vermesch, who was born at Lille, in 1846, though not an official + member of the Commune, was one of its most powerful champions. He was + founder and principal editor of the _Père Duchesne_, a poor imitation + of the journal, published under the same title, by Hébert, in the time + of the first Revolution. This paper, one of the most characteristic of + the Commune, was filled with trivialities, in the vilest taste and + slang, which cannot be rendered in English. The first number of + Vermesch’s journal was published on the 6th of March, but was + suppressed by General Vinoy; it re-appeared, however, on the + eighteenth of the same month, and met with such prodigious success, + that even its editor himself was astonished. Intoxicated with the + result, the writers became more and more virulent, and not content + with penning the vilest personal abuse, Vermesch assumed the _rôle_ of + public informer. For instance, he denounced M. Gustave Chaudey, a + writer in the _Siècle_, in the _Père Duchesne_ of the 12th of April, + and that journalist was arrested in consequence on the following day. + The journal became, not only the medium of all kinds of personal abuse + and vengeance, but did the duty of inquisitor for the Communal + Government, for whom it produced a terrible crop of victims. The + _Official Journal_ contained a number of decrees, the drafts of which + at first appeared in _Père Duchesne_. + Amongst other acts, Vermesch organised what he called the battalion + of the Enfants of the _Père Duchesne_, and considering the origin + of this corps, the character of the rabble which filled its ranks + may easily be imagined. The children of such a father could only be + found amidst the lowest dregs of the Parisian population; fit + instruments for the infamous work which was afterwards to be done. + + [73] Paschal Grousset prepared himself for politics by the study of + medicine; from the anatomy of heads he passed to the dissection of + ideas. Having turned journalist, he wrote scientific articles in + _Figaro_, contributed to the _Standard_, and was one of the editors of + the _Marseillaise_ when the challenge, which gave rise to the death of + Victor Noir and the famous trial at Tours, was sent to Prince Pierre + Bonaparte. Immediately after the revolution of the eighteenth of March + he started the _Nouvelle République_, an ephemeral publication which + only lived a week. On the second of April he commenced the + _Affranchi_, or journal of free men, as he called it, Vesinier joining + him in the management of it. The popularity of Grousset caused him to + be elected a member of the Commune in April, and the Government soon + appointed him Minister of Foreign Affairs. He communicated circulars + to the representatives of different nations at Paris, in order to + obtain a recognition of the Commune; he also sent proclamations to the + large towns of France, appealing to arms. But his means of + communication with other governments, and indeed with his own envoys, + was very restricted. + He was one of those who took refuge at the _Mairie_ of the Eleventh + Arrondissement, and who, knowing well that the struggle was really + over, said to the silly heroes who protected them, “All is well. + The Versailles mob is turned, and you will soon join your brethren + in the Champs Elysées.” Many of them that night entered the valley + of the shadow of death! On the third of June the ex-Minister of + Foreign Affairs was arrested in the Rue Condorcet, dressed as a + woman, and marched off to Versailles. + + + + + LXX. + + +“Issy is taken! Issy is not taken! Mégy[74] has delivered it up! Eudes +holds it still.” + +I have heard nothing but contradictory news since this morning. Is Fort +Issy in the hands of the Versailles troops—yes or no? Hoping to get +better information by approaching the scene of conflict, I went to the +Porte d’Issy, but returned without having succeeded in learning +anything. + +There were but few people in that direction; some National Guards, +sheltered by a casemate, and a few women, watching for the return of +their sons and husbands, were all I saw. The cannonading was terrific; +in less than a quarter of an hour I heard five shells whistle over my +head. + +Towards twelve o’clock the drawbridge was lowered, and I saw a party of +about sixty soldiers, dusty, tired, and dejected, advancing towards me. +These were some of the “revengers of the Republic.” + +“Where do you come from?” I asked them. + +“From the trenches. There were four hundred of us, and we are all that +remain.” + +But when I asked them whether the Fort of Issy were taken, they made no +answer. + +Following the soldiers came four men, bearing a litter, on which a dead +body lay stretched; and it was with this sad procession that I +re-entered Paris. From time to time the men deposited their load on the +ground, and went into a wine-shop to drink. I took advantage of one of +these moments when the corpse lay abandoned, to lift the cloak that had +been spread over it. It was the body of a young man, almost a lad; his +wound was hidden, but the collar of his shirt was dyed crimson with +blood. When the men returned for the third time, their gait was so +unsteady that it was with difficulty they raised the poor boy’s bier, +and then went off staggering. At the turning of a street the corpse +fell, and I ran up as it was being picked from the ground; one of the +drunken men was shedding tears, and maudling out, “My poor brother!” + +NOTES: + + [74] Mégy, the famous governor of the Fort of Issy, was implicated in + the last, supposed, plot against the life of Napoleon III. Having shot + one of the police agents charged with his arrest, he was tried and + condemned to death. He was, however, delivered from prison on the + fourth of September, and appointed to the command of a battalion of + National Guards, with which he marched against the Hôtel de Ville on + the thirty-first of October and the twentieth of January. He was named + a member of the Commune on the eighteenth of March, and set fire to + the Cour des Comptes and the Palace of the Légion d’Honneur on the + twenty-third of May, 1871. + + + + + LXXI. + + +We shall see no more of Cluseret! Cluseret is done for, Cluseret is in +prison![75] What has he done? Is he in disgrace on account of Fort +Issy? This would scarcely be just, considering that if the fort were +evacuated yesterday it was reoccupied this morning; by the bye, I +cannot explain satisfactorily to myself why the Versaillais should have +abandoned this position, which they seem to have considered of some +importance. If it is not on account of Fort Issy that Cluseret was +politely asked to go and keep Monseigneur Darboy company, why was it? I +remember hearing yesterday and the day before something about a letter +of General Fabrice, in which that amiable Prussian, it is reported, +begged General Cluseret to intercede with the Commune in behalf of the +imprisoned priests. Is it possible that the Communal delegate, at the +risk of passing for a Jesuit, could have made the required demand? Why, +M. Cluseret, that was quite enough for you to be put in prison, and +shot too into the bargain. However, you did not intercede for anybody, +for the very excellent reason that General Fabrice no more thought of +writing to you, than of giving back Alsace and Lorraine. So we must +search somewhere else for the motive of this sudden eclipse. Some say +there was a quarrel with Dombrowski, that the latter thought fit to +sign a truce without the authority of Cluseret—a truce, what an idea! +Has Dombrowski any scruples about slaughter?—that Cluseret flew into a +great rage; but that his rival got the best of it in the end. You see +if one is an American and the other a Pole, the Commune must have a +hard time of it between the two! + +No, neither the evacuation of Fort Issy—in spite of what the _Journal +Officiel_ says—Monseigneur Darboy, nor the quarrel with Dombrowski are +the real causes of the fall of Cluseret. Cluseret’s destiny was to +fall; Cluseret has fallen because he did not like gold lace and +embroidery—“that is the question,” all the rest are pretexts. + +So the noble delegate imagined he could quietly issue a proclamation +one morning commanding all the officers under his orders to rip off the +gold and silver bands which luxuriantly ornament their sleeves and +caps![76] He thought his staff would forego epaulets and other military +gewgaws. Why, the man must have been mad! What would Cora or Armentine +have said if they had seen their military heroes stalk into the Café de +Suède or the Café de Madrid, shorn of all their brilliant appendages, +which made them look so wonderfully like the monkey-general at the +Neuilly fair, in the good old times, when there were such things as +fairs, and before Neuilly was a ruin. Ask any soldier, Federal or +otherwise, if he will give up his pay, or his jingling sword, or even +his rank; he may perhaps consent, but ask him to rip off his +embroidery, and he will answer, never! How can you imagine a man of +sense consenting not to look like a mountebank? + +Another of these absurd prescriptions has done much to lower Cluseret +in public estimation. One day he took it into his head to prevent his +officers from galloping in the streets and boulevards, under the +miserable pretext that the rapid evolutions of these horsemen had +occasioned several accidents. Well, and if they had, do you think a +gallant captain of horse is going to deprive himself of the pleasure of +curvetting within sight of his lady love, for the pitiful reason, that +he may perchance upset an old woman or two or three children? Citizen +Cluseret does not know what he is talking about! It is certain that if +this valiant general has such a very great horror of accidents, he +should begin by stopping the firing at Courbevoie, which is a great +deal more dangerous than the galloping of a horse on the Boulevard +Montmartre. As you may imagine, the officers went on galloping and +wearing their finery under the very nose of the general, while he +walked about stoically in plain clothes. However, although they did not +obey him, they owed him a grudge for the orders he had given. +Opposition was being hatched, and was ready to burst forth on the first +opportunity, which happened to be the evacuation of Fort Issy. Cluseret +has fallen a victim to his taste for simplicity, but he carries with +him the regrets of all the illused cab-horses which, in the absence of +thoroughbreds, have to suffice the gallant staff, and who, poor +creatures, were only too delighted not to gallop. + +NOTES: + + [75] General Cluseret was a great personage for a time with the + Communists, and his military talents were lauded to the skies, but + suddenly he was committed to prison, and was succeeded in the command + of the army by Rossel. The cause of his imprisonment is not clear. + Some say that he was discovered to be in correspondence with the + Thiers government, others that he was suspected of aiming at the + Dictatorship. During the confusion that occurred on the first entry of + the Versailles troops into Paris, when the Archbishop of Paris and the + other so-called “hostages” had been barbarously assassinated, when the + Louvre, the Palais Royal, and the Hôtel de Ville were in flames, + Cluseret escaped from prison, and was not heard of again until it was + reported that his body had been found buried beneath the rubbish of + the last barricade. Was report correct? + + [76] “THE MINISTER OF WAR TO THE NATIONAL GUARD. + “CITOYENS,—I notice with pain that, forgetful of our modest origin, + the ridiculous mania for trimmings, embroidery, and shoulder-knots + has begun to take hold upon you. + “To work! You have for the first time accomplished a revolution by, + and for, labour. + “Let us not forget our origin, and, above all, do not let us be + ashamed of it, Workmen we were! workmen let us remain! + “In the name of virtue against vice, of duty against abuse, of + austerity against corruption, we have triumphed; let us not forget + the fact. + “Let us be, above all, men of honour and duty; we shall then found + an austere Republic, the only one that has or can have reason for + its existence. + “I appeal to the good sense of my fellow-citizens: let us have no + more tags and lace, no more glitter, no more frippery which costs + so little at the shops yet is so dear to our responsibility. + “In future, anyone who cannot deduce proof of his right to wear the + insignia of his nominal rank, or, who shall add to the regular + uniform of the National Guard, tags, lace, or other vain + distinctions, will be liable to be punished. + “I profit by this occasion to remind each of you of the necessity + of absolute obedience to the authorities, for in obeying those whom + you have elected you are only obeying yourselves. + +“The Delegate of War, + “Paris, April 7th, 1871, + (Signed) “E. CLUSERET.” + + + + + LXXII. + + +Suppose that a man in disguise goes into the opera ball intoxicated, +rushes hither and thither, gesticulating, insulting the women, mocking +the men, turns off the gas, then sets light to some curtains, until +such a hue and cry is raised that he is turned out of the place. +Whereupon our mask runs off to the nearest costumier’s, changes his +clown’s dress for that of a pantaloon, and returns to the opera to +recommence his old tricks, saying, “I have changed my dress, no one +will recognise me.” But he is wrong, there is no mistaking his way of +doing business. + +The crowd surrounds him and cries, “We recognise you, _beau masque!_” +and if he has had the imprudence to secure the doors, they throw him +out of window. + +We recognise you, Executive Commission;[77] it is in vain that you +disguise yourself in the bloody rags of the Committee of Public Safety, +your are still yourself, you are still Félix Pyat, you are still +Ranvier, you have never ceased to be Gérardin; you hope to make +yourself obeyed more readily under this lugubrious costume, but you +mistake. Command us to go and fight, and we will not budge; pursue us, +and we will hardly run away; put us in prison, and we will only laugh. +You are no more a Terror, than Gil-Pérez the actor is Talma; the knocks +you receive have pushed aside your false nose; it is in vain that you +decree, that you rob, that you incarcerate; you are too grotesque to be +terrible. Even if you carried the parody out to the end, and thought +fit to erect a guillotine and sharpen the knife, we should even then +decline to look seriously upon you, and were we to see one by one five +hundred heads fell into the basket, we should still persist in thinking +that your axe was of wood, and your guillotine of cardboard! + +[Illustration: Dupont, Delegate of Trade and Commerce.] + +NOTES: + + [77] The affair of the 30th of April signally disappointed the chiefs + of the insurrection, who decreed the formation of a Committee of + Public Safety, and caused Cluseret to disappear. “The incapacity and + negligence of the Delegate of War having,” they said, “almost lost + them the possession of Fort Issy, the Executive Commission considered + it their duty to propose the arrest of Citizen Cluseret, which was + forthwith decreed by the Commune.” + + + + + LXXIII. + + +The Parisian _Official Journal_ says: “The members of the Commune are +not amenable to any other tribunal than their own” (that of the +Commune). Ah! truly, men of the Hôtel de Ville, you imagine that, do +you? Have you forgotten that there are such tribunals as court-martials +and assizes? + + + + + LXXIV. + + +M. Rossel is really very unfortunate! What is M. Rossel?[78] Why, the +provisional successor of Citizen Cluseret. It was not a bad idea to put +in the word _provisional_. The Commune had confided to him the care of +military matters, which he had accepted, but with an air of +condescension. This “Communeux” looks to me like an aristocrat. At any +rate he has not been fortunate. Scarcely had he taken upon himself the +safety of Paris, when the redoubt of Moulin-Saquet was surprised by the +Versaillais. This accident was not calculated to enhance the courage of +the Federals. The whole affair has been kept as dark as possible, but +the porter of the house where I live, who was there, has told me +strange things. + +“Will you believe, Monsieur, that I had just finished a game of cards +with the captain, and was preparing to have a bit of sleep, for it was +near upon eleven o’clock, when I thought I heard something like the +noise of troops marching. I looked round to see if any one heard it +besides myself, but the men were already asleep, and a circular line of +boots was sticking out all round the tents. The captain said: ‘I +daresay it is the patrol from the Rue de Villejuif.’—‘Oh, yes,’ said I, +‘from the barricade,’ and I fell to sleep without a thought of danger. +In fact, there seemed nothing to fear, as the Moulin-Saquet overlooks +the whole of the plain which stretches from Vitry to Choisy-le-Roi, and +from Villejuif to the Seine. It was impossible for a man to approach +the redoubt without being seen by the sentinel. I had, therefore, been +asleep a few minutes when I was awoke by the following dialogue:—‘Stop! +who goes there?’—‘The patrol.’—‘Corporal, forward!’—Oh! said I to +myself, it is our comrades come to see us; there will be some healths +drunk before morning, and I got up to go and give them a welcome. The +captain was also astir. ‘The password!’ he cried. The chief of the +patrol came forward and answered—‘Vengeance!’ I remember wondering at +the moment why he spoke so loud in giving the pass-word, when suddenly +I saw three men rush forward, seize our captain, and throw him down. At +the same time two or three hundred men, dressed as National Guards, +threw themselves into the camp, rushed upon the sleeping artillery-men +with their bayonets, and then fired several volleys into the tents +where our poor comrades were asleep. What I had taken at first for +National Guards were only those devils of sergents-de-ville dressed up! +So, you see, as it was each man for himself, and the high road for +everybody, I just threw myself down on my face, and let myself drop +into the trenches. There was no fear of the noise of my fall being +heard in the riot. I managed to hide myself pretty well in a hole I +found there, and which had doubtless been made by a shell. I could not +see anything, but I heard all that was going on. Clic! clac! clic! went +the rifles, almost like the cracking of a whip, answered by the most +dismal cries from the wounded. I could hear also the grinding of +wheels, and made sure they were taking away our guns, the robbers! When +all was silent except the groans of the dying men, I crept out of my +hiding place. Would you believe it, Monsieur, I was the only one able +to stand up; the Versaillais had taken all those who had not run away +or were not wounded; I saw them, the pilfering thieves, making off +towards Vitry, as fast as their legs could carry them!” + +“You have no idea, lieutenant,” I said to the porter, “how the +Versaillais got to know the pass-word?”—“No, only the captain, who is +an honest fellow enough, but rather too fond of the bottle, went in the +evening to the route d’Orléans where there are lots of wine-shops +...”—“And you think he got tipsy, and let the pass-word out to some spy +or other?”—“I would not swear he did not; but what I am more sure of, +is that we are betrayed!” + +Alas! yes, unfortunates, you are betrayed, but not in the way you +think. You are being cheated by these madmen and criminals who are busy +publishing decrees at the Hôtel de Ville, while you are dying by scores +at Issy, Vanves, Montrouge, Neuilly, and the Moulin-Saquet; they betray +you when they talk of Royalists and Imperialists; they deceive you when +they tell you, that victory is certain, and that even defeat would be +glorious. I tell you, that victory is impossible, and that your defeat +will be without honour; for when you fell, crying, “Vive la Commune!” +“Vive la République!” the Commune is Félix Pyat, and the Republic, +Vermorel. + +NOTES: + + [78] Colonel Rossel was one of the most capable members of the Commune + Government. He was born in 1844, and was the son of Commandant Louis + Rossel, an officer who acquired a high reputation in the Chinese war. + The young Louis Rossel received a sound military education at the + Prytanée of La Flèche, and subsequently at the École Polytechnique, at + which latter institution he gained high honours. He served as captain + of engineers in the army of Metz, and was one of the officers who + signed the protestation against the surrender of Bazaine. He succeeded + in eluding the vigilance of the Prussians, and appeared at Tours to + offer his services to the Government of National Defence. Gambetta, + then Minister of War, appointed Rossel to the rank of colonel in the + so-called auxiliary army. After the signature of the peace + preliminaries, the new government refused to ratify the promotion + granted by Gambetta, but offered Rossel the rank of major. This + seriously offended the ex-Dictator’s ex-colonel, who shortly after the + tenth of March, put his sword at the disposition of the Commune. He + was at first appointed chief of the staff of General Cluseret, whom he + subsequently replaced as delegate for war. On April 16 he became + president of the Communist court-martial; he acted with great vigour + in all military affairs until the 10th of May, when the Commune + ordered his arrest. + +[Illustration: Chapelle Expiatoire.] + + + + +LXXV. + + +Malediction on the man who imagined this decree; malediction on the +assembly that approved it; and cursed be the hand which shall first +touch a stone of that tomb! Oh I believe me, I am not among those who +regret the times of royal prerogatives, and who believe that everything +would have gone well, in the most peaceful country in the world, if +Louis XVII had only succeeded to the throne after his father, Louis +XVI. The author of the revolution of 1798 knew what he was about in +multiplying such terrible catastrophes. The name of that author was +Infallible Necessity. Indeed I am quite ready to confess that the +indolent husband of Marie Antoinette had none of those qualities which +make a great king, and I will even add, if you wish it absolutely, that +the solitary fact of being a king is a crime worthy a thousand deaths. +As to Marie Antoinette herself—“the Austrian,” _Père Duchesne_ would +call her—I allow that in history she is not quite so amiable as she +appears in the novels of Alexandra Dumas, and that her near +relationship to the queen Caroline-Marie, whose little suppers at +Naples, in company with Lady Hamilton, one is well acquainted with, +gives some excuse for the calumnies of which she has been the object. +Have I said enough to prevent myself being the recipient, in the event +of a Bourbon restoration, of the most modest pension that ever came out +of a royal treasury? Well, in spite of what I have said, and in spite +of what I think, I repeat, “Do not touch that tomb!” Like the Column +Vendôme, which is the symbol of an heroic and terrible epoch in +history, the Chapelle Expiatoire[79] is a souvenir of the old +monarchical reign, an age which was neither devoid of sorrow, nor of +honour for France. Can you not be republican without suppressing +history, which was royalist? The last remains of monarchy repose in +peace beneath that gloomy monument; may it be respected, as we respect +the ashes of those who respected it; and you, breakers of images, +profaners of past glory, do you not fear, in executing your decree, to +produce an effect diametrically opposed to that which you desire? By +persecuting kings even in their last resting-place, are you not afraid +to excite the pity, the regret perhaps, of those whose consciences +still hesitate? In the interest of the Republic, I say, take care! The +memory of the dead stalks forth from open sepulchres! + +NOTES: + + [79] This chapel was erected by Louis XVIII. upon the spot where, + during the Revolution of 1793, the remains of Louis XVI, and his Queen + had been obscurely interred. + + + + + LXXVI. + + +Rejoice, poor housewives, who, on days of poverty, were obliged to +carry to the Mont-de-Piété[80] the discoloured remains of your wedding +dress, or your husband’s Sunday coat; rejoice, artisans, who, after a +day of toil, thought your bed so hard since your last mattress was +taken to the Rue des Blancs-Manteaux, to rejoin your last pair of +sheets. The Commune has decreed that “all objects in pawn at the +Mont-de-Piété, for a sum not exceeding twenty francs, shall be given +back gratuitously to all persons who shall prove their legitimate right +to the said objects.” Thanks to this benevolent decree, you may now +hope that things you have pawned will be restored to you before three +or four hundred days! + +Count on your fingers; the number of articles to which the decree +applies is at least 1,200,000. As there are only three offices for the +claimants to apply to, and considering the forms which have to be +observed, I do not think more than three thousand objects can be given +back daily; the Commune says four thousand, but the Commune does not +know what it is talking about. However, even if we calculate four +thousand a-day, the whole would take up ten or twelve months. + +During this time men and women, whom poverty had long ere this taught +the road to the Mont-de-Piété, would have to get up early, neglect the +daily work by which they live, and go and stand awaiting their turn at +the office, frozen in winter, baked in summer, thankful to obtain a +moment’s rest upon one of the wooden benches in the great bare hall; +and when they have been there a long, weary time, to see their number, +drawn by lot, put off to the next day or the day after, or the week or +the month following perhaps. + +Still we must not blame the Commune for the sad disappointment of this +long delay, it would be impossible to shorten it. One thing, which is +less impossible, is to indemnify the administration of the +Mont-de-Piété for this gratuitous restitution. Citizen Jourde, delegate +of the finances, says, “I will give 100,000 francs a-week.” Without +stopping to consider where this able political economist means to get +his weekly 100,000 francs, I will be content with remarking that this +sum would in no wise cover the loss to the Mont-de-Piété, and that the +Commune will only be giving alms out of other people’s purses. If, +however, thanks to this decree, some few poor creatures are enabled to +get back those goods and chattels which they were obliged to dispose of +in the hour of need, there will not be much cause to complain. The +Mont-de-Piété usually does a very good business, and there will always +be enough misery in Paris for it to grow rich upon. Besides, the +Commune owes the poor wounded, mutilated, dying fellows who have been +brought from Neuilly and Issy, at least a mattress to die in some +little comfort upon. + +NOTES: + + [80] The governmental pawnbroking establishments. All the pawnbroking + is carried on by the Government. + + + + + LXXVII. + + +They have put them into the prison of Saint-Lazare. Whom? The nuns of +the convent of Picpus. They have put them there because they have been +arrested. But why were they arrested? That is what Monsieur Rigault +himself could not clearly explain. Some of the nuns are old. They have +been living long in seclusion, and have only changed cells; having been +the captives of Heaven, they have become the prisoners of Citizen +Mouton. In such an abject place too, poor harmless souls! Victor Hugo +has said, speaking of that wretched prison, “Saint-Lazare! we must +crush that edifice.” Yes, later, when we have the time; we must now +pull down the Column Vendôme and the Chapelle Expiatoire. In the +meantime these poor ladies are very sad. One of my friends went to see +them; they have neither their prayer-books nor their crucifix; they +have had even the amulets they wore round their necks taken from them. +This seems nothing to you, citizens of the Commune. You are men of +advanced opinions. You care as much about a crucifix as a fish for an +apple; and perhaps you are right. You have studied the question, and +you say in the evening, looking up at the stars, “There is no God.” But +you must understand that with these poor nuns it is quite a different +matter. They have not read philosophical treatises; they still believe +that the Almighty created the world in six days, and that the Son died +on the cross for the sake of the world. When they were free, or rather +when they were in a prison of their own choosing, they prayed in the +morning, they prayed at noon, they prayed at night, and only +interrupted this most pernicious occupation for the purpose of teaching +poor little girls that it is good to be virtuous, honest, and grateful, +and that Heaven rewards those who do rightly. That was their +occupation, poor simple souls, and you have sent them to Saint Lazare +for that. You should have chosen another prison, for their presence +must be disagreeable to the usual female denizens of the place. But +there, or elsewhere, they do not complain; they only ask for a +prayer-book and a wooden crucifix. Come, Citizen Delegate of the +ex-Prefecture, one little concession, and unless the future of the +Republic is likely to be compromised by so doing, give them a cross. A +cross is only two pieces of wood placed one on the other. I promise you +there will be wood enough in the forest the day honest men make up +their minds to exercise their muscles on your backs, you bullying +slave-drivers! + + + + + LXXVIII. + + +After Bergeret came Cluseret; after Cluseret, Rossel. But Rossel has +just sent in his resignation. My idea is, that we take back Cluseret, +that we may have Bergeret, and so on, unless we prefer to throw +ourselves into the open arms of General Lullier. The choice of another +general for the defence of Paris is however no business of mine; and +the Commune, a sultan without a favourite, may throw his handkerchief +if he pleases, to the tender Delescluze, as some say he has the +intention—I have not the least objection. Why should not Delescluze[81] +be an excellent general? He is a journalist, and what journalist does +not know more about military matters than Napoleon I., or Von Moltke +himself? In the meantime we are in mourning for our third War Delegate, +and we shall no longer see Rossel on his dark bay, galloping between +the Place Vendôme and the Fort Montrouge. He has just written the +following letter to the members of the Commune:— + +[Illustration: Quelle Gourmande! Paris at Table.] + +Waiter, two or three more stewed generals. —We are out of them. —Very +well, then a dozen colonels in caper sauce. —A dozen? —Yes: directly!! + + “CITIZENS, MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNE,—Having been charged by you with + the War Department, I feel myself no longer capable of bearing the + responsibility of a command wherein every one deliberates, and no + one obeys. + “When it was necessary to organise the artillery, the Central + Committee of Artillery deliberated, but nothing was done. After a + month’s revolution, that service is only carried on, thanks to the + energy of a very small number of volunteers. + “On my nomination to the Ministry, I wanted to further the search + for arms, the requisition of horses, and the pursuit of refractory + citizens; I asked help of the Commune. + “The Commune deliberated, but passed no resolutions. + “Later, the Central Committee came and offered its services to the + War Department; I accepted them in the most decisive manner, and + delivered up to its members all the documents I had concerning its + organisation. Since then the Central Committee has been + deliberating, and has done nothing. During this time the enemy + multiplied its venturesome attacks on Fort Issy; had I had the + smallest military force at my command, I would have punished them + for it. + “The garrison, badly commanded, took flight; the officers + deliberated, and sent away from the fort Captain Dumont, an + energetic man, who had been ordered to command them. Still + deliberating, they evacuated the fort, after having stupidly talked + of blowing it up,—as difficult a thing for them to do as to defend + it. + “Even that was not enough. Yesterday, when every one ought to have + been at work or fighting, the chiefs were deliberating upon another + system of organisation from that which I had adopted, so as to make + up for their want of forethought and authority. The results of + their council were a project, when we want men, and a declaration + of principles, when we wanted acts. + “My indignation brought them back to other thoughts, and they + promised me for to-day the largest force they could possibly + muster,—an organised one of not more than 12,000 men. With these I + undertook to march on the enemy. These men were to muster at eleven + o’clock: it is now one, and they are not ready, and the promised + 12,000 has dwindled to about 7,000, which is not at all the same + thing. + “Thus, the utter uselessness of the artillery committee prevented + the organization of the artillery; the hesitation of the Central + Committee stopped all arrangements; the petty discussions of the + officers, paralyses the concentration of the troops. + “I am not a man to mind having recourse to violence. Yesterday, + while the chiefs discussed, a company of men with loaded rifles + awaited in the court. But I did not want to take upon myself the + initiative of so energetic a measure, or draw upon myself the odium + of such executions as would have been necessary to extricate + obedience and victory from such a chaos. Even if I had been + protected by the publicity of my acts, I need not have given up my + position. + “But the Commune has not had the courage to confront publicity. + Twice I wished to give some necessary explanations, and twice, in + spite of me, it insisted on a secret council. + “My predecessor was wrong to remain in so absurd a position. + “Enlightened by his example, and knowing that the strength of a + revolutionary, only consists in the clearness of his position, I + have only two alternatives, either to break the chains which impede + my actions, or to retire. + “I will not break the chains, because those chains are you, and + your weakness,—I will not touch the sovereignty of the people. + “I retire; and have the honour to beg for a cell at Mazas. + +“ROSSEL.”[82] + +[Illustration: Delescluze, Delegate of War.[83]] + +Most certainly I do not like the Paris Commune, such as the men of the +Hôtel de Ville understand it. Deceived at first by my own delusive +hopes, I now am sure that we have nothing to expect from it but follies +upon follies, crimes upon crimes. I hate it on account of the +suppressed newspapers, of the imprisoned journalists, of the priests +shut up at Mazas like assassins, of the nuns shut up at Saint-Lazare +like courtesans; I hate it because it incites to the crime of civil war +those who would have been ready to fight against the Prussians, but who +do not wish to fight against Frenchmen; I hate it on account of the +fathers of families sent to battle and to death; on account of our +ruined ramparts, our dismantled forts, each stone of which as it falls +wounds or destroys; on account of the widowed women and the orphaned +children, all of whom they can never pension in spite of their decrees; +I cannot pardon them the robbing of the banks, nor the money extorted +from the railway companies, nor the loan-shares sold to a money-changer +at Liège; I hate it on account of Clémence the spy, and Allix the +madman. I am sorry to think that two or three intelligent men should be +mixed up with it, and have to share in its fall. I hate it particularly +on account of the just principles it at one time represented, and of +the admirable and fruitful ideas of municipal independence, which it, +was not able to carry out honestly, and which, because of the excesses +that have been committed in their name, will have lost for ever, +perhaps, all chance of triumphing. Still, great as is my horror of this +parody of a government to which we have had to submit for nearly two +months, I could not forbear a feeling of repulsion on reading the +letter of Citizen Rossel. It is a capitally written letter, firm, +concise, conclusive, differing entirely from the bombastic, +unintelligible documents to which the Commune has accustomed us; and +besides, it brings to light several details at which I rejoice, because +it permits me to hope that the reign of our tyrants is nearly at an +end. I am glad to hear that the Commune, if it possesses artillery, is +short of artillerymen. It delights me to learn that they can only +dispose of seven thousand combatants. I had feared that it would be +enabled to kill a great many more; and as to what Citizen Rossel says +of the committees and officers who deliberate but do not act, it is +most pleasant news, for it convinces me, that the Commune has not the +power to continue much longer a war, which can but result in the death +of Paris; and yet I highly disapprove of the letter of Citizen Rossel, +because it is on his part an act of treachery, and it is not for the +friends and servants of the Commune to reveal its faults and to show up +its weaknesses. Who obliged Rossel, commander of the staff, to take the +place of his general, disgraced and imprisoned? Did he not accept +willingly a position, the difficulties of which he had already +recognised? He says himself that his predecessor was wrong to have +stayed in so absurd a position, and why did he voluntarily put himself +there, where he blamed another for remaining? If the new delegate hoped +by his own cleverness to modify the position, he ought not, the +position remaining the same, accuse anything but his own incapacity. In +a word, the conclusion at which we arrive is, that he only accepted +power to be able to throw it off with effect, like Cato, who only went +to the public theatres for the purpose of fussily leaving the place, at +the moment when the audience called the actors before the curtain. Not +being able or perhaps willing to save the Commune, M. Rossel desired to +save himself at its expense. There is something ungentlemanly in this. +Do not, however, imagine for a moment that I believe in M. Rossel +having been bought by M. Thiers. All those ridiculous stories of sums +of money having been offered to the members of the Commune, are merely +absurd inventions.