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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19912-8.txt b/19912-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..919a192 --- /dev/null +++ b/19912-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4279 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Insurrection in Paris, by An Englishman: Davy + +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.org + + +Title: The Insurrection in Paris + +Author: An Englishman: Davy + +Release Date: November 24, 2006 [EBook #19912] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net) + + + + + + + + + +THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS + +RELATED + +BY + +AN ENGLISHMAN + +_An eye-witness of that frightful war and of the terrible evils which +accompanied it_ + +PRICE: 2 fr. 50 c. + +PARIS + +A. LEMOIGNE, EDITOR + +26, PLACE VENDÔME + +1871 + +Imprimerie de F. Le Blanc-Hardel, rue Froide, 2 et 4, à Caen. + +_Paris, June the 25th 1871._ + + +DEAR EDWARD, + +To you who have been pleased to take some interest in what I wrote about +Paris, I inscribe this small volume which, according to your suggestion, +I publish under the form of a nearly day per day correspondence. + +_Yours truly_, + +DAVY. + + + + +RECOLLECTIONS + +OF THE + +PARISIAN INSURRECTION. + + +The desire of appreciating _de visu_ the results of a five month's siege +in a town of two million inhabitants, unexampled in the annals of +humanity, made me leave London on the twentieth of March. + +Hardly landed in the Capital of France which I thought of finding +tranquil and occupied in exercising its genius in repairing the +disasters caused by the enemy, I heard with stupefaction that Paris, a +prey to civil war, was under the blow of a fresh siege. + +Sad change! the German helmets had given place to the French kepys; +citizens of the same nation were going to cut one another's throats. + +My first thought was to withdraw from this mournful and dangerous +spectacle. Of what importance to me, a simple citizen of Great Britain, +were the disorders and furies of that people, in turn our most cruel +enemy or our friend according to circumstances, as European politics or +the interests of sovereigns make of them our adversary or our ally?--Why +expose myself voluntarily to the heart-rending and often dangerous +trials of a war that had none of my sympathies either on the one side or +on the other of the enclosure? Was I going to see a great people +breaking its irons and fighting to death in order to recover its rights +and liberty?--No--the French people had at last the government of their +choice,--the Republic. There was, then, question of an impious war, +undertaken by a blind multitude for the profit of a few hidden +ambitions: that is to say, a war without grandeur and without interest +for a simple spectator. + +However, after due reflection, I overcame my repugnance. I had, in my +excursions, remarked, among the armed bands, so many heterogeneous +elements; that is to say, thousands of individuals of all social +positions and of so many nationalities, that I began to think it would +perhaps be useful to my compatriots to hear by and by a sincere recital, +written by a disinterested pen, of the events about to take place. + +I did not conceal from myself the dangers to which my curiosity would +expose me; but had I not, and that too without any advantage, incurred +as great dangers in escalading Mont-Blanc and in going up along the +borders of the Nile? Besides, as is generally the case, the certainty of +an imminent peril only served to strengthen my resolution. Moreover, not +wishing to run any useless risk, I thought good to take a few +precautions: I went to see Monsieur ***, an old French refugee that I +had known at London, by the interposition of M. Causidiere. I asked him +if he could not procure me a permission, a pass, some paper or other. + +«Are you quite decided on staying?» + +Asked that gentleman, whom I do not name for a reason that will be +appreciated by the reader. + +«Perfectly decided.» + +«Could nothing, not even good advice, make you renounce your intention?» + +«Nothing.» + +«Then come with me to the Town-hall.» + +I followed him; and, half an hour afterwards, I was in possession of a +pass signed by two members of the Commune. + +This precaution was not to be useless. A few days afterwards, going to +see the fort of Vanves, strongly menaced, I was arrested and taken +before the commander of the Fort. + +This officer examined my pass; and, hesitating without doubt as to my +identity, he put several questions to me in English. My answers +certainly satisfied him, for he took me by the hand and said to me in a +tone not without emotion: + +«Go, Sir, I will give you some one to accompany you; I like the English; +I have seen them under fire; I was at Inkermann.» + +The next day, having advanced too near Courbevoie, I was arrested by a +patrol, and taken before a Commander of the army of Versailles. There I +exhibited a letter from the ambassador's. + +«Ah!» said the Commander, «I knew in the Crimea two brave officers of +your name.» + +«John and Lewis--Captains--they were cousins of mine.» + +«That is it exactly--what has become of them?» + +«Lewis is in the Indies--John is dead.» + +«He is very happy», said the commander sorrowfully, in bowing to me.» + +I went back, not without thinking of those two men--of those two +brothers-in-arms, who perhaps were going to fire upon each other, after +having mingled their blood before the enemy for the defence of their +country. Alas! I was destined to see greater crimes. + +Certain, henceforth, of being able to get safely out of all scrapes, +thanks to my pass of the commune and my papers from the ambassador's, I +persevered in following step by step the events I am about to relate. + +Not having the pretention to write the history of the French revolution, +with an appreciation of its consequences, as was done by our illustrious +compatriot Carlisle for the revolution of 93, I will content myself with +a simple and daily account of what I have seen and heard, and nothing +more. + +The events offer of themselves sufficient interest and need not be +augmented. + +In default of merit to which this book, so rapidly got up, cannot +pretend, I dare hope that its sincerity will gain for it the reader's +sympathy and esteem. + +Paris. + + +A certain calm reigned in the city in consequence of the hope that was +entertained of seeing the commune come to an understanding with the +government of Versailles. Several battalions even marched only because +they were forced to do so. This hesitation was caused by the convocation +of all the freemasons for bringing about a reconciliation between the +two parties. It was, in fact, on this very day, that all the freemasons +of Paris went to the Town-hall to hear pronounced, by several members of +the commune, speeches of a fiery character and leading to civil war. + +All efforts of reconciliation have failed. Dombrowski, then, has ordered +the inhabitants of Neuilly to leave in 24 hours, having the intention to +reduce the village to ashes. The day ended by the arrest of general +Cluseret. + + +MAY 1rst. + +This day is signalized by the capture of the railway-station of Clamart, +where the insurgents lost, in addition to 60 prisoners, about 300 killed +by the bayonet. The soldiers of Versailles gave no quarter, excited as +they were at the sight of the deserters