The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paris under the Commune, by John Leighton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Paris under the Commune The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; With Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs) Author: John Leighton Release Date: January 29, 2004 [EBook #10861] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARIS UNDER THE COMMUNE *** Produced by Robert Connal, Wilelmina Malliere and PG Distributed Proofreaders [Illustration: FRONTISPIECE THE COLUMN OF JULY (HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF)] 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. 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.) 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 CONTENTS 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: *Separate Plates on tinted paper. *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. 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. [Illustration] 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." The trick is 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. [Illustration: THE HILL OF MONTMARTRE!--WITH THE GUNS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD PARKED THERE. VIEW TAKEN FROM THE PLACE ST. PIERRE.] "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." 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. [Illustration: SENTINELS AT MONTMARTRE.] "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." 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] [Illustration: PURIFICATION OF THE CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THE PRUSSIANS MAR 1871] [Illustration: BUILDING A BARRICADE. MARCH 18. 1871.] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: Memoir, see Appendix I.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 3: The eight gigantic female figures, representing the principal towns of France: Strasbourg, Lille, Metz, &c., &c.] [Footnote 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.] 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. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 5: Appendix, note 2.] [Footnote 6: A mark of insult.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 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.)] [Footnote 9: A sign that they refused to fight.] [Footnote 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! FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 11: The roll call.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 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? FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 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_."] [Footnote 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."] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 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: THIS MORNING MEAL--THIRTY SOUS A DAY AND NOTHING TO DO.] 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? FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 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. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 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 fou