[84] What do you think they say of Cluseret? That he +was in the habit of taking his breakfast at the Café d’Orsay, and +afterwards playing a game of dominoes. One day his adversary is +reported to have said to him, “If you will deliver the fort of +Montrouge to the Versaillais, I will give you two millions.” What fools +people must be to believe such absurdities! Rossel has not sold +himself, for the very good reason that nobody ever thought of buying +him. It was his own idea to do what he did. For the pleasure of being +insolent and showing his boldness, he has pulled down from its pedestal +what he adored, consequently the most criminal among the members of the +Commune, once a swindler, now a pilferer, is free to say to M. Rossel, +who is, I am told, a man of intelligence and honesty, “You are worse +than I am, for you have betrayed us!” + +NOTES: + + [81] PARIS AT DINNER.—An ogress, gentleman! A famished creature, + faring sumptuously; her face flushed with wine, her eyes bright, her + hands trembling. Madame Lutetia is a strapping woman still, with a + queenly air about her, in spite of the red patches on her tunic; + somewhat shorn of her ornaments, it is true, as she has had to pawn + the greater part of her jewelry, but the orgie once over she will be + again what she was before. + For the time being she is wholly absorbed in her gastronomic + exertions. She has already devoured a Bergeret with peas, a Lullier + with anchovy sauce, an Assy and potatoes, a Cluseret with tomatos, + a Rossel with capers, besides a large quantity of small fry, and + she is not yet appeased. The _maître-d’hôtel_ Delescluze waits upon + her somewhat in trepidation, with a sickly smile on his face. What + if, after such a meal of generals and colonels, the ogress were to + devour the waiter!—_Fac simile of design from the “Grelot,” 17th + May, 1871_. + + [82] He was convinced of the hopelessness of any further struggle + after the capture of Fort Issy; gave in his resignation, and hid + himself to escape the vengeance of his former colleagues. He was + supposed to be in England or Switzerland, whereas, in fact, he had + fled no farther than the Boulevard Saint Germain. He was arrested by + the police on the ninth of June, disguised as an employé of the + Northern Railway. He was first interrogated at the Petit Luxembourg, + and afterwards conducted handcuffed to Versailles, where three mouths + after he was tried by court-martial and sentenced to military + degradation and death. + + [83] Delescluze’s wild life began at Dreux, in 1809. Driven from home + on account of his bad conduct, he came to Paris, and obtained + employment in an attorney’s office, from which he was very soon + afterwards, it is said, discharged for robbery. In 1834, he underwent + the first of his long list of imprisonments, for the part he took in + the April revolution, and in the following year, being compromised in + a conspiracy against the safety of the state, he took refuge in + Belgium, Where he obtained the editorship of the _Courrier de + Charleroi_. In 1840 he returned to Paris, where he founded a journal + called the _Révolution Démocratique et Sociale_, which brought him + fifteen months’ imprisonment and twenty thousand francs fine. After a + long period of liberty of nearly eight years, he was condemned to + transportation by the High Court of Justice, but the condemnation was + given in his absence, for he had slipped over to England, where he + remained until 1853. On his returning in that year to France he was + immediately imprisoned at Mazas, transferred afterwards to Belle-Isle, + and then successively to the hulks of Corte, Ajaccio, Toulon, Brest, + and finally to Cayenne. These sojourns lasted until 1868, when the + amnesty permitted him to return to France, where he made haste to + bring out another new journal, _Le Réveil_, which of course earned him + fines and imprisonments with great rapidity, three of each within the + twelvemonth. + In the month of February, 1871, he was elected deputy by a large + number of votes; and later, when the Assembly went to Bordeaux, sat + there for some time, and then gave in his resignation, in order to + take part with the Commune. + By the Commune he was made delegate at the Ministry of War, after + the pretended flight of Rossel, and in a sitting of the 20th of + April, in which the project of burning Paris was discussed, + Delescluze ended his speech with the words—“If we must die, we will + give to Liberty a pile worthy of her.” + + [84] “A plot had just been discovered between Bourget of the + Internationale, Billioray, member of the Commune, and Cérisier, + captain of the 101st Battalion of the insurgent National Guard. For a + certain sum of money they were to deliver Port Issy into the hands of + General Valentin, of the Versailles army. The succession of Rossel to + the Ministry of War frustrated the whole project. + “In the night of the 17th of May another attempt of the same kind + met with failure. The Communists Bourget, Billioray, Mortier, + Cérisier, and Pilotel, the artist, traitors to their own + treacherous cause, were to open the gates to the soldiers of + Versailles, an hour after midnight, at the Point du Jour; the + soldiers to be disguised as National Guards. But, at the appointed + hour, Cérisier took fright, and contented himself with the money he + had received on account (twenty-five thousand francs) in payment + for his treachery, and did no more. When the Versailles troops + presented themselves at the gates, they had to beat a retreat under + a heavy fire of mitrailleuses.” _Guerre des Communeux_.] + + + + + LXXIX. + + +I was told the following by an eye-witness of the scene. In a small +room at the Hôtel de Ville five personages were seated round a table at +dinner. The repast was of the most modest kind, and consisted of soup, +one dish of meat, one kind of vegetable, cheese, and a bottle of vin +ordinaire each. One would have thought, oneself in a restaurant at two +francs a head, if it had not been that the condiments had got musty +during the siege; besides, there was something solemn and official in +the very smell of the viands which took away one’s appetite. However, +our five personages swallowed their food as fast as they could. At the +head of the table sat Citizen Jourde. Jourde looks about eight and +twenty; he has a delicate looking, mathematical head, with brown curly +hair and sallow complexion, a kind of Henri Heine of the Finance. Tall +and thin, with his red scarf tied round his waist, he reminds us of one +of the old Convention of ’89. They sat for some time in silence, as if +they were observing each other. At the end of the first course, Jourde +took up a spoon and examined it, saying, “Silver! true there is silver +at the Hôtel de Ville, I will send for it to-morrow!” One of the other +guests said, “Pardon me, I have to answer for it, and shall not give it +up.”—“Oh, yes you will,” answered Jourde, “I will have an order sent to +you from the Domaine,”[85] and then, as if he were thinking aloud, goes +on to express his satisfaction at having found an unexpected sum of +three hundred thousand francs, as it were on the dinner-table. A whole +day’s pay! He will be able to put by four millions at the end of the +week; he tries to be economical, but the war runs away with everything. +“You must at least give me three days’ notice for the payment of sums +amounting to more than a hundred thousand francs,” says he, with a +shrug of the shoulders, particularly addressed to Beslay. Then he +speaks of his hopes of reducing the Prussian debt before the year is +out, if the Commune lives so long; touches on subjects connected with +the taxes, patents and duties, “or else bank-notes worth fire hundred +francs in the morning, will only be worth twenty sous in the evening; +money is scarce, it is leaving the city. I do not see much copper +about, but if you leave me alone, I promise to succeed.” All this was +said in a tone of the most sincere conviction. When the dinner was +over, he hastily bowed and rushed off, without having taken any notice +of what was said to him. Every now and then cries arose in the streets, +and made the members of the Commune start as they sat there behind +their sombre curtains. “Do you think they can come in?” asked some one +of Johannard, to which he replies, “What a wild idea! Delescluze knows +it is impossible, and Dombrowski, a cold unexcitable fellow, only +laughs when people mention it; does he not, Rigault?” Thereupon the +personage addressed, who has not yet spoken, bows his head in sign of +acquiescence. He looks young in spite of his thick, black beard; his +eyes are weak, his expression is sly and disagreeable, and looks as if +he might sometimes have his hours of coarse joviality. Then a portière +was lowered, or a door shut, and the person who had overheard the +preceding heard and saw no more. + +[Illustration: Fontaine, Director of Public Domains And +Registration[86]] + +NOTES: + + [85] The Commune occupied the Mint, and directed Citizen Camelinat, + bronze-fitter, to manufacture gold and silver coin to the amount of + 1,500,000 francs. Of that sum, 76,000 francs only was saved by the + Versailles troops on their entry. The different articles of gold and + silver found at the Hôtel des Monnaies represented a total weight of + 1,186 lbs., and consisted of objects taken from the churches, + religious houses, and government offices, Imperial plate, and presents + to the city of Paris. All these objects have been sent to the + repository of the Domaine, where they maybe claimed on identification + by their owners. + + [86] Fontaine was nominated on the 18th of March director of the + public domains and of registration. His name figures in the history of + the revolutions, émeutes, and insurrections of Paris from 1848. He was + a professional insurgent. + + + + + LXXX. + + +I am beginning to regret Cluseret. He was impatient, especially in +speech. He used to say “Every man a National Guard!” But with Cluseret, +as with one’s conscience, there were possible conciliations. You had +only to answer the decrees of the war-delegate by an enthusiastic “Why +I am delighted, indeed I was just going to beg you to send me to the +Porte-Maillot;” which having done, one was free to go about one’s +business without fear of molestation. As to leaving Paris, in spite of +the law which condemned every man under forty to remain in the city; +nothing was easier. You had but to go to the Northern Railway Station, +and prefer your request to a citizen, seated at a table behind a +partition in the passport office.[87] When he asked you your age you +had only to answer “Seventy-eight,” passing your hand through your +sable locks as you spoke—“Only that? I thought you looked older,” the +accommodating individual would answer, at the same time putting into +your hand a paper on which was written some cabalistic sign. One day I +had taken it into my head to go and spend two hours at Bougival, and my +pass bore the strange word “Carnivolus” written on it. Provided with +this mysterious document, I was enabled to procure a first-class ticket +and jump into the next train that started. I was free, and nothing +could have prevented my going, if such had been my wish, to proclaim +the Commune at Mont Blanc or Monaco. + +How the times are changed! The Committee of Public Safety and the +Central Committee now join together in making the lives of the poor +_réfractaires_[88] a burthen to them. I do not speak of the +disarmaments, which have nothing particularly disagreeable about them, +for an unarmed man may clearly nourish the hope that he is not to be +sent to battle. But there are other things, and I really should not +object to be a little over eighty for a few days. Domiciliary visits +have become very frequent. Four National Guards walk into the house of +the first citizen they please, and politely or otherwise, explain to +him that it is his strict duty to go into the trenches at Vanves and +kill as many Frenchmen as he can. If the citizen resists he is carried +off, and told that on account of his resistance he will have the honour +of being put at the head of his battalion at the first engagement. +These visits often end in violence. I am told that in the Rue Oudinot a +young man received a savage bayonet thrust because he resisted the +corporal’s order; and as these occurrences are not uncommon, the +_réfractaires_ cannot be said to live in peace and comfort. They are +subject to continual terror, the sour visage of their _concierge_ fills +them with misgivings, he may be one of the Commune. As to going to bed, +it must not be thought of; it is during the hours of night that the +Communal agents are particularly active. This necessity of changing +domicile has lead to certain Amélias and Rosalines and other ladies of +that description having the words “Hospitality to _Réfractaires_” +written in pencil on their cards. Men who decline to take advantage of +such opportunities have to go about from hôtel to hôtel, giving +imaginary names, suspicious of the waiters, and awaking at the least +sound, thinking it is the noise of feet ascending the stairs, or the +rattle of muskets on the landing. The day before yesterday a number of +_réfractaires_, having the courage of despair, walked to the Porte +Saint-Ouen—“Will you let us out?” asked they of the commanding officer, +who answered in a decided negative; whereupon the party, which was +three hundred strong, fell upon the captain and his men, whom they +disarmed, and five minutes afterwards they were running free across the +fields. + +Others employ softer means of corruption; resort to the wine-shops of +Belleville, where they make themselves agreeable in every way, and soon +succeed in entering into friendly conversation with some of the least +ferocious among the Federals of the place. + +[Illustration: Réfractaires Escaping from Paris] + +“You are on duty, Tuesday, at the Porte de la Chapelle?”—“Why, +yes.”—“So that you might very easily let a comrade out who wants to go +and pay a visit at Saint-Denis?”—“Quite out of the question; the others +would prevent me, or denounce me to the captain.”—“You think there is +nothing to be done with the captain?”—“Oh! no; he is a staunch patriot, +he is!”—“How very tiresome; and I wanted most particularly to go to +Saint-Denis on Tuesday evening. I would gladly give twenty francs out +of my own pocket for the sake of a little walk outside the +fortifications.”—“There is only one way.”—“And how is that?”—“You don’t +care much about going out by the door, do you?”—“Well, no; what I want +is to get outside.“—“Oh! then listen to me; come to La-Chapelle early +on Tuesday evening, and walk up and down the rampart. I will try and be +on duty at eight o’clock, and look out for you. When I see you I will +take care not to say _qui vive_.”—“That’s easy enough; and what +then?”—“Why, then I will secure around you a thick rope which of course +you will have with you!”—“The devil!”—“And I will throw you into the +trench.”—“By Jove! That will be a leap.”—“Oh! I will do it very +carefully, without hurting you. I will let you slip softly down the +wall.”—“Humph!”—“When you reach the ground below, in an instant you can +be up and off into the darkness. Do you accept? Yes or no?”—“I should +certainly prefer to drive out of the city in a coach and six, but +nevertheless I accept.” + +Generally, this plan answers admirably. They say that the Federals of +Belleville and Montmartre make a nice little income with this kind of +business. Sometimes, however, the plan only half succeeds, and either +the rope breaks, or the Federal considers, he may manage capitally to +reconcile his interest with his duty, by sending a ball after the +escaped _réfractaire_. + +Disguises are also the order of the day. A poet, whose verses were +received at the Comédie Française with enthusiasm during the siege, +managed to get away, thanks to an official on the Northern Railway, who +lent him his coat and cap. Another poet—they are an ingenious +race—conceived a plan of greater boldness. One day on the Boulevard he +called a fiacre, having first taken care to choose a coachman of +respectable age, “_Cocher_, drive to the Rue Montorgueil, to the best +restaurant you can find.” On the way the poet reasoned thus to himself: +“This coachman has in his pocket, as they all have, a Communal +passport, which allows him to go out and come into Paris as he pleases; +let me remember the fourth act of my last melodrama, and I am saved.” + +The cab stopped in front of a restaurant of decent exterior not far +from Philippe’s. The young man went in, asked for a private room, and +told the waiter to send up the coachman, as he had something to say to +him, and to procure a boy to hold the horse. The coachman walked into +the room, where the breakfast was ready served. + +“Now, coachman, I am going to keep you all day, so do not refuse to +drink a glass with me to keep up your strength.” + +An hour after the poet and the coachman had breakfasted like old +friends; six empty bottles testified that neither one nor the other +were likely to die of thirst. The poet grumbled internally to himself +as he thought of the three bottles of Clos-Vougeot, one of Léoville, +two of Moulin-au-Vent, that had been consumed, and the fellow not drunk +yet. Then he determined to try surer means, and called to the waiter to +bring champagne. “It is no use, young fellow,” laughed the coachman, +who was familiar at least, if he was not drunk; “champagne won’t make +any difference; if you counted on that to get my passport, you reckoned +without your host!”—“The devil I did,” cried the poor young man, +horrified to see his scheme fall through, and to think of the +prodigious length of the bill he should have to pay for +nothing.—“Others, have tried it on, but I am too wide awake by half,” +said the coachman, adding as he emptied the last bottle into his glass, +“give me two ten-franc pieces and I will get you through.”—“How can I +be grateful enough?” cried the poet, although in reality he felt rather +humiliated to find that the grand scene in his fourth act had not +succeeded.—“Call the waiter, and pay the bill.” The waiter was called, +and the bill paid with a sigh. “Now give me your jacket.”—“My +jacket?”—“Yes, this thing in velvet you have on your back.” The poet +did as he was bid. “Now your waistcoat and trousers.”—“My trousers! Oh, +insatiable coachman!”—“Make haste will you, or else I shall take you to +the nearest guard-room for a confounded _réfractaire_, as you are.” The +clothes were immediately given up. “Very well; now take mine, dress +yourself in them, and let’s be off.” While the young man was putting on +with decided distaste the garments of the _cocher_, the latter managed +to introduce his ponderous bulk into those of the poet. This done, out +they went. “Get up on the box.”—“On the box?”—“Yes, idiot,” said the +coachman, growing more and more familiar; “I am going to get into the +cab, now drive me wherever you please.” The plan was a complete +success. At the Porte de Châtillon the disguised poet exhibited his +passport, and the National Guard who looked in at the window of the +carriage cried out, “Oh, he may pass; he might be my grandfather.” The +cab rolled over the draw-bridge, and it was in this way that M ...,—ah! +I was just going to let the cat out of the bag—it was in this way that +our young poet broke the law of the Commune, and managed to dine that +same evening at the Hôtel des Réservoirs at Versailles, with a deputy +of the right on his left hand, and a deputy of the left on his right +hand. + +Shall I go away? Why not? Do I particularly wish to be shut up one +morning in some barrack-room, or sent in spite of myself to the +out-posts? My position of _réfractaire_ is sensibly aggravated by the +fact of my being in rather a dangerous neighbourhood. For the last few +days, I have felt rather astonished at the searching glances that a +neighbour always casts upon me, when we met in the street. I told my +servant to try and find out who this man was. Great heavens! this +scowling neighbour of mine is Gérardin—Gérardin of the Commune! Add to +this the perilous fact, that our _concierge_ is lieutenant in a Federal +battalion, and you will have good reason to consider me the most +unfortunate of _réfractaires_. However, what does it matter? I decide +on remaining; I will stay and see the end, even should the terrible +Pyat and the sweet Vermorel both of them be living under the same roof +with me, even if my _concierge_ be M. Delescluze himself! + +NOTES: + + [87] The decree which rendered obligatory the service in the marching + companies of the National Guard, and the establishment of + courts-martial, spread terror among the population, and thousands of + people thronged daily to the Prefecture of Police. Sometimes, the + queue extended from the Place Dauphine to beyond the Pont Neuf. But + soon afterwards, stratagems of every kind were put into requisition to + escape from the researches of the Commune, which became more eager and + determined, from day to day, after the publication of the following + decree, the chef-d’oeuvre of the too famous Raoul Rigault:— + +“EX-PREFECTURE OF POLICE. +“Delivery of Passports. + +“Considering that the civil authority cannot favour the non-execution +of the decrees of the Commune, without failing in its duty, and that it +is highly necessary that all communications with those who carry on +this savage war against us should be prevented, + “The member of the Committee of Public Safety, Delegate at the + Prefecture of Police, + “Decrees:— + “Art. 1. Passports can only be delivered on the production of + satisfactory documents. + “Art. 2. No passport will be delivered to individuals between the + ages of seventeen and thirty-five years, as such fall within the + military law. + “Art. 3. No passport will be issued to any member of the old + police, or who are in relation with Versailles. + “Art. 4. Any persons who come within the conditions of Articles 2 + or 3, and apply for passports, will be immediately sent to the + dépôt of the ex-Prefecture of Police. + +(Signed) “RAOUL RIGAULT, +“Member of the Committee of Public Safety.”] + + [88] Those who decline to join the Commune. + + + + + LXXXI. + + +Glorious news! I have seen Lullier again. We had lost Cluseret, lost +Rossel; Delescluze does not suffice, and except for Dombrowski and La +Cécilia with his prima-donna-like name, the company of the Commune +would be sadly wanting in stars. Happily! Lullier has been restored to +us. What had become of him? he only wrote seven or eight letters a day +to Rochefort and Maroteau, that I can find out. How did he manage to +employ that indomitable activity of his, and that of his two hundred +friends, who with their red Garibaldis and blue sailor trousers made +him the most picturesque escort you can imagine? Was he meditating some +gigantic enterprises the dictatorship that Cluseret had dreamed of and +Rossel disdained, was he about to assume it for the good of the +Republic? I have no idea; but whatever he has been doing, I have seen +him again at the club held in the church of Saint Jacques. + +[Illustration: General La Cécilia.[89]] + +Ha! ha! Worthless hypocrites and inquisitors, who for the last eighteen +hundred years have crushed, degraded, and tortured the poor; you +thought our turn was never to come, you monks, priests, and +archbishops! Thanks to the Commune you now preach in the prisons of the +Republic; you may confess, if you like, the spiders of your dungeons, +and give the holy viaticum to the rats which play around your legs! You +can no longer do any harm to patriots. No more churches, no more +convents! Those who have not houses in the Champs Elysées shall lodge +in your convents; in your churches shall be held honest assemblies, +which will give the people their rights; as to their duties, that is an +invention of reactionists. No more of your sermons or speeches: after +Bossuet, Napoléon Gaillard! + +[Illustration: The Church of Saint Eustache. Used As a Red Club. Partly +destroyed by fire.] + +On entering the church of Saint Eustache yesterday, I was agreeably +surprised to find the font full of tobacco instead of holy-water, and +to see the altar in the distance covered with bottles and glasses. Some +one informed me that was the counter. In one of the lateral chapels, a +statue of the Virgin had been dressed out in the uniform of a +vivandière, with a pipe in her mouth. I was, however, particularly +charmed with the amiable faces of the people I saw collected there. The +sex to which we owe the _tricoteuses_ was decidedly in the majority. It +was quite delightful not to see any of those elegant dresses and +frivolous manners, which have for so long disgraced the better half of +the human race. Thank heaven! my eyes fell with rapture on the heroic +rags of those ladies who do us the honour of sweeping our streets for +us. Many of these female patriots were proud to bear in the centre of +their faces a rubicund nose, that rivalled in colour the Communal flag +on the Hôtel de Ville. Oh, glorious red nose, the distinguished sign of +Republicanism! As to the men, they seemed to have been chosen among the +first ranks of the new aristocracy. It was charming to note the +military elegance with which their caps were slightly inclined over one +ear; their faces, naturally hideous, were illuminated with the joy of +freedom, and certainly the thick smoke which emanated from their pipes, +must have been more agreeable as an offering, than the faint vapours of +incense that used to arise from the gilded censers. “Marriage, +citoyennes, is the greatest error of ancient humanity. To be married is +to be a slave. Will you be slaves?”—“No, no!” cried all the female part +of the audience, and the orator, a tall gaunt woman with a nose like +the beak of a hawk, and a jaundice-coloured complexion, flattered by +such universal applause, continued, “Marriage, therefore, cannot be +tolerated any longer in a free city. It ought to be considered a crime, +and suppressed by the most severe measures. Nobody has the right to +sell his liberty, and thereby to set a bad example to his fellow +citizens. The matrimonial state is a perpetual crime against morality. +Don’t tell me that marriage may be tolerated, if you institute divorce. +Divorce is only an expedient, and if I may be allowed to use the word, +an Orleanist expedient!” (Thunders of applause.) “Therefore, I propose +to this assembly, that it should get the Commune of Paris to modify the +decree, which assures pensions to the legitimate or illegitimate +companions of the National Guards, killed in the defence of our +municipal rights. No half measures. We, the illegitimate companions, +will no longer suffer the legitimate wives to usurp rights they no +longer possess, and which they ought never to have had at all. Let the +decree be modified. All for the free women, none for the slaves!” + +[Illustration: Interior of the Church Of St. Eustache—communist Club.] + +The orator descends from the pulpit amidst the most lively +congratulations. I am told by some one standing near me, that the +orator is a monthly nurse, who used to be a somnambulist in her youth. +But the crowd opens now to give place to a male orator, who mounts the +spiral staircase, passes his hand through his hair, and darts a +piercing glance on the multitude beneath. It is Citizen Lullier. + +This young man has really a very agreeable physiognomy; his forehead is +intelligent, his eyes pleasant. Looking on M. Lullier’s sympathetic +face, one is sorry to remember his eccentricities. But what is all this +noise about? What has he said? what has he done? I only heard the words +“Dombrowski,” and “La Cécilia.” Every one starts to his feet, +exasperated, shouting. Several chairs are about to be flung at the +orator. He is surrounded, hooted. “Down with Lullier! Long live +Dombrowski!” The tumult increases. Citizen Lullier seems perfectly calm +in the midst of it all, but refuses to leave the pulpit; he tries in +vain to speak and explain. Two women, two amiable hags, throw +themselves upon him; several men rush up also; he is taken up bodily +and carried away, resisting to the utmost and shouting to the last. The +people jump up on the chairs, Lullier has disappeared, and I hear him +no more; what have they done with him! + +What do you think of all this, gentlemen and Catholics! Do you still +regret the priests and choristers who used awhile ago to preach and +chant in the Parisian churches? Where is the man, who at the very sight +of this new congregation, so tolerant, so intelligent, listening with +such gratitude to these noble lessons of politics and morality; where +is the man, who could any longer blind himself to the admirable +influence of the present revolution? Innumerable are the benefits that +the Paris Commune showers upon us! As I leave the church, a little +vagabond walks up to the font, and taking a pinch of tobacco,—“In the +name of the...!” says he, then fills his pipe; “In the name of the +...!” proceeding to strike a lucifer, adds, “In the name of the +...!”—“Confound the blasphemous rascal!” say I, giving him a good box +on the ears. After having written these lines I felt inclined to erase +them; on second thoughts I let them remain—they belong to history! + +NOTES: + + [89] A political refugee, who left his country in 1869 for Prussia, + where he taught mathematics in the University of Ulm, and afterwards + accepted service under Garibaldi. + + + + + LXXXII. + + +This morning I took a walk in the most innocent manner, having +committed no crime that I knew of. It was lovely weather, and the +streets looked gay, as they generally do when it is very bright, even +when the hearts of the people are most sad. I passed through the Rue +Saint-Honoré, the Palais Royal, and finally the Rue Richelieu. I beg +pardon for these details, but I am particularly careful in indicating +the road I took, as I wish the inhabitants of the places in question, +to bear witness that I did not steal in passing a single quartern loaf, +or appropriate the smallest article of jewellery. As I was about to +turn on to the boulevards, one of the four National Guards who were on +duty, I do not know what for, at the corner of the street, cried out, +“You can’t pass!” All right, thought I to myself; there is nothing +fresh I suppose, only the Commune does not want people to pass; of +course, it has right on its side. Thereupon I began to retrace my +steps. “You can’t pass,” calls out another sentinel, by the time I have +reached the other side of the street. + +This is strange, the Commune cannot mean to limit my walk to a +melancholy pacing up and down between two opposite pavements. A +sergeant came up to me; I recognised him as a Spaniard, who during the +siege belonged to my company. “Why are you not in uniform?” he asked +me, with a roughness that I fancied was somewhat mitigated by the +remembrance of the many cigars I had given him, the nights we were on +guard during the siege. I understood in an instant what they wanted +with me, and replied unhesitatingly, “Because it is not my turn to be +on guard,”—“No, of course it’s not, it never is. You have been taking +your ease this long time, while others have been getting killed.” It +was evident this Spaniard had not taken the cigars I had given him, in +good part, and was now revenging himself.—“What do you want with me?” I +said; “let’s have done with this.” Instead of answering, he signed to +two Federals standing near, who immediately placed themselves one on +each side of me, and cried, “March!” I was perfectly agreeable, +although this walk was not exactly in the direction I had intended. On +the way I heard a woman say, “Poor young man I They have taken him in +the act.” I was conducted to the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, and +marched into the vestry, where about fifty _réfractaires_ were already +assembled. + +Behind a deal table, on which were placed a small register, an inkstand +stuck in a great bung, and two quill pens, sat three young men, almost +boys, in uniform. You might have imagined them to be Minos, Aeacus, and +Rhadamanthus, at the age when they played at leap-frog. “Your name?” +said Rhadamanthus, addressing me. I did not think twice about it, but +gave them a name which has never been mine. Suddenly some one behind me +burst out laughing; I turned round and recognised an old friend, whom I +had not noticed among the other prisoners. “Your profession?” inquired +Minos.—“Prizefighter,” I answered, putting my arms akimbo and looking +as ferocious as possible, by way of keeping up the character I had +momentarily assumed. To the rest of the questions that were addressed +to me, I replied in the same satisfactory manner. When it was over, +Minos said to me, “That is enough; now go and sit down, and wait until +you are called.”—“Pardon me, my young friend, but I shall not go and +sit down, nor shall I wait a moment more.”—“Are you making fun of us? +We are transacting most serious business, our lives are at stake. Go +and sit down.”—“I have already had the honour to remark, my dear +Rhadamanthus, that I did not mean to sit down. Be kind enough to allow +me to depart instantly.”—“You ask _me_ to do this?”—“Yes! you!” I +shouted in a tremendous voice. The three judges looked at me in great +perplexity, and began whispering amongst themselves. A prize fighter, +by jingo! I thought the moment had come to strike a decisive blow, so I +pulled out of my pocket a little green card, which I desired them to +examine. Immediately Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus got up, bowed to +me most respectfully, and called out to two National Guards who were at +the door, “Allow the citizen to pass.”—“By-the-bye,” said I, pointing, +to my friend, “this gentleman is with me.”—“Allow both the citizens to +pass,” shouted the lads in chorus.—“This is capital,” cried my friend +as soon as we were well outside the door.—“How did you manage?”—“I have +a pass from the Central Committee.”—“In your own name?”—“No, I bought +it of the widow of a Federal; who was on very good terms with Citizen +Félix Pyat.”—“Why, it is just like a romance.”—“Yes, but a romance that +allows me to live pretty safely in the midst of this strange reality. +Anyhow, I think we had better look out for other lodgings.” + +[Illustration: House of M. Thiers, Palace Saint-Georges.] + + + + +LXXXIII. + + +At ten o’clock in the evening I was walking up the Rue +Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. In these times the streets are quite deserted at +that hour. Looking on in front I saw that the Place Saint-Georges was +lighted up by long tongues of flame, that the wind blew hither and +thither. I hastened on, and was soon standing in front of M. Thiers’ +house.