of the Line who served in the +ranks of the commune. + +It was also on this day that general Mariouze retook the castle of Issy, +having captured 250 insurgents. This number was increased by others, +made prisoners during the day, and they arrived at Versailles 400 in +number. + + +MAY 2nd. + +The scaffolding for the destruction of the Vendôme Column is arranged, +and the eighth of this month is the day fixed for its fall. + +The fighting around Paris continues violent and the troops of Versailles +press steadily forward. + +The railway-companies are taxed to the amount of 2,000,000 fr. + +Let us terminate this day by the recital of the pillage of Notre-Dame. + + * * * * * + + +NOTRE-DAME PLUNDERED. + +People were astonished that the commune should have restored the +treasure of Notre-Dame after having had it taken away. To day the +astonishment will cease: the furniture and vases had been brought back +only to be re-taken. + +On monday, april 26th., in the afternoon, a certain number of national +guards, accompanied by the self-styled delegates of the commune, loaded, +for the second time, in two carriages, the treasure of Notre-Dame. Then, +having doubtless met with some difficulties, they had the horses taken +away and left the two carriages loaded. + +The next day, at 1 o'clock, a pompous bill was stuck up at the town-hall +and at the mayory of the 4th. arrondissement, announcing that the +treasure of Notre-Dame had all just been restored. But, at about 3 +o'clock, fifty national guards arrived at Notre-Dame, the horses were +again put to, and the two vehicles were taken no body knows where. + +These gentlemen are to return, for they have only done half their work; +time has not permitted them to take all. + +Such then is the end of the promises and protestations of gentlemen, +members of the commune, who declare aloud that probity is their ruling +virtue. + +These gentlemen propose, moreover, it is said, to rake up, so to speak, +the very ground; that is to say, to upset every thing in the church, +cellars and calorifères. They insist on finding there arms and +ammunition. + +It is true that, during the siege, the gunners of the national guard, +who occupied the park of artillery established round the basilic, +demanded of the chapter's steward the authorisation to put in the +cellars and calorifères their ammunition which was exposed to the shells +of the Prussians, and that this authorisation was granted them without +the least difficulty. + +After the Armistice, they took away all these arms; but could they have +had the indelicacy to leave some behind in order to be able to justify +the impious and sacrilegious robbery they were meditating. This would be +odious but not impossible in such times as these. + +A few days before two men employed in guarding the church were arrested. +They were kept 3 or 4 days, and, before being set at liberty, the keys +of the church were taken from them. What took place is however unknown, +for the poor fellows are afraid to utter a word. + +A commissary came, in the name of the commune, to sequester the objects +belonging to the church Sainte-Marguerite, in the little borough of St. +Antoine. A picket of 10 national guards is in permanence in the church +to keep sight of the clergy. + +The church Saint-Merry has also been ransacked by the sicaires of the +Commune. + +The vicar, fortunately, had stolen away from their _fraternal_ visit. + +The church Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs is transformed into a club-house. + +The parishioners are robbed, plundered, driven from their temples, and +the preaching of the Gospel is replaced in the pulpit by the +declamations of epileptic tribunes. + +At Plaisance they have sequestered a chalice and a sum of 175 franks, +the personal property of M. l'abbé Orse, first vicar. + +The curate, M. Blondeau, is in the prisons of the Commune. + + +MAY 3d. + +A manifestation, provoked by the Freemasons, took place in the +afternoon. A body of several thousands of people crossed the +Champs-Élysées, carrying green branches and white flags. Arrived at the +gate Maillot, the firing ceased, but the manifestation was warned not to +approach and that only two parliamentarians would be received. They +accordingly presented themselves and will be this evening at Versailles. +It is reported that yesterday 200 soldiers, wearing the uniform of +troops of the Line, went down the Champs-Élysées. It was said they were +deserters from Versailles. We can positively state as a certain fact, +that from the first week of april no deserter has been counted in the +army of Versailles. + + +MAY 4th. + +Two brigades carried off last night the park, the castle and cemetery of +Issy, taking 8 guns, ammunition and a hundred prisoners. They had a few +dead and 20 wounded. The cemetery is about 210 yards from the fort. The +capture of this fort appears imminent. + +Yesterday, Mr. Thiers received two parliamentarians, freemasons, who +declared, however, they had no mandate. Mr. Thiers gave them an answer +similar to those already known; that he desired more than any body the +end of the civil war, but that France could not capitulate before a few +insurgents; that they must apply for peace to the commune who had +troubled it. + +Yesterday evening, a parliamentarian summoned the fort of Issy to +capitulate. + +The insurgents answered that they were going to deliberate about it, +that they would give a reply in half an hour; then they asked for a +prolongation of the delay.--The parliamentarian returned. + +The negociations for the capitulation, resumed in the morning, will +probably succeed. + +The coup de main on the farm of Bonamy, in front of Châtillon, was +executed by a company of the 70th. and by that of the scouts of 71st. + +Two officers of the insurgents were killed, and 30 insurgents killed or +wounded. They made 75 prisoners and among them 4 officers. + +The last military facts of the day took place in the quarries and park +of Issy which were vigorously carried by the battalions of the brigades +Derocha, Paturel and Berthe, with the assistance of the marine +musketeers. + +The insurgents, in very large numbers, retired precipitately, leaving +numerous dead and wounded, as well as a hundred prisoners, 8 pieces of +artillery, much ammunition and 8 horses. + +Nothing particular this afternoon. The insurgents are busy about mining +Paris, and the Versailles troops have silenced the firing of the fort of +Issy which is now completely invested. + +The fort of Issy is summoned to surrender, but Rossel, previously +colonel, who has replaced General Cluseret, gives the parliamentarian a +most arrogant answer of refusal threatening to have shot any other +messenger of the army of Versailles, the bearer of such a demand. + + +MAY 5, 6th. + +Such was the remark I heard made yesterday by a poor and very old +peasant woman as she stopped work for a moment in a field above +Montretout to look at the Fort firing. She followed up this admirable +summary of recent military operations by asking me whether it was not +amazing that somebody could not "invent" a means to put a stop to this +Civil War. I think the whole world must concur with this poor old +woman. It is always the same repetition that is certain, and it is so +to even a greater degree than she was aware of. Not only is the +cannonading the same repetition, but the game of taking positions, +giving them up and retaking them, to lose