[90] At the open gate stood a sentinel; a large fire had been +lighted in the court by the National Guards; not that the night was +cold, they seemed to have lighted it merely for the pleasure of burning +furniture and pictures, that had been left behind by the Communal +waggoners. They had already begun to pull down the right side of the +house; a pickaxe was leaning against a loosened stone; the roof had +fallen in, and a rafter was sticking out of one of the windows. The +fire rose higher and higher; would it not be better that the flames +should reach the house and consume it in an hour or two, than to see it +being gradually pulled down, stone by stone, for many days to come? In +the court I perceived several trucks full of books and linen. A +National Guard picked up a small picture that was lying near the gate; +I bent forward and saw that it was a painting of a satyr playing on a +flute. How sad and cruel all this seemed! The men lounging about looked +demoniacal in the red light of the fire. I turned away, thinking not of +the political man, but of the house where he had worked, where he had +thought, of the books that no longer stood on the shelves, of the +favourite chair that had been burnt on the very hearth by which he had +sat so long; I thought of all the dumb witnesses of a long life +destroyed, dispersed, lost, of the relatives, and friends whose traces +had disappeared from the rooms empty to-day, in ruins to-morrow; I +thought of all this, and of all the links that would be broken by a +dispersion, and I trembled at the idea that some day—in these times +anything seems possible—men may break open the doors of my modest +habitation, knock about the furniture of which I have grown fond, +destroy my books which have so long been the companions of my studies, +tear the pictures from my walls, and burn the verses that I love for +the sake of the trouble they have given me to make,—kill, in a word, +all that renders life agreeable to me, more cruelly than if four +Federals were to take me off and shoot me at the corner of a street. +But I am not a political man. I belong to no party—who would think of +doing me any injury? I am perfectly harmless, with my lovesick +metaphor. Ah I how egotistical one is! It was of my own home that I +thought while I stood in front of the ruin in the Place Saint-Georges. +I confess that I was particularly touched by the misfortunes of that +house, because it awakened in me the fear of my own, misfortune, most +improbable, and most diminutive, it is true, in comparison with that. + +[Illustration: House of M. Thiers During Demolition and Removal.] + +NOTES: + + [90] It should be remarked that the destruction of M. Thiers’ house + coincided with the first success of the Versailles army; it was the + spirit of hatred and mad destructiveness which dictated the following + decree, issued by the Committee of Public Safety on the 10th of May:— + “Art. 1. The goods and property of Thiers (they even denied him the + appellation of citizen) are seized by order of the administration + of public domains. + “Art. 2. The house of Thiers, situated at the Place Saint-Georges, + to be demolished.” + “On the following day the National Assembly, in presence of the + activity exhibited by M. Thiers, declared that the proscribed, + whose house was demolished, had exhibited proofs of an amount of + patriotism and political ability which inspired every confidence in + the future. On the 12th of the same month works were commenced at + Versailles for the formation of a railway-station sufficient for + all the wants of an important army, the initiation of which was due + to M. Thiers; a conference was opened on the 19th April with the + Western Railway Company, the plans were approved on the 22nd of the + same month, and the preliminary works were commenced on the 12th of + May. When these are terminated, they will consist of thirty-five + parallel lines of rails, more than a mile in length. But the + principal point in the plan is, that by means of branches to + Pontoise and Chevreuse, this immense station may be placed in + direct communication with all the lines of railway in France. It is + easy enough to draw the following conclusion, namely, that if the + necessity should ever again arise, Paris would cease to be the + central depot for all commercial movements, and thus the paralysis + of the affairs of the whole country would be avoided, in case the + Parisian populace should again be bitten by the barricade mania. At + one time it was feared that the collections of M. Thiers were + destroyed in the conflagration at the Tuileries; but M. Courbet + reports that on the 12th of May he asked what he ought to do about + the different things taken at the house of M. Thiers, and if they + were to be sent to the Louvre or to be publicly sold, and he was + then appointed a member of the commission to examine the case. + Regarding his conduct at the time of the demolishing of the house + of M. Thiers, he arrived too late, he says, to make an inventory; + the furniture and effects had been already packed by the _employés_ + of the Garde Meuble; “I made some observations about it, and on + going through the empty apartments, I noticed two small figures + that I packed in paper, thinking they might be private _souvenirs_, + and that I would return them some day to their owner. All the other + things were already destroyed or gone.” + + + + + LXXXIV. + + +An anecdote: Parisian all over; but with such stuff are they amused! + +Raoul Rigault, the man who arrests, was breakfasting with Gaston +Dacosta, the man who destroys. These two friends are worthy of each +other. Rigault has incarcerated the Archbishop of Paris, but Dacosta +claims the merit of having loosened the first stone in M. Thiers’ +house. But however, Rigault would destroy if Dacosta were not there to +do so; and if Rigault did not arrest, Dacosta would arrest for him. + +They talked as they ate. Rigault enumerated the list of people he had +sent to the Conciergerie and to Mazas, and thought with consternation +that soon there would be no one left for him to arrest. Suddenly he +stopped his fork on its way to his mouth, and his face assumed a most +doleful expression.—“What’s the matter?” cried Dacosta, alarmed.—“Ah!” +said Rigault, tears choking his utterance, “Papa is not in +Paris.”—“Well, and what does it matter if your father is not +here?”—“Alas!” exclaimed Rigault, bursting out crying, “I could have +had him arrested!”[91] + +NOTES: + + [91] The illegality of his conduct, however, was complaint made by + Arthur Arnould, to the committee, concerning the arbitrary arrest of a + number of persons. Cournet was appointed to the Prefecture in + Rigault’s stead, but the amateur policeman and informer did not + renounce work; he found the greatest pleasure, as he himself expressed + it, in acting the spy over the official spies. This man was a + well-known frequenter of the low cafés of the Quartier Latin, and his + face bore such evidences of his debauched life, that though only + twenty-eight years of age, he looked nearer forty. + +[Illustration: Cournet, Member of Committee Of General Safety.] + + + + +LXXXV. + + +The horrible cracking sound that is heard at sea when a vessel splits +upon a rock, is not a surer sign of peril to the terrified crew, than +are the vain efforts, contradictions and agitation at the Hôtel de +Ville, the forerunners of disaster to the men of the Commune. Listen! +the vessel is about to heave asunder. Everybody gives orders, no one +obeys them. One man looks defiantly at another; this man denounces +that, and Rigault thinks seriously of arresting them both. There is a +majority which is not united, and a minority that cannot agree amongst +themselves. Twenty-one members retire, they do well.[92] I am glad to +find on the list the names of the few that Paris’ still believes in, +and whom, thanks to this tardy resignation, it will not learn to +despise. For instance, Arthur Arnould. But why should they take the +trouble to seek out a pretext? Why did they not say simply: “We have +left them because we find them full of wickedness; we were blinded as +you were at first, but now we in our turn see clearly; a good cause has +been lost by madmen or worse, and we have abandoned it because, if we +were to stay a moment longer, now that we are no longer blinded, we +should be committing a criminal act” Such words as these would have +opened the eyes of so many wretched beings, who are going to their +deaths and think they do well to die! As to those who remain, they must +feel that their power is slipping from them. They did not arrest or +detain Rossel; it would seem as if they dared not touch him because he +was right in thinking what he said, although he was very wrong to say +it as he did. While the Commune hesitates, the military plans of the +Versaillais are being carried out. Vanves taken, Montrouge in ruins, +breaches opened at the Point-du-Jour, at the Porte-Maillot, at +Saint-Ouen; the Communists have only to choose now, between flight and +the horrors of a terrible death struggle! May they fly, far, far away, +beyond the reach of vengeance, despised, forgotten if that be possible! +I am told that the Central Committee is trying now to substitute itself +for the Commune, which was elected by its desire.[93] One born of the +other, they will die together. + +[Illustration: Arthur Arnould, Commissioner of Foreign Affairs.[94]] + +[Illustration: Foundered Craft on the Seine. +Porte Maillot et Avenue de la Grande Armée] + +NOTES: + + [92] An important document has just made the round of the Communal + press—the manifesto of the minority of the Commune, in which + twenty-one members declare their refusal to take any farther part in + the deliberations of the body, which they accuse of having delivered + its powers into the hands of the Committee of Public Safety, and thus + rendering itself null. This declaration is signed by:—Arthur Arnould, + Avrial, Andrieux, Arnold, Clémence, Victor Clément, Courbet, Franckel, + Eugène Gérardin, Jourde, Lefrançais, Longuet, Malon, Ostyn, Pindy, + Sérailler, Tridon, Theisz, Varlin, Vermorel, Jules Vallès. + Adding to these twenty-one secessionists, twenty-one members who + have resigned:—Adam, Barré, Brelay, Beslay, De Bouteiller, Chéron, + Desmarest, Ferry, Fruneau, Goupil, Loiseau-Pinson, Leroy, Lefèvre, + Méline, Murat, Marmottan, Nast, Ulysse Parent, Robineat, Rane, + Tirard; + Three who have not sat: Briosne, Menotti Garibaldi, Rogeard; + Two dead: Duval, Flourens; + One captured: Blanqui; + One escaped: Charles Gérardin; + Five incarcerated: Allix, Panille dit Blanchet, Brunel, Emile + Clément, Cluseret;— + Out of 101 members elected to the Commune on the 26th of March and + the 16th of April, only forty-seven now remain:—Amouroux, Ant. + Arnaud, Assy, Babick, Billioray, Clément, Champy, Chardon, Chalain, + Demay, Dupont, Decamp, Dereure, Durant, Delescluze, Eudes, Henry + Fortuné, Ferré, Gambon, Geresme, Paschal Grousset, Johannard, + Ledroit, Langevin, Lonclas, Mortier, Léo Meiller, Martelet, J. + Miot, Oudet, Protot, Paget, Pilotel, Félix Pyat, Philippe, Parisel, + Pottier, Régère, Raoul Rigault, Sicard, Triquet, Urbain, Vaillant, + Verdure, Vésmier, Viart. + + [93] “REPUBLICAN FEDERATION OF THE NATIONAL GUARD. + +“Central Committee. +“To the People of Paris! To the National Guard! + +“Rumours of dissensions between the majority of the Commune and the +Central Committee have been spread by our common enemies with a +persistency which, once for all, must be crushed by public compact. + “The Central Committee, appointed to the administration of military + affairs by the Committee of Public Safety, will enter upon office + from this day. + “This Committee, which has upheld the standard of the Communal + revolution, has undergone no change and no deterioration. It is + today what it was yesterday, the legitimate defender of the + Commune, the basis of its power, at the same time as it is the + determined enemy of civil war; the sentinel placed by the people to + protect the rights that they have conquered, + “In the name, then, of the Commune, and of the Central Committee, + who sign this pact of good faith, let these gross suspicions and + calumnies be swept away. Let hearts beat, let hands be ready to + strike in the good cause, and may we triumph in the name of union + and fraternity. + “Long live the Republic! + “Long live the Commune! + “Long live the Communal Federation! + +“The Commission of the Commune, BERGERET, CHAMPY, GERESME, LEDROIT, +LONGLAS, URBAIN. + “The Central Committee. + “Paris, 18th May, 1871.” + + [94] Arnould is a man of about forty-seven years of age, small in + stature, lively and intelligent. He has written in many of the + Democratic journals of Paris and the provinces; and his literary + talents are of a good kind. Being connected with Rochefort’s journal, + the _Marseillaise_, he was sent by the latter to challenge Pierre + Bonaparte, and was a witness at the trial which followed the murder of + Victor Noir. + Although naturally drawn by his connections into the movement of + the eighteenth of March, he always protested loudly against the + arbitrary acts of the Commune, and it is surprising that he did not + fall under accusation, by his colleagues. He opposed particularly + the proposals for the suppression of newspapers. “It is prodigious + to me,” he said, in full meeting of the committee, “that people + will still talk of arresting others for expressing their opinions.” + He voted against the organisation of the Committee of Public Safety + on the ground:— + “That such an institution would be directly opposed to the + political opinions of the electoral body, of which the Commune is + the representative.” + He protested most energetically against secret imprisonment— + “Secret incarceration has something immoral in it; it is moral + torture substituted for physical. + “I cannot understand men who have passed their life in combating + the errors of despotism, falling into the same faults when they + arrive at power. Of two things one: either secret imprisonment is + an indispensable and good thing; or, it is odious. If it was good + it was wrong to oppose it, and if it be odious and immoral, we + ought not to continue it.” + What on earth had he then to do in the Commune? + “Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?” + + + + + LXXXVI. + + +It was five o’clock in the afternoon. The day had been splendid and the +sun shone brilliantly on Caesar still standing on the glorious pedestal +of his victories. Outside the barricades of the Rue de la Paix and the +Rue Castiglione, the crowd was standing in a compact mass, as far as +the Tuileries on one side and the New Opera House on the other. There +must have been from twenty to twenty-fire thousand people there. +Strangers accosted each other by the title of Citizen, I heard some +talking about an eccentric Englishman who had paid three thousand +francs for the pleasure of being the last to climb to the summit of the +column. Nearly every one blamed him for not having given the money to +the people. Others said that Citizen Jourde would not manage to cover +his expenses; Abadie[95] the engineer had asked thirty-two thousand +francs to pull down the great trophy, and that the stone and plaster +was after all, not covered with more than an inch or two of bronze, +that it was not so many metres high, and would not make a great many +two-sous pieces after all. These sous seemed to occupy the public mind +exceedingly, but the principal subjects of conversation, were the fears +concerning the probable effects of the fall. + +[Illustration: Barricade of the Rue Castiglione, from The Place +Vendôme.] + +The event was slow in accomplishment. The wide Place was thinly +sprinkled with spectators, not more than three hundred in all, +privileged beings with tickets, or wearing masonic badges; or officers +of the staff. Bergeret at one of the windows was coolly smoking a +cigarette; military bands were assembled at the four angles of the +Place; the sound of female laughter reached us from the open windows of +the Ministère de la Justice. The horses of the mounted sentinels +curvetted with impatience; bayonets glittered in the sun; children +gaped wearily, seated on the curbstone. The hour of the ceremony was +past; a rope had broken. Around the piled faggots on which the column +was to fall, great fascines of flags of the favourite colour were +flying. + +The crowd did not seem to enjoy being kept in suspense, and proclaimed +their impatience by stamping with measured tread, and crying “Music!” + +At half-past five there was a sudden movement and bustle around the +barricade of the Rue Castiglione. The members of the Commune appeared +with their inevitable red scarfs.[96] Then there was a great hush. At +the same instant the windlass creaked; the ropes which hung from the +summit of the column tightened; the gaping hole in the masonry below, +gradually closed; the statue bent forward in the rays of the setting +sun, and then suddenly describing in the air a gigantic sweep, fell +among the flags with a dull, heavy thud, scattering a whirlwind of +blinding dust in the air. + +Then the bands struck up the “Marseillaise,” and cries of “Vive la +Commune” were re-echoed on all sides by the terror or the indifference +of the multitude. In a marvellously short time, however, all was quiet +again, so quiet, indeed, that I distinctly heard a dog bark as it ran +frightened across the Place. + +I daresay the members of the Commune, who presided over the +accomplishment of this disgraceful deed, exclaimed in the pride of +their miserable hearts, “Caesar, those whom you salute shall live!” + +Everybody of course wished to get a bit of the ruin, as visitors to +Paris eagerly bought bits of siege bread framed and glazed, and there +was a general rush towards the place; but the National Guards crossed, +their bayonets in front of the barricade, and no one was allowed to +pass. So that the crowd quickly dispersed to its respective dinners. +“It is fallen!” said some to those who had not been fortunate enough to +see the sight. “The head of the statue came off—no one was killed.” The +boys cried out, “Oh, it was a jolly sight all the same!” But the +greater part of the people were silent as they trudged away. + +Then night came on, and next day a land-mark and a finger-post seemed +missing in our every-day journey. Until we lose a familiar object we +hardly appreciate its existence. + +NOTES: + + [95] Abadie arranged to demolish the Colonne Vendôme for 32,000 or + 38,000 francs, forfeiting 600 francs for every day’s delay after the + fourth of May. This reduced the sum to be paid to him by 6000 francs. + + [96] Regarding Courbet and the destruction of the Column, he rejects + the accusation on the ground that this decree had been voted + previously to his admission in the Commune, and on the request he had + made under the Government of the 4th of May of removing the column to + the esplanade of the Invalides. He affirms that the official paper has + altered his own words at the Commune, and he pretends having proposed + to the Government to rebuild the column at his own expense, if it can + be proved that he has been the cause of its destruction. + + + + + LXXXVII. + + +On the sixteenth, I received a prospectus through my concierge. There +was to be a concert, mixed with speeches—a sort of popular fête at the +Tuileries. The places varied in price from ten sous to five francs. +Five francs the Salle des Maréchaux; ten sous the garden, which was to +be illuminated with Venetian lamps among the orange-trees; the whole to +be enlivened by fireworks from the Courbevoie batteries. + +I had tact enough not to put on white gloves, and set out for the +palace. + +It was not a fairy-like sight; indeed, it was a most depressing +spectacle. A crowd of thieves and vagabonds, of dustmen and +rag-pickers, with four or five gold bands on their sleeves and caps, +(the insignia of officers of the National Guard), were hurrying along +down the grand staircase, chewing “imperiales,” spitting, and repeating +the old jokes of ’93. As to the women—they were sadly out of place. +They simpered, and gave themselves airs, and some of them even beat +time with their fans, as Mademoiselle Caillot was singing, to look as +if they knew something about music. + +[Illustration: The Palace of the Tuileries, from The Garden.] + +The Last concert held in the Tuileries by the Commune took place on +Sunday, the 21st March, when Auteuil and Passy had been in the power of +the army for several hours. Two days later the old palace was in +flames. Citizen Félix Pyat had advocated the preservation of the +Tuileries in the “Vengeur”, proposing to convert it into an “asylum” +for the victims of work and the martyrs of the Republic. “This +residence”, he wrote, “ought to be devoted to people, who had already +taken possession of it.” + +The concert took place in the Salle des Maréchaux: a platform had been +erected for the performers. The velvet curtains with their golden bees +still draped the windows. From the gallery above I could see all that +was going on. The Imperial balcony opens out of it; I went there, and +leaned on the balustrade with a certain feeling of emotion. Below were +the illuminated gardens, and far away at the end of the Champs Elysées, +almost lost in the purple of the sky, rose the Arc de Triomphe de +l’Etoile. + +The roaring of the cannon at Vanves and Montrouge reached me where I +stood. When the duet of the “_Maître de Chapelle_” was over, I returned +into the hall; the distant crashing of the mitrailleuse at Neuilly, +borne towards us on the fresh spring breeze, in through the open +windows, joined its voice to the applause of the audience. + +Oh! what an audience! The faces in general looked fit subjects for the +gibbet; others were simply disgusting: surprise, pleasure, and fear of +Equality were reflected on every physiognomy. The carpenter, Pindy, +military governor of the Hôtel de Ville, was in close conversation with +a girl from Philippe’s. The ex-spy Clémence muttered soft speeches into +the ear of a retired _chiffonnière_, who smiled awkwardly in reply. The +cobbler Dereure was intently contemplating his boots; while Brilier, +late coachman, hissed the singers by way of encouragement, as he would +have done to his horses. They were going to recite some verses: I only +waited to hear— + +“PUIS, QUEL AVEUGLEMENT! QUEL NON-SENS POLITIQUE!” + +an Alexandrine, doubtless, launched at the National Assembly, and made +my way to the garden as quickly as I could. + +There, in spite of the Venetian lamps, all was very dull and dark. The +walks were almost deserted, although it was scarcely half-past nine. I +took a turn beneath the trees: the evening was cold; and I soon left +the gardens by the Rue de Rivoli gate. A good many people were standing +there “to see the grand people come from the fête”—a fête given by +lackeys in a deserted mansion! + + + + + LXXXVIII. + + +I was busy writing, when suddenly I heard a fearful detonation, +followed by report on report. The windows rattled: I thought the house +was shaking under me. The noise continued: it seemed as if cannon were +roaring on all sides. I rushed down into the street; frightened people +were running hither and thither, and asking questions. Some thought +that the Versaillais were bombarding Paris on all sides. On the +Boulevards I was told it was the fort of Vanves that had been blown up. +At last I arrived on the Place de la Concorde: there the consternation +was great, but nothing was known for certain. Looking up, I saw high up +in the sky what looked like a dark cloud, but which was not a cloud. I +tried again and again to obtain information. It appeared pretty certain +that an explosion had taken place near the Ecole Militaire-doubtless at +the Grenelle powder-magazine, I then turned into the Champs Elysées. A +distant cracking was audible, like the noise of a formidable battery of +mitrailleuses. Puffs of white smoke arose in the air and mingled with +the dark cloud there. I no longer walked, I ran: I hoped to be able to +see something from the Rond Point de l’Etoile. Once there, a grand and +fearful sight met my eyes. Vast columns of smoke rolled over one +another towards the sky. Every now and then the wind swept them a +little on one side, and for an instant a portion of the city was +visible beneath the rolling vapours. Then in an instant a flame burst +out—only one, but that gigantic, erect, brilliant, as one that might +dart forth from a Tolcano suddenly opened, up through the smoke which +was reddened, illumined by the eruption of the fire. At the same moment +there were explosions as of a hundred waggons of powder blown up one +after another. All this scene, in its hideous splendour, blinded and +deafened me. I wanted to get nearer, to feel the heat of the burning, +to rush on. I had the fire-frenzy! + +[Illustration: Razoua, Governor of the Ecole militaire[97]] + +Going down to the Quai de Passy, I found a dense crowd there. Some one +screamed out: “Go back! go back! the fire will soon reach the +cartridge-magazine.” The words had scarcely been uttered, when a storm +of balls fell like hail amongst us. Each person thought himself +wounded, and many took to their heels. It did not enter into my head to +run away. From where I was then, the sight was still more terribly +beautiful, and the crowd that had withdrawn from the spot soon +re-assembled again. Dreadful details were passed from mouth to mouth. +Four five-storied houses had fallen; no one dared to think even of the +number of the victims. Bodies had been seen to fall from the windows, +horribly mutilated; arms and legs had been picked up in different +places. Near the powder-magazine is a hospital, which was shaken from +foundation to roof: for an instant it had trembled violently as if it +were going to fall. The nurses, dressers, and even the sick had rushed +from the wards, shrieking in an agony of fear; the frightened horses, +too, with blood streaming down their sides, pranced madly among the +fugitives, or galloped away as fast as they could from the awful scene. + +As to the cause of the explosion, opinions varied much. Some said it +was owing to the negligence of the overseers or the imprudence of the +workwomen; others, that the fire was caused by a shell. A woman rushed +up to us, screaming out that she had just seen a man arrested in a shed +in the Champ de Mars, who acknowledged having blown up the +powder-magazine, by order of the Versailles government. Of course this +was inevitable. The Commune would not let such a good opportunity pass +for accusing its enemies. A few innocent people will be arrested, tried +with more or less form, and shot; when they are so many corpses, the +Commune will exclaim, “You see they must have been guilty: they have +been shot!” + +As evening came on I turned home, thinking that the cup was now filled +to overflowing, and that the devoted city had had to suffer defeat, +civil war, infamy, and death; but that this last disaster seemed almost +more than divine justice. Ever and anon I turned my head to gaze again. +In the gathering gloom, the flames looked blood-red, as if the Commune +had unfurled its sinister banner over that irreparable disaster. + +NOTES: + + [97] Razoua served in a regiment of Spahis in Africa. Becoming + acquainted with the journalists who used to frequent the Café de + Madrid, he was a constant attendant there. He took up literature, and + in 1867 published some violent articles in the _Pilori_ of Victor + Noir. He afterwards went with Delescluze to the _Réveil_, where his + revolutionary principles were manifested. In the month of February, + 1871, he was elected a member of the National Assembly by the people + of Paris. After having sat for some time at Bordeaux, he gave his + resignation, and became one of the Communal council. + Appointed governor of the École Militaire, he distinguished himself + in no way in his position, except by the sumptuous dinners and + déjeûners with which he regaled his friends. + + + + + LXXXIX. + + +I have gazed so long on what was passing around me that my eyes are +weary. I have watched the slow decline of joy, of comfort and luxury, +almost without knowing how everything has been dying around me, as a +man in a ball-room where the candles are put out, one by one, may not +perceive at first the gathering gloom. To see Paris, as it is at the +present moment, as the Commune has made it, requires an effort. Let me +shut my eyes, and evoke the vision of Paris as it was, living, joyous, +happy even in the midst of sadness. I have done so—I have brought it +all back to me; now I will open my eyes and look around me. + +In the street that I inhabit not a vehicle of any kind is visible. Men +in the uniform of National Guards pass and repass on the pavement; a +lady is talking with her _concierge_ on the threshold of one of the +houses. They talk low. Many of the shops are closed; some have only the +shutters up; a few are quite open. I see a woman at the bar of the +wine-shop opposite, drinking. + +Some quarters still resist the encroachments of silence and apathy. +Some arteries continue to beat. Some ribbons here and there brighten up +the shop-windows: bare-headed shopgirls pass by with a smile on their +lips; men look after them as they trip along. At the corner of the +Boulevards a sort of tumult is occasioned by a number of small boys and +girls, venders of Communal journals, who screech out the name and title +of their wares at the top of their voices. But even there where the +crowd is thickest, one feels as if there were a void. The two contrary +ideas of multitude and solitude seem to present themselves at once in +one’s mind. A weird impression! Imagine a vast desert with a crowd in +it. + +The Boulevards look interminable. There used to be a hundred obstacles +between you and the distance; now there is nothing to prevent your +looking as far as you like. Here and there a cab, an omnibus or two, +and that is all. The passers-by are no longer promenaders. They have +come out because they were obliged: without that they would have +remained at home. The distances seem enormous now, and people who used +to saunter about from morning till night will tell you now that “the +Madeleine is a long way off.” Very few men in black coats or blouses +are to be seen; only very old men dare show themselves out of uniform. +In front of the café’s are seated officers of the Federal army, +sometimes seven or eight around a table. When you get near enough, you +generally find they are talking of the dismissal of their last +commander. Here and there a lady walks rapidly by, closely veiled, +mostly dressed in black, with an unpretending bonnet. The gallop of a +horse is distinctly audible—in other times one would never have noticed +such a thing; it is an express with despatches, a Garibaldian, or one +of the _Vengeurs de Flourens_, who is hoisted on a heavy cart-horse +that ploughs the earth with its ponderous forefeet. Several companies +of Federals file up towards the Madeleine, their rations of bread stuck +on the top of their bayonets. Look down the side-streets, to the right +or the left, and you will see the sidewalks deserted, and not a vehicle +from one end to the other of the road. Even on the Boulevards there are +times when there is no one to be seen at all. However, beneath it all +there is a longing to awaken, which is crushed and kept down by the +general apathy. + +In the evening one’s impulses burst forth; one must move about; one +must live. Passengers walk backwards and forwards, talking in a loud +voice. But the crowd condenses itself between the Rue Richelieu and the +Rue du Faubourg Montmartre. Solitude has something terrible about it +just now. People congregate together for the pleasure of elbowing each +other, of trying to believe they are in great force. Quite a crowd +collects round a little barefooted girl, who is singing at the corner +of a street. A man seated before a low table is burning _pastilles_; +another offers barley-sugar for sale; another has portraits of +celebrities. Everybody tries hard to be gay; but the shops are closed, +and the gas is sparingly lighted, so that broad shadows lie between the +groups. + +Some few persons go to the theatres; the playbills, however, are not +seductive. If you go in, you will find the house nearly empty; the +actors gabble their parts with as little action as possible. You see +they are bored, and they bore us. Sometimes when some actor, naturally +comic, says or does something funny, the audience laughs, and then +suddenly leaves off and looks more serious than before. Laughter seems +out of place. One does not know how to bear it; so one walks up and +down the corridors, then instead of returning to the play, wanders out +again on to the Boulevard. It is ten o’clock—dreadfully late. Many of +the cafés are already closed for the night. At Tortoni’s and the Café +Anglais, not a glimmer is visible. The crowd has nearly disappeared. +Only a few officers remain, who have been drinking all the evening in +an _estaminet_. They call to each other to hurry on; perhaps one of +them is drunk, but even he is not amusing. Let us go home. Scarcely +anyone is left in the street. A bell is rung here and there, as the +last of us reach our respective homes. + +That, Commune de Paris, is what you have made of Paris! The Prussians +came, Paris awaited them quietly with a smile; the shells fell on its +houses, it ate black bread, it waited hours in the cold to obtain an +ounce of horse-flesh or thirty pounds of green wood; it fought, but was +vanquished; it was told to surrender, and “it was given up,” as they +say at the Hôtel de Ville; and yet through all, Paris had not ceased to +smile. And this, they say, constitutes its greatness; it was the last +protestation against unmerited misfortunes; it was the remembrance of +having once been proud and happy, and the hope of becoming so again; it +was, in a word, Paris declaring it was Paris still. Well, what neither +defeats, nor famine, nor capitulation could do, thou hast done! And +accursed be thou, O Commune; for, as Macbeth murdered sleep, thou hast +murdered our smiles! + + + + + XC. + + +The roaring of cannon close at hand, the whizzing of shells, volleys of +musketry! I hear this in my sleep, and awake with a start. I dress and +go out. I am told the troops have come in. “How? where? when?” I ask of +the National Guards who come rushing down the street, crying out, “We +are betrayed!” They, however, know but very little. They have come from +the Trocadero, and have seen the red trousers of the soldiers in the +distance. Fighting is going on near the viaduct of Auteuil, at the +Champ de Mars. Did the assault take place last night or this morning? +It is quite impossible to obtain any reliable information. Some talk of +a civil engineer having made signals to the Versaillais; others say a +captain in the navy was the first to enter Paris.[98] Suddenly about +thirty men rush into the streets crying, “We must make a barricade.” I +turn back, fearing to be pressed into the service. The cannonading +appears dreadfully near. A shell whistles over my head. I hear some one +say, “The batteries of Montmartre are bombarding the Arc de Triomphe;” +and strange enough, in this moment of horror and uncertainty, the +thought crosses my mind that now the side of the arch on which is the +bas-relief of Rude will be exposed to the shells. On the Boulevard +there is only here and there a passenger hurrying along. The shops are +closed; even the café’s are shut up. The harsh screech of the +mitrailleuse grows louder and nearer. The battle seems to be close at +hand, all round me. A thousand contradictory suppositions rush through +my brain and hurry me along, and here on the Boulevard there is no one +that can tell me anything. I walk in the direction of the Madeleine, +drawn there by a violent desire to know what is going on, which +silences the voice of prudence. As I approach the Chaussée d’Antin I +perceive a multitude of men, women, and children running backwards and +forwards, carrying paving-stones. A barricade is being thrown up; it is +already more than three feet high. Suddenly I hear the rolling of heavy +wheels; I turn, and a strange sight is before me—a mass of women in +rags, livid, horrible, and yet grand, with the Phrygian cap on their +heads, and the skirts of their robes tied round their waists, were +harnessed to a mitrailleuse, which they dragged along at full speed; +other women pushing vigorously behind. The whole procession, in its +sombre colours, with dashes of red here and there, thunders past me; I +follow it as fast as I can. The mitrailleuse draws up a little in front +of the barricade, and is hailed with wild clamours by the insurgents. +The Amazons are being unharnessed as I come up. “Now,” said a young +_gamin_, such as one used to see in the gallery of the Théâtre Porte +St. Martin, “don’t you be acting the spy here, or I will break your +head open as if you were a Versaillais.”—“Don’t waste ammunition,” +cried an old man with a long white beard—a patriarch of civil +war—“don’t waste ammunition; and as for the spy, let him help to carry +paving-stones. Monsieur,” said he, turning to me with much politeness, +“will you be so kind as to go and fetch those stones from the corner +there?” + +[Illustration: Café Life Under the Commune. +Spectacles of Paris.] + +I did as I was bid, although I thought, with anything but pleasure, +that if at that moment the barricade were attacked and taken, I might +be shot before I had the time to say, “Allow me to explain.” But the +scene which surrounds me interests me in spite of myself. Those grim +hags, with their red headdresses, passing the stones I give them +rapidly from hand to hand, the men who are building them up only +leaving off for a moment now and then to swallow a cup of coffee, which +a young girl prepares over a small tin stove; the rifles symmetrically +piled; the barricade, which rises higher and higher; the solitude in +which we are working—only here and there a head appears at a window, +and is quickly withdrawn; the ever-increasing noise of the battle; and, +over all, the brightness of a dazzling morning sun—all this has +something sinister and yet horribly captivating about it. While we are +at work, they talk; I listen. The Versaillais have been coming in all +night.[99] The Porte de la Muette and the Porte Dauphine have been +surrendered by the 13th and the 113th battalions of the first +arrondissement. “Those two numbers 13 will bring them ill-luck,” says a +woman. Vinoy is established at the Trocadéro, and Douai at the Point du +Jour: they continue to advance. The Champ de Mars has been taken from +the Federals after two hours’ fighting. A battery is erected at the Arc +de Triomphe, which sweeps the Champs Elysées and bombards the +Tuileries. A shell has fallen in the Rue du Marché Saint Honoré. In the +Cours-la-Reine the 188th battalion stood bravely. The Tuileries is +armed with guns, and shells the Arc de Triomphe. In the Avenue de +Marigny the gendarmes have shot twelve Federals who had surrendered; +their bodies are still lying on the pavement in front of the +tobacconist’s. Rue de Sèvres, the _Vengeurs de Flourens_ have put to +flight a whole regiment of the line: the _Vengeurs_ have sworn to +resist to a man. They are fighting in the Champs Élysées, around the +Ministère de la Guerre, and on the Boulevard Haussman. Dombrowski has +been killed at the Château de la Muette. The Versaillais have attacked +the Western Saint Lazare station, and are marching towards the +Pépinière barracks. “We have been sold, betrayed, and surprised; but +what does it matter, we will triumph. We want no more chiefs or +generals; behind the barricades every man is a marshal!” + +[Illustration: Poor Pradier’s statues. +Place de La Concorde: LILLE suffers from her friends in fight, whilst +STRASBOURG, in crape, mourns the foe of France.] + +[Illustration: Fire And Water—The effect of fire on the fountains of the +Place de la Concorde and the Château d’Eau—Hirondelles de Paris] + +Eight or ten men come flying down the Chaussée d’Antin; they join, +crying out, “The Versaillais have taken the barracks; they are +establishing a battery. Delescluze has been captured at the Ministère +de la Guerre.”—“It is false!” exclaims a vivandière; “we have just seen +him at the Hôtel de Ville.”—“Yes, yes,” cry out other women, “he is at +the Hôtel de Ville. He gave us a mitrailleuse. Jules Vallès embraced +us, one after another; he is a fine man, he is! He told us all was +going well, that the Versaillais should never have Paris, that we shall +surround them, and that it will all be over in two days.”—“Vive la +Commune!” is the reply. The barricade is by this time finished. They +expect to be attacked every second. “You,” said a sergeant, “you had +better be off, if you care for your life.” I do not wait for the man to +repeat his warning. I retrace my steps up the Boulevard, which is less +solitary than it was. Several groups are standing at the doors. It +appears quite certain that the troops of the Assembly have been pretty +successful since they came in. The Federals, surprised by the +suddenness and number of the attacks, at first lost much ground. But +the resistance is being organised. They hold their own at the Place de +la Concorde; at the Place Vendôme they are very numerous, and have at +their disposal a formidable amount of artillery. Montmartre is shelling +furiously. I turn up the Rue Vivienne, where I meet several people in +search of news. They tell me that “two battalions of the Faubourg Saint +Germain have just gone over to the troops, with their muskets reversed. +A captain of the National Guard has been the first in that quarter to +unfurl the tricolour. A shell had set fire to the Ministère des +Finances, but the firemen in the midst of the shot and shell had +managed to put it out.” At the Place de la Bourse I find three of four +hundred Federals constructing a barricade; having gained some +experience, I hurry on to escape the trouble of being pressed into the +service. The surrounding streets are almost deserted; Paris is in +hiding. The cannonading is becoming more furious every minute. I cross +the garden of the Palais Royal. There I see a few loiterers, a knot of +children are skipping. The Rue de Rivoli is all alive with people. A +battalion marches hurriedly from the Hôtel de Ville; at the head rides +a young man mounted on a superb black horse. It is Dombrowski. I had +been told he was dead. He is very pale. “A fragment of shell hit him in +the chest at La Muette, but did not enter the flesh,” says some one. +The men sing the _Chant du Départ_ as they march along. I see a few +women carrying arms among the insurgents; one who walks just behind +Dombrowski has a child in her arms. Looking in the direction of the +Place de la Concorde, I see smoke arising from the terrace of the +Tuileries. In front of the Ministère des Finances, this side of the +barricade is a black mass of something; I think I can distinguish +wheels; it is either cannon or engines. All around is confusion. I can +hear the musketry distinctly, but the noise seems to come from the +Champs Élysées; they are not firing at the barricade. I turn and walk +towards the Hôtel de Ville: mounted expresses ride constantly past; +companies of Federals are here and there lying on the ground around +their piled muskets. By the Rue du Louvre there is another barricade; a +little further there is another and then another.[100] Close to Saint +Germain l’Auxerrois women are busy pulling down the wooden seats; +children are rolling empty wine-barrels and carrying sacks of earth. As +one nears the Hôtel de Ville the barricades are higher, better armed, +and better manned. All the Nationals here look ardent, resolved, and +fierce. They say little, and do not shout at all. Two guards, seated on +the pavement, are playing at picquet. I push on, and am allowed to +pass. The barricades are terminated here, and I have nothing to fear +from paving-stones. Looking up, I see that all the windows are closed, +with the exception of one, where two old women are busy putting a +mattress between the window and the shutter. A sentinel, mounting guard +in front of the Café de la Compagnie du Gaz, cries out to me, “You +can’t pass here!” I therefore seat myself at a table in front of the +café, which has doubtless been left open by order, and where several +officers are talking in a most animated manner. One of them rises and +advances towards me. He asks me rudely what I am doing there. I will +not allow myself to be abashed by his tone, but draw out my pass from +my pocket and show it him, without saying a word. “All right,” says he, +and then seats himself by my side, and tells me, “I know it already, +that a part of the left bank of the river is occupied by the troops of +the Assembly, that fighting is going on everywhere, and that the army +on this side is gradually retreating.—Street fighting is our affair, +you see,” he continues. In such battles as that, the merest gamin from +Belleville knows more about it than MacMahon.... It will be terrible. +The enemy shoots the prisoners.” (For the last two months the Commune +had been saying the same thing.) “We shall give no quarter.”—I ask him, +“Is it Delescluze who is determined to resist?”—“Yes,” he answers.[101] +“Lean forward a little. Look at those three windows to the left of the +trophy. That is the Salle de l’État-Major. Delescluze is there giving +orders, signing commissions. He has not slept for three days. Just now +I scarcely knew him, he was so worn out with fatigue. The Committee of +Public Safety sits permanently in a room adjoining, making out +proclamations and decrees.”—“Ha, ha!” said I, “decrees!”—“Yes, citizen, +he has just decreed heroism!”[102] The officer gives me several other +bits of information. Tells me that “Lullier this very morning has had +thirty _réfractaires_ shot, and that Rigault has gone to Mazas to look +after the hostages.” While he is talking, I try to see what is going on +in the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. Two or three thousand Federals are +there, some seated, some lying on the ground. A lively discussion is +going on. Several little barrels are standing about on chairs; the men +are continually getting up and crowding round the barrels, some have no +glasses, but drink in the palms of their hands. Women walk up and down +in bands, gesticulating wildly. The men shout, the women shriek. +Mounted expresses gallop out of the Hôtel, some in the direction of the +Bastille, some towards the Place de la Concorde. The latter fly past us +crying out, “All’s well!” A man comes out on the balcony of the Hôtel +de Ville and addresses the crowd. All the Federals start to their feet +enthusiastically.—“That’s Vallès,” says my neighbour to me. I had +already recognised him. I frequently saw him in the students’ quarter +in a little _crémerie_ in the Rue Serpente. He was given to making +verses, rather bad ones by-the-bye; I remember one in particular, a +panegyric on a green coat. They used to say he had a situation in the +_pompes funèbres_.[103] His face even then wore a bitter and violent +expression. He left poetry for journalism, and then journalism for +politics. + +[Illustration: Jules Vallès, Commissioner Of Public instruction[104]] + +To-day he is spouting forth at a window of the Hôtel de Ville. I cannot +catch a word of what he says; but as he retires he is wildly applauded. +Such applause pains me sadly. I feel that these men and these women are +mad for blood, and will know how to die. Alas! how many dead and dying +already! neither the cannonading nor the musketry has ceased an +instant. I now see a number of women walk out of the Hôtel, the crowd +makes room for them to pass. They come our way. They are dressed in +black, and have black crape tied round their arms and a red cockade in +their bonnets. My friend the officer tells me that they are the +governesses who have taken the places of the nuns. Then he walks up to +them and says, “Have you succeeded?”—“Yes,” answers one of them, “here +is our commission. The school children are to be employed in making +sacks and filling them with earth, the eldest ones to load the rifles +behind the barricades. They will receive rations like National Guards, +and a pension will be given to the mothers of those who die for the +Republic. They are mad to fight, I assure you. We have made them work +hard during the last month, this will be their holiday!” The woman who +says this is young and pretty, and speaks with a sweet smile on her +lips. I shudder. Suddenly two staff officers appear and ride furiously +up to the Hôtel de Ville; they have come from the Place Vendôme. An +instant later and the trumpets sound. The companies form in the Place, +and great agitation reigns in the Hôtel. Men rush in and out. The +officers who are in the café where I am get up instantly, and go to +take their places at the head of their men. A rumour spreads that the +Versaillais have taken the barricades on the Place de la Concorde.—“By +Jove! I think you had better go home,” says my neighbour to me, as he +clasps his sword belt; “we shall have hot work here, and that shortly.” +I think it prudent to follow this advice. One glance at the Place +before I go. The companies of Federals have just started off by the Rue +de Rivoli and the quays at a quick march, crying “Vive la Commune!” a +ferocious joy beaming in their faces. A young man, almost a lad, lags a +little behind, a woman rushes up to him, and lays hold of his collar, +screaming, “Well, and you, are you not going to get yourself killed +with the others?” + +[Illustration: Barricade Dividing the Rue de Rivoli and The Place De La +Concorde] + +I reach the Rue Vieille-du-Temple, where another barricade is being +built up. I place a paving-stone upon it and pass on. Soon I see open +shops and passengers in the streets. This tradesmen’s quarter seems to +have outlived the riot of Paris. Here one might almost forget the +frightful civil war which wages so near, if the conversation of those +around did not betray the anguish of the speakers, and if you did not +hear the cannon roaring out unceasingly, “People of Paris, listen to +me! I am ruining your houses. Listen to me! I am killing your +children.” + +On the boulevards more barricades; some nearly finished, others +scarcely commenced. One constructed near the Porte Saint Martin looks +formidable. That spot seems destined to be the theatre of bloody +scenes, of riot and revolution. In 1852, corpses laid piled up behind +the railing, and all the pavement tinged with blood. I return home +profoundly sad; I can scarcely think.—I feel in a dream, and am tired +to death; my eyelids droop of themselves; I am like one of those houses +there with closed shutters. + +Near the Gymnase I meet a friend whom I thought was at Versailles. We +shake hands sadly. “When did you come back?” I ask.—“To-day; I followed +the troops.”—Then turning back with me he tells me what he has seen. He +had a pass, and walked into Paris behind the artillery and the line, as +far as the Trocadéro, where the soldiers halted to take up their line +of battle. Not a single man was visible along the whole length of the +quays. At the Champ de Mars he did not see any insurgents. The musketry +seemed very violent near Vaugirard on the Pont Royal and around the +Palais de l’Industrie. Shells from Montmartre repeatedly fell on the +quays. He could not see much,—however only the smoke in the distance. +Not a soul did he meet. Such frightful noise in such solitude was +fearful. He continued his way under shelter of the parapet. In one +place he saw some gamins cutting huge pieces of flesh off the dead body +of a horse that was lying in the path. There must have been fighting +there. Down by the water a man fishing while two shells fell in the +river, a little higher up, a yard or two from the shore. Then he +thought it prudent to get nearer to the Palais de l’Industrie. The +fighting was nearly over then, but not quite. The Champs Elysées was +melancholy in the extreme; not a soul was there. This was only too +literally true; for several corpses lay on the ground. He saw a soldier +of the line lying beneath a tree, his forehead covered with blood. The +man opened his month as if to speak as he heard the sound of footsteps, +the eyelids quivered and then there was a shiver, and all was over. My +friend walked slowly away. He saw trees thrown down and bronze +lamp-posts broken; glass crackled under his feet as he passed near the +ruined kiosques. Every now and then turning his head he saw shells from +Montmartre fall on the Arc de Triomphe and break off large fragments of +stone. Near the Tuileries was a confused mass of soldiery against a +background of smoke. Suddenly he heard the whizzing of a ball and saw +the branch of a tree fall. From one end of the avenue to the other, no +one; the road glistened white in the sun. Many dead were to be seen +lying about as he crossed the Champs Elysées. All the streets to the +left were full of soldiery; there had been fighting there, but it was +over now. The insurgents had retreated in the direction of the +Madeleine. In many places tricolor flags were hanging from the windows, +and women were smiling, and waving their handkerchiefs to the troops. +The presence of the soldiery seemed to reassure everybody. The +concierges were seated before their doors with pipes in their mouths, +recounting to attentive listeners the perils from which they had +escaped; how balls pierced the mattresses put up at the windows, and +how the Federals had got into the houses to hide. One said, “I found +three of them in my court; I told a lieutenant they were there, and he +had them shot. But I wish they would take them away; I cannot keep dead +bodies in the house.” Another was talking with some soldiers, and +pointing out a house to them. Four men and a corporal went into the +place indicated, and an instant afterwards my friend heard the cracking +of rifles. The concierge rubbed his hands and winked at the bystanders, +while another was saying, “They respect nothing those Federals; during +the battle they came in to steal. They wanted to take away my clothes, +my linen, everything I have, but I told them to leave that, that it was +not good enough for them, that they ought to go up to the first floor, +where they would find clocks and plate, and I gave them the key. Well, +Messieurs, you would never believe what they have done, the rascals! +They took the key and went and pillaged everything on the first floor!” +My friend had heard enough, and passed on. The agitation everywhere was +very great. The soldiers went hither and thither, rang the bells, went +into the houses; and brought out with them pale-faced prisoners. The +inhabitants continued to smile politely, but grimly. Here and there +dead bodies were lying in the road. A man who was pushing a truck +allowed one of the wheels to pass over a corpse that was lying with its +head on the curbstone. “Bah!” said he, “it won’t do him any harm.” The +dead and wounded were, however, being carried away as quickly as +possible. + +[Illustration: Shell Hole—a Convenient Seat. Shot marks: en profil—In +the rues—On the boulevards: Plus de lumière!! Plus d’ombre!!—Bullet +hole: en face.] + +The cannon had now ceased roaring, and the fight was still going on +close at hand—at the Tuileries doubtless. The townspeople were tranquil +and the soldiery disdainful. A strange contrast; all these good +citizens smiling and chatting, and the soldiers, who had come to save +them at the peril of their lives, looking down upon them with the most +careless indifference. My friend reached the Boulevard Haussmann; there +the corpses were in large numbers. He counted thirty in less than a +hundred yards. Some were lying under the doorways; a dead woman was +seated on the bottom stair of one of the houses. Near the church of “La +Trinité” were two guns, the reports from which were deafening; several +of the shells fell on a bathing establishment in the Rue Taitbout +opposite the Boulevard. On the Boulevard itself, not a person was to be +seen. Here and there dark masses, corpses doubtless. However, the +moment the noise of the report of a gun had died away, and while the +gunners were reloading, heads were thrust out from doors to see what +damage had been done—to count the number of trees broken, benches torn +up, and kiosques overturned. From some of the windows rifles were +fired. My friend then reached the street he lived in and went home. He +was told that during the morning they had violently bombarded the +Collège Chaptal, where the Zouaves of the Commune had fortified +themselves; but the engagement was not a long one, they made several +prisoners and shot the rest. + +My friend shut himself up at home, determined not to go out. But his +impatience to see and hear what was going on forced him into the +streets again. The Pépinière barracks were occupied by troops of the +line; he was able to get to the New Opera without trouble, leaving the +Madeleine, where dreadful fighting was going on, to the right. On the +way were to be seen piled muskets, soldiers sitting and lying about, +and corpses everywhere. He then managed, without incurring too much +danger, to reach the Boulevards, where the insurgents, who were then +very numerous, had not yet been attacked. He worked for some little +time at the barricade, and then was allowed to pass on. It was thus +that we had met. Just as we were about to turn up the Faubourg +Montmartre a man rushed up saying that three hundred Federals had taken +refuge in the church of the Madeleine, followed by gendarmes, and had +gone on fighting for more than an hour. “Now,” he finished up by +saying, “if the _curé_ were to return he would find plenty of people to +bury!” + +I am now at home. Evening has come at last; I am jotting down these +notes just as they come into my head. I am too much fatigued both in +mind and body to attempt to put my thoughts into order. The cannonading +is incessant, and the fusillade also. I pity those that die, and those +that kill! Oh! poor Paris, when will experience make you wiser? + +NOTES: + + [98] It was known by this time at Versailles in what a desperate + condition was the Commune, by the information of persons devoted to + order, but who remained amongst the insurgents to keep watch over and + restrain them as much as possible. + The Versailles authorities know that, thanks to the well-directed + fire of Montretout, the bastions of the Point du Jour were no + longer tenable, and that their defenders had abandoned them and had + organized new works of defence; nevertheless, the operations were + earned on just as systematically as if the fire of the besieged had + not ceased for several days, when, on Sunday, the 21st May, about + midday, an officer on duty in the trenches, in course of formation + in the Bois de Boulogne, perceived a man making signs with a white + handkerchief near the military post of Saint Cloud; the officer + immediately approached near enough to hear the bearer of the flag + of truce, say:— + “My name is Ducatel, and I belong to the service of the Engineers + of Roads and Bridges, and I have been a soldier. I declare that + your entrance into Paris is easy, and as a guarantee of the truth + of what I say, I am about to give myself up;” so saying, he passed + over the fosse by means of one of the supports of the drawbridge, + in spite of several shots fired at him by Federals hidden in the + houses at Auteuil, but none of which reached him. + A few resolute men now passed over the fosse, and arrived without + accident on the other side. A few insurgents, who were still there, + made off without loss of time, leaving the invaders to establish + themselves, and wait for reinforcements. + A short time after a white flag was exhibited in the neighbouring + bastion, which bore the number 62, and the fire from Montretout and + Mont Valérien was stopped, the infantry of the Marine took + possession of the gate, out the telegraphic wires which were + supposed to be in communication with torpedoes, while information + was immediately despatched to Versailles of these important events. + The division of General Vergé, placed for the time under the orders + of General Douay, entered the gate at half-past three in the + afternoon, and took possession of Point du Jour, after having taken + several barricades; at one of these, Ducatel was sent with a flag + of trace towards the insurgents, who offered to surrender, but he + received a bayonet wound, was carried off to the École Militaire, + tried by court-martial and condemned to death, from which he was + fortunately snatched by the arrival of the Versailles troops at the + Trocadéro at two o’clock in the morning. + At the same time, the first corps d’armée (that of General + L’Admirault), made its way into the city by the Portes d’Auteuil + and Passy, and took up a strong position in the streets of Passy. + + [99] At ten o’clock at night, the army had taken possession of the + region comprised between the _ceinture_, or circular railway, and the + fortifications, the streets of Auteuil to the viaduct, and the bridge + of Grenelle. + At midnight, the movement which had been suspended for a time to + rest the troops, was recommenced all along the line. + At two o’clock in the morning, General Douay occupied the + Trocadéro; and at about four o’clock his soldiers, after a short + struggle, captured the chateau of La Muette, making about six + hundred prisoners, and then, advancing in the direction of Porte + Maillot, they joined the troops of General Clinchant, who had got + within the ramparts on that side. + At the break of day, the tricolour floated over the Arc de + Triomphe, without the Versailles forces having sustained sensible + loss. All this passed on the right bank of the Seine. + + [100] The insurrectionists followed a decided and pre-conceived plan. + The barricades, which intersected the streets of Paris in every + direction, were arranged on a general system which showed considerable + skill. Was this ensemble a conception of Cluseret? or a plan of + Gaillard, or Eudes, or Rossel? No one now could say which, but at any + rate we are able to deduce the plan from the facts and set it out as + follows:— + Within the line of the fortifications the insurgents had formed a + second line of defence, which runs on the right bank of the river, + by the Trocadero, the Triumphal Arch, the Boulevard de Courcelles, + the Boulevard de Batignolles, and the Boulevard de Rochechouart; + and on the left across the bridge of Iéna, the Avenue de la + Bourdonnaye, the École Militaire, the Boulevard des Invalides, the + Boulevard Montparnasse, and the Western Railway Station. Along the + whole extent of this circuit the entrances of the streets were + barricades, and the “Places” turned into redoubts. + From this double _enceinte_ of fortifications the lines of defence + converged along the great boulevards, the Rue Royale, by the + Ministry of Marine, the terrace of the Tuileries Gardens, the Place + de la Concorde, the Palace of the Corps Législatif, the Rue de + Bourgogne, and the Rue de Varenne. This third _enceinte_ of defence + was the pride of the insurgents; they were never tired of admiring + their celebrated barricade of the Rue St. Florentin, and that which + intercepted the quay at the corner of the Tuileries Gardens on the + Place de la Concorde. + This is not all. Supposing that the third line were forced, the + insurgents would not even then be without resource. On the left + bank of the Seine they fell back successively on the Rue de + Grenelle, Rue Saint Dominique, and Rue de Lille, all three closed + by barricades; on the right bank they could carry on the struggle + by the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, the Rue de la Paix, and the + Place Vendôme, and even when beaten back from these last retreats, + they could still defend the Rue St. Honoré and operate a retreat by + the Palace of the Tuileries, the Louvre, and the Hôtel de Ville. + + [101] In the following proclamation, published on the 21st May, + Delescluze stimulated the Communist party, which felt its power + melting away on all sides: + +“TO THE PEOPLE OF PARIS, TO THE NATIONAL GUARD. + +“CITIZENS,—We have had enough of militaryism; let us have no more +stuffs embroidered and gilt at every seam! + “Make room for the people, the real combatants, the bare arms! The + hour of the revolutionary war has struck! + “The people know nothing of scientific manoeuvres, but with a rifle + in hand and the pavement beneath their feet, they fear not all the + strategists of the monarchical school. + “To arms, citizens! To arms! You must conquer, or, as you well + know, fall again into the pitiless hands of the _réactionaires_ and + clericals of Versailles; those wretches who with intention + delivered France up to Prussia, and now make us pay the ransom of + their treason! + “If you desire the generous blood which you have shed like water + during the last six weeks not to have been shed in vain, if you + would see liberty and equality established in France, if you would + spare your children sufferings and misery such as you have endured, + you will rise as one man, and before your formidable bands the + enemy who indulges the idea of bringing you again under his yoke, + will reap nothing but the harvest of the useless crimes with which + he has disgraced himself during the past two months. + “Citizens! your representatives will fight and die with you, if + fall we must; but, in the name of our glorious France, mother of + all the popular revolutions, the permanent source of ideas of + justice and unity, which should be and which will be the laws of + the world, march to the encounter of the enemy, and let your + revolutionary energy prove to him that Paris may he sold, but can + never be delivered up or conquered. + “The Commune confides in you, and you may trust the Commune! + “The civil delegate at the Ministry of War, + +“(Signed) +“CH. DELESCLUZE. + +“Countersigned by the Committee of Public Safety:—Antoine Arnauld, +Billioray, E. Eudes, F. Gambon, G. Ranvier.” + +Such was the despairing cry of the insurrection at bay. + + [102] See Appendix, No. 9. + + [103] There are no private undertakers and funeral furnishers in + Paris. It is all done by a company, under the supervision of + Government, a very large concern, called the _Pompes Funèbres_. + + [104] Jules Vallès was one of the most conspicuous among the men of + the 18th of March. He had been journalist, working printer, a clerk at + the Hôtel de Ville, editor of a newspaper, pamphleteer, and café + orator in turn, but always noisy and boastful. André Gill, the + caricaturist, once drew him as an undertaker’s dog, dragging a + saucepan behind him, and the caricature told Vallès’ story well + enough. In face he was ugly, but energetic in expression, almost to + ferociousness. + He was born at Puy, in 1833, and on leaving the college of Nantes, + came to study law in Paris, but politics occupied him chiefly, and + he soon got himself shut up in Mazas as a political prisoner. After + some time spent in confinement, he obtained his liberty, and + published at Nantes, a pamphlet under the title of “Money: by a + literary man become a journalist;” and the pamphlet, having gained + him some slight popularity, he was engaged, later, on the _Figaro_, + to write the reports of the Bourse, and in the meantime he eked out + his slender salary by working as a clerk at the Hôtel de Ville. + When Ernest Feydeau brought out the _Epoque_, in 1864, Jules Vallès + published a few articles in its columns, and a little later became + a writer on the _Evénement_, with the magnificent salary of + eighteen thousand francs a year. A month afterwards, he was without + occupation again, but he soon re-appeared with a new journal of his + own, _La Rue, La Sue_, in its turn, however, only lived during a + few numbers, and Jules Vallès now took up café politics, and + practised table oratory at the _Estaminet de Madrid_, where he + fostered and expounded the projects which he has since brought to + so fearful a result. + In 1869, he became one of the most inveterate speakers at election + meetings, and presented himself as a candidate for the Corps + Législatif. He was not elected, but the profession of opinions that + he then made was certain to obtain him a seat in the Communal + Assembly. One of the last articles in the _Cri du People_ of Jules + Vallès announced the fatal resolution of defending Paris by all + possible means. An article finishing with this prophetic sentence, + “M. Thiers, if he is chemist enough will understand us.” + + + + + XCI. + + +It is imprudent to go out; the night was almost peaceable, the morning +is hideous. The roar of musketry is intense and without interruption. I +suppose there must be fighting going on in the Rue du Faubourg +Montmartre. I start back, the noise is so fearful. In the Cour Trévise +not a person to be seen, the houses are closely shut and barred. On a +second floor I hear a great moving of furniture, and hear quite +distinctly the sound of sobbing, of female sobbing. I hear that the +second floor of the house is inhabited by a member of the Commune and +his family. I am about to go up and see if I can be of any help to the +women in case of danger, when I see a man precipitately enter the +Court. He wears a uniform of lieutenant; I recognise him, it is the +porter. He stops, looks around him, and seeing that he is alone, takes +his rifle in both hands and throws it with all his strength over the +high wall which is on the left hand of the Court. That done, he rushes +into the house. There I distinctly hear him say to his wife, “The +barricade is taken, give me a _blouse_, they are at Montmartre. We are +done for!” I think, the porter must have made a mistake, and that the +battery is not taken yet, for I hear the whistling of a shell that, +seems to come from Montmartre. The deafening clamour on all sides +redoubles, all the separate noises seem to confound themselves in one +ceaseless roar, like the working of a million of hammers on a million +of anvils. I can scarcely bear it; my hands clutch the door-posts +convulsively. I lean out as far as I can, but see nothing but a company +of soldiers preceded by two gendarmes, who are entering the Court. They +stop before the door of the house. Several of them go in, and then I +hear the sound of a door suddenly opened and shut, and heavy steps on +the wooden floor. I feel myself trembling; this man they have come to +arrest—are they going to shoot him here, in his own apartment, before +his wife? Thank God, no! The two gendarmes reappear in the street +holding the prisoner between them; his hands are bound; the soldiers +surround them, and they are going to march away, when the man, lifting +up his arms, cries fiercely, “I have but one regret, that I did not +blow up the whole of the quarter.” At this instant the window above is +opened, and a woman with grey hair leans out, crying, “Die in peace, I +will avenge you!” At these words the soldiers arrest their steps, and +the two gendarmes re-enter the house. They are going to take the wife +prisoner after having taken the husband. I fall back into a chair +horrified; I shut my eyes not to see, and I press my hands on my ears, +not to hear the dreadful sound of the musketry, but the horrible shrill +noise is triumphant, and I hear it all the same. + + + + + XCII. + + +Oh! those that hear it not, how happy they must be; they will never +understand how fearful this continuous, this dreadful noise is, and to +feel that each ball is aimed at some breast, and each shell brings ruin +in its train. Fear and horror wrings one’s heart and maddens one’s +brain. Visions pass before one’s eyes of corpses, of houses crushing +sleeping inmates, of men falling and crying out for mercy! and one +feels quite strange to go on living among the crowds that die! + +I have been out a little while, a ball whistled over my shoulder, and +flattened itself against an iron bar on a shop front. I heard a mass of +glass shiver into fragments on the pavement. I determined to return +home. + +On my way back, I had to pass in front of a liqueur shop, the door of +which was open, and several men were talking there. I stopped to learn +the news. Montmartre is taken; the Federals had not opposed much +resistance; but a great deal of firing had gone on in the side streets +and lanes. Seven insurgents were surrounded. “Give yourselves up, and +your lives will be saved,” cried out the soldiers. They replied, “We +are prisoners;” but one of them drew his revolver and shot an officer +in the leg. Then the soldiers took the seven men, threw them into a +large hole, and shot them from above like so many rabbits. Another man +told me that he had seen a child lying dead at the corner of the Rue de +Rome. “A pretty little fellow,” he said, “his brains were strewed on +the pavement beside him.” A third, that when all the fighting was over +at the Place Saint-Pierre a rifle shot was heard, and a captain of +Chasseurs fell dead. The major who was there, looked up and saw a man +trying to hide himself behind a chimney pot; the soldiers got into the +house, seized him on the roof, and brought him down into the Place. +What did the insurgent do, but walked up to the major, smiling, and hit +him a blow on the cheek. The major set him up against a wall, and blew +his brains out with a revolver. Another insurgent who was arrested, +made an insulting grimace at the soldiers; they shot him. On the +southern sides of Paris, the operations of the army have not been so +fortunate as on this. In the Faubourg St. Germain it advances very +slowly, if it advance at all. The Federals fight with heroic courage at +the Mont-Parnasse Station, the Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, and the +Croix-Rouge; from the corners of the streets, from the windows, from +the balconies proceed shots rarely ineffective. This sort of warfare +fatigues the soldiers, particularly as the discipline prevents them +from using the same measures. At Saint-Quen, likewise, the march of the +troops is stayed; the barricade of the Rue de Clichy holds out, and +will hold out some time. In other quarters the advantages gained by the +Versaillais are evident. Here and there some small show of resistance +is offered, but the insurgents are flying. I cannot tell whether all +these floating rumours are true. As I return home, I look round; in the +Rue Geoffrey-Marie, near the Faubourg Montmartre, I see a National +Guard alone in the middle of the street, nothing to screen him +whatsoever; he loads his rifle and fires, loads and fires again; again +and again! Thirty-three times! Then the rifle slips to the ground, and +the man staggers and falls. + + + + + XCIII. + + +This morning, the 23rd, after a combat of three hours, the barricade of +the Place de Clichy has not yet yielded. Yet two battalions of National +Guards had, at the beginning of the fight, reversed their arms, and +were fraternising with the soldiers on the Place de la Maine, a hundred +and fifty yards from the scene of the fray. The cracking of the rifles, +the explosion of shells, and the sound of mitrailleuses filled the air. +The smell of powder was stifling. Dreadful cries arose from the poor +wounded wretches; and the whizzing projectiles from Montmartre rent the +air above in their fiery course. “Beneath us,” said an inhabitant of +Batignolles who gave me these particulars, “beneath us the city lay +like a seething caldron.” + +The beating of drums and the sharp trumpet-calls mixed in this +monstrous din, and were every now and then lost in the tremendous noise +of the firing. + +About half-past one the sounds grew quieter; the barricade was taken. +The insurgents were retreating to La Chapelle and Belleville in +disorder; the soldiers of the line rushed like a torrent into the +Avenue de Clichy, leaving a tricolour flag hoisted upon the dismantled +barricade. + +Here and there, in the streets, the struggle had not ceased. In the Rue +Blanche a rifle-shot proceeded from a ground-floor; the man was taken +and executed outside his own door. The artillery was moving up the Rue +Chaptal towards Montmartre and La Chapelle. The day was very hot; pails +of water were thrown over the guns to quench their burning thirst. All +the young men who were found in the streets were provisionally put +under arrest, for they feared everyone, even children, and horrible +vengeance and thirst for blood had seized upon all. Suddenly an +isolated shot would be heard, followed a minute or two after by five or +six others. One knew reprisal had been done. + +At about four o’clock in the afternoon, when the quarters of Belleville +and Clichy were pretty well cleared of troops, two insurgents were +walking, one behind the other, in the Rue Léonie. The one who walked +last lifted his rifle and fired carelessly in the direction of the +windows; the report sounded very loudly in the silent street, and a +pane of glass fell in fragments to the ground. The insurgent who was in +front did not even turn his head; these men seem to have become quite +reckless and deaf to everything. + +What the troops feared the most were the sharp-shooters hidden in the +houses, aiming through little holes and cracks; suddenly a snap would +be heard, and the officers would lift their glassed to their eyes; more +often nothing was to be seen at all, but if the slightest shadow were +visible behind a window curtain, the order was, “Search that house!” +The executions did not take place in the apartments. Now and then an +inhabitant or two were brought down into the street, and those never +returned! + + + + + XCIV. + + +It is the middle of the night; and I awake with a terrible start. A +bright red light streams through the panes. I throw open the window; +the sky to the left is one mass of dark smoke and lurid streaks of +light—it is a fire, Paris on fire![105] I dress and go out. At the +corner of the Rue de Trévise a sentinel stops me, “You can’t pass.” I +am so bewildered that I do not think of noticing whether he is a +Federal or a soldier. What am I to do, where am I to go? Although an +hour ago balls were whistling around, there are now people at every +window. “The Ministère des Finances is on fire! the Rue Royale! the +Louvre!” The Louvre! I can scarcely avoid a cry of horror. In a minute +the enormity of the disaster has broken upon me. Oh! _chefs-d’oeuvre_ +without number! I see you devoured, consumed, reduced to ashes! I see +the walls tottering, the canvases fall from the frames and shrivel up; +the “Marriage of Canaan” is in flames! Raphael is struggling in the +burning furnace! Leonardo da Vinci is no more! This was, indeed, an +unexpected calamity! Fortune had reserved this terrible surprise for +us! But I will not believe it, these rumours are false, doubtless! How +should these people who inhabit this quarter know what I am ignorant +of? Yet over our heads the sky is tinged with black and red! + +[Illustration: Ruins of the Rue Royale, Looking Towards The Place de La +Concorde and across the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.] + +A strange smell fills the air, like that of a monstrous petroleum lamp +just lighted. That dreaded word, petroleum, makes me shudder. Once +distinctly I hear the sound of a vast body falling heavily. Not to be +able to obtain information is terrible; not to know what is going on, +while all around seems on fire; the day is beginning to break, the +musketry and the cannonading commences afresh, it is a hell, with death +for its girdle! In front of me I see the corner of a building lighted +up by the fire, on which little spirals of smoke are reflected from the +distant conflagration. I rush home, I want to hide myself, to sleep, to +forget. When I am in my room, I see through the white curtains of the +window a bright light. I tremble and rush to the window! It is the gilt +letters of a signboard, on the opposite side of the way, that are +darting forth brilliant flashes, borrowed from the distant flames. + +[Illustration: A Bay of the Tuileries—from The Place Du Carrousel. A +warm corner approching the Louvre] + +[Illustration: Millière[106]] + +NOTES: + + [105] The 24th May the COMMITTEE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY issued these + cold-blooded decrees:— + +“Citizen Millière, at the head of one hundred and fifty fuse-bearers, +is to set fire to all houses of suspicious aspect, as well as to the +public monuments of the left bank of the Seine. + “Citizen Dereure, with one hundred and fifty fuse-bearers, is + charged with the 1st and 2nd Arrondissement. + “Citizen Billioray, with one hundred men, is charged with the 9th, + 10th, and 20th Arrondissements. + “Citizen Vésinier, with fifty men, has the Boulevards of the + Madeleine and of the Bastille especially entrusted to him. + “These Citizens are to come to an understanding with the officers + commanding the barricades, for the execution of these orders. + +“DELESCLUZE, RÉGÈRE, RANVINE, JOHANNARD, VÉSINIER, BRUNEL, DOMBROWSKI. + “Paris, 3 Prairial, year 79.” + + [106] This Millière, formerly an advocate and writer on the + _Marseillaise_, was a native of St-Etienne, and fifty-four years of + age, a cool speaker, and advocate of advanced ideas, that got him + several imprisonments. In March 1870 he was taken from the prison of + Sainte-Pélagie to give evidence at Tours against Pierre Bonaparte for + the murder of Victor Noir, where his lucid depositions told greatly + against the prisoner. When regaining his liberty he became more + revolutionary than ever, writing during the siege in the _Patrie en + Danger_. At the peace he became one of the members for Paris, and sat + at Bordeaux and Versailles, agitating social subjects and the law of + lodgers. About the 10th of April he took part with the Commune, and at + the entrance of the troops was taken at the Luxembourg after having + fired six rounds from a revolver, was shot on the steps of the + Pantheon, and died as he opened his shirt front, shouting, “_Vive la + République! Vive la Liberté! Vive l’Humanité!