or abandon them once more, has +been the night work of the last week. Except it may be by treason, or by +the Commune falling to pieces, they are not nearer a march on Paris than +they were three weeks ago. I won't say a month ago, because then the +work could have been done by a few thousand good troops. A non-official +organ of the Government now tells us to be confident, because "unless in +the case of such accidents as one cannot suppose, or of unforeseen +surprises, _some weeks_ will be sufficient to bring to an end the +necessary but sad entreprise of the attack on Paris!" The same paper is +of opinion that only "some months" will have elapsed before order is +restored in the capital. It thinks the _Journal Officiel_ ridiculously +sanguine, because the latter says, "our works of approach advance with a +rapidity which elicits the admiration of all men of art, and which +promises to France a speedy end of its trials, and to Paris a +deliverance from the horrible tyrants who oppress it." Perhaps it is +because the artillerists and other military men whom I meet are not +"men of art," but certainly I cannot find that any of them take so +bright a view of the position. I have just spoken with a very +distinguished foreign officer who has seen the position here and who has +been every where to look at the Insurgent side. He tells me that at the +batteries outside the city he saw some very good men, but that, taken as +a whole, the National Guards within the city are the most miserable lot +he ever saw under arms. All the barricades are admirably made as to +workmanship, but there is not one of them that could not be taken by +troops approaching from streets at angles with the points at which those +obstructions are placed. The Place Vendôme is "a rat-trap," and the +Insurgent chiefs take good care not to make it their own Head-Quarters. +The gallant gentleman to whom I refer believes that if the troops once +got inside the _enceinte_, the insurrection would utterly collapse; but +if the military confine themselves to the operations in which they are +now engaged it will be a considerable time before Paris gives in. Such +is the report of a competent and impartial authority. Rumours of the +most contradictory character are rife from morning till night in the +open air lobby of the Assembly--the Rue des Réservoirs. Deputies who +"ought to know better" circulate very absurd _canards_; but, as remarks +a local print, "_Que voulez-vous? On s'ennuie, il faut bien passer le +temps!_" In my last letter of Thursday night I stated that the affair at +Moulin Saquet was a repetition of that at the Clamart Station. I find +to-day a contradiction of the statement that insurgents were butchered +at Moulin Saquet. It is true, nevertheless. The Commune, wishing, no +doubt, to keep the whole truth from their followers fearing its +disheartening effect, state enough for their purpose, which is to +represent the Versailles Government as assassins. It says that 15 of the +National Guards were killed with knives. The fact is as I stated it. The +redoubt was taken by surprise, and the soldiers gave no quarter. The +number I gave as that of the wretched men killed by the bayonet was 450. +I was under the mark. In his report of the affair General Cissey +says,--"Two hundred insurgents were left dead on the spot. We have taken +many insurgent officers and 300 prisoners and cannon." The Commune +alleges that the redoubt fell into the hands of the Versailles troops by +means of treason. In this instance I dare say the cry of "_Nous sommes +trahis!_" is not far from the truth. The unfortunate garrison were +asleep when the troops entered, the sentinels having, as is alleged, +fled, when they found the enemy was upon them. There were 800 men in the +redoubt, and before they could prepare any effective resistance the +massacre was effected. Now, after all this slaughter and capture of +prisoners and guns, Moulin Saquet is again in the hands of the +Insurgents. The Commune boasts that the National Guards attacked it with +much dash, and re-took it from the troops of Versailles. The fact is +these troops found the place too hot for them, and were obliged to +abandon it. It is exposed to the fire of Bicêtre, Ivry, and Hautes +Bruyères. Was it worth while for the sake of eight cannon to commit such +a terrific slaughter? Most of the prisoners taken on the occasion declare +that they had been forced to serve, and that they had been sent to +Moulin Saquet as a punishment for their having refused to march on +Neuilly. Among the captives is an interesting looking young woman, in +the uniform of a _cantinière_. Poor thing, she is wounded and in +hospital. Her story is that some months ago she became the wife of a +young man, who after the breaking out of the Civil War was forced to +serve in the ranks of the Insurgents. For eight days she was without any +tidings of him, and in her despair she adopted the uniform in which she +was wounded and captured, in order that she might visit all the outposts +in search of her husband. She had not succeeded in finding him, and she +does not know whether he is living. Had she been successful she would +have died by his side rather than have been separated from him again. I +am happy to say that the wound of this heroine is only slight, and that +everything is being done to promote her recovery. + +If the Insurgents have not actually re-taken the Clamart Station, the +scene of the other slaughter, they have established themselves very +close to it, in a cutting which forms a communication between the +Station and a barricade on the line of railway. As the Station is under +fire from Fort Vanves I have no doubt that the military found it +impossible to hold it, and that if not now in it the Insurgents may +re-occupy it whenever they like. Again, there was much boasting about +the taking of the Château of Issy. We were told that it was an admirable +position, completely screened from the insurgent fire, and affording an +excellent vantage ground for riflemen. I saw it on fire yesterday. The +Insurgents succeeded in making their shells reach it and making it very +much too hot for the Chasseurs. The truth is the Insurgents have been +doing the Versaillais quite as much damage as the latter have been +inflicting on them. The fire from the batteries at and about the Point +du Jour has been excellent. There must be artillerists there quite as +good as any on this side. The manner in which the ruins of Fort Issy +have been defended is surprising. There is not a roof or a window frame +in one of its barracks, but from the embrasures in the earthworks the +fire is still kept up from one or two points. To take it by assault +would be a matter of no difficulty, but General Faron believes that it +is mined, and even in its crippled position he won't venture to attack +it at close quarters. With the exception of bayoneting some 500 poor +wretches who could not defend themselves, taking a few hundred prisoners +who are rather an embarrassment to them, and capturing a few cannon +which they don't themselves want and which the Insurgents can easily +replace, the Government has done nothing this week. In the words of the +old peasant woman, _C'est toujours la même répétition_. + + +MAY 7th. + +In consequence of a large placard posted over the walls of Paris this +morning I passed through the gate of the private garden of the +Tuileries, and made my way, in company with a crowd of citizens of all +classes, through the apartments occupied but a few months ago by the +ex-Emperor and Empress. The printed invitation announced that we might +see the rooms in which the "tyrant" had lived, for the modest sum of 50c., +but that, should we think proper to take tickets for the concert, +"whereby these saloons might be at length rendered useful to the +people," we should be permitted to enjoy the extra show gratis. I took a +ticket, and joined myself to a thick stream of people who belonged to +every nationality and rank of life, and whose remarks and criticisms +were most edifying. There were shopkeepers and their wives, only too +delighted to take advantage of the mildest dissipation; gentlemen whose +National Guard trousers were rendered respectable by the gray jacket or +blouse of a citizen; humdrum housewives who approved everything, and +gaped their admiration of so much gorgeous wall-colouring; there were +flaunting ladies in bonnets of the latest fashion and marvellous +petticoats, who criticized the curtains and pointed the parasol of scorn +at faded draperies; people who felt the heavy hand of the spectre of +departed glory, and people who exulted at beholding the hidden recesses +of an Imperial mansion laid bare to the jokes and ribaldry of +Belleville and La Villette. Every class of Parisian society was +represented in the throng that swayed and hustled through the rooms, but +the saddest sight of all was a knot or two of decrepit veterans from the +Invalides who leant against the balustrade of the grand staircase, and +gazed with pinched-up lips and dry eyes at the National Guards on duty, +lounging and carousing down below. The stairs were littered with bedding +and cooking utensils, shirts and stockings hanging to dry over the gilt +railings, while in the square at the stairs' foot were ranged benches +and boards on trestles, and there the soldiers of the Guard sat in +picturesque groups enough, contrasting in the carelessness and dirt of +their general appearance with the lavish ornaments of marble and gilt +work which served as a background to their figures. Marching orders, +more or less thumbed and torn, hung in fragments from the panelled +walls; names in pencil and names in ink, and names scrawled with a +finger-nail, defaced the doors and staircase wall. A sentry stood at +every door to see that the citizens behaved themselves--a precaution by +no means unnecessary, the outward aspect of certain members of the crowd +being taken into consideration. In the Salle de la Paix a number of +women were busy uncovering a number of chairs for the promised concert, +and in the Salle des Maréchaux beyond, where the concert was to be +given, velvet benches were already occupied by old ladies in white caps +with baskets in their hands, who presented a stern aspect of endurance, +as though they were determined to sit there through the preparations as +well as the promised entertainment, and still to continue sitting until +turned out by sword and bayonet. The "Salle des Maréchaux" exists no +more except in name, for men on ladders were employed covering up the +portraits which decorate the hall with screens of red silk--I suppose +lest the past glory of French heroes should pale the brilliancy of the +National Guard, just as the bas-reliefs of the Vendôme Column act as an +outrage upon the susceptibilities of the Commune. White cloths were +being tied over the busts of Napoleon's Generals, and everything +relating to the past carefully obliterated--a rather foolish proceeding, +considering that the bee-spangled Imperial curtains still hang over the +doors, and festoons of the same drapery decorate the gallery above. The +brocaded panels of the Salle du Trône were objects of much remark among +the ladies, as were the tapestries of the Salle des Gobelins; but the +bareness and total absence of furniture were commented on freely on all +sides. Not a chair or a window blind, or even a door-plate or handle, is +to be seen in any of the rooms, except in those used for the concerts, +and the question arose, naturally enough. "Where is it all gone to?" The +same demand was made so often of an elderly bourgeois on duty at the end +of the Salle de Diane that he was fairly bewildered, and looked round +for help, and hailing the gold stripes on my cap as a haven of relief, +he forthwith seized upon me as a superior officer, and insisted on an +explanation. "You know there were quantities of cases carried off during +the time before Sedan," he said, "but, with all their cunning, they +can't have dismantled a whole palace of this size, can they?" And the +crowd stood round endeavouring to account for the nakedness of the land, +until a remark that the Commune had been feathering their nests with the +chairs and tables dispersed them laughing. The Empress's bedroom was a +great attraction, Chaplin's charming decorations being subjects of +sufficient interest, independent of the absent furniture. The +looking-glasses which spring from the walls called down ejaculations of +delight from a party of dressmakers, who carefully took notes of the +mechanism, "in order to imitate it, my dear, when Paris becomes itself +again." There was a large placard upon the wall of a kind of library, +inviting the attention of the public to the secret arrangements in a +recess whereby the Empress obtained her dresses and linen from some +manufactory of garments above, and an old lady, after having carefully +examined the elaborate details, turned away with a sigh and a shake of +the head. "How foolish of them, after all, not to have done a little for +us in order that they might have continued to abide in this paradise!" +How different was the Empress's apartment this morning, bare and crowded +with the dregs of the Paris population, from the night when I last saw +it, the night of her flight, when bed-clothes still littered the floor, +and gloves and little odds and ends of female finery told of recent +occupation! All was silent then with the stillness of a coming storm; +now the walls re-echo with a stir of unhallowed feet, and the spring +sunshine streams in at the open window accompanied by whiffs from the +garden below, while a distant cry reaches us from the street beyond of +"_Le Vengeur_," "_Le Cri du Peuple_," "_Le dernier ordre du Comité du +Salut Public_," and we detect curls of smoke about the Arch of Triumph, +which remind us that the bombardment still goes on. A reflective sentry +at the door of the _cabinet de travail_ begged me to remark the +portraits set round above the doors. "Those are the Empress's favourite +ladies," he informed me; "are they not _salopines_, one would say, of +the period of Montespan? And those were the ladies who were models for +the women of our land--no wonder that Paris should have become the +Gomorrah that it is!" In the evening the concert was given, and a +wonderful bear-garden the Imperial Palace presented. Members of the +Commune flitted about in red draperies and tried to find room on the +already crowded benches for the struggling mob, who rubbed their hot +faces with their unaccustomed white gloves, and used such language to +each other as, it is to be hoped, those august walls have seldom heard. +Meanwhile, the crowd increased in numbers, and by 8 o'clock the +reception rooms were full, and some 2,000 people still stood in a long +string in the garden outside. They behaved with the wondrous good