_” + + + + + XCV. + + +Certainly I nursed no vain illusions. What you had done, gentlemen of +the Commune, had enlightened me as to your value, and as to the purity +of your intentions. Seeing you lie, steal, and kill, I had said to you, +“You are liars, robbers, and murderers;” but truly, in spite of Citizen +Félix Pyat, who is a coward, and Citizen Miot, who is a fool; in spite +of Millière, who shot _réfractaires_, and Philippe, whose trade shall +be nameless; in spite of Dacosta, who amused himself with telling the +Jesuits at the Conciergerie, “Mind, you are to be shot in an hour,” and +then an hour afterwards returning to say, “I have thought about it, and +it is for tomorrow;” in spite of Johannard, who executed a child of +fifteen guilty of selling a suppressed newspaper; in spite of Rigault, +who, chucking the son of Chaudey under the chin, laughingly said to +him, “Tomorrow, little one, we shall shoot papa;” in spite of all the +madmen and fools that constituted the Commune de Paris, who after being +guilty of more extravagances than are necessary to get a man sent to +the Madhouse of Charenton, and more crimes than are sufficient to shut +him up in prison at Sainte-Pélagie, had managed, by means of every +form, of wickedness and excess, to make our beloved Paris a frightened +slave, crouching to earth under their abominable tyranny; in spite of +everything, I could not have dreamed that even their demoniac fury +could have gone so far as to try to burn Paris, after having ruined it! +Nero of the gutter! Sardanapalus drunk with vitriol! So your vanity +wanted such a volcano to engulf you, and you wished to die by the light +of such an _auto-da-fé_. Instead of torches around your funeral car, +you wished the Tuileries, the library of the Louvre, and the Palace of +the Legion of Honour burnt to ashes, the Rue Royale one vast +conflagration, where the walls as they fell buried alive women and +children, and the Rue de Lille vomiting fire and smoke like the crater +of Vesuvius. + +[Illustration: Palais de Justice, Partly Destroyed. Sainte Chapelle, +Saved.] + +It has pleased you that thousands of families should be ruined, their +savings scattered in the ashes of the vanished papers of the burnt +Ministère des Finances and the _Caisse des dépôts_. In seeing that the +art-galleries of the Louvre had remained intact, only its library +burnt, you must have been seized with mad rage. How! Notre Dame not yet +in flames? Sainte-Chapelle not on fire? Have you no more petroleum, no +more flaming torches? The cry “To Arms!” is not enough, you must shout +“To Fire!” Would you consume the entire city, and make of its ruins a +horrible monument to your memory? + +Do not say, “We have not done this; it is the people who are working +out their own revenge, and we stand for nothing, we are as gentle as +lambs. Ranvier would not hurt a fly.” Away with all this pretence; were +you not on the balcony of the Hôtel de Ville with your blood-red +scarfs, uttering your commands? The populace, deceived and blinded, +have but obeyed you. Do not all the circumstances leading to this +stupendous catastrophe, reveal an elaborate and digested plan, +determined long beforehand? Did we not read this notice, daily, in your +official journal: “All those who have petroleum are requested +immediately to declare the quantities in their possession?” Was there +not a quick-match extinguished in the quarter of the Invalides that was +to have communicated the flames to barrels of powder placed, long ago, +in the great sewers? Yes, what has taken place you had decreed. If the +disasters have not been more terrible, is it not, that, surprised at +the sudden arrival of the troops, you had not the time to finish your +preparations? Yes, you are the criminals! It was Eudes who gave out the +petroleum to the _Pétroleuses_; it was Felix Pyat who laid the train of +gunpowder. It is Tridon who said: “Take care that the phials be not +uncorked.” The public incendiary committee has well performed its duty! +Wicked criminals! Execrable madmen! May Heaven bear me witness that my +heart abhors revenge, is always inclined to pardon—but for these! What +chastisement can be great enough to appease the wrath of justice! What +vow of repentance could be offered up fervent enough to be received in +Heaven, even at the moment when, struck down by balls, they offer their +lives as expiation? Misguided humanity! + +[Illustration: Ministère Des Finances, Rue de Rivoli: +POLICE OF PARIS. +Au citoyen Lucas, +Faites de suite flamber Finances et venez nous retrouver. +4 prairial, an 79. Th: Ferré.] + +[Illustration: Ferré[107]] + +NOTES: + + [107] Ferré, the friend of Raoul Bigault, and his colleague in the + Commission of General Safety, like the latter, had inhabited the + prisons for a considerable time for his political writings, seditious + proposals, plots against the state, etc. He is a small man about five + feet high, and very active. He signed with avidity the suppression of + nearly all the journals of Paris, and the sentence of death of a great + number of unfortunate prisoners, with the approbation of Raoul + Bigault. He willingly undertook to announce to the Archbishop of Paris + that his last hour had arrived. The following order, drawn up by him, + was found on the body of an insurgent:—“Set fire to the Ministry of + Finance immediately, and return here. + 4 Prairial, An 79. + (Signed) TH. FERRÉ.” + See Appendix, No.10.] + + + + +XCVI. + + +With three friends I stood upon the roof of a house near the new opera, +watching what was passing around. The spectacle was such, that horror +paralyses every other sentiment, even that of self-preservation. +Consternation sits encircled by a blazing atmosphere of terror! The +Hôtel de Ville is in flames; the smoke, at times a deep red, envelops +all, so that it is impossible to distinguish more than the outlines of +immense walls; the wind brings, in heavy gusts, a deadly odour—of burnt +flesh, perhaps—which turns the heart sick and the brain giddy. On the +other side the Tuileries, the Légion d’Honneur, the Ministère de la +Guerre, and the Ministère des Finances are flaming still, like five +great craters of a gigantic volcano! It is the eruption of Paris! +Alone, a great black mass detaches itself from the universal +conflagration, it is the Tour Saint-Jacques, standing out like a +malediction. + +One of the three friends, who are with me on the roof of the house, was +able, about an hour ago, to get near the Hôtel de Ville. He related to +me what follows:— + +“At the moment of my arrival, the flames burst forth from all the +windows of the Hôtel de Ville, and the most intense terror seized upon +all the inhabitants blocked up in the surrounding quarters, for a +terrible rumour is spread; it is said that more than fifty thousand +pounds of powder is contained in the subterranean vaults. The +incendiaries must have poured the demoniacal liquid in rivers through +the great halls, down the great staircases, from the very garrets, to +envelop even the Salle du Trône. The great fire throws a blood-red +glare over the city, and on the quays of the Institute. Night is so +like day that a letter may be read in the street. Is this the end of +the famous capital of France? Have the infamous fiends of the committee +for public safety ordered, in their cowardly death-agony, that this +should be the end? Yes, it is the ruin of all that was grand, generous, +radiant, and consolatory for our country that they have decided to +consummate, with a chorus of hellish laughter, in which terror and +ferocity struggle with brutal degradation. + “In the midst of this horror, confused rumours are circulated. It + is said that the heat will penetrate to the cellars and cause an + explosion of whole quarters. Then what will become of the + inhabitants, and the riches that they have accumulated? The heat is + overwhelming between the Tuileries and the Hôtel de Ville—that is, + over the space of about a mile. The two barricades of the Rue de + Rivoli and of the Rue de la Coutellerie, near which are the offices + of the municipal services—the lighting of the city, the octroi, + waters, sewers, etc.,—will not be taken until too late, in spite of + the energy with which the army attacks them. It is feared that the + flame will reach the neighbourhood of the great warehouses, so + thickly do the burning flakes fall and scatter destruction. The + barricades of the quays are still intact, it will be another hour + yet before they are taken. The firemen are there furiously at work, + but their efforts are insufficient! It would take tons of ammonia + to slake the fury of the petroleum which flows like hot lava upon + the place from the Hôtel de Ville, and the horrible reflection + reddens the waters of the Seine, so that the current of the river + seems to flow with blood, which stains the stones as it dashes + against the arches of the bridge!” + +These scenes are being pictured to me as I gaze upon the terrible +conflagration, and all that is told me I seem to see. An irresistible +longing to be near seizes me. I am under the power of an invincible +attraction. I lean forward, my arms outstretched; I run a great risk of +falling, but what matters? The sight of these almost sublime horrors +has burnt itself into my very brain! + + + + + XCVII. + + +She walks with a rapid step, near the shadow of the wall; she is poorly +dressed; her age is between forty and fifty; her forehead is bound with +a red checkered handkerchief, from which hang meshes of uncombed hair. +The face is red and the eyes blurred, and she moves with her look bent +down on the ground. Her right hand is in her pocket, or in the bosom of +her half-unbuttoned dress; in the other hand she holds one of the high, +narrow tin cans in which milk is carried in Paris, but which now, in +the hands of this woman, contains the dreadful petroleum liquid. As she +passes a _poste_ of regulars, she smiles and nods; when they speak to +her she answers, “My good Monsieur!” If the street is deserted she +stops, consults a bit of dirty paper that she holds in her hand, pauses +a moment before the grated opening to a cellar, then continues her way, +steadily, without haste. An hour afterwards, a house is on fire in the +street she has passed. Who is this woman? Paris calls her a +_Pétroleuse_.[108] One of these _pétroleuses_, who was caught in the +act in the Rue Truffault, discharged the six barrels of a revolver and +killed two men before being passed over to execution. Another was seen +falling in a doorway of a house in the Rue de Boulogne, pierced with +balls—but this one was a young girl; a bottle filled with petroleum +fell from her hand as she dropped. Sometimes one of these wretched +women, might be seen leading by the hand a little boy or girl; and the +child probably carrying a bottle of the incendiary liquid in his pocket +with his top and marbles. + +[Illustration: Palace of the Luxembourg (garden Front). Used as a +Federal Ambulance Hospital.[109]] + +[Illustration: Les Pétroleurs Les Pétroleuses] + +NOTES: + + [108] The incendiaries formed a veritable army, composed of returned + convicts, the very dregs of the prisons, pale, thin lads, who looked + like ghosts, and old women, that looked like horrible witches; their + number amounted to eight thousand! This army had its chiefs, and each + detachment was charged with the firing of a quarter. The order for the + conflagration of public edifices bore the stamp of the Commune, and of + the Central Committee, and the seal of the delegate at the Ministry of + War. For the private houses more expeditive means were used. Small + tickets, of the size of postage stamps, were found pasted upon walls + of houses in different parts of Paris, with the letters B.P.B. (_bon + pour brûler_), literally, good for burning. Some of the tickets were + square, others oval, with a bacchante’s head in the centre. They were + affixed on spots designated by the chiefs. Every _pétroleuse_ was to + receive ten francs for each house she fired. Sept. 5,1871. Amongst the + insurgents tried at Versailles, three pétroleuses were condemned to + death, and one to imprisonment for life, a host of others being + transported or otherwise punished. + + [109] On the Wednesday succeeding the explosion of the powder-magazine + in the garden of the Luxembourg, which unroofed a portion of the + palace, and destroyed the windows, and did fearful damage to the + surrounding houses, all the Communeux disappeared from the + neighbourhood. The following night four men returned, bringing a + quantity of petroleum with them. They gave orders that the six hundred + wounded men who were then lying in the Palace should be taken away + immediately. They had commenced their sinister project, and were + pouring the petroleum about in the cellars, when the soldiers of the + Brigade Paturel were informed of it, and arrived in time to prevent + its execution. The criminals were taken and shot on the spot. + + + + + XCVIII. + + +It is seven in the evening, the circulation has become almost +impossible. The streets are lined with patrols, and the regiments of +the Line camp upon the outer boulevards. They dine, smoke, and bivouac, +and drink with the citizens on the doorsteps of their houses. In the +distance is heard the storm of sounds which tells of the despairing +resistance of Belleville, and along the foot of the houses are seen +square white patches, showing the walled-up cellars, every hole and +crevice being plastered up to prevent insertion of the diabolical +liquid—walled up against _pétroleurs_ and pétroleuses, strings of +prisoners, among whom are furious women and poor children, their hands +tied behind their backs, pass along the boulevards towards Neuilly. +Night comes on, not a lamp is lighted, and the streets become deserted +as by degrees the sky becomes darker. At nine o’clock the solitude is +almost absolute. The sound of a musket striking the pavement is heard +from time to time; a sentinel passes here and there, and the lights in +the houses grow more and more rare. + + + + + XCIX. + + +The hours and the days pass and resemble each other horribly. To write +the history of the calamities is not yet possible. Each one sees but a +corner of the picture, and the narratives that are collected are vague +and contradictory; it appears certain now that the insurrection is +approaching the end. It is said that the fort of Montrouge is taken; +but it still hurls its shells upon Paris. Several have just fallen in +the quarter of the Banque. There is fighting still at the Halles, at +the Luxembourg, and at the Porte Saint-Martin. Neither the cannonading +nor the fusillade has ceased, and our ears have become accustomed to +the continued roar. But, in spite of the barbarous heroism of the +Federals, the force of their resistance is being exhausted. What has +become of the chiefs? + +We continue to note down the incidents as they reach us. + +It is said that Assy has been taken, close to the New Opera House. He +was going the nightly rounds, almost alone—“Who’s there!” cried a +sentinel. Assy, thinking the man was a Federal, replied, “You should +have challenged me sooner.” In an instant he was surrounded, disarmed, +and carried off. However, it is a very unlikely tale; it is most +improbable that Assy should not know that the New Opera was in the +hands of the Versaillais. + +They say that Delescluze has fled, that Dombrowski has died[110] in an +ambulance, and that Millière is a prisoner at Saint-Denis. But these +are merely rumours, and I am utterly ignorant as to their worth. The +only thing certain is that the search is being carried on with vigour. +Close by the smoking ruins of what was once the Hôtel de Ville they +caught Citizen Ferraigu, inspector of the barricades; he confessed to +having received from the Committee of Public Safety particular orders +to burn down the shop of the Bon-Diable. Had one of these committeemen +been an assistant there, and did he owe his former master a grudge? +Ferraigu had a bottle of petroleum in his pocket; he was shot. I am +told that at the Théâtre du Châtelet a court-martial has been +established on the stage. The Federals are brought up twenty at a time, +judged, and condemned, they are then marched out on to the Place, with +their hands tied behind their backs. A mitrailleuse, standing a hundred +yards off, mows them down like grass. It is an expeditious contrivance. +In a yard, in the Rue Saint-Denis, is a stable filled with corpses; I +have myself seen them there. The Porte Saint-Martin Theatre is quite +destroyed, a guard is stationed near. This morning three _pétroleuses_ +were shot there, the bodies are still lying on the boulevards. I have +just seen two insurgents walking between four soldiers; one an old man, +the other almost a lad. I heard the elder one say to the younger, “All +our misery comes of our having arms. In ’48 we had none, so we took +those of the soldiers, and then they were without. Now there is more +killing and less business done.” A few minutes after the little +procession passed up the Rue d’Hauteville, and I heard the reports of +two rifles. Oh! what horrible days! I feel a prey to the deepest +dejection—if it were but over! The town looks wretched; even where the +fighting is not going on, the houses are closed and the streets +deserted, except here and there: a lonely passenger hurrying along, or +a wretched prisoner marching between four soldiers. It is all very +dreadful! In the streets where the battle is still raging the shutters +are not closed; as soon as the soldiers get into a new quarter of the +town they cry out, “Shut the windows, open the shutters.” The reason +for this is, that the open barred outer shutters, or _persiennes_, form +a capital screen through which aim maybe taken with a gun. As for me, +in the midst of this horror and sadness, I feel like a madman in the +night. The rumour that the hostages have been shot at Mazas gains +ground.[111] I am told that the Archbishop, the Abbé Degueiry, and +Chaudey have all been assassinated. It was Bigault who ordered these +executions. He has since been taken, and fell, crying “Down with +murderers!” This reminds one of Dumollard, the assassin, calling the +jurymen “Canaille!” Millière is said to have been shot in the Place du +Panthéon. When they told him to kneel down he drew himself up to his +full height, his eyes flashing defiance. Strange caprice of nature, to +make these scoundrels brave. + +[Illustration: Theatre Porte St Martin. Sensation Drama out +sensationed] + +[Illustration: Cell of the Archbisop in The Prison Of La Roquette.] + +[Illustration: Court-yard of Prison Of La Roquette, Where the Hostages] +were shot. + +In the meantime, the Commune is in its death throes. Like the dragon of +fairy lore, it dies, vomiting flames. La Villette is on fire, houses +are burning at Belleville and on the Buttes-Chaumont. The resistance is +concentrated on one side at Père la Chaise, and on the other at the +Mont-Parnasse cemetery. The insurrection was mistress of the whole of +Paris, and then the army came stretching its long arms from the Arc de +Triomphe to Belleville, from the Champ-de-Mars to the Panthéon. Trying +hard to burst these bonds, tightly surrounded, now resisting, now +flying, the _émeute_ has at last retreated. It is over there now, in +two cemeteries; it watches from behind tombstones; it rests the barrels +of its rifles on marble crosses, and erects a battery on a sepulchre. +The shells of the Versaillais fall in the sacred enclosure, plough up +the earth, and unbury the dead. Something round rolled along a pathway, +the combatants thought it was a shell; it was a skull! What must these +men feel who are killing and being killed in the cemetery! To die among +the dead seems horrible. But they never give it a thought; the bloody +thirst for destruction which possesses them allows them only to think +of one thing, of killing! Some of them are gay, they are brave, these +men. That makes it only the more dreadful; these wretches are heroic! +Behind the barricades there have been instances of the most splendid +valour. A man at the Porte Saint-Martin, holding a red flag in his +hand, was standing, heedless of danger, on a pile of stones. The balls +showered around him, while he leant carelessly against an empty barrel +which stood behind.—“Lazy fellow,” cried a comrade—“No,” said he, “I am +only leaning that I may not fall when I die.” Such are these men; they +are robbers, incendiaries, assassins, but they are fearless of death. +They have only that one good quality. They smile and they die. The +vivandières allow themselves to be kissed behind the tombstones; the +wounded men drink with their comrades, and throw wine on their wounds, +saying, “Let us drink to the last.” And yet, in an hour perhaps, the +soldiers will fight their way into the cemeteries, which their balls +reach already, they too mad with rage; then the horrible bayonet +fighting will commence, man against man among the tombs, flying over +the mounds, desecrating the monuments, everything that imagination can +conjure up of most profane and terrible—a battle in a cemetery! + +[Illustration: My Neighbour ‘en face’; business carries on as usual—My +neighbour next door: who thinks himself fortunate] + +NOTES: + + [110] The most reliable account of his death is given by a medical + student who attended him in his last moments. “Dombrowski was passing + with several members of the Commune in the Rue Myrrha, near the Rue + des Poissonniers, when he was struck by a bullet, which traversed the + lower part of his body. He was carried to a neighbouring chemist’s, + where I bandaged the wound. Before his transportation to the + Lariboisière Hospital, he ordered the fire to cease, but the troops + defending the barricade disobeyed the injunction. His sword was handed + by me to a captain of the 45th of the Line. His last words were nearly + identical with those which he uttered as he fell: ‘I am no traitor!’” + His worst enemies have said of him that he was a good soldier in a bad + cause. + + [111] At the prison of Sainte-Pélagie, on Tuesday, the 23rd of May, + the unfortunate gendarmes, who had been made prisoners on the 18th, + were shot, together with M. Chaudey, a writer, on the _Siècle_, + arrested at the office of the journal, and conducted, first to Mazas + and afterwards to Sainte-Pélagie. (Appendix 11). + According to the _Siècle_, the “Procureur” of the Commune, Raoul + Rigault, presented himself, at the office at about eleven at night, + and having sent for M. Chaudey, said to him, without any preamble: + “I am here to tell you that you have not an hour to live.” + “You mean to say that I am to be assassinated,” replied Chaudey. + “You are to be shot, and that directly,” was the other’s rejoinder. + But, on reaching the prison, the National Guards who had been + summoned refused to do the odious work, and the Procureur went + himself to find others more docile. Chaudey was led before them, + Raoul Rigault drew his sword to give the signal, the muskets were + levelled and fired, and Chaudey fell, but wounded only. A sergeant + gave him the death blow by discharging his pistol at his head. The + next day, a hundred and fifty hostages of the Commune, confined at + the Prefecture of Police, amongst whom were Prince Galitzin and + Andreoli, a journalist, were about to be shot by an order of Ferré, + when the incendiary fires broke out and prevented the execution of + the order. At eleven o’clock, Raoul Rigault commanded the prisoners + to be released, and enjoined them to fight for the Commune; upon + their refusal, a shower of balls was discharged at them. The + prisoners rushed for refuge into the Rue du Harlay, which was in + flames, and were afterwards rescued by a detachment of the line. + That same day was fatal to Raoul Rigault. He was perceived by a + party of infantry at the moment when he was ringing at the door of + a house in the Rue Gay Lussac. His colonel’s uniform instantly made + him a mark for the soldiers; he had time to enter the house, + however, but was soon discovered, gave his name, and allowed + himself to be taken off towards the Luxembourg, but before reaching + it, he began to shout, “Vive la Commune!” “Down with the + assassins!” and made an effort to escape. The soldiers thrust him + against a wall and shot him down. + The next day, the 24th, marked the fate of the hostages, who, in + expectation of an attack of the Versaillais, had been transferred + from Mazas to La Roquette. “Monseigneur Darboy,” writes an + eye-witness (Monsieur Dubutte, miraculously saved by an error of + name), “occupied cell No. 21 of the 4th division, and I was at a + short distance from him, in No. 26. The cell in which the venerable + prelate was confined had been the office of one of the gaolers; it + was somewhat larger than the rest, and Monseigneur’s companions in + captivity had succeeded in obtaining for him a chair and a table. + On Wednesday, the 24th, at half-past seven in the evening, the + director of the prison—a certain Lefrançais, who had been a + prisoner in the hulks for the space of six years—went up, at the + head of fifty Federals, into the gallery, near which the most + important prisoners were incarcerated. Here they ranged themselves + along the walls, and a few moments later one of the head-gaolers + opened the door of the archbishop’s cell, and called him out. The + prelate answered, “I am here!” Then the gaoler passed on to M. le + President Bonjean’s cell (Appendix 12), then to that of Abbé + Allard, member of the International Society in Aid of the Wounded; + of Père du Coudray, Superior of the School of Ste-Geneviève; and + Père Clère, of the Brotherhood of Jesus; the last called being the + Abbé Deguerry, curé of the Madeleine. As the names were called, + each prisoner was led out into the gallery and down the staircase + to the courtyard; each side, as far as I could judge, was lined + with Federal guards, who insulted the prisoners in language that I + cannot repeat. Amid the hues and cries of these wretches my + unfortunate companions were conducted across the courtyard to the + infirmary, before which a file of soldiers were drawn up for the + execution. Monseigneur Darboy advanced and addressed his + murderers—addressed them words of pardon: then two of the men + approached the prelate, and falling on their knees implored his + pardon. The rest of the Federals threw themselves upon them, and + thrust them aside with oaths, then, turning to the prisoners, they + heaped fresh insults upon them. The chief officer of the + detachment, however, imposed silence on the men, and uttering an + oath, said, ‘You are here to shoot these men, not to insult them.’ + The Federals were silenced, and upon the command of their + lieutenant, they loaded their muskets. + “Père Allard was placed against the wall, and was the first who was + struck; then Monseigneur Darboy fell, and the six prisoners were + thus shot in turn, showing, at this supreme moment, a saintly + dignity and a noble courage.” + + + + + C. + + +Where are these men going with hurried steps, and with lanterns in +their hands? Their uniform is that of the National Guard, and +consequently of Federals, but the tricolour band which they wear on the +arm would seem to indicate that they belong to the Party of Order. They +are making their way by one of the entries of the sewers, and preceded +by an officer are disappearing beneath the sombre vaults. Calling to +mind the sinister expression of a Communal artillery commander—“The +reactionary quarters will all be blown up; not one shall be spared,” it +is impossible to avoid feeling a shudder of terror. What if the +incendiaries all wearing the badge of the Party of Order, be about to +set fire to mines prepared beforehand, or to barrels of petroleum ready +to be staved in! The wild demons of the Commune are capable of +everything; an invention of incendiary firemen is quoted as an example +of the diabolical genius which presided over the work of destruction; +individuals wearing the fireman’s uniform were seen to throw +combustible liquids by means of pumps and pails on the burning houses, +instead of aiding to extinguish the flames. + +[Illustration: Paris Underground] + +[Illustration: The Enemies of Progress. +Corps de garde de l’armée de Versailles] + +Fortunately, the fear is unfounded, the object of these men, on the +contrary, is to cut the wires which connect all parts with inflammable +materials, torpedoes, and other atrocious machines. They have already +passed several nights in destroying this underground telegraphic +system. The duty is not without danger; for not only are they exposed +to the terrible consequences of a sudden explosion, but also to the +risk of being taken and shot without trial, as traitors to the Commune. +That is, should they chance to fall in with hostile bands, or appear in +unfriendly quarters. It appears that these determined and devoted +citizens have already lost two of their companions in the execution of +this perilous duty. The intention of the Commune was to charge the +whole of the main sewers and subways with combustibles; but luckily +they had not time to mature their schemes, the advance of the +Versailles troops being too quick for them. The Catacombs were included +in the arrangement; for did not the able Assy direct his agent Fossé to +keep them open, as a means of escape? Alas! these subterranean passages +that underlie so large a portion of ancient Paris, what stories could +they not tell of starved fugitives and maimed culprits dragging their +weary limbs into the darkness of these gloomy caverns, only that they +might die there in peace! Men and women, whose forms will in a few +short weeks be unrecognisable, whose whitened bones will be crushed and +kicked aside by the future explorer, who may perchance penetrate the +labyrinths, and whose dust will finally be mixed up and +undistinguishable from that of the bones and skulls taken from ancient +cemeteries and graveyards with which this terrible Golgotha is +decorated in Mosaic. + + + + + CI. + + +The fire is out, let us contemplate the ruins.