nature +which characterizes a French crowd, laughing over the absurdity of their +predicament and waving the tickets, which they would never be enabled to +present, jestingly at one another. In course of time the whole of the +_jardin privé_ was full of people, who looked up at the lights streaming +from the windows, and sat about on chairs quietly smoking their cigars +and enjoying the lovely evening, listening to the occasional boom at +the other end of the long alley, where a bright flash which bore death +upon its wings appeared in the sky from time to time, in mockery of the +gas-lit chandeliers and feeble attempts at revelry that were going on +above our heads. + +The reigning scandal of the day is the affair of the Convent of Picpus. +So highly roused has public indignation been by the supposed discovery +of atrocities committed within those jealous walls that the people have +been peremptorily excluded until the investigations of justice shall be +complete. I managed, however, to penetrate within the precincts by +attaching myself to the _cortège_ of an English friend, who was +journeying thither under special official orders, to investigate the +case of an English Sister named Garret. In the Rue de Picpus, near Mazas +prison, stand two large buildings, each surrounded by high walls, above +which may be seen green trees at intervals. The one is an establishment +of the Jesuites; the other the Convent of the White Nuns. The Jesuites +Brothers escaped at the first sign of approaching danger, but the +Sisters held their own until forced into cabs and conveyed to the cells +of St. Lazare, there to await the results of a judicial inquiry into +certain matters that are deemed suspicious. Arrived at the gate of the +Convent, we were obliged to force our way through a crowd of angry +people who demanded instant permission to enter, and who were as +persistently swept back by a group of National Guards--we, however, +being admitted inside the door under cover of the official pass and +signatures. In the court-yard, under the shade of some fine trees, a few +Guards were playing bowls in the Jesuit's alley, and making up to one of +them, whose cap displayed tokens of authority, we mentioned our +business, and begged permission to see what was to be seen. Our friend +was very civil, accepted a cigar, and marched us off to go the rounds. +He pointed out to us the fact, of which there certainly could exist no +kind of doubt, that the two buildings communicated one with the other, +by means of an old door which still exists at the back of a stable, as +well as by other apertures in the garden wall, which show signs of +having been recently closed up. The Jesuit's garden is a most beautiful +one, occupying a space of some 12 acres, laid out with care and +furnished with fruit trees of every description, pruned and trained +after the latest horticultural designs. There are wondrously ingenious +plans, too, for irrigating the beds, forcing pits and hothouses, and +long alleys with vines trained over them. Through the old door above +mentioned we passed into the Sister's garden, equally large and +beautiful, though not kept with the same care. In the centre stands a +gymnasium, I suppose for the use of the children brought up under the +Sisters' care, and further is their cemetery, a lovely spot, where, +under the heavy shade of ancient cypresses, lie bearers of some of the +most ancient names in France--"Prince of Salm-Kyrbourg, immolated under +the Terror, aged 49;" "Rochefoucauld," "De Noailles," "Montmorency," +"the great Lafayette," the whole family of the Talleyrand-Périgords, and +legions of Princes and Princesses. Some of the vaults have been opened, +and many lead coffins, half-covered with rotting velvet and gold lace, +lie exposed to the light of day, awaiting an examination at the hands of +the Minister of Justice. At the extreme end of the garden, however, are +the three little conical huts, side by side, resembling white ants' +nests, which have been the prime cause of so much excitement and +judicial inquiry. When the Convent was occupied by the National Guards +these little huts were tenanted each by an old woman, enclosed in a +wooden cage, like a chickens' pen, the three buildings being similar in +size and construction, six feet square by seven in height, with a slate +roof, through which daylight was visible, while the three old women +were all of them hopeless idiots. The Lady Superior has kept her lips +resolutely closed up to the present time, but admitted, when first +questioned, that the three sufferers had lived in their hideous prison +for nine years, in an atmosphere of stifling heat throughout the summer +and half frozen with cold throughout the winter; "but," she added, "they +were idiots when they came." The conductor of the inquiry replied that, +if such were the case, it was illegal to have admitted them to the +Convent at all, and that even supposing them to have been admitted, the +place where they were found was not a fit dwelling-place for a dog. A +key was discovered among her papers, labelled "key of the great vault;" +but where this great vault may be has not yet been found out. The +Superior and her nuns keep a uniform and persistent silence upon the +point; excavations have been made at different points in the garden, and +under the high altar of the chapel, but hitherto without effect. At one +end of the nuns' garden stands an isolated building, in which were found +mattresses furnished with straps and buckles, also two iron corsets, an +iron skull-cap, and a species of rack turned by a cog-wheel, evidently +intended for bending back the body with force. The Superior explained +that these were orthopædic instruments--a superficial falsehood. The +mattresses and straps struck me as being easily accounted for; I have +seen such things used in French midwifery, and in cases of violent +delirium; but the rack and its adjuncts are justly objects of grave +suspicion, for they imply a use of brutal force which no disease at +present known would justify. On our way back through the gardens our +guide made a _détour_ in order to show us a great subterranean +warehouse, where an enormous quantity of potatoes was stored, as well as +barrels full of salt pork, while in a yard hard by lay grunting a fat +pig. "Look at this!" cried our National Guard indignantly. "Look at +these stores, which might have helped to feed the starving poor of the +arrondissement during our six months' siege, and think that these people +were begging from door to door the whole time for money to buy broken +victuals for their pensioners!" Arrived at the entrance gate our guide +nudged me, telling me in whispers to look at the old woman who was +wandering about, followed by a younger one, stooping from time to time +to pick up a leaf or rub her hands with sand and gravel. "That is Soeur +Bernadine," he said, "one of the three prisoners of the wooden cages. +She is the most sane in mind of the three, and we keep her here under +the care of one of our wives to cheer her up. She is only 50, though she +looks past 70. The other two have been removed, as they were rendered +violent by the crowd and change of scene." I passed close to her and she +looked up--a soft, pale face, with sunken eyes shaded by the frills of a +great cap. She looked at me dazedly, without taking any notice, and +stooping again, filled her hands with refuse coffee grounds, which she +put into her mouth until prevented by her companion. Without showing the +least prejudice in the matter, I think I can safely say that the ladies +now shut up at St. Lazare will find it no easy matter to clear +themselves of blame; for, though there are doubtless many suspicious +circumstances that maybe explained away, there are also hard facts which +will remain hard facts in spite of the most elaborate attempts at +refutation. + + +MAY 8th. + +In consequence of the bombardment daily expected from the Montretout +batteries people have been hurriedly leaving Paris in great numbers. + +Fort Vanves took fire last night, and had to be evacuated. It was found +impossible to extinguish the fire. It is still burning. + +The explosion at Issy arose from a torpedo, not a powder magazine. The +Fort is evacuated. + +There has been a general heavy firing to-day, and the Point du Jour has +suffered severely. + +Father Hogan, the _curé_ of St. Sulpice, a British subject, was again +arrested yesterday. Mr. Malet has with difficulty procured his release +on condition that he leaves Paris. + +The Government troops were compelled to evacuate the railway station at +Clamart in consequence of the effluvia arising from the great number of +unburied corpses in and about the station, which was then occupied by +the Federalists, subsequently again evacuated by them upon the approach +of the Versailles troops. + +The Government have sent away to the Departments all the young soldiers +who have parents or relations domiciled in Paris. + +The statement that M. Schneider intented to remove his iron foundries +from Creuzot to Stockton-on-Tees is incorrect. A large number of models +and designs have been sent from Creuzot to foundries at +Stockton-on-Tees, where it is intended to instruct a staff of workmen in +the production of steel before commencing that branch of manufacture at +the French establishment. + +Fort Issy was captured and occupied by the Government troops this +morning. + + +MAY 9th.--AND 10th. + +Forts Montrouge and Vanves have been reduced to silence by a battery of +mitrailleuses established on a parapet of Issy, which picks off Federal +artillerymen when they show themselves. Seven guns on bastions 72, 73, +and 74 have been dismounted by the new battery of Montretout and the +bastions silenced. Many prisoners are said to have been taken at Issy +yesterday. + +The National Guards of Vaugirard and the Panthéon decline to march, +barely a third of their numbers having answered the call. + +The Vendôme Column is definitively to fall on Friday. + +The Lycée, on the high ground behind Issy, is being hurriedly formed +into a fortress mounted with guns, earthworks connecting it with Vanves. + +Three shells per second are said to have fallen on Auteuil this morning. + +Nineteen battalions were reviewed yesterday by Colonel Rossel in the +Place de la Concorde. Rossel continues to command in spite of his +resignation yesterday, which is attributed to a quarrel with the Central +Committee. The Committee of Public Safety is still sitting. It is +rumoured that should he decline to withdraw his resignation, the +functions of the Ministry of War would be absorbed by the Committee of +Public Safety, who would attach to themselves an Assistant Military +Commission, headed by Dombrowski. + + +MAY 10th. + +The Committee of Public Safety, in consequence of the proclamation of M. +Thiers, which was placarded in Paris, has issued a decree ordering the +furniture and property of M. Thiers to be seized, and his house in the +Place St. Georges to be immediately demolished. + +The Commune, in its sitting of yesterday, decided to bring Colonel +Rossel before a court-martial. + +Delescluze has been appointed Delegate of War. + +Colonel Rossel was arrested yesterday and handed over to the custody of +Citizen Gerardin. At 5 p.m. an announcement was made to the Commune that +Rossel had left with Gerardin. The Commune accepted the offer of General +Bergeret to re-arrest Rossel. Nevertheless, at 2 o'clock this morning +this had not been effected. + +Félix Pyat, in the _Vengeur_, accuses Rossel of treason. + + +MAY 11th. + +There is increasing discouragement among the National Guards, in spite +of the retaking of Vanves. The _Vengeur_ hints at a plot headed by +Gerardin, and states that 400 National Guards, who exhibited no numbers +of their battalions, were assembled for an unknown purpose at the +Luxembourg; that at the same time officers who were making a domiciliary +visit at Gerardin's house were attacked, and that in another quarter an +attempt was made to assassinate Dombrowski. + +A considerable portion of masonry from the Auteuil Viaduct has fallen +into the water. + +A search has been made at the Bank of France under the excuse of looking +for arms. It is said that the _employés_ of the Bank are armed and +victualled, and will stand a siege rather than surrender the gold under +their care. + +In consequence of pressure from Delescluze the Central Committee abandon +the direction of the War Administration, and Moreau resigns his office +of Civil Delegate. + +The furniture and pictures are being carted from M. Thiers' house, and +sounds of hammering within suggest the commencement of its demolition. + +Six newspapers have been suppressed--viz., the _Univers_, _Spectateur_, +_Moniteur_, _Étoile_, _Anonyme_, and _Observateur_. + +The batteries at Montretout continue a vigorous firing. Throughout last +night they received only six shells from the Insurgents. + +The shells thrown from the floating battery bridge at the Point du Jour +and from the land batteries near that point generally drop short of the +mark and fall either into the Seine or on the slopes of the railway by +the right bank. + +This afternoon I saw many projectiles from Montretout and Meudon explode +among the houses at the Point du Jour and the _enceinte_ near it. The +wall screening the Ceinture Railway between Auteuil and Vaugirard has +been dreadfully battered in various places. + +The Bois de Boulogne, in a semicircle from about the Villa Rothschild to +Bagatelle, following the race course at Longchamps, is one vast camp, +and from this camp to the village of Boulogne the work of constructing +trenches parallel with the _enceinte_ is being pushed rapidly forward. I +saw hundreds of men working at them to-day. + +The Fort of Vanves is still occupied by the Insurgents, but Moulin de +Pierres and Châtillon cover it with shells. + +By means of cannon shots the troops of Versailles have demolished the +houses in the village of Vanves, as they concealed and covered the +postern of the Fort. The military had succeeded in occupying the +village, but were obliged to abandon it because the houses were exposed +to the fire of the Insurgents. + +There has been a sharp musketry fire to-day in the plantations to the +north-east of Issy, and just over the Vaugirard road. + +There has been fighting of the same kind in the direction of the St. +Ouen station at the other end of the lines. The sphere of attack is +again being extended, and in consequence of this the Insurgents are +obliged to defend themselves at, perhaps, three or four points +simultaneously. + + +MAY 12th.