[112] The Commune is +vanquished. Look at Paris, sad, motionless, laid waste. This is what we +have come to! Consternation is in every breast, solitude is in every +street. We feel no longer either anger or pity; we are resigned, broken +by emotion; we see processions of prisoners pass on their way to +Versailles, and we scarcely look at them; no one thinks of saying +either, “Wretches!” or “Poor fellows!” The soldiers themselves are very +silent. Although they, are the victors they are sad; they do not drink, +they do not sing. Paris might be a town that had been assaulted and +taken by dumb enemies; the irritation has worn itself off, and the +tears have not yet come. The tricolour flags which float from all the +windows surprise us; there does not seem any reason for rejoicing. Yet, +of late especially, the triumph of the Versaillais has been ardently +wished for by the greater portion of the population; but all are so +tired that they have not the energy to rejoice. Let us look back for a +moment. First the siege, with famine, separation and poverty; then the +insurrection of Montmartre, surprises, hesitations, cannonading night +and day, ceaseless musketry, mothers in tears, sons pursued, every +calamity has fallen on this miserable city. It has been like Rome under +Tiberius, then like Rome after the barbarians had overrun it. The +cannon balls have fallen upon Sybaris. So much emotion, so many horrors +have worn out the city; and then all this blood, this dreadful blood. +Corpses in the streets, corpses within the houses, corpses everywhere! +Of course they were terribly guilty, these men that were taken, that +were killed; they were horrible criminals, those women who poured +brandy into the glasses and petroleum on the houses! But, in the first +moment of victory, were there no mistakes? Were those that were shot +all guilty? Then the sight of these executions, however merited, was +cruelly painful. The innocent shuddered at the doom of justice. True, +Paris is quiet now, but it is the quiet of the battle-field on the +morrow of a victory; quiet as night, and as the tomb! An unsupportable +uneasiness oppresses us; shall we ever be able to shake off this +apathy, to pierce through this gloom? Paris, rent and bleeding, turns +with sadness from the past, and dares not yet raise her eyes to the +future! + +[Illustration: The New Masters PROCLAMATION OVER PROCLAMATION PUBLIC +PROMENADES. CAMPS IN THE GARDENS OF THE LUXEMBOURG AND THE +TUILERIES—THE SOLDIERS LOCKED IN, AND THE PUBLIC LOCKED OUT. The damage +done to the pier was by a Prussian shell in Jan. 1871.] + +[Illustration: Palace of the Luxembourg (streat Front). Now The Seat of +the Prefecture of Paris] + +POOR PARIS! + +[Illustration:] + +On August 15th, the _Times_ reporter gave the number awaiting trial +at Versailles at 30,000. On the 7th September they had reached +39,000, daily arrests adding to the number; out of these, +35,000 only had their charges made out, of which +13,900 had been examined, 2,800 writs of +release having been issued, though only a +few hundreds have been set at liberty. +There are only 94 reporting officers: +20 attached to the Council of War, +6 to the Orangerie, 4 to Satory, +3 to the Prison des Femmes, +and 16 to the Western Ports: +17 more are to be +added shortly. + +[Illustration: Marchal Macmahon, Duc de Magenta. +Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Versailles.] + +[Illustration: Light & Air Once More +the Fosse commune +THE END] + +NOTES: + + [112] See Appendix 14, 15, 16, and 17. + +[Illustration:] + + + + + APPENDIX. + + +CHRONOLOGY OF THE PARISIAN INSURRECTION, + FROM THE 18th OF MARCH TO THE 29th MAY, 1871. + +The dash (—) in each day after the commencement of military operations +divides the civil from the military. + +_Saturday, 18th March_: Early in the morning troops take possession of +the Buttes Montmartre and Belleville. The soldiers charged with the +recovery of the pieces of artillery fraternise with the people and the +National Guard. Arrest of Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas: they are +shot at Montmartre without trial. National Guards take possession of +the Hôtel de Ville, the Prefecture of Police is invaded by Raoul +Rigault, Duval, and others. + +_Sunday, 19th March_: The Central Committee of the National Guard take +possession of the offices of the _Journal Officiel_. Arrest of General +Chanzy. Gustave Flourens, imprisoned at Mazas, is set at liberty by the +new masters of Paris. M. Thiers addresses a circular to the country +enjoining obedience to the only authority, that of the Assembly. + +_Tuesday, 21st March_: Manifestation of the “Friends of Order.” +Procession for public demonstration. Sitting of the Assembly at +Versailles. M. Jules Favre advises prompt measures. Appeal to the +people and army. + +_Wednesday, 22nd March_: Friends of Order shot in the Rue de la Paix. +Lullier arrested by order of the Central Committee. + +_Thursday, 23rd March_: Vice-Admiral Saisset is appointed by the +Assembly Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard. + +_Friday, 24th March_: The delegates Brunel, Eudes, Duval, are promoted +to the rank of generals by the Central Committee. Vice-Admiral +Saisset’s proclamation. + +_Saturday, 29th March_: Occupation of the Mairie of the 1st +Arrondissement by the Federals. First placard of the Committee of +Conciliation. Rumour of the arrest of Lullier reproached for +moderation. Vice-Admiral Saisset retires to Versailles. _Sunday, 26th +March_: Municipal elections to constitute the Commune of Paris. + +_Tuesday, 28th March_: 4 p. m., names of the elect proclaimed at the +Hôtel de Ville. Arrival of General Chanzy at Versailles. + +_Wednesday, 29th March_: Conscription abolished—all citizens to be +National Guards. Pawnbroking decree. Organisation of commissions: +executive, financial, military, etc. Ministers to be called delegates. + +_Saturday, 1st April_: The Executive Committee issues a decree to +suppress the rank and functions of General-in-Chief. General Eudes +appointed Delegate of War; Bergeret to the staff of the National Guard, +in place of Brunel; Duval to the military command of the ex-Prefecture +of Police, where Raoul Rigault was civil delegate. + +_Sunday, 2nd April_: Military operations commence 9 a.m. Action at +Courbevoie. Flourens marches his troops to Versailles, _viâ_ Rueil. + +_Monday, 3rd April_: The corps d’armée of General Bergeret at the Rond +Point near Neuilly, is stopped by the artillery of Mont Valérien. +Exchange of shot between Fort Issy and Fort Vanves, occupied by +insurgents, and Meudon.—The separation of Church and State decreed. + +_Tuesday, 4th April_: General Duval made prisoner in the engagement at +Châtillon and shot. Death of Flourens at Rueil.—Delescluze, Cournet, +and Vermorel succeed Generals Bergeret, Eudes, and Duval on the +Executive Commission. Cluseret Delegate of War, and Bergeret commandant +of Paris forces. + +_Wednesday, 6th April_: General Cluseret commences active operations. +Military service compulsory for all citizens under forty. Abbé +Deguerry, and Archbishop of Paris arrested. + +_Thursday, 6th April_: Extension of action to Neuilly and Courbevoie. +Versailles army decreed by executive authority. Obsequies of Flourens +at Versailles.—Decree concerning the complicity with Versailles, and +arrest of hostages. The rank of general suppressed by the Commune. +Dombrowski succeeds Bergeret as Commandant of Paris. + +_Friday, 7th April_: Decree for disarming the Réfractaires. The +guillotine is burnt on the Place Voltaire. + +_Saturday, 8th April_: Federals abandon Neuilly.—Commission of +barricades created and presided over by Gaillard Senior. Military +occupation of the railway termini by the insurgents. + +_Sunday, 9th April_: Insurgents attempt to retake Châtillon, but are +repulsed. Forts Vanves and Montrouge disabled. Mont Valérien shells the +Avenue des Ternes.—Assy and Bergeret arrested by order of the Commune. + +_Tuesday, 11th April_: Marshal MacMahon, Commander-in-Chief, +distributes his forces. Commences the investment of fort Issy. + +_Wednesday, 12th April_: Versailles batteries established on Châtillon. +The Orleans railway and telegraph out. Communications of the insurgents +with the south intercepted.—Decree ordering the fall of the Column +Vendôme. Decree concerning the complementary elections. + +_Thursday, 13th April:_ Courbet presides at a meeting of artists at the +École de Médecine. Publication of the reports of the sittings of the +Commune. + +_Friday, 14th April_: The redoubt of Gennevilliers taken. The troops of +Versailles make advances to the Château de Bécon, a post of +importance.—Lullier takes the command of the flotilla on the Seine. + +_Sunday, 16th April_: Complementary elections. Organisation of a +court-martial under the presidence of Rossel, chief officer of the +staff. + +_Monday, 11th April_: Capture and fortification of the Château de +Bécon. + +_Tuesday, 18th April_: Station and houses at Asnières taken by the army +of Versailles. + +_Thursday, 20th April_: The village of Bagneux is occupied by the +Versaillais.—Reorganisation of commissions. Eudes appointed +inspector-general of the southern forts. Transfers his quarters from +Montrouge to the Palace of the Legion of Honour. + +_Saturday, 22nd April_: Deputation from the Freemasons to Versailles. + +_Monday, 24th April_: Raoul Rigault takes the office of public +prosecutor, resigning the Prefecture of Police to Cournet. + +_Tuesday, 25th April_: The Versailles batteries at Breteuil, +Brimborion, Meudon, and Moulin de Pierre trouble the Federal Fort Issy, +and battery between Bagneux and Châtillon shells Fort Vanves. Truce at +Neuilly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The inhabitants of Neuilly enter Paris by +the Porte des Ternes. + +_Wednesday, 26th April_: Capture of Les Moulineaux, outpost of the +insurgents, by the troops, who strongly fortify themselves on the 27th +and 28th. + +_Saturday, 29th April_: Cemetery and park of Issy taken by the +Versaillais in the night.—Freemasons make a new attempt at +conciliation. The Commune levies a sum of two millions of francs from +the railway companies. + +_Sunday, 30th April_: A flag of truce sent to Fort Issy by the +Versaillais, calling upon the Federals to surrender. General Eudes puts +fresh troops in the fort, and takes the command himself.—Cluseret +imprisoned at Mazas by order of the Commune. Rossel appointed +provisional Delegate of War. + +_Monday, 1st May_: The Versaillais take the station of Clamart and the +Château of Issy.—Creation of the Committee of Public Safety. Members: +Antoine Arnauld, Léo Meillet, Ranvier, Félix Pyat, Charles Gérardin. + +_Wednesday, 3rd May_: The troops of General Lacretelle carry the +redoubt of Moulin Saquet. + +_Friday, 5th May_: Colonel Rossel appointed to the direction of +military affairs. He defines the military quarters: General Dombrowski, +Place Vendôme; General La Cécilia, at the Ecole Militaire; General +Wroblewski, at the Elysée; General Bergeret, at the Corps Législatif; +General Eudes at the Palace of the Legion of Honour. The Central +Committee of the National Guard charged with Administration of War +under the supervision of the military commission. The Chapelle +Expiatoire condemned to destruction—the materials to be sold by +auction. + +_Saturday, 6th May_: Concert at the Tuileries in aid of the ambulances. +Suppression of newspapers. + +_Monday, 8th May_: Battery of Montretout (70 marine guns) opens fire. + +_Tuesday, 9th May_: Morning, insurgents evacuate the Fort Issy.—The +Committee of Public Safety renewed. Members: Ranvier, Antoine Arnauld, +Gambon, Eudes, Delescluze. Rossel resigns; his letter to the Commune. + +_Wednesday, 10th May_: Cannon from the Fort Issy taken to +Versailles.—Decree for the demolition of M. Thiers’ house. Delescluze +appointed Delegate of War. + +_Friday, 12th May_: Troops take possession of the Couvent des Oiseaux +at Issy, and the Lyceum at Vanves. + +_Saturday, 13th May_: Triumphal entry of the troops into Versailles +with flags and cannon taken from the Convent. The evacuation of the +village of Issy completed. Fort Vanves taken by the troops. + +_Sunday, 14th May_: Vigorous cannonade from the batteries of +Courbevoie, Bécon, Asnières on Levallois and Clichy: both villages +evacuated. Commencement of the demolition of house of M. Thiers. + +_Monday, 15th May_: Report of the rearmament of Montmartre. + +_Tuesday, 16th May_: The Column Vendôme falls. + +_Wednesday, 11th May_: Powder magazine and cartridge factory near the +Champ de Mars blown up. + +_Sunday, 21st May_: 2 p.m. the troops enter Paris.—Rochefort arrives at +Versailles. Raoul Rigault and Régère charged with the hostage decree. + +_Monday, 22nd May_: Noon, explosion of the powder magazine of the +Manège d’Etat-Major (staff riding-school). The hostages transferred +from Mazas to La Roquette. Assy arrested in Paris by the Versaillais. +The Assembly votes the re-erection of the Column Vendôme. + +_Tuesday, 23rd May_: Montmartre taken. Death of Dombrowski. Morning, +Assy arrives at Versailles. Execution of gendarmes and Gustave Chaudey +at the prison of Sainte-Pélagie. Night, the Tuileries are set on fire. +Delescluze and the Committee of Public Safety hold permanent sittings +at the Hôtel de Ville. + +_Wednesday, 24th May_: One p.m., the powder magazine at the Palais du +Luxembourg blown up. The Committee of Public Safety organise +detachments of fusee-bearers. Raoul Rigault shot in the afternoon by +the soldiers. In the evening, execution in the Prison of La Roquette of +the Archbishop, Abbé Deguerry, etc. + +_Thursday, 26th May_: The forts Montrouge, Hautes-Bruyères, Bicêtre +evacuated by the insurgents. The death of Delescluze is reported to +have taken place this day. Executions in the Avenue d’Italie of the +Pères Dominicains of Arcueil. + +_Friday, 26th May_: Sixteen priests shot in the Cemetery of Père +Lachaise by the insurgents. + +_Saturday, 27th May_: The Buttes Chaumont, the heights of Belleville, +and the Cemetery of Père Lachaise carried by the troops. Taking of the +prison La Roquette by the Marines. Deliverance of 169 hostages. + +_Sunday, 28th May_: The investment of Belleville complete. + +_Monday, 29th May_: Six. p.m., the federal garrison of the fortress of +Vincennes surrendered at discretion. + + + + + I. (Page 2.) + + HENRI ROCHEFORT. + + +Henri Rochefort, personal enemy of the Empire, republican humourist of +the _Marseillaise_, and the lukewarm socialist of the _Mot d’Ordre_, +who could answer to the judge who demanded his name, “I am Henri +Rochefort, Comte de Lucey,” has been reproached by some with his titles +of nobility, and with the childish pleasure that he takes in affecting +the plebeian. It is said of him that he aspires but to descend, but who +would condemn him for spurning the petrifactions of the Faubourg +Saint-Germain? A man must march with the times. + +Rochefort has distinguished himself among the young men by the +marvellous tact that he has shown in discovering the way to popular +favour. If I were allowed to compare a marquis to one of the canine +species, I should say that he has a keen scent for popularity; but one +must respect rank in a period like ours, when we may go to sleep to the +shouts of the _canaille_, and awake to the melodious sounds of “_Vive +Henri V!_” “Long live the King!” + +Born in January, 1830, Henri Rochefort was the son of a marquis, +although his father, lately dead, was a _vaudevilliste_ and his mother +a _pâtissère_. From such a fusion might have emanated odd tastes, such +as preferring truffles to potatoes, but putting the knife into +requisition whilst eating green peas. But in his case Mother Nature had +intermingled elements so cleverly that Rochefort could be republican +and royalist, catholic and atheist, without being accused for all that +of being a political weathercock. + +As a writer of drollery and scandal in the _Charivari_, would it have +been well if he had used his title as a badge? Later, when contributing +to the _Nain Jaune_, the _Soleil_, the _Evénement_, and the _Figaro_, +when everyone would have been enchanted to call him _mon cher Comte_, +he never displayed his rank, except when on the ground, face to face +with the sword or pistol of Prince Achille Murat or Paul de Cassagnac. + +A frequenter of _cafés_, living fast, bitter with journalists, +hail-fellow with comedians, he lavished his wit for the benefit of +minor theatres, and expended the exuberance of his patrician blood in +comic odes. Dispensing thus some of his strength in such pieces as the +_Vieillesse de Brididi_, the _Foire aux Grotesques_, and _Un Monsieur +Bien-Mis_, in 1868 he founded the _Lanterne_, and thenceforth became +the most ardent champion of the revolutionary party; and in the +brilliant articles we all know, he cast its light on the follies of +others under the pretext that they were his own. This satirical +production reached the eleventh number, when its author, overstepping +all bounds, took Napoleon by the horns and the gendarmes by the nose, +and committed other extravagances, until the Government fined him to +the amount of ten thousand francs penalties, and ordered him a short +repose in the prison of Sainte-Pélagie. The notoriety attaching to his +name dates from that period, and the events which accompanied the +violent death of Victor Noir tended to augment his popularity and to +convert him into the leader of a party, or the bearer of a flag, around +which rallied all the elements of the struggle against established +authority. He escaped to Belgium, and studied socialism, which he +expounded later to an admiring audience of seventeen to eighteen +thousand electors at Belleville. Elected deputy by the 20th +Arrondissement, M. de Rochefort became, in 1869, a favourite +representative of that class of the Parisian population whose bad +instincts he had flattered and whose tendencies to revolt against +authority he had encouraged, and in virtue of these claims he was +chosen to form part of the Government of the National Defence. As +President of the Commission of Barricades, after the 4th of September, +during the siege of Paris, in the midst of the difficulties of all +sorts caused to the Government of the National Defence by the +investment of the capital, M. De Rochefort, making more and more common +cause with the revolutionary party, separated himself from his +colleagues in the Government who refused to permit the establishment of +a second Government, the Commune, within a besieged city. By this act +he openly declared himself a partisan of the Commune, and immediately +after the acceptance of the preliminaries of peace he resigned his +position as a deputy, alleging that his commission was at an end, and +retired to Arcachon. + +His wildly sanguinary articles in the _Marseillaise_, and the compacts +sealed with blood, with Flourens and his associates, now had so +exhausted our poor Rochefort that at the moment of flourishing his +handkerchief as the standard of the _canaille_, he dropped pale and +fainting to the ground, attacked by a severe illness. He was hardly +convalescent when the events of the 18th of March occurred. But early +in April, he exerted himself to assume the direction of the _Mot +d’Ordre_, which, after having been suppressed by order of General +Vinoy, the military commandant of Paris, had reappeared immediately +upon the establishment of the Commune. He arrived on the scene of +contest about the 8th or 10th of April. The daily report of military +operations states the movements of the enemy, and points out what +should be done to meet and resist him most advantageously (12th, 13th, +and 14th of April; 10th; 16th, and 20th of May). Imaginary successes, +the inaccuracy of which must in most instances have been known to the +chief editor of the _Mot d’Ordre_, encouraged the hopes of the +insurgents, while the announcement of unsuccessful combats was delayed +with evident intention; the most ridiculous stories, the falsity of +which was evident to the plainest common sense, and which could not +escape the intelligence of M. Rochefort, were published in his journal, +and kept up the popular excitement (12th, 15th, 19th, 26th, 27th, and +28th of April; 6th and 7th of May). It was in this manner that the +pretended Pontifical Zouaves were brought upon the scene, with +emblazoned banners, which were seized by the soldiers of the Commune +(18th and 19th of April, 8th and 10th of May); that the Government of +Versailles was furnished with war material given by, or purchased from +the Prussians (27th and 28th of April, 6th and 17th of May); that it +was again accused of making use of explosive bullets (18th and 19th of +May), and of petroleum bombs (20th of April, and 2nd, 5th, 17th, and +19th of May); and that the best-known and most respected generals had +been guilty of the grossest acts of cruelty and barbarity. Incitement +to civil war (2nd and 26th of April and 14th and 24th of May) followed, +as did also the oft-repeated accusation against the Government of +wishing to reduce Paris by famine; indescribable calumnies directed +against the Chief of the Executive Power (2nd, 16th, 20th, and 30th of +April, and 8th of May), against the minister, the Chambers (16th of +April and 14th of May), and the generals (12th, 16th, and 26th of +April). The director of the _Mot d’Ordre_ then finding that men’s minds +were prepared for all kinds of excesses, started the idea of the +demolition of M. Thiers’s house by way of reprisal (6th of April); he +mentioned the artistic wealth which it contained. He also referred to +the dwellings of other ministers. He returned persistently to this +idea, and on the 17th of May he invited the people, in the name of +justice, to burn off-hand that other humiliating monument which is +styled the History of the Consulate and of the Empire—in short, he +insists on the execution of these acts of Vandalism. He did not call +for the destruction of the Column Vendôme, but approved of the decree. +He demands the destruction of the Expiatory Chapel of Louis XVI. (20th +of April), and suggests the seizure of the crown jewels, which were in +the possession of the bank (14th of April). In short, M. Rochefort, +having entered upon a road which must naturally lead to extremes, +finally arrives at a proposition for assassination. In the same way as +he pointed out to the demolishers the house of M. Thiers, and to the +bandits released by the Commune the treasures of the Church, so he +points out to the assassins the unfortunate hostages. + +A few days before the end of the reign of the Commune he judged it +prudent, “seeing the gravity of events,” to suspend the publication of +his journal and to quit Paris. + +He was arrested at Meaux. It was the “_Meaux de la fin_,”[113] said a +friend and fellow-writer. + +He arrived at Versailles on the twenty-first of May, at two o’clock, +the same day on which the troops entered Paris. On Sept. 20 Rochefort +was tried with the Communists before the military tribunal of +Versailles. Physically he seemed to have suffered much during his three +months of incarceration. He is reported to have made anything but a +brilliant defence, and to have restricted himself to pleading past +actions and good services. He said that he suppressed _The +Marseillaise_ at a loss of 20,000 francs per month, when he had no +other private means of support, because he thought the effect of its +articles would weaken the plan of Trochu for the defence of Paris, and +that when he (M. Rochefort) held the _forces populaires_, and had an +_occasion unique_, he chose to play a subordinate part. He stated +himself a journalist _under_ the reign of the Commune, and not an +active power _in_ the Commune from which in the end he had to fly. +Rochefort owned that his articles in the _Mot d’Ordre_ had been more or +less violent, but he pleaded the cause his “_façon plus ou moins +nerveuse à écrire_” and that from illness he did not sometimes see his +own journal. When pandering to a vulgar audience, Rochefort seemed to +have lost his rich vein of satire, and to have lost himself in vile +abuse. On the 21st he was sentenced to transportation for life within +the enceinte of a French fortress. + +NOTES: + + [113] “_Le mot de la fin_,” the final word—the finale. + + + + + II. (Page 27.) + +THE EIGHTEENTH OF MARCH. + + +It was on the day of the 18th of March, exactly six months after the +appearance of Prussians beneath the walls of Paris, that the Government +had chosen for the repression of the rebellion. At four o’clock in the +morning, the troops of the army of Paris received orders to occupy the +positions that had been assigned to them. All were to take part in the +action, but it is just to add here that the most arduous and fatiguing +part fell to the share of the Lustielle division, composed of the +Paturel brigade (17th battalion of Chasseurs), and of the Lecomte +brigade (18th battalion of Chasseurs). Three regiments of infantry were +entrusted with the guard of the Hôtel de Ville; another, the 89th, +mounted guard at the Tuileries. The Place de la Bastille was occupied +by a battalion of the 64th, and two companies of the 24th. Three other +battalions remained confined to barracks on the Boulevard du Prince +Eugene. The Rue de Flandre, the Rue de Puebla, and the Rue de Crimée +were filled with strong detachments of Infantry; a battalion of the +Republican Guard and the 35th Regiment of Infantry were drawn up in the +neighbourhood of the Buttes Chaumont. The whole quarter around the +Place Clichy was occupied by the Republican Guard, foot Chasseurs, +mounted gendarmes, Chasseurs d’Afrique, and a half battery of +artillery. Other troops, starting from this base-line of operation, +were led up the heights of Montmartre, together with companies of +Gardiens de la Paix (the former Sergents-de-Ville converted into +soldiers). At six o’clock in the morning the first orders were +executed; the Gardiens de la Paix surrounded a hundred and fifty or two +hundred insurgents appointed to guard the park of artillery, and the +troops made themselves masters of all the most important points. The +success was complete. Nothing remained to be done but to carry off the +guns. Unhappily, the horses which had been ordered for this purpose did +not arrive at the right moment. The cause of this fatal delay remains +still unknown, but it is certain that they were still on the Place de +la Concorde at the time when they ought to have been harnessed to the +guns at Montmartre. Before they arrived, agitation had broken out and +spread all over the quarter. The turbulent population, complaining in +indignant tones of circulation being stopped, insulted the sentinels +placed at the entrances of the streets, and threatened the artillerymen +who were watching them. At the same time, the Central Committee caused +the rappel to be beaten, and towards seven o’clock in the morning ten +or twelve thousand National Guards from the arrondissements of +Batignolles, Montmartre, La Villette, and Belleville poured into the +streets. Crowds of lookers-on surrounded the soldiers who were mounting +guard by the recaptured pieces, the women and children asking them +pleadingly if they would have the heart to fire upon their brothers. + +Meanwhile, about a dozen tumbrils, with their horses, had arrived on +the heights of the Buttes, the guns were dragged off, and were quietly +proceeding down hill, when, at the corner of the Rue Lepic and the Rue +des Abbesses, they were stopped by a concourse of several hundred +people of the quarter, principally women and children. The foot +soldiers, who were escorting the guns, forgetting their duty, allowed +themselves to be dispersed by the crowd, and giving way to perfidious +persuasion, ended by throwing up the butt ends of their guns. These +soldiers belonged to the 88th Battalion of the Lecomte brigade. The +immediate effect of their disaffection was to abandon the artillerymen +to the power of the crowd that was increasing every moment, rendering +it utterly impossible for them either to retreat or to advance. And the +result was, that at nine o’clock in the morning the pieces fell once +more into the hands of the National Guards. + +Judging that the enterprise had no chance of succeeding by a return to +the offensive, Général Vinoy ordered a retreat, and retired to the +quarter of Les Ternes. This movement had been, moreover, determined by +the bad news arriving from other parts of Paris. The operations at +Belleville had succeeded no better than those at Montmartre. A +detachment of the 35th had, it is true, attacked and taken the Buttes +Chaumont, defended only by about twenty National Guards; but as soon as +the news of the capture had spread in the quarter, the drums beat to +arms, and in a short time the troops were found fraternising with the +National Guards of Belleville, who got possession again of the Buttes +Chaumont, and not only retook their own guns, but also those which the +artillery had brought up to support the manoeuvre of the infantry of +the line. At the same time, the 120th shamefully allowed themselves to +be disarmed by the people, and the insurgents became masters of the +barracks of the Prince Eugène. + +At about four o’clock in the afternoon, two columns of National Guards, +each composed of three battalions, made their way towards the Hôtel de +Ville, where they were joined by a dozen other battalions from the left +bank of the river; at the same hour, the insurgent guards of Belleville +took and occupied the Imprimerie Nationale, the Napoleon Barracks, the +staff-quarters of the Place Vendôme, and the railway stations; the +arrest of Général Chanzy completed the work of the day, which had been +put to profitable account by the insurgents.—“_Guerre de Comunneux de +Paris._” + + + + + III. (Page 77.) + +THE PRUSSIANS AND THE COMMUNE. + + +The enemies of yesterday, the Prussians, did not disdain to enter into +communication with the Central Committee on the 22nd of March. This was +an additional reason for the new masters of Paris to regard their +position as established, and the _Official Journal_ took care to make +known to the public the following despatch received from Prussian +head-quarters:— + +“To the actual Commandant of Paris, the Commander-in-Chief of the third +corps d’armée. + “Head-quarters, Compiègne, + “21st March, 1871. + +“The undersigned Commander-in-Chief takes the liberty of informing you +that the German troops that occupy the forts on the north and east of +Paris, as well as the neighbourhood of the right bank of the Seine, +have received orders to maintain a pacific and friendly attitude, so +long as the events of which the interior of Paris is the theatre, do +not assume towards the German forces a hostile character, or such as to +endanger them, but keep within the terms settled by the treaty of +peace. + “But should these events assume a hostile character, the city of + Paris will be treated as an enemy. + +“For the Commandant of the third corps of the Imperial armies, +“(Signed) Chief of the Staff, VON SCHLOSHEIM, +“Major-General.” + +Paschal Grousset, the delegate of the Central Committee for Foreign +Affairs, who had succeeded Monsieur Jules Favre, but who instead of +minister was called delegate, which was much more democratic, replied +as follows:— + +“Paris, 22nd March, 1871. +“To the Commandant-in-Chief of the Imperial Prussian Armies. + +“The undersigned, delegate of the Central Committee for Foreign +Affairs, in reply to your despatch dated from Compiègne the 21st +instant, informs you that the revolution, accomplished in Paris by the +Central Committee, having an essentially municipal character, has no +aggressive views whatever against the German armies. + “We have no authority to discuss the preliminaries of peace voted + by the Assembly at Bordeaux. + +“The member of the Central Committee, Delegate for Foreign Affairs. +“(Signed) PASCHAL GROUSSET.” + +It was very logical of you, Monsieur Grousset, to avow that you had no +authority to discuss the preliminaries of peace voted by the Assembly. +What right had you then to substitute yourselves for it? He did not, +however, thus remain midway in his diplomatic career, for after the +election of the Commune he thought it his duty to address the following +letter to the German authorities:— + +“COMMUNE OF PARIS. +“To the Commander-in-chief of the 3rd Corps. + +“GENERAL, + +“The delegate of the Commune of Paris for Foreign Affairs has the +honour to address to you the following observations:— + “The city of Paris, like the rest of France, is interested in the + observance of the conditions of peace concluded with Prussia; she + has therefore a right to know how the treaty will be executed. I + beg you, in consequence, to have the goodness to inform me if the + Government of Versailles has made the first payment of five hundred + millions, and if in consequence of such payment, the chiefs of the + German army have fixed the date for the evacuation of the part of + the territory of the department of the Seine, and also of the forts + which form an integral portion of the territory of the Commune of + Paris. + “I shall be much obliged, General, if you will be good enough to + enlighten me in this respect. + +“The Delegate for Foreign Affairs, +“(Signed) PASCHAL GROUSSET.” + +The German general did not think fit, as far as we know, to send any +answer to the above. + + + + + IV. (Page 88.) + +GAMBON. + + +There are certain legendary names which when spoken or remembered evoke +a second image and raise a double personality, Castor implies Pollux; +Ninos, Euryalus; Damon, Pythias. An inferior species of union connects +Saint Anthony with his pig, Roland with his mare, and the infinitely +more modern Gambon with his historic cow. He was “the village Hampden” +of the Empire. By withstanding the tyranny of Caesar’s tax-gatherer and +refusing to pay the imperial rates, he obtained a popularity upon which +he existed until the Commune gave him power. His history is brief. +About a year before the fall of the Second Empire, he declared that he +would pay no more taxes imposed by the Government. Thereupon, all his +realizable property, consisting of one cow, was seized by the +authorities and sold for the benefit of the State. This procured him +the commiseration of the entire party of _irréconciliables_. A +subscription was opened in the columns of the _Marseillaise_ to replace +the sequestrated animal, and “La vache à Gambon”—“Gambon’s cow”—became +a derisive party cry. Gambon had been a deputy in 1848, and when the +Commune came into power took a constant though not remarkable part in +its deliberations. He was appointed member of the Delegation of Justice +on the twentieth of April. + + + + + V. (Page 120.). + +LULLIER. + + +Charles Ernest Lullier was born in 1838, admitted into the Naval School +in 1854, and appointed cadet of the second class in 1856. He was +expelled the Naval School for want of obedience and for his irascible +character. When on board the Austerlitz he was noted for his +quarrelsome disposition and his violent behaviour to his superiors as +well as his equals, which led to his removal from the ship and to his +detention for a month on board the Admiral’s ship at Brest. He was +first brought into notoriety by his quarrel with Paul de Cassagnac, the +editor of the _Pays_, whom he challenged, and who refused his cartel. +Lullier is celebrated for several acts of the most violent audacity. He +struck one of the Government counsel in the Palais de Justice, and +openly threatened the Minister of Marine. He was condemned several +times for political offences and breaches of discipline. On the fourth +of September he left Sainte-Pélagie at the same time as Rochefort. He +attacked the new government in every possible way; and when the events +of the 18th March occurred, M. Lullier—the man of action, the man +recommended by Flourens—seized the opportunity to justify the hopes +formed of him by his political associates, who had not lost sight of +him, and who elected him military chief of the insurrection. As General +of the National Guard, he has given us the history of his deeds during +the 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd March. He has since complacently +described the energy with which he executed his command, has explained +the means he used, and the points occupied by the insurgents; and has +described in the same style the occupation of the Paris forts by the +National Guard. + +When, on the 18th of March, the Central Committee offered him the +command in chief of the National Guard, he would only accept it on the +following conditions:— + +1. The raising of the state of siege. + +2. The election by the National Guard of all its officers, including +the general. + +3. Municipal franchises for Paris—that is to say, the right of the +citizens to meet—to appoint magistrates for the city, and to tax +themselves by their representatives. + +On being appointed he made it a condition that the initiative should +rest with him, and then he began to execute his duties with a zeal +which never relaxed till his arrest on the 22nd March. By his orders, +barricades were erected in the Rue de Rivoli, where he massed the +insurgent forces. He ordered the occupation of the Hôtel de Ville and +the Napoleon Barracks by Brunel, the commander of the insurgents. At +midnight he took possession of the Prefecture of Police, at one o’clock +of the Tuileries, at two o’clock of the Place du Palais Royal, and at +four o’clock he was informed that the Ministry were to meet at the +Foreign Office.—“I would have surrounded them,” he said, “but Jules +Favre’s presence withheld me. I contented myself therefore with +occupying the Place Vendôme, the Hôtel de Ville, and ordering +strategical points on the right bank of the river and four on the +left.” + +He was subsequently accused of having sold Mont Valérien to the +Versailles authorities, arrested, and thrown into the Conciergerie. He +reappeared, however, on the 14th April as commander of the flotilla of +the Commune. Furious with the Central Committee and the Commune he +opposed them and was arrested, but contrived to escape from Mazas. From +that moment the general of the Commune put himself in communication +with Versailles through the mediation of M. Camus and Baron Dathiel de +la Tuque, who agreed with him to organise a counter revolution. Lullier +was now busily employed in endeavouring to make people forget the part +he had taken in the insurrection of the 18th March. He had made it a +condition that neither he nor his accomplices, Gomez d’Absin and +Bisson, should be prosecuted. The expenses were calculated at 30,000 +francs; of which M. Camus gave 2000 francs to Lullier, but the scheme +did not succeed. Lullier undertook to have all the members of the +Commune arrested, and to send the hostages to Versailles. Lullier is a +man of courage, foolhardy even, who never hesitated to fight, and if at +the end of the Commune he tried to serve the legitimate government, it +was from a spirit of revenge against the men who had refused his +dictation, and in his own interest. + + + + + VI. (Page 220.) + +PROTOT. + + +Citizen Protot, appointed Delegate of Justice by a decree of the +twentieth of April, 1871, was born in 1839. + +As an advocate, he defended Mégy, the famous Communist general of the +fort of Issy, when he was accused of the assassination of a police +agent on the eleventh of April, 1870. This trial, and the ability he +displayed, drew public attention for a moment upon him. Compromised as +a member of secret societies, he managed to escape the police, but was +condemned in his absence to fines and imprisonment. Having been himself +a victim of the law, his attention was first given to the drawing up of +a decree, thus worded:— + +“The notaries and public officers in general shall draw up legal +documents which fall within their duty without charge.” + +In the discussion on the subject of the confiscation of the property of +M. Thiers, he proposed that all the plate and other objects in his +possession bearing the image of the Orleans family should be sent to +the mint. + + + + + VII. (Page 229.) + + +“And now he thinks: ‘The Empire is tottering, + There’s little chance of victory.’ +Then, creeping furtively backwards, he tries to slink away. + Remain, renegade, in the building! + +“‘The ceiling falls,’ you say! ‘if they see me + They will seize and stop me as I go,’ +Daring neither to rest nor fly, you miserably watch the roof + And then the door, + +“And shiveringly you put your hand upon the bolt. + Back into the dismal ranks! +Back! Justice, whom they have thrust into a pit, + Is there in the darkness. + +“Back! She is there, her sides bleeding from their knives, + Prostrate; and on her grave +They have placed a slab. The skirt of your cloak + Is caught beneath the stone. + +“Thou shalt not go! What! Quit their house! + And fly from their fate! +What! Would you betray even treachery itself, + And make even it indignant? + +“What! Did you not hold the ladder to these tricksters + In open daylight? +Say, was the sack for these robbers’ booty + Not made by you beforehand? + +“Falsehood, Hate, with its cold and venomous fang, + Crouch in this den. +And thou wouldst leave it! Thou! more cunning than Falsehood, + More viperous than Hate.” + + + + + VIII. (Page 231.) + +JOURDE. + + +Jourde certainly occupied one of the most difficult offices of the +Commune, for he had to find the means to maintain the situation, but as +the Ministry of Finances is burnt, no documents can be found to show +the employment he made of the funds which passed through his hands. On +the 30th of May, when he was arrested, disguised as an artizan, with +his friend Dubois, he had about him a sum of 8070 francs in bank notes, +and Dubois 3100 francs; making a total sum of 11,170 francs between the +two. A part of Jourde’s cash was hidden in the lining of his waistcoat; +he declared that it was the only sum taken by him out of the moneys +belonging to the state, thus clearly proving that he had been guilty of +embezzlement. + +The amounts declared to have been received by Jourde form a total of +43,891,000 francs, but as the expenses amount to 47,000,000 francs, it +is clear there is a deficiency of 3,309,000. Notwithstanding this fact, +all the payments were made up to the 29th of May. It is, then, certain +that other moneys were received by Jourde, and as he says that cash has +been refused from some unknown persons who offered to lend 50,000,000 +francs on the guarantee of the picture gallery of the Louvre, the +suggestion comes naturally to the mind that the 3,309,000 francs may +have been produced by the sale of valuables in the Tuileries. Jourde +was sentenced by the tribunal of Versailles to transportation beyond +the seas. + + + + + IX. (Page 316.) + + +These are the last proclamations from the Hôtel de Ville. They refer +immediately to the burning of the capital. + +In the evening of the thirty-first of May, when Delescluze denied with +vehemence that the regular army had made its entry, he wrote to +Dombrowski:— + + “CITIZEN—I learn that the orders given for the construction of + barricades are contradictory. + “See that this be not repeated. + “Blow up or burn the houses which interfere with your plans for the + defence. The barricades ought to be unattackable from the houses. + “The defenders of the Commune must be removed above want: give to + the necessitous that which is contained in the houses about to be + destroyed. + “Moreover, make all necessary requisitions, + + “DELESCLUZE, A. BILLICRAY.” + “Paris, 2nd Prairial, an 79.” + +On the 22nd appeared the following proclamation:— + + “CITIZENS,—The gate of Saint-Cloud, attacked from four directions + at once, was forcibly taken by the Versaillais, who have become + masters of a considerable portion of Paris. + “This reverse, far from discouraging us, should prove a stimulus to + our exertions. A people who have dethroned kings, destroyed + Bastilles, and established a Republic, can not lose in a day the + fruits of the emancipation of the 18th of March. + “Parisians, the struggle we have commenced cannot be abandoned, for + it is a struggle between the past and the future, between liberty + and despotism, equality and monopoly, fraternity and servitude, the + unity of nations and the egotism of oppressors. + + “AUX ARMES! + + “Yes,—to arms! Let Paris bristle with barricades, and from behind + these improvised ramparts let her shout to her enemies the cry of + war, its cry of fierce pride of defiance, and of victory; for Paris + with her barricades is invincible. + “Let the pavement of the streets be torn up; firstly, because the + projectiles coming from the enemy are less dangerous falling on + soft ground; secondly, because these paving-stones, serving as a + new means of defence, can be carried to the higher floors where + there are balconies. + “Let revolutionary Paris, the Paris of great deeds, do her duty; + the Commune and the Committee for Public Safety will do theirs. + + “Hôtel de Ville, 2nd Prairial, an 79, + “The Committee for Public Safety, + “ANTOINE ARNAULT, E. EUDES, F. GAMBON, G. RANVIER.” + +These are the commentaries made by Citizen Delescluze:— + + “Citoyen Jacquet is authorised to find men and materials for the + construction of barricades in the Rue du Château d’Eau and in the + Rue d’Albany. + “The citoyens and citoyennes who refuse their aid will be shot on + the spot. + “The citoyens, chiefs of barricades, are entrusted with the care of + assuring tranquillity each in his own quarter. + “They are to inspect all houses bearing a suspicious appearance + &c., &c. + “The houses suspected are to be set light to at the first signal + given. + + “DELESCLUZE.” + + + + + X. (Page 335.) + +FERRÉ. + + +At half-past nine on the morning of the 18th of March Ferré was at No. +6, Rue des Rosiers, opposing the departure of the prisoners of the +Republican Guard, by obtaining from the Commander Bardelle the +revocation of the order for their dismissal, which was known to have +been issued. He went to the council of the Château Rouge, whither +General Lecomte was about to be taken, and made himself conspicuous by +the persistency with which he called for the death of that general. On +the morning of Monday, the 24th May, a witness residing at the +Prefecture of Police saw Ferré and five others going up the stairs of +the Prefecture of Police. Ferré said to him, “Be off as quick as you +can. We are going to set fire to the place. In a quarter of an hour it +will be in flames.” Half an hear afterwards the witness saw the flames +burst forth from two windows of the office of the Procureur-Général. +When Raoul Rigault was installed during the insurrection, a woman saw +some persons washing the walls of the Prefecture of Police with +petroleum. Seeing them going out by the court of the St. Chapelle, she +noticed among them one smaller than the rest, wearing a grey paletot +with a black velvet collar, and black striped trousers. On the same day +a police agent went to La Roquette to order the shooting of Mgr. Darboy +and the other prisoners—the President Bonjean, the Abbé Allard, the +Père Ducoudray, and the Abbé Deguerry. On Saturday, the 27th, Ferré +installed himself in the clerk’s office of the prison, and ordered the +release of certain of the criminals and gave them arms and ammunition. +Upon this they proceeded to massacre a great number of the prisoners, +among whom were 66 gendarmes. Several witnesses saw Ferré that day at +the prison. + + + + + XI. (Page 342.) + + +At the trial of Ferré, August 10, Dr. Puymoyen, physician to the prison +for juvenile offenders, opposite La Roquette, gave the following +graphic evidence:— + +“Immediately after the insurgents, driven back by the troops, had +occupied La Roquette, they installed a court-martial at the children’s +prison opposite, where I live. It was from thence I saw the poor +wretches whom they feigned to release, ushered in to the square, where +they encountered an ignoble mob, that ill-treated them in the most +brutal manner. I was told that Ferré presided over this court-martial. +Its proceedings were singular. I saw an unfortunate gendarme taken to +the prison; he had been arrested near the Grenier d’Abondance, on a +denunciation. He wore a blouse, blue trousers, and an apron, and was +charged with having stolen them. The mob wanted to enter the prison +along with him, but the keepers, who behaved very well, prevented the +invasion of the courtyard. The escort was commanded by a young woman +carrying a Chassepot, and wearing a chignon. I entered the registrar’s +office with this unfortunate gendarme. One Briand, who was charged to +question the prisoners summarily, asked him where his clothes came +from. The man was very cool and courageous, and his perfect +self-possession disconcerted this _juge d’instruction._ He was asked if +he were married, and had a family. He replied, ‘Yes, I have a wife and +eight children.’ He was then shown into the back office, where the +‘judges’ were. These judges were mere boys, who seemed quite proud of +the part they were playing, and gave themselves no end of airs, I asked +the governor of the gaol soon afterwards what had been done with the +gendarme. He told me that they were going to shoot him. I replied, +‘Surely it can’t be true. I must see the president—we can’t allow a +married man with eight children to be murdered in this way.’ I tried to +get into the room where the court-martial was sitting, but was +prevented. One of the National Guards on duty at the door told me +‘Don’t go in there, or you’re done for (_N’y entrez pas, ou vous êtes +f—_).’ I made immediately further inquiries about M. Grudnemel, and was +told he was in ‘a provisional cell.’ I trembled for him, for I knew +that meant he would be given up to the mob, which would tear him to +pieces. When they said, ‘This man is to be taken to a cell,’ that meant +that he was to be shot. When they said, ‘Put him in a provisional +cell,’ it meant that he should be delivered over to the mob for +butchery, I continued to plead the gendarme’s cause with the National +Guard, dwelling on the fact of his having eight children. Thereon, the +Woman above referred to, who appeared to be in command of the +detachment, exclaimed, ‘Why does this fellow go in for the gendarme?’ +One of her acolytes replied, ‘Smash his jaw.’ This woman seemed to +understand her business. She minutely inspected the men’s pouches to +ascertain that they had plenty of ammunition. She would not hear of the +gendarme being reprieved, and she had her way. I understood that I had +better follow the governor’s advice and keep quiet. A mere boy was +placed as sentry at the door of the court-martial. He told me, ‘You +know I sha’n’t let you in.’ When I saw the poor gendarme leave the room +he looked at me imploringly; he had probably detected in my eyes a look +of sympathy. And when he was told that he might go out—hearing the +yells of the mob—he turned towards me and said, ‘But I shall be stoned +to death;’ and, in fact, it was perfectly fearful to hear the shouts of +the crowd outside. I could not withstand the impulse, and I took my +place by his side, and tried to address the crowd. ‘Think on what you +are going to do—surely you won’t murder the father of eight children.’ +The words were hardly out of my mouth when a kind of signal was given. +I was shoved back against the wall, and one National Guard, clapping +his hand on his musket, ejaculated, ‘You know, you old rascal, there is +something for you here,’ and he drove his bayonet through my whiskers. +The unfortunate gendarme was taken across the place, close to the shop +where they sell funeral wreaths, but there was no firing party in +attendance. He then took to his heels, but was pursued, captured, and +put to death. I began to feel rather bewildered, and some one urged me +to return to the prison, which I did. A young linesman was then brought +in. He was quite a young fellow, barely twenty; his hands were tied +behind his back. They decided to kill him within the prison. They set +upon him, beat him, tore his clothes, so that he had hardly a shred of +covering left; they made him kneel, then made him stand up, blindfolded +him then uncovered his eyes; finally they put an end to his long agony +by shooting him, and flung the body into a costermonger’s cart close to +the gate. Several priests had got out of the prison of La Roquette. The +Abbé Surat, on passing over a barricade, was so imprudent as to state +who he was, and showed some articles of value he had about him. He had +got as far as about the middle of the Boulevard du Prince Eugène, when +he was arrested and taken back to the prison, where they prepared to +shoot him. But the young woman whom I have before mentioned, with a +revolver in one hand and a dagger in the other, rushed at him +exclaiming, ‘I must have the honour of giving him the first blow.’ The +abbé instinctively put his hands out to protect himself, crying, +‘_Grâce! grâce!_’ Whereon this fury shouted, ‘_Grâce! grâce! en voilà +un maigre_,’ and she discharged her revolver at him. His body was not +searched, but his shoes were removed. Afterwards his pastoral cross and +300 francs were found about him. The boys detained in the prison were +set at liberty. The smaller ones were made to carry pails of petroleum, +the others had muskets given them, and were sent to fight. Six of them +were killed; the remainder came back that night, and on the following +day. About a hundred boys were taken to Belleville by a member of the +Commune, quite a young man; they were wanted to make sand-bags, to be +filled with earth to form barricades.” + + + + + XII. (Page 345.) + + +Regarding the death of President Bonjean, the Abbé de Marsay said—“That +gentleman carried his scruples so far that he would not avail himself +of forty-eight hours’ leave on _parole_, fearing he could not get back +in time; thus did not see his family.” + +The Abbé Perni, a venerable man with a white beard, who had been a +missionary said: + +“On Wednesday, the 24th of May, we were ordered back to our cells at La +Roquette at an earlier hour than usual, and at about four o’clock in +the afternoon a battalion of federates noisily occupied the passage +into which our cells opened. They spoke at the topmost pitch of their +voices. One of them said, ‘We must get rid of these Versailles +banditti.’ Another replied, ‘Yes; let us bowl them over, put them to +bed.’ I understood what this meant, and prepared for death. Soon after +the door next mine was opened, and I heard a man asking if M. Darboy +was there. The prisoner replied in the negative. The man passed before +my door without stopping, and I soon heard the mild voice of the +archbishop answering to his name. The hostages were then dragged put of +the lobby; ten minutes later I saw the mournful _cortège_ pass in front +of my windows; the federates were walking along in a confused way, +making a noise to cover the voice of their victims, but I could hear +Father Allard exhorting his companions to prepare for death. A little +after I heard the report of the muskets, and understood that all was +over. On Thursday (the 25th) the day passed off quietly, but on Friday +shells began to fall on the prison, and at about half-past four in the +afternoon a corporal, named Romain. came up, and with a joyful face +told us we would soon be free. He said answer to your names; I must +have 15. He had a list in his hand, and I must confess a feeling of +terror came over us all. Ten hostages answered to their names. One of +them, a father of the order of Picpus, asked if he could take his hat. +Romain replied, ‘Oh, it’s no use; you are only going to the +registrar’s.’ None of these unfortunate men ever returned. On Saturday +(the 27th) we learnt that several of the prisoners had been armed with +hammers, files, &c. They threw us some of these in at the windows. We +were then informed that several members of the Commune had arrived at +La Roquette. I cannot say whether Ferré was among them. We were taken +back to our cellars, where we expected to be put to death every minute. +At about four o’clock the cells of the common prisoners were opened, +and they escaped, shouting ‘Vive la Commune!’ Our keeper himself had +disappeared, and a turnkey presently opened our cells, and recommended +us to run away. We were afraid this was a trap, but as it might afford +a chance we determined to avail ourselves of it. Those amongst us who +had plain clothes hurried them on, and I must say the gaolers behaved +admirably in this emergency; they lent clothes to such of us as had +none, and we were thus all enabled to escape. As for myself, after +wandering for about an hour in the streets about the prison, and being +unable to find shelter anywhere, and afraid of being murdered in the +streets, I determined to return to La Roquette. As I reached it I met +the archbishop’s secretary, two priests, and two gendarmes, who, like +myself, had been driven to return to the prison. One of the keepers +told us that the safest for us was the sick ward. We dressed up in the +hospital uniform and hid in bed. At eight in the evening the federates, +who were not aware that we had escaped, came back and called on the +gaolers to produce us. They were told we had gone; fortunately they +believed it. On Sunday the troops came in, and I left La Roquette for +good this time. In reply to a further question the witness said that as +the hostages marched past his windows, on their way to execution, he +saw President Bonjean raising his hands, and heard him say, ‘_Mon Dieu, +mon Dieu!_’ + + + + + XIII. (Page 82.) + +URBAIN. + + +Urbain, formerly head master of an academy, was elected to the Commune, +and became, in virtue of his former office of teacher, a member of the +Committee of Instruction, retaining at the same time his office of +mayor. He finally installed himself in his mayoralty about the middle +of April, with his sister and young son, and gave protection there to +his mistress, Leroy, who had great influence over him, and who used to +frequent the committees and clubs. At the mayoralty of the 7th +Arrondissement this woman, in the absence of the mayor, took the +direction and management of affairs. During the administration of +Urbain searches were made in private and in religious houses, this +woman, Leroy, sometimes taking part in the proceedings; on these +occasions seizures were made of letters and articles of value, which +were sent to the mayoralty and from thence to the police-office. Urbain +and the woman Leroy are accused of having appropriated to themselves +money and jewellery. At the mayoralty of the 7th Arrondissement there +were deposits for public instruction to the amount of 8000 francs, +which had dwindled down to 2900 francs. Urbain confesses having +employed this money in helping persons compromised like himself. It is +certain that during the residence of the woman Leroy at the mayoralty +the expenses exceeded the sum allowed to Urbain. According to the +evidence of a domestic everybody tad recourse to this unfortunate +deposit, and it is stated in the instructions that the accused had left +by will to his son a sum of 4000 francs in bank notes and gold, +deposited in the hands of his aunt, Madame Danelair, while there is +clear proof that before the days of the Commune he did not possess a +sou. Madame Leroy herself, who came to the mayoralty without a penny, +was found in possession of 1000 francs, which she said were the results +of her savings. It appears from the statement of M. Laudon, inspector +of police, that the search made at his house resulted in the +subtraction of a sum of 6000 francs, and that he has seen a ring which +belonged to his wife on the finger of the woman Leroy. Though not +taking a conspicuous share in the military operations, Urbain played an +important part. His duty was to visit the military stations and to take +possession of the Fort d’Issy, which had been abandoned. He admits that +he thus visited the barracks and the ramparts. He ordered the +construction of barricades, and says that, on the occasion of the +repulse of the 22nd May, he resisted the entreaties of the woman Leroy, +who wished him to give up the struggle and to betake himself to the +Hôtel de Ville, with the view of remaining at his post. As a +politician, Urbain, in the discussions of the Commune, was very zealous +and spoke frequently. By his vote he gave his sanction to all the +violent decrees relating to the hostages, the demolition of the Column, +the destruction of M. Thiers’ house, and the Committee of Public +Safety, of which he was one of the most ardent supporters. To him is to +be attributed in particular the demand for the carrying into execution +the decree relating to the hostages. On this point here is Urbain’s +proposal, copied from the _Official Journal_ of the 18th May:—“I demand +that either the Commune or the Committee of Public Safety should decree +that the ten hostages in our custody should be shot within twenty-four +hours, in retaliation for the murders of our cantinière and of the +bearer of our flag of truce, who were shot in defiance of the law of +nations. I demand that five of the hostages should be executed solemnly +in the centre of Paris, in presence of deputations from all the +battalions, and that the rest should be shot at the advanced posts in +presence of the soldiers who witnessed the murders. I trust my proposal +will be agreed to.” By this proposal Urbain has linked his name to the +horrible crime committed on the hostages. Latterly he was a member of +the military committee, and his ability served well the cause of the +insurgents. He was condemned by the court-martial of Versailles to hard +labour for life, September 2, 1871. + + + + + XIV. + +THE DEVASTATIONS OF PARIS. + + +The following is the way in which the fires were prepared:—In some +instances a number of men, acting as _avant-courriers_, went first, +telling the inhabitants that the Quarter was about to be delivered to +the flames, and urging them to fly for their lives; in other oases, the +unfortunate people were told that the whole city would be burnt, and +that they might as well meet death where they were as run to seek it +elsewhere. In some places—in the Rue de Vaugirard, for instance—it is +asserted that sentinels were placed in the streets and ordered to fire +upon everyone who attempted to escape. One incendiary, who was arrested +in the Rue de Poitiers, declared that he received ten francs for each +house which he set on fire. Another system consisted in throwing +through the cellar doors or traps tin cans or bottles filled with +petroleum, phosphorus, nitro-glycerine, or other combustibles, with a +long sulphur match attached to the neck of the vessel, the match being +lighted at the moment of throwing the explosives into the cellar. +Finally, the batteries at Belleville and the cemetery of Père la Chaise +sent destruction into many quarters by means of petroleum shells. + +Eudes, a general of the Commune, sent the following order to one of his +officers:— + +“Fire on the Bourse, the Bank, the Post Office, the Place des +Victoires, the Place Vendôme, the Garden of the Tuileries, the Babylone +Barracks; leave the Hôtel de Ville to Commandant Pindy and the Delegate +of War, and the Committee of Public Safety and of the Commune will +assemble at the _mairie_ of the eleventh Arrondissement, where you are +established; there we will organize the defence of the popular quarters +of the city. We will send you cannon and ammunitions from the Parc +Basfroi. We will hold out to the last, happen what may. + +“(Signed) E. EUDES.” + +The insurgents had collected a considerable quantity of powder in the +Pantheon, and when the Versailles troops obtained possession of the +building the officer in command at once searched for the slow match, +and cut it off when it had not more than a yard to burn! + +Instructions were given to the firemen not to extinguish the fires, but +to retire to the Champ de Mars with the pumps and other apparatus. +Whenever a man attempted to do anything to arrest the conflagration he +was fired at. The firemen, who had arrived from all parts, even from +Belgium, and honest citizens who joined them, worked to extinguish the +fires amid showers of bullets. At the Treasury the labours of these men +were four times interrupted by the violent cannonading of the +insurgents. + +The fire broke out at the TUILERIES on Tuesday evening. When the +battalions at the Arc de Triomphe and at the Corps Législatif had +silenced the guns ranged before the Palace, the insurgents set fire to +it, and threw out men _en tirailleur_ to prevent anyone from +approaching to subdue the flames. + +At the same moment an attempt was made to set fire to the MINISTRY OF +MARINE, in obedience to an order given to Commandant Brunel, which was +thus worded:—“In a quarter of an hour the Tuileries will be in flames; +as soon as our wounded are removed, you will cause the explosion of the +Ministry.” It was Admiral Pothuau, the minister himself, who, at the +head of a handful of sailors, set the incendiaries to flight, Brunel +along with them. They also arrived in time to prevent any damage being +done to the BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE. + +The struggle was terrific during the night; the insurgents, who had +sought refuge in the Ministry of Finance, after the taking of the +barricade in the Rue Saint-Florentin, increased the fury of the flames +by firing from the windows, and discharging jets of petroleum at the +soldiers. + +On Wednesday morning the battle had become fearful. Towards ten o’clock +columns of smoke rose above Paris, forming a thick cloud, which the +sun’s rays could not penetrate. Then, simultaneously, all the fires +burst forth: at the CONSEIL D’ETAT, at the LEGION OF HONOUR, at the +CAISSE DES DÉPÔTS ET CONSIGNATIONS. at the HÔTEL DE VILLE, at the +PALAIS ROYAL, at the MINISTRY OF FINANCE, at the PREFECTURE DE POLICE, +at the PALAIS DE JUSTICE, at the THÉÂTRE LYRIQUE, in the Rue du Bac, +the Rue de Lille, the Rue de la Croix-Rouge, Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, +in a great number of houses in the Faubourgs Saint-Germain and +Saint-Honoré, in the Rue Royale, and in the Rue Boissy d’Anglas. Not +many hours later, flames were seen to arise from the Avenue Victoria, +Boulevard Sébastopol, Rue Saint-Martin, at the Château d’Eau, in the +Rue Saint-Antoine, and the Rue de Rivoli. + +During the night of Friday, the docks of LA VILLETTE, and the +warehouses of the DOUANE, the GRENIER D’ABONDANCE and the GOBELINS were +all burning! So great was the glare that small print could be read as +far off as Versailles, even on that side of the town towards Meudon and +Ville d’Avray. + +THE DOME OF THE INVALIDES.—This was placed in imminent danger. Mines +were laid on all sides, but their positions were discovered, and the +electric wires out which were to have communicated the spark. + +THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.—When the noise of the fusillade and +cannonading ceased, the Place de la Concorde was a scene of absolute +desolation. On all sides lay broken pieces of candelabra, balustrades, +paving-stones, asphalte, and heaps of earth. The water-nymphs and +Tritons of the fountains were much mutilated, and the statue of the +town of Lille—one of the eight gigantic, seated figures of the +principal towns of France, which form a prominent ornament to the +Place, the work of Pradier, and a likeness of one of the Orleans +princesses-lay shivered on the ground. + +THE ARC DE L’ETOILE.—The triumphal arch bears many scars, but none of +them of much importance. On the façade looking towards Courbevoie, the +great bas-relief by Etex, representing “War,” was struck by three +shells; the group of “Peace” received only the fragment of one. Here +and there, in the bas-relief representing the “Passage of the Bridge of +Areole,” and the “Taking of Alexandra,” some traces of balls are +visible. On the whole, no irremediable hum is done here. Rude’s +masterpiece, “The Marseillaise,” is untouched. + +THE PALACE OF INDUSTRY.—Rumour says Courbet had, among other projects, +formed an idea of demolishing the Palace of Industry. The painted +windows of the great nave have received no serious injury. The +bas-relief of the main façade, picturing Industry and the Arts offering +their products to the universal exhibitions, has several of its figures +mutilated. The same has happened to the colossal group by +Diebolt—France offering laurel crowns to Art and Industry. + +THE TUILERIES.—Felix Pyat, in the _Vengeur_, proposed converting the +Palace of the Tuileries into a school for the children of soldiers. He +says:—“They have taken possession by the work and activity that reign +there; a whole floor is filled with tools and activity, and converted +into workshops for the construction of messenger balloons. King Labour +is enthroned there. I recognised there among the workmen an exile of +the revolutionary Commune of London. The workmen and the proscribed at +the Tuileries! From the prison of London to the palace of the +Tuileries. It is well!” But in the heart of the Commune the soul of the +_Vengeur_ underwent a change, and insisted on the complete destruction +of the “infamous pile.” + +The portion of the building overlooking the river was alone preserved. +The roofing is destroyed, but the façade is but little injured, the +only work of art damaged here being a pediment by M. Carrier-Belleuse, +representing “Agriculture.” Fortunately the Government of the Fourth of +September had sent all the most precious things to the Garde-Meuble +(Stores); but how can the magnificent Gobelins tapestry, the fine +ceilings, the works of Charles Lebrun, of Pierre Mignard, of Coypel, of +Francisque Meillet, of Coysevox, of Girardon, and of many others, and +the exquisite Salon des Roses be replaced? + +The Tuileries burnt for three days, and ten days afterwards the ruins +blazed forth anew near the Pavillon de Flore. Not only did the +devouring fire threaten to destroy inestimable treasures, but on Monday +a number of men carrying slow matches, and led by a man named +Napias-Piquet, made all their preparations to set fire to several +points of the museum of the Louvre, and two of the guardians were shot. +This Napias-Piquet threatened to make of the whole quarter of the +Louvre one great conflagration. He was taken and shot, and in his +pocket was found a note of his breakfast of the preceding day, +amounting to 57 francs 80 centimes. + +THE LOUVRE.—The preservation of the museum was due to the strong +masonry, and the thick walls of the new portion of the building, on +which the raging flames could make no impression. But it ran other +risks: when the troops entered the building, they planted the tricolour +on the clock pavilion, which served as an object for the insurgents’ +aim. It was immediately removed, however, when this was perceived. It +was generally believed that the galleries of the Louvre contained all +their art treasures. This was not the case; prior to the first siege +the most precious of the contents had been carefully packed and +conveyed to the arsenal of Brest, where they safely reposed, but many +very admirable works remained. + +MINISTRY OF FINANCE (Treasury).—On the 22nd of May, the official +journal of the Commune published a note declaring that the certificates +of stock and the stock books (_grand livre_) would be burnt within +forty-eight hours. The Commune was annoyed at the publicity given to +this note, and a violent debate took place in its council in +consequence. On this occasion Paschal Grousset uttered the following:— + +“I blame those who inserted the note in question, but I demand that +measures may be taken for the destruction of all such documents +belonging to those at Versailles, the day that they shall enter Paris.” + +[Illustration: Court of the Louvre, from Place Du Carrousel] + +The Library is completely destroyed. More than 90,000 volumes are +burnt. Rare editions, Elzevirs, precious MSS., coins, and unique +collections, priceless treasures, are irrevocably lost. + +The building forms one of the most striking ruins in Paris. Citizen +Lucas, appointed by Ferré to set the Ministry on fire, did his task +well. The conflagration, which lasted several days, began in the night +of the 23rd of May. Not only was every part soaked with petroleum, but +shells had also been placed about the building, and burst successively +as the fire extended. Scarcely anything remains of the huge pile but +the offices of the Administration of Forest Lands, which are almost +intact. A considerable number of valuable documents were saved, but the +quantity was very small in comparison with the immense collection +accumulated since the beginning of the century. Four times was the work +of salvage interrupted by the insurgents. Not a single book in the +library has escaped; and this library contained almost the whole of the +enormous correspondence of Colbert, the minister, forming no less than +two thousand volumes. + +[Illustration: Palais Royal.] + +The PALAIS ROYAL.—The palace itself alone is destroyed; the galleries +of the THÉÂTRE FRANÇAIS are preserved. The _Constitutionnel_ published +the following account of the conflagration;— + +“It was at three o’clock that this fearful fire burst forth. A +shopkeeper of the PALAIS ROYAL, M. Emile Le Saché, came forward in all +haste to offer his services. A Communist captain, or lieutenant, +threatened to fire on him if he did not retire on the instant; he added +that the whole quarter was going to be blown up and burned. In the +teeth of this threat, however, two fire-engines were brought to the +Place, and were worked by the people of the neighbourhood. It was four +o’clock. No water in the Cour des Fontaines. But some was procured by a +line of people being placed along the passage leading from the Cour +d’Honneur, who passed full buckets of water from hand to hand. + “A ladder was placed against the wall for the purpose of reaching + the terrace of the Rue de Valois. The insurgents proved so true to + their word that the people were forced to renounce the attempt at + saving the entire pavilion. Fire and smoke burst forth from three + windows just above the terrace. In the midst of the balls showered + from the barricade at the corner of the Rue de Rivoli, they + succeeded in extinguishing the fire on that side. At five o’clock + M. O. Sauve, captain in the commercial service, with a handful of + brave workmen, got a fire engine into the Cour d’Honneur, and thus + saved a great quantity of pictures, precious marbles, furniture, + hangings, etc. Here another line of people was formed for the + carrying of buckets, but unfortunately water ran short: the pipes + had been cut, the wretches had planned that the destruction should + be complete. At seven o’clock M. Bessignet, jun., hastened there + with four Paris firemen, but already the Pavilion, where the flames + were first apparent, was entirely consumed. + “On the arrival of the firemen they used every effort to prevent + the fire communicating itself to the apartments of the Princess + Clothilde; it had already reached the façade on the side of the + Place. Here, too, all the fittings and ornaments of the chapel were + saved. + At last, at seven o’clock, the soldiers of the line arrive. ‘Long + live the line!’ is shouted on all sides. ‘Long live France!’ + Signals are made with the ambulance flags. Help is come at last! + “Those present now regard their position with more coolness, and + use every effort to combat the fire, pumping from the roofs and + upper storeys of the neighbouring houses. The fire continues, + however, increasing and spreading on the theatre side. Here is the + greatest danger. If the theatre catch light, all the quarter will + most probably be destroyed. They then determine to avail themselves + of the water appliances of the theatre to stay the progress of the + flames. This is. rendered more difficult and dangerous by the + continuous firing from the Communists installed in the upper story + of the Hôtel du Louvre. M. Le Sache mounts on the roofs, with the + principal engineer, to conduct this movement. They are compelled to + hide out of the way of the shower of balls coming from the + Communists. + “At ten o’clock the companies from the quarter of the Banque, the + 12th battalion of National Guards, arrive. The Federals are put to + flight. Thereupon thirty _sapeurs-pompiers_ of Paris came at full + speed and succeed in mastering the remaining fire. An hour sooner + and all could have been saved.” + +[Illustration: Hôtel de Ville.] + +THE HOTEL DE VILLE.