--13th. + +There was a considerable movement in the city yesterday consequent on +desperate attempts to enlist refractory citizens in marching battalions. +Pressgangs paraded the streets all day, and many men within the ages of +19 and 40 were, it is said, temporarily incarcerated in the Church of +Notre Dame de Lorette. + +An extraordinary meeting was held at the Hôtel de Ville in consequence +of a supposed discovery of a reactionary plot. Forty-seven Gendarmes, +says the _Mot d'Ordre_, were found in the Marine Barracks disguised as +National Guards, besides a great quantity of tricoloured _brassards_. + +M. Beslay, surnamed the Father of the Commune, has retired, because he +disapproves the confiscation of M. Thiers' goods. + +The new batteries on Montmartre opened fire last night, but ceased this +morning. + +The 46th battalion Montrouge were relieved from duty two hours before +their time last night because they talked of opening the Gates. This +battalion consists for the most part of shopkeepers. + +The new battalion called the "Vengeurs du Père Duchesne" were shut up in +the Luxembourg Gardens, all points of egress being guarded, because they +declined to march outside the city. + +Difficulties have arisen in the Quartier Val de Grace, consequent upon +the heavy tax recently levied on meat. + +The Versaillais gunboats at the Asnières Bridge forced the Federal +troops to recoil several hundred yards towards the city walls. + +Félix Pyat announces his opinion publicly that the fall of the Commune +is imminent. + +Mortars are being placed on the top of the Arc de Triomphe. + +The demolition of the house of M. Thiers has commenced. + +The Central Committee have ordered that all the quarters of Paris shall +be searched for arms and refractory National Guards. All the young men +in Paris are to be armed. + + +MAY 14th. + +A large crowd has been waiting in the Rue de la Paix since 4 o'clock to +see the fall of the Vendôme Column. Its fall had been officially +promised at that hour, but up to half-past 6 it was still standing. It +will probably fall to-day. The tricolour flag has just been attached to +the statue, amid faint cheers from the crowd. + +An Armistice has been arranged for next Wednesday, to enable the +inhabitants of Vanves and the neighbourhood to remove. + +Cluseret, Megy, and Schoelcher have been released. + +The 8th and 11th Battalions have been disarmed on suspicion of being +reactionary. + +Paschal Grousset has sent a circular to the principal towns of France, +inviting them to join the Communal movement. + +The approaches are now within 150 metres of the _enceinte_, and a +breaching battery is being constructed. The Montretout batteries have +already made a considerable breach in the _enceinte_ by the side of the +Auteuil Gate, which has been demolished. + +There was a very lively fusillade this afternoon between troops in the +Bois de Boulogne and the Insurgents, who fired from houses and other +shelter behind the _enceinte_ between Passy and Auteuil. Mortars were +also used by the military. + +The Insurgents have shot a captain of Engineers who imprudently advanced +beyond the Versailles lines. + +In the Fort of Vanves a soldier of the Line has been found; his feet +were tied together, and there are numbers of bayonet wounds in different +parts of his body. The Insurgents had made him prisoner. + +Of the 60 pieces of cannon left in the Fort, the greater number had been +rendered useless by the fire of the troops. + +It is believed that the garrison escaped by a subterranean passage +communicating between Forts Vanves and Montrouge. + +Every commander of an Army Corps will henceforward have the command of +an Arrondissement, and will be answerable for the defensive measures +undertaken in his zone. + +All persons in the possession of sulphur and phosphorus must declare to +the Commune the amount of each within three days. + +La Cecilia has again undertaken the command at Petit Vanves. + +Torpedoes are to be laid down at exposed parts. + +The night has passed off quietly, and nothing of any importance has +transpired. + +The Versailles troops are under the walls of Paris, and are exchanging +shots with the Insurgents on the ramparts from the Muette Gate to the +Issy Gate. + +The Federalists have been driven out of their entrenchments between +Forts Vanves and Issy. + +A battery is being erected in the garden of the Tuileries, from which +the Communists will be able to keep up a flank fire upon the Champs +Elysées. + +There is no doubt of the existence of a serious conspiracy, possessing +wide ramifications, in Paris to effect the overthrow of the Commune. + +The Garden of the Luxembourg has been closed, and is occupied by four +battalions of National Guards, as a precaution against the rising which +is apprehended. + +MAY 15th. + +The _Journal Officiel_ announced that the Column would positively fall +to-day at 2. A great concourse assembled. Bands played. The Commune and +their Staff, amounting to 200, attended on horseback. At 3.45 p.m. an +attempt was made, which failed owing to the breaking of a snatchblock. +The ropes slackened suddenly, injuring two men. Another attempt was +made, fresh ropes having been added, and the Column fell at about 10 +minutes to 6. It broke up in the air as it fell. The concussion was +nothing like what had been expected. No glass was broken or injury done +to the Square, excepting that the Column forced itself into the ground. +The excitement was intense. The crowd rushed with loud cheers to +scramble for fragments, while speeches were made by members of the +Commune, mounted on fallen masses, and red flags were hoisted on the +pedestal. Immense crowds assembled in the streets outside, making it +almost impossible to leave the Place Vendôme. It was forbidden to take +away any fragments, and people were searched before leaving the Square. + + +MAY THE 16th. + +Two hundred National Guards entered the Grand Hotel last night. After +having searched every room, under the pretence of looking for arms, +they retired with a good deal of plunder. + +This is on that subject a letter forwarded by Mister van Henbeck to the +_Figaro Journal_. + +It has been spoken in different ways of the frequent searches made in +the Grand Hotel, since the occupation by the admiral Saisset and his +Staff, which had rendered the Hotel suspected by the "Commune" and the +"Comité Central." + +The last visit of these _Gentlemen_, has been marked by many strange +proceedings: + +In the night of may 15th a band of about 300 armed men, pseudo-sailors +of the "Commune" and Belgian volunteers of both sex, rushed into the +Hotel. During five hours these mad men, several of them being +intoxicated, had to make in every part of the Hotel fantastic searches, +they went breaking the doors and menacing the administrator, the clerks +and servants. + +They had no mandamus to do that, but the pretext was the arrestation of +a battalion of "Gendarmes" and the discovery of a subterranean vault +leading to Versailles. + +The search for "Gendarmes" was not long to make, but the one for the +vault was stopped only when they had found the wine cellar. The door was +knocked out: + +The great attention they paid to those investigations can be evaluated +by a consummation of 1764 francs of wine. + +That operation began at 4 a.m. and was out at 6. + +The whistles of those supposed sailors and the trumpets of the "Fédérés" +ordered the end of that small festival. The cellar was left a-side, and +the servants of the Hotel were obliged to bring up in the court-yard +those of the band who could not walk any more; at last, the troop went +out carrying away a good supply of provisions as wine, cigars, watches, +jewels and