—The Hôtel de Ville was set on fire by order of the +Committee of Public Safety at the moment when the entry of the troops +caused them to fly to the Ecole des Chartes, which was thus saved, and +whence they fled to the Mairie of Belleville. Five battalions of +National Guards—the 57th, 156th, 178th, 184th, and the 187th—remained +to prevent any attempt being made to extinguish the fire. Petroleum had +been poured about the _Salle du Trône_, and the _Salle du Zodiaque_, +which were decorated by Jean Goujon and Cogniet; in the _Galerie de +Pierre_, in which were paintings by Lecomte, Baudin, Desgoffes, +Hédouin, and Bellel; in the _Salon des Arcades_, in the _Salon +Napoléon_, in the _Galerie des Fêtes_, and in the _Salon de la Paix_, +which contained works of Schopin, Picot, Vanchelet, Jadin, Girard, +Ingres, Delacroix, Landelle, Riesener, Lehmann, Gosse, Benouville and +Cabanel. It is not only as a fine specimen of architecture that the +Hôtel de Ville is to be regretted, but as the cradle of the municipal +and revolutionary history of Paris, as well as for the vast collection +of archives of the city, duplicates of which were at the same moment a +prey to the flames at the Palais de Justice. + +[Illustration: Foreign Office.] + +THE PREFECTURE OF POLICE was set fire to by the Communal delegate Ferré +and a band of drunken National Guards. + +THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE, thanks to the prompt arrival of the soldiers, +has been partially spared. The damage done, however, is very great. In +the SALLE DES PAS-PERDUS several of the grand arches that support the +roof have fallen in, and many of the columns are lying in ruins on the +pavement. The Cour de Cassation and the Cour d’Assises are entirely +destroyed. The conflagration was stopped, when it reached the Cour +d’Appel and the Tribunal de Première Instance. + +PALACE OF THE QUAI D’ORSAY.—This vast building, in which the Conseil +d’État and the Cour des Comptes held their sittings, has suffered +seriously, though the walls are not destroyed; but what is irreparable +is the loss of the many precious documents belonging to the financial +and legislative history of France. The most famous artists of our time +have contributed to the decoration of the interior. Jeanron painted the +twelve allegorical subjects for the vaulted ceiling of the _Salle des +Pas-Perdus_; Isabey, the Port of Marseilles in the Committee-room. The +Death of President de Renty, in the _Salle du Contentieux_, was by Paul +Delaroche; the fine portrait of Napoleon I., as legislator, in the +great Council Chamber, by Flandrin; and in another apartment the +portrait of Justinien by Delacroix. These, and many other treasures, +are lost; for the work of destruction was complete. + +MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.—The façade has been seriously injured. It +was fired upon from the terrace of the Tuileries, and from a gunboat +lying under cover of the Pont-Royal. The Doric and Ionic columns are +partly broken, as well as the fifteen medallions in white marble, which +bore the arms of the principal powers. The apartments in front have +been greatly damaged, and especially the _salon_ of the ambassadors, +where the Congress of Paris was held in 1856. + +THE PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR.—This is a specimen of French +architecture, unique of its kind. Happily, drawings and plans have been +preserved, and the members of the Legion of Honour have offered a +subscription for its re-instatement. + +THE GOBELINS.—The public gallery, the school of tapestry, and the +painters’ studios have been destroyed. The incendiaries would have +burned all, works, frames and materials, if the people of the quarter, +with the Gobelins weavers, had not defended them at the peril of their +lives. An irreparable loss is that of a valuable collection of tapestry +dating from the time of Louis XIV. + +The military hospital of the VAL DE GRÂCE, the ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF AND +DUMB, the MINT, the façade of the annex of the ÉCOLE-DES-BEAUX-ARTS, +have been riddled with balls. At the LUXEMBOURG the magnificent +camellia-house and conservatories exist no longer, and the graceful +Medici fountain has been injured. + +THE BANK had most fortunately been placed in charge of the delegate +Beslay, who, during the whole time he was there, made every effort to +prevent the pillage of the valuables. He was ably seconded by all the +officials and _employés_, who had before been armed and incorporated +into a battalion. + +[Illustration: Palace of the Legion D’honneur.] + +POST OFFICE.—The Communal delegate, Theiz, prevented the incendiaries +from setting fire to this important establishment. + +THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF THE PORTE-ST-DENIS.—The bas-relief containing an +emblematical figure of the Rhine resting on a rudder has been +mutilated, a shell having carried the arm and its support entirely +away. The other bas-relief of Holland vanquished and in tears, has been +struck by balls, as have also the figures of Fame in the tympans of the +arcades. + +THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF THE PORTE-ST-MARTIN.—The sculptures, which +represent the taking of Limbourg and the defeat of the Germans, have +suffered considerably. They are the works of Le Hongre and the elder +Legros. + +A tragic incident marked the burning of the THEATRE OF THE PORTE ST. +MARTIN (see sketch). After laving massacred the proprietor and people +of the _restaurant_ Ronceray, the Federals set fire to the house and +the theatre which is adjoining. At eight o’clock in the evening, on +beholding the first flames arise, the inhabitants of the quarter united +in endeavouring to extinguish the fire, notwithstanding that the +projectiles fell thickly in the Boulevard Saint-Martin and in the Rue +de Bondy. The Federals from behind their barricades at the corner of +the Rue Bouchardon, fired upon everyone who attempted to enter the +theatre. + +The ARCHIVES (Record Office), the IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE, and the +BIBLIOTHÈQUE MAZARINE were all preserved through the strenuous +endeavours of MM. Alfred Maury, Haureau, and Charles Asselineau, who +had all managed to keep their places in spite of the Commune. + +At the DOCKS OF LA VILLETTE, and at the warehouses of the DOUANE, the +destruction of property has been enormous. Many millions’ worth of +goods were consumed there. + +In the great buildings belonging to the MAGASINS RÉUNIS (Cooperative +Stores) an ambulance had been established, and this was in the utmost +danger during two days. It was only owing to the wonderful energy of M. +Jahyer that the fire was mastered while the poor wounded men were +transported to a place of safety. + +THE CHURCHES. + +NOTRE-DAME.—In the interior of Notre-Dame the insurgents set fire to +three huge piles of chairs and wood-work. Fortunately the fact was +discovered before much mischief had happened. + +THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE.—This incomparable gem of Gothic art, by some +marvellous good fortune was neither touched by fire nor shells. It will +still be an object for the pilgrimages of the erudite and the curious. + +THE MADELEINE.—The balls have somewhat damaged the double colonnade of +the peristyle, but the sculptured pediment by Lemaire is all but +untouched. + +THE TRINITÉ.—The façade has been seriously injured. The Federals, from +their barricades at the entrance of the Chaussée-d’Antin, bombarded it +for several hours. The painted windows by Ondinot had been removed +before the siege—like those of the ancient Cathedral of St. Denis, and +the Chapel of St. Ferdinand, by Ingres, they repose in safety. + +Of all the churches of Paris ST. EUSTACHE has suffered the most. At one +time the fire had reached the roof, but it was fortunately discovered +in time. + +The paintings at NOTRE-DAME-DE-LORETTE, at SAINT-GERMAIN-L’AUXERROIS, +and at SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS have been spared. + +It is curious that the churches suffered so little, whilst several +theatres were burned, including the Porte St. Martin, Théâtre du +Châtelet, Lyrique, Délassements Comiques, etc. + +The windows of the church of SAINT-JACQUES-DU-HAUT-PAS are destroyed. + +It has been estimated that the value of the houses and other property +destroyed in Paris amounts to twenty millions sterling. In addition to +this, it is said that twelve millions’ worth of works of art, +furniture, &c., have disappeared, and that more than two and a half +millions’ worth of merchandise was burnt, making a total of nearly +thirty-five millions. It has been said that the value of the +window-glass alone destroyed during the reign of the Commune approaches +a million sterling. The demand for glass was at one time so great that +the supply was quite insufficient, and at the present moment the price +is 20 per cent. higher than usual. + + + + + XV. + + +The following order of the day of General de Ladmirault, commanding the +first army corps of Versailles, sums up the principal episodes of this +eight days battle:— + +“Officers and soldiers of the First Corps d’Armée,— + The defences of the lines of Neuilly, Courbevoie, Bécon and + Asnières served you by way of apprenticeship. Your energy and + courage were formed amid the greatest works and perils. Every one + in his grade has given an example of the most complete abnegation + and devotion. Artillery, engineers, troops of the line, cavalry, + volunteers of the Seine-et-Oise, you rivalled each other in zeal + and ardour. Thus prepared, on the 22nd of the month you attacked + the insurgents, whose guilty designs and criminal undertakings you + knew and despised. You devoted yourselves nobly to save from + destruction the monuments of our old national glory, as well as the + property of the citizens menaced by savage rage. + On the 23rd of the month, the formidable position of the Buttes + Montmartre could no longer resist your efforts, in spite of all the + forces with which they were covered. + This task was confided to the first and second division and the + volunteers of the Seine and Seine-et-Oise, and the heads of the + various columns arrived simultaneously at the summit of the + position. + On the 24th, the third division, which alone had been charged with + the task of driving the insurgents out of Neuilly, + Levallois-Perret, and Saint-Ouen, joined the other divisions, and + took possession of the terminus of the Eastern Railway, while the + first division seized that of the Northern line by force of arms. + On the 26th, the third division occupied the _rotonde_—circular + place—of La Villette. + On the 27th, the first and second division, with the volunteers of + the Seine-et-Oise, by means of a combined movement, took the Buttes + Chaumont and the heights of Belleville by assault, the artillery + having by its able firing prepared the way for the occupation. + Finally, on the 28th, the defences of Belleville yielded, and the + first corps achieved brilliantly the task which had been confided + to them. + During the days of the struggle and fighting you rendered the + greatest service to civilization, and have acquired a claim to the + gratitude of the country. Accept then all the praise which is due + to you. + +Paris, 29th May, 1871. +The General commanding the First Corps d’Armee, +(Signed) “LADMIRAULT.”” + +During the day of the 28th of Kay Marshal MacMahon caused the following +proclamation to be posted in the streets of Paris:— + +“Inhabitants of Paris,— + The army of France is come to save you. Paris is relieved. The last + positions of the insurgents were taken by our soldiers at four + o’clock. Today the struggle is at an end; order, labour, and + security are springing up again. + +Paris, Quartier General, the 28th May, 1871. +(Signed) “MACMAHON, Due de Magenta, Marshal of France, +Commander-in-Chief.” + +On the 28th of May the war of the Communists was at an end, but the +fort of Vincennes was still occupied by three hundred National Guards, +with eighteen of their superior officers and fifteen of the high +functionaries of the Commune; They made an appeal to the commander of +the Prussian forces in front of the fort, in the hope of obtaining +passports for Switzerland. General Vinoy, hearing of this, took at once +the most energetic measures, and at six o’clock on the 29th of May the +last defenders of Vincennes surrendered at discretion. + + + + + XVI. + + +The amount of the extraordinary expenses of the Versailles was, at the +rate of three millions of francs a day, 216 millions from the 18th +March to the 28th May. The list of artillery implements removed from +the arsenals of Douai, Lyon, Besançon, Toulon, and Cherbourg, and +forwarded to Versailles from the 18th March to the 21st May, comprise— + + 80 cannons of 0.16m (6 in. 299/1000 diameter) from the War Arsenal + 60 ” ” ” from the Marine Arsenal + 10 ” of 0.22m (8 in. 661/1000 diameter) Marine. + 110 Rifled long 24-pounders. + 30 Rifled short 24-pounders. + 80 Rifled siege 12-pounders. + 3 Mortars of 0.32m (12 in. 598/1000 diameter). + 15 Mortars of 0.27m (10 in. 629/1000 diameter). + 15 Mortars of 0.22m (8 in. 661/1000 diameter). + 40 Mortars of 0.15m (5 in. 905/1000 diameter). + —— +Total 393 artillery siege pieces. + +Ammunition received at Versailles— + +Shells of 0.16m (marine). . . . 73,000 + ” 0.22m ” . . . . . 10,000 + ” 0.24m (rifled). . . . 140,000 + ” for 12-pounder (rifled) 80,000 +Bombs of 0.32m . . . . . . . . 1,000 + ” 0.27m . . . . . . . . 7,000 + ” 0.22m . . . . . . . . 7,000 + ” 0.15m . . . . . . . . 30,000 + ——— + Total 348,000 + +The stock of gunpowder amounted to 400 tons. + +Up to the 21st of May, the artillery received 20 tons a day, and on +that day 50 tons were forwarded to the besieging army. + +Up to the 21st of May, the field ordnance consisted of— + + 36 batteries of 4-pounders. + 18 ” 12-pounders. + 4 ” 7-pounders (breech-loaders). + 12 ” of mitrailleuses. + — + +Total 70 batteries, 63 of which were provided with horses (7 being in +store). + +The ammunition service consisted of— + + 80 tumbrels (calibre 12), each containing 54 charges. + 30 ” (calibre 7), ” 90 ” + 120 ” (calibre 4) ” 120 ” + 55 ” of mitrailleuses ” 243 ” +5000 cases of ammunition (for calibre 12), containing 49,000 charges. + 600 ” (for calibre 4), ” 12,000 ” +2000 ” (for calibre 7), ” 20,000 ” +1000 ” for mitrailleuses ” 30,000 ” + 16 millions of Chassepot cartridges, and + 2 millions of Remington cartridges. + +On the evening of the 23rd of May the army of Versailles expended— + + 26,000 discharges (calibre 0.16m), marine guns. + 2000 ” ” 0.22m), ” + 60,000 ” ” 0.24m), rifled guns. + 30,000 ” ” 0.12m), rifled siege guns. + 12,000 ” (calibre of 7), used as a siege gun. + 150 bombs of 0.32m + 360 ” 0.27m + 2500 ” 0.22m + 5500 ” 0.16m + ———- +Total 138,800 discharges of siege guns and mortars.—“Guerre +des Communeux,” p. 321. + +The great feature of the second siege of Paris was the prudence +exercised in manoeuvring the men so as to protect them from needless +exposure, practical experience in German encounters having taught the +line a severe lesson. From the report of Marshal MacMahon we learn that +the lost amounted to 83 officers killed, and 430 wounded; 794 soldiers +killed, and 6,024 wounded, and 183 missing in all. + + + + +XVII. + + +LIST OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, MONUMENTS, CHURCHES, AND HOUSES, + +DAMAGED OR DESTROYED BY THE COMMUNISTS OF PARIS, + +MAY 24-29, 1871. + +Fire commenced in the houses marked thus (*). + + Palais des Tuileries (Emperor’s Paris residence). _Burnt_. + Musée du Louvre. _Library totally destroyed_. + Palais Royal (Prince Napoleon’s Paris residence). _Burnt_. + Palais de la Légion d’Honneur (records all gone). _Burnt_. + Conseil d’Etat. _Burnt_. + Corps Législatif. _Damaged_. + Cour des Comptes (Exchequer). _Burnt_. + Ministère d’Etat (Minister of State). _Fired, but saved_. + Ministère des Finances (Treasury). _Burnt_. + Hôtel de Ville. (Town Hall of Paris). _Burnt_. + Palais de Justice (Law courts). _Burnt_. + Préfecture de Police. _Burnt_. + The Conciergerie (House of Detention). _Partly burnt_. + Mairie of the 1st Arrondissement. _Dam_. + Mairie of the 4th Arrondissement. _Partially burnt_. + Mairie of the 11th Arrondissement. _Partially_. + Mairie of the 12th Arrondissement. _Burnt_. + Mairie of the 13th Arrondissement. _Damaged_. + Imprimerie Nationale. (National Printing office). _Damaged_. + Polytechnic School. _Damaged_. + Manufacture des Gobelins (National tapestry manufactory). _Partially + burnt_. + Grenier d’Abondance (Enormous corn and other stores). _Burnt_. + Colonne Vendôme. _Overthrown on the 16th of May_. + Colonne de Juillet, on the Place de la Bastille. _Greatly damaged_. + Porte Saint-Denis. _Damaged_. + Porte Saint-Martin. _Damaged_. + Cathedral of Notre Dame. _Very slightly damaged_. + Panthéon. _Very slightly damaged_. + Church of Belleville. _Damaged_. + Church of Bercy. _Burnt_. + Church of La Madeleine. _Slightly dam_. + Church of St. Augustin. _Damaged_. + Church of Saint Eustache (used as a club). _Fired and much damaged_. + Church of Saint Gervais (used as a club). _Damaged_. + Church of St. Laurent. _Damaged_. + Church of Saint Leu. _Damaged_. + Church of Reuilly. _Fired but not burnt_. + Church of the Trinité. _Damaged_. + Church of La Villette. _Damaged_. + Sainte-Chapelle. _Slightly, if at all, dam_. + Théâtre du Châtelet. _Fired, but saved_. + Théâtre Lyrique. _Burnt_. + Ba-ta-clan Music Hall. _Fired, but not burnt_. + Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques. _Burnt_. + Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. _Totally destroyed_. + Théâtre Cluny. _Only damaged_. + Théâtre Odéon. _Damaged_. + Abattoir de Grenelle. _Damaged_. + Assistance Publique (offices of public charity). _Burnt_. + Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (Bank of Deposit). _Burnt_. + Caisse de Poissy (Bank of Deposit). _Burnt_. + Service des Ponts et Chaussées of the 13th Arrondissement (Civil + engineer’s office). _Partially_. + Arsenal. _Partly burnt_. + Caserne du Château-d’Eau (barracks). _Damaged_. + Caserne Mouffetard. _Damaged_. + Caserne Napoléon. _Damaged_. + Caserne Quai d’Orsay. _Burnt_. + Caserne de Reuilly. _Burnt_. + Docks, Bonded Warehouses and Storehouses at La Villette. _Burnt_. + Les Halles Centrales (Great general market). _Damaged_. + Marché du Temple (General market). _Damaged_. + Marché Voltaire (General market). _Dam_. + Bridge over the Canal de l’Ourcq. _Dam_. + Passerelle de la Villette (Foot-bridge). _Burnt_. + Pont d’Austerlitz, with restaurant Trousseau and sluice-keeper’s + house. _All burnt_. + Rotonde de la Villette. _Damaged_. + Hospice de l’Enfant Jesus. _Damaged_. + Hospital Lariboisière. _Damaged_. + Hospital Salpétrière: (House of refuge and lunatic-asylum for women). + _Burnt_. + Prison of la Roquette. _Damaged_. + Gare de Lyon (Lyons railway terminus). _Fired and damaged_. + Gare d’Orléans (Orleans railway terminus.) _Damaged_. + Gare Montparnasse (Western railway terminus). _Damaged_. + Gare de Strasbourg (Eastern railway terminus). _Damaged_. + Gare de Vincennes (Vincennes railway terminus). _Damaged_. + House of M. Thiers (Place St. Georges). _Pulled down (previously)_. + Cimetière du Père-Lachaise (cemetery). _Damaged_. + Barrière Charenton. _Damaged_. + Luxembourg: Powder Magazine in rear of Palace _blown up_, some + subsidiary buildings _burnt_, and whole quarter _damaged_. + + Avenue des Amandiers: Nos. 1, 2, 4, _Burnt_. + No. 69. _Damaged_. + Avenue de Choisy: Nos. 202, 221. _Dam._ + Avenue de Clichy: Nos. 2, 4, 22. _Dam._ + Avenue d’Italie: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 78, 88. _Damaged._ + Avenue d’Orléans: Nos. 79, 81, 83. _Dam._ + Avenue Victoria: Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5. _Burnt._ + No. 6. _Damaged._ + Avenue de Vincennes: Nos. 2, 4, 10. _Damaged._ + Boulevard Beaumarchais: No. 1. _Burnt._ + Nos. 2, 13, 15, 26, 28, 30, 109. _Dam._ + Boulevard de Bercy: No. 4, 8. _Dam._ + Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle: Nos. 11, 15. _Damaged._ + Boulevard Bourdon: Nos. 7, 17. _Dam._ + Boulevard des Capucines: No. 11; + Maison Giroux, Nos. 43, 58, 60. _Damaged._ + Boulevard de la Chapelle: Nos. 10, 12, + 14, 18, 20, coach houses and stables, + 22, 30, 34, 40, 62, 86, 90, 94, + 100, 122, 141, 143, 145, 147, “Aux + Buttes Chaumont,” 157, 163, 165, + 169, 208, “Au Cadran Bleu,” 216, + 218. _Damaged._ + Boulevard de Charonne: Nos. 50, 52, 74. _Damaged._ + Boulevard de Clichy: No. 77; Convent and + Church; Nos. 79, 81, 84, 86. _Dam._ + Boulevard Contrescarpe: Nos. 2, 4. _Burnt._ + Nos. 42, 46. _Damaged._ + Boulevard de la Gare: No. 131. _Dam._ + Boulevard Hausmann: Nos. 23, 72. _Damaged._ + Boulevard d’Italie: Nos. 7, 69. _Dam._ + Boulevard de la Madeleine: No. 1. _Dam._ + Boulevard Magenta: Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6, 15, + 48, 70, 78, 98, 114, “Au Méridien,” + 118, 143, 151, 153, 156. _Damaged._ + Boulevard Malesherbes: Nos. 9, 33. _Damaged._ + Boulevard Mazas: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. _Burnt._ + Nos. 22, 26, 28 bis, 30, 60. _Dam._ + Boulevard Montmartre: No, 1. _Dam._ + Boulevard du Montparnasse: Nos. 9 bis, + 41, 70, 100, 120, 150. _Damaged._ + Nos. 25, three shops, 110, 112. _Burnt._ + Boulevard Ornano: No. 56. _Burnt._ + Nos. 1, 4, 7, 9, 22, 27, 32. _Dam._ + Boulevard Poissonnière: No. 15. _Dam._ + Boulevard du Port-Royal: Nos. 16, 18, 20. _Damaged._ + Boulevard du Prince Eugène: Magazins-Réunis + (co-operative store). _Dam._ + Boulevard Richard-Lenoir: Nos. 20, 82. _Burnt._ + Nos. 1, 5, 7, 9, 31, 36, 50, 69, 76, + 87, 93, 107, 109, 116, 118, 136, 140. _Damaged._ + Boulevard Saint-Denis: Nos. 6, 13, Café Magny. _Damaged._ + Boulevard St. Jacques: Nos*. 69. _Dam._ + Boulevard Saint-Marcel: No. 21. _Dam._ + Boulevard Saint Martin: Nos. 14, 16, 18, 20. _Damaged._ + Boulevard Saint Michel: No. 20; Café du Musée, 25; + Café Miller, 65; + Restaurant Molière, 73; Dreher Beer House, 99; + School of Mines. _Dam._ + Boulevard Sébastopol: Nos. 9, 11, 13, 15. _Burnt._ + Nos. 42, *65, 83. _Damaged._ + Boulevard du Temple: Nos. 52, 54. _Burnt._ + Nos. 2, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, + 35, 38, 40, 44, 50. _Damaged._ + Boulevard de la Villette: Nos. 85, 87, 117, Usine Falk. _Burnt_. + Nos. 97, 128, 134, 136, 138, 140, 162. _Damaged_. + Boulevard Voltaire: Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 20, 22, 28, 60. _Burnt_. + Nos. 38, 63, 55, 60, 78, 94, 97, 98, 141, 166. _Damaged_. + Carrefour de l’Observatoire; No. 11. _Damaged_. + Chaussée Clignancourt: “Château-Rouge” (a public dancing-room). + _Damaged_. + Chaussée du Maine: No. 164. _Dam_. + Chaussée de Ménilmontant: Nos. 56, 58, 81, 98. _Damaged_. + Croix-Rouge (cross way): Nos. 2, 4. _Burnt_. + Faubourg Montmartre: No. 50,64. _Dam_. + Faubourg Poissonnière: Nos. 39, 168. _Damaged_. + Faubourg Saint-Antoine: No. 2. _Burnt_. + Nos. 1, 8, 4, 6, 6, 7, 22, 141, 164, 156, 158, 162. _Damaged_. + Faubourg Saint-Denis: Nos. 68, 77,114, 208 bis, 214. _Damaged_. + Faubourg Saint-Honoré: Nos. 1, 2, 3. _Burnt_. + Nos. 4, 29, 30, 33, 85. _Damaged_. + Faubourg Saint-Martin: Nos. *55, 66, 67, 69, 71, “Tapis Rouge.” + _Burnt_. + Nos. 147, 184, 221, 234, 267. _Dam_. + Faubourg du Temple: No. 30. _Burnt_. + Nos. 9, 16, 17, 19, 20, 26, 29, 32, 33, 36, 41, 47, 48, 49, 53, 64, + 66, 73, 81, 82, 98, 94, 106, 117. _Dam_. + Impasse Constantine: No. 2. _Damaged_. + Impasse Saint-Sauveur: No. 2. _Dam_. + Passage du Sauinon. _Damaged_. + Place de la Bastille: Nos. 8, 10, 12, Poste de l’Ecluse. _Burnt_. + Nos. 4, 5, 6, 14. _Damaged_. + Place Blanche: Nos. 2, 3. _Damaged_. + Place Cambronne: No. 8. _Damaged_. + Place du Château-d’Eau: Nos. 7, 15. _Burnt_. + *9,13, “Pauvres Jacques;” Nos. 17, 19, 21, 23, Café du + Château-d’Eau. _Damaged_. + Place de la Concorde (Fountain). _Dam_. + Place de la Concorde (Statue of Lille). _Destroyed_. + Place de l’Hôtel de Ville: Nos. 1, 3, 7, 9, 11. _Burnt_. + Place de Jessaint: No. 4. _Damaged_. + Place du Louvre: No. 1. _Burnt_. + Place de la Madeleine: No. 31. _Dam_. + Place de l’Odéon: No. 8; Café de Bruxelles. _Damaged_. + Place de l’Opera: No. 3. _Damaged_. + Place Pigalle: No. 1. _Damaged_. + Place de la Sorbonne: No. 8. _Dam_. + Place Valhubert: “Châlet du Jardin.” _Damaged_. + Place des Victoires: No. 2. _Damaged_. + Place de Vintimille: Nos. 1, 27. _Dam_. + Place Voltaire: No. 7. _Burnt_. + No. 9. _Damaged_. + Quai d’Anjou: Nos. 5, 11, 19, 23, 27, 43; “Au Petit Matelot.” + _Damaged_. + Quai de Bercy: No. 12, 13. _Burnt_. + Nos. 3, 5, 10. _Damaged_. + Quai de Béthune: Nos. 12, 20. _Dam_. + Quai Bourbon: No. 3. _Damaged_. + Quai des Célestins: No. 6. _Damaged_. + Quai de Gèvres: No. 2. _Burnt_. + Quai de l’Hôtel-de-Ville: Nos. 28, 68, 72, 78, 82. _Damaged_. + Quai de Jemappes: Nos. 18, 80, 34, 42. _Damaged_. + No. 32. _Burnt_. + Quai de la Loire: Nos. 10, 84, 86, 88. _Burnt_. + No. 60. _Damaged_. + Quai du Louvre: Nos. 2, 4, 6. _Dam_. + Quai de la Mégisserie: No. 22; “Belle Jardinière.” _Damaged_. + Quai d’Orsay (a Club). _Damaged._ + Quai de la Rapée: No. 92, 94, 96, 98, 100, _Burnt_. + Quai de Valmy: Nos. 27, 29. _Burnt._ + Nos. 31, 39, 48, 71, 73, 79. _Dam._ + Quai Voltaire: No. 9, 13, 17. _Dam._ + Rue d’Alibert: Nos. 1, 2; _Damaged._ + Rue d’Allemagne: Nos. 2, 10. _Dam._ + Rue d’Alsace: Nos. 31, 33, 39. _Dam._ + Rue des Amandiers: Nos. 3, 4, 20, 65,86, 87. _Damaged._ + Rue Amelot: Nos. 2, 21, 25, 104, 106,139. _Damaged._ + Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie: No. 2: “À Mazarin” (drapers). _Damaged._ + Rue d’Angoulême: Nos. 2, 28, 31, 43, 72bis. _Damaged._ + Rue d’Anjou: No. 23. _Damaged._ + Rue de l’Arcade: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue de l’Arsenal: No. 3. _Burnt._ + Rue d’Assas: Nos. 80, *78, 86, 90, 96, 98, 106, 112, 118, 124. _Dam._ + Rue d’Aubervilliers: No. 138. _Burnt._ + Nos. 2, 24, 88, 92, 96. _Damaged._ + Rue Audran: No. 1. _Damaged._ + Rue d’Aval: No. 11. _Damaged._ + No. 17. _Burnt._ + Rue du Bac: Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13. _Burnt._ + Nos. 54, 55, 56, Leborgne House, 58, 62, 64. _Damaged._ + Rue Barrault: Nos. 3, 31. _Damaged._ + Rue de Belleville: Nos. 1, 2, 66, 70, 89, 91, 133. _Damaged._ + Rue de Bercy: No. 257. _Damaged._ + Rue Bichat: No. 67. _Damaged_. + Rue Bisson: No. 49. _Damaged_. + Rue Blanche: Nos. 97, 99. _Damaged_. + Rue Boissy-d’Anglas: No. 31. _Burnt_. + Nos. 33, 35, 37. _Damaged_. + Rue de Bondy: Nos. 16, 17, 19, 21. _Burnt_. + Nos. *22, *32; 24, 26, Grand Café Parisien, 28, 30, 40, 44. + _Damaged_. + Rue Bréa: Nos; 1. _Burnt_. + No. 3. _Damaged_. + Rue de Bruxelles: No. 29. _Damaged_ + Rue de Buffon: Nos. 1, 3. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles: Nos. 1, 16. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Butte-Chaumont: No. 1. _Burnt_. + Rue Cail: No. 25. _Damaged_. + Rue Castex: No. 20. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Cerisaie: Nos. 20, 41, 45, 47. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Chapelle: Nos. 6, 16, 19, 35, 37, 75, 77. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Charbonnière: Nos. 32, 42. _Damaged_. + Rue de Charenton: No. 1. _Burnt_. + Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 100, 102, 187, 214, 230. + _Dam._. + Rue de Charonne: Nos. 61,79,155. _Dam._. + Rue du Château: Nos. 169,180. _Dam._ + Rue du Château-d’Eau: Nos. 1, 3, 73. _Burnt_. + Nos. 32, 55, 71, 75, 79, 81, _Dam._ + Rue de la Chaussée-d’Antin: Nos. 58, 64, 68. _Damaged_. + Rue du Chemin-Vert: Nos. 46,54. _Dam._ + Rue Clavel: No. 3. _Damaged_. + Rue de Clignancourt: Nos. 9, 39, 43, 45, 49, 59. _Damaged_. + Rue Conti: No. 2. _Damaged_. + Rue de Cotte: No. 8. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Coutellerie: No. 2. _Burnt_. + Rue de Crimée: Nos. 156, 158. _Burnt_. + Nos. 81, 83, 155, 163. _Damaged_. + Rue du Croissant: (Saint Joseph’s Market). _Damaged_. + Rue Curial: No. 134. _Damaged_. + Rue Damesne: No. 1. _Damaged_. + Rue Delambre: Nos. 2, 4, _Burnt_. + Rue Descartes: No. 6. _Damaged_. + Rue Domat: No. 24. _Damaged_. + Rue Dombasle: No. 61. _Damaged_. + Rue Durantin: No. 7. _Damaged_. + Rue des Ecoles: No. 25. _Damaged_. + Rue d’Elzévir: Nos. 4,7, ll, 12; “Auberge de la Bouteille” (inn). + _Dam._ + Rue de l’Espérance: Nos. 7, 11. _Dam._ + Rue Fléchier: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue Folies-Méricourt: Nos. 51, 64, 75. _Damaged._ + No. 115. _Burnt._ + Rue des Francs-Bourgeois: No. 33, Hotel Carnavalet. _Damaged._ + Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire: No. 18. _Dam._ + Rue de la Glacière: Nos. 36, 75. _Dam._ + Rue Grange-aux-Belles: No. 20. _Dam._ + Rue de Grenelle: Nos. 1, 3. _Burnt._ + No. 34. _Damaged._ + Rue Guy-Patin: No. 3. _Damaged._ + Rue des Halles: No. 28. _Damaged._ + Rue Jacques-Coeur: No. 31. _Dam._ + Rue Joquelet: No. 12. _Damaged._ + Rue Julien-Lacroix: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue de Jussieu: No. 41. _Damaged._ + Rue de Lafayette: No. 107, 127. _Dam._ + Nos. 196, Aubin (fireworks), 208, 213, 215. _Damaged._ + Rue Lacuée: Nos. 2, 4, 6. _Burnt._ + Rue de Lappe: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue Lepelletier: No. 26. _Damaged._ + Rue Lesdiguières: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue Levert: No. 12. _Damaged._ + Rue de Lille: Nos. 27, 37, 39, 43, 45, + *47, 48, 49, 50, 51, Museum of M. Gatteaux, bequeathed to nation, + 53, 55, 57, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 81, 83. _Burnt._ + Rue Louis-le-Qrand: Nos. 32, 34. _Dam._ + Rue du Louvre: Nos. 6, 8. _Burnt._ + Rue de la Lune: No. 1. _Damaged._ + Rue de Lyon: No. 16. _Damaged._ + Rue des Marais: No. 68. _Damaged._ + Rue du Maroc: No. 38. _Damaged._ + Rue de Meaux: Nos. 2, 14. _Damaged._ + Rue Ménars: No. 8. _Damaged._ + Rue Meslay: No. 2. _Burnt._ + Rue Montmartre: Nos. 49, 53, 55. _Dam._ + Rue Montorgueil: Nos. 1, 29, 31, 33, 65. _Damaged._ + Rue Mouffetard: Nos. 132, 134, 136, + 138, 139, 150; Church of St. Médard. _Damaged._ + Rue du Moulin-des-Près: Nos. 83, 85. _Damaged._ + Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs: No. 105, Piver’s. _Damaged._ + Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs: Nos. 52, 54. + Studio of M. John Leighton. _Burnt._ + Nos. 55, 57. _Damaged._ + Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth: Nos. 16, 31. _Damaged._ + Rue Oberkampf: No. 4; À la Ville + d’Alençon, No. 11, 12, 13, 15, 25, + 36, 37, 41, 49, 50, 53, 57, 60, 67. _Damaged._ + Rue aux Ours: Nos. 47, 48, 49, 55. _Dam._ + Rue des Petites-Ecuries: Nos. 2, 4. _Damaged._ + Rue du Petit-Muse: No. 21. _Damaged._ + Rue Pierre Lescot: No. 16. _Damaged._ + Rue Popincourt: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue du Pressoir: No. 54. _Damaged._ + Rue de Provence: No. *20. No. 23. _Damaged._ + Rue de Puebla: Nos. 2, 3, 4, 17, 30, 292. _Damaged._ + Rue Racine: No. 2. _Damaged._ + Rue Rambuteau: Nos. 32, 58, 60, 102. + “Aux Fabriques de France:” No. 124. _Damaged._ + No. 16, “Colosse de Rhodes;” No. 19, + Café du Marais; Nos. 26, 28, 30, + 34, 62, 65, 72; Mr. Leforestier’s + house, “À l’Alliance,” Nos. 49, 61, + 63, 66, 69, 71. _Damaged._ + Rue Ramey: Nos. 41, 43. _Damaged._ + Rue Rampon: No. 18. _Damaged._ + Rue Réaumur: Nos. 14, 25, 43. _Dam._ + Rue de Rennes: No. 2; Café de Rennes, 161. _Damaged._ + Rue de Reuilly: No. 68. _Damaged._ + Rue du Rhin: No. 6. _Damaged._ + Rue Riquet: Nos. 63, 64. _Damaged._ + Rue de Rivoli: Nos. 33, 35, 37, 39, 79, + 80, 82, 84, 86, 91, 98, 100; “À Pygmalion.” _Burnt._ + Nos. 41, 88, 128, 210, 226, 236, 238. _Damaged._ + Rue Rollin; No. 18. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Roquette: Nos. 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 13, 18, 19, 20, 22, + 24, 26. _Burnt_. + Nos. 4, 8, 15, 17, 34, 87, 38, 78. _Dam_. + Rue Royale: Nos. 15, 18, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25. _Burnt_. + Nos. 24, 27. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint André-des-Arts: Nos. 26, 42. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint-Antoine: Nos. 3, 7, 9, 114, 142, 150, 152, 160, 176, + 178, 182,192, 194, 198, 199, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 207, 212; + “À la Fiancée,” No. 213; “Phares de la Bastille,” 214, 216, 218, + 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 232, 234, 236; Protestant Church. _Dam_. + Petite rue Saint Antoine: Nos, 3, 7, 9. _Damaged_. + Nos. 11, 18. _Burnt_. + Rue Saint-Denis: No. 223; Église Saint Leu. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint-Fiacre: No. 15. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint-Honoré: No. 422. _Burnt_. + No. 132. _Dam_. + Rue Saint-Jacques: Nos. 26, 146, 164, Café de l’Ecole de Droit,1 + 36, 195, 198, 216. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint-Lazare: No. 46. _Damaged_. + Rue Sainte-Marguerite: No. 22. _Dam_. + Rue Saint-Martin: Nos. 8, 10; “The Bon-Diable.” Nos. 12, 14. _Burnt_ + Nos. *16, 248. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint-Maur: Nos. 151, 184, 225, 227. _Damaged_. + Rue des Saints-Pères: Nos. 46, 48. _Dam_. + Rue Saint-Sabin: Nos. 2, 4, 6. _Burnt_. + Nos. 3, 10, 12, 14. _Damaged_. + Rue Saint Sébastien: Nos. 42, 43, 44. _Damaged_. + Rue Sauval: No. 13. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Santé: No. 63. _Damaged_. + Rue Sedaine: No. 1. _Burnt_. + Nos. 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20. _Damaged_. + Rue du Sentier: No. 22. _Damaged_. + Rue du 4 Septembre: No. 13. _Dam_. + Rue de Sèvres: No. 2. _Burnt_. + Nos. 14, 16 (reservoir); Nos. 91, 92, 141. _Damaged_. + Rue de Sully: No. 11. _Damaged_. + Rue de Suresnes: Nos. 1, 9, 15, 17, 19. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Tacherie: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. _Burnt_. + Rue Taitbout: Nos. 22, 26. _Damaged_. + Rue Taranne*: No. 10. _Damaged_. + Rue du Temple: Nos. 7, 10, 39, 201. _Damaged_. + No. 207. _Burnt_. + Rue Toquelet: No. 12. _Damaged_. + Rue Traversière: No. 53. _Damaged_. + Rue de Turbigo; Nos. 1, 3; “Au Grand Parisien,” Nos. 5, 8, 11, 19, + 21, 47; Church of Saint-Nicholas-des-Champs, Nos. 51, 53, 56, 63, + 74. _Damaged_. + Rue De Vaugirard: Nos. 60, 68, 69, 70, Convent des Carmes, 82, School + for Girls, 92, School for Boys. _Dam_. + Rue Vavin: Nos. 2, *18, 20, 22. _Burnt_. + Nos. 16, 34, 36, 39. _Damaged_. + 54 (Collection of M. Reiber, Architect). _Destroyed_. + Rue de la Victoire: No. 61. _Damaged_. + Rue du Vieux-Colombier: No. 31. _Dam_. + Rue Vilin: No. 2. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Villette: Nos. 20, 25, 26, 70. _Damaged_. + Rue de la Ville l’Evêque: Nos. 7, 18. _Damaged_. + Rue Volta: No. 38. _Damaged_. + Rue de Wiarmes: No. 1. _Damaged_. + +The barricades of Paris numbered about 600—from a slight breast-work to +a veritable fortress. + + + + + INDEX TO PLAN. + + +B. Burnt. P.B. Partly Burnt. D. Damaged. S. Damaged by Shot and Shell. + +NORTH OF THE RIVER SEINE. + +Div. of Map. +1 Palace of the Tuileries, B 8 +2 Museum of the Louvre, P.B 8 +3 Palais Royal, B 8 +4 The Bourse (Exchange) 8 +5 The New Opera House 8 +6 The Church of the Madeleine, D 8 +7 The Column Vendôme (overthrown) 8 +8 The Palace of the Elysée 7 +9 The Triumphal Arch, D 7 +10 Palais de l’Industrie, B 7 +11 Church of St. Augustin, D 8 +12 ” of the Trinity, B 8 +13 ” Notre Dame de Lorette 8 +14 Ministère of Marine 8 +15 Bibliothèque Nationale 8 +16 Halles Centrales, S 8 +17 Church of Saint Eustache, D 8 +18 Opéra Comique 8 +19 Church of St. Vincent de Paul 8 +20 Hospital of Lariboisière, D 3 +21 Barracks of Prince Eugène, D 9 +22 Hospital of St. Louis 9 +23 Prison of La Roquette, D 14 +24 Statue of Prince Eugène (removed) 14 +25 Hôtel de Ville, B 13 +26 Tower of St. Jacques, D 13 +27 Prison of Mazas 14 +28 Barracks Napoléon, B 14 +29 Conservatoire of Arts and Métiers 9 +30 Hospital of St. Eugénie 15 +31 Cattle Market and Slaughter H 5 +32 Magasins of Bercy (sacked) 20 +33 Ministère des Finances, B 8 +34 Place de la Concorde, D 8 +86 Porte St. Denis, D 8 +36 Porte St. Martin, D 9 +37 Theatre of Porte St. Martin, B 9 +38 Church of St. Laurent, D 9 +39 Mairie 1st Arrondissement, D 8 +40 Théâtre du Chatelet, P.B 13 +41 Théâtre Lyrique, B 13 +42 Caisse Municipale, B 13 +43 Assistance Publique, B 13 +44 Mairie IVth Arrondissement, P.B 14 +45 Magasins Réunis, D 9 +46 Théâtre des Del. Comiques, B 9 +47 Mairie XIth Arrondissement, P.B 14 +48 Column of July, D 14 +49 The Arsenal, B 14 +50 Hospital of Salpétrière, B 19 +51 Granary of Abundance, B 14 +52 Lyons Railway Station, PB 14 +53 Mairie of XIIth Arrondissement and Church of Bercy, B 14 +SOUTH OF THE RIVER SEINE. + +1 Foreign Office, D. 7 +2 Military School 12 +3 Les Invalides and Tomb of Napoléon I. 12 +4 Corps Législatif 7 +5 Barracks d’Orsay, P.B. 8 +6 Palace of the Institute 13 +7 The Mint 13 +8 Church of St. Sulpice 13 +9 Palace of the Luxembourg, D. 13 +10 Odéon Theatre, D. 13 +11 Museum of Cluny 13 +12 Palais de Justice, B. 13 +13 Cathedral of Notre Dame 13 +14 Church of the Pantheon, D. 13 +15 Church of Val de Grâce 13 +16 The Observatory 18 +17 Wine Market (sacked) 14 +18 Palace of Légion d’Honneur, B. 8 +19 Conseil d’État and Exchequer, B. 8 +20 Bank of Deposit, B. 8 +21 Western Railway Station, B. 13 +22 Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory, P.B. 18 +23 Orleans Railway Station, P.B. 14 + +See western side of Plan for the fire and devastation caused by shot +and shell during the engagements between the Federal troops and the +army of Versailles:—Point du Jour, Auteuil, Passy, Porte Maillot, +Avenue de la Grande Armée (Arc de Triomphe, much injured), Neuilly, +Villiers, Lavallois, &c. + +[Maps: (press map to enlarge)] + +[Illustration: Plan of Paris Illustrative Of Mr. Leighton’s Paris] + +[Illustration: Plan of Paris Illustrative Of Mr. Leighton’s Paris] + +[Illustration: Parts Destroyed Or Damaged During the Reign of The +Commune] + +[Illustration: Plan of Paris Illustrative Of Mr. Leighton’s Paris] + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Paris under the Commune, by John Leighton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10861 *** |