purses stolen in the servants' rooms, and also clocks and +about a hundred table-plates belonging to the Hotel. + +They went with empty hands, but the pockets were full. Two of the +servants were obliged to go with them, and they said they would come +back the next day to arrest many others. + +These wicked orgies having no political character, I will address myself +to the "Code pénal" for a repression, and I deliver into the hands of +the "Procureur de la République" a complaint justified by the deposings +of all my servants, and indicating the names of the chiefs of that +curious performance. + +Be good enough, Sir, to believe me yours most respectfully: V..... + +_Administrator of the Grand Hotel_. + + +The Insurgents have evacuated all their positions between Fort Vanves +and the _enceinte_. + +The only gunboats now beneath the Viaduct at the Point du Jour are mere +wrecks, and their guns have completely disappeared. + +The Insurgents' battery on a bastion between Vaugirard and Montrouge has +been firing frequently to-day. One of its shells came as far as Bas +Meudon. + +Fort Issy has been directing its fire upon the Point du Jour. About noon +there were two conflagrations at the Point du Jour and one at Auteuil. + +The soldiers working at the parallels and the breaching batteries are +suffering from the musketry of Insurgents behind the _enceinte_. As many +as 30 of them have been killed during one night, but the sap has been +carried to within less than 400 metres of the ramparts. + +The Insurgents are raising additional barricades in the Rue de +Vaugirard, and also at Passy and Auteuil. Pontoon bridges and fascines +in great numbers are being sent forward to the military foreposts. + +The Committee of Public Safety has appointed a military Commission to +replace the existing Commission; it is composed of Arnold, Avrial, +Johannard, Tridon, and Varein. + +Henri has been appointed Chief of the Staff of the War Ministry, and +Mathieu commander of the troops posted between the Point du Jour and the +Wagram Gate. + +All mechanics over 40 years of age have been called out to work at the +city defences. They will receive 3f. 75c. as daily pay. + +Important resolutions are expected to be taken at the sitting of the +Commune to-day, and the serious division will be terminated by the +dissolution of the Central Committee, or by the absorption of the +Committee of Public Safety in the Central Committee. + +The Commune announces that the Versailles troops were repulsed in +several attacks made by them last night upon the barricades at +Châtillon, Moulin de Pierre, and Moulin Saquet. + +There was a vigorous engagement yesterday evening at the Dauphine and +Maillot Gates, and the Versailles troops were driven back with +considerable loss. + +It is rumoured that Fort Montrouge has been evacuated. + +The Commune declares that it has a reserve force of 20,000 men. + +Of M. Thiers' house little more, it is feared, than the outer walls +remain standing. + + +MAY 17th + +The "Majority of the Commune"--as the Commune is now spoken of in +consequence of the secession of 22 of its members--has resolved to form +a Central Club like that of the Jacobins, composed of delegates from +various clubs of Paris, in order to keep itself _en rapport_ with public +opinion. + +The 12th Legion has formed a battalion of women, who in addition to +their other military duties are to disarm publicly all runaways. + +The Communal Delegation of the 2d Arrondissement, considering that +slavery was considered immoral even before the American War, and that a +standing army has been suppressed by the Commune, decrees that all +houses of ill fame in their quarter shall be immediately closed, as +involving traffic in human beings. + +Peter's Restaurant was searched last night, and several arrests were +made, among them officers of the National Guard suspected of complicity +in the Tricolour Brassard Plot. The Restaurant is closed. + +The heaviest firing to-day has been against the Point du Jour. Large +pieces of Marine Artillery have been placed on the ramparts behind +Montrouge. + +A terrific explosion has just (6 o'clock) created general alarm. +Enormous volumes of smoke are visible from a great distance. The +cartridge manufactory near the École Militaire has exploded. Six hundred +_employés_, chiefly women, are said to have been killed. Bullets were +launched in all directions, killing and wounding many passers by. + +The Insurgents have constructed a battery of Marine pieces, which much +embarrasses the troops and retards the breaching works. Breaches will be +opened at three points--namely, at Mortemart, opposite Auteuil, at +Bastion 65, opposite the Parc-aux-Princes in the Bois and in the +neighbourhood of Vaugirard. + +This afternoon the Insurgents fired from three batteries between the +left bank ending the viaduct at the Point du Jour and Montrouge. One of +these batteries was placed close to the Vaugirard Gate, and its fire was +directed to a point at which the Engineers were supposed to be +constructing a trench. + +There were conflagrations this evening in Auteuil, the Point du Jour, +and between the latter place and Vaugirard. The flame and smoke were +distinctly visible. We hear it was the blowing up of a powder factory in +the Rue de Wagram, Paris, or at the Trocadéro. + +The Committee of Public Safety, in order to save the country from a +military dictatorship, has associated Civil Commissioners with the +various Generals of the Commune. With Dombrowski are joined Burger and +Dereuve, with La Cecilia, Johannard, and with Wrobleski, Leo Meillet. + +All passenger and goods trains leaving Paris have to stop outside the +walls for examination. Trains contravening this order will not be +permitted to proceed. + +Possessors of petroleum are to declare the amount they hold to the +authorities within 48 hours. + +Fort Montrouge is still held, and is strongly supported by the Hautes +Bruyères. + +The Government troops have not yet occupied Vanves; they are pressing +upon Billancourt and La Marette. + +A letter of General Cluseret in the _Mot d'ordre_ advises that every +exertion should be made for the erection of barricades at the Barrière +de l'Etoile, the Place Roi de Rome, and the Place Eylau, with a second +line between the Passy Gate and the Grenelle Bridge, and a third line +from the Pont de la Concorde to the Ouen Gate. + +The Versailles and Auteuil Gates of Paris have been demolished by the +cannonade. The neighbouring bastions are subjected to a tremendous fire, +but do not reply. + +Fort Issy, which is now in the hands of the Versailles troops, is +vigorously bombarding Petit Vanves, Grenelle, and Point du Jour. + +The last is utterly untenable by the Insurgent gunners. + +A belief obtains that the Versailles Engineers are laying a mine under +the walls of Paris in the direction of the Muette Gate. The disagreement +between the Commune and the Central Committee continues. + +The Versailles troops have made good their communications from Montrouge +to Issy, and have established batteries on the glacis before Fort +Vanves. They are vigorously attacking Bicêtre and Hautes Bruyères. + +A terrible bombardment of the Maillot Gate and the Arc de Triomphe is +going on. + +The Federalists in the village of Malakoff are in danger of being cut +off from Paris, while those stationed in the villages of Petit Vanves +and Montrouge have been compelled to retire into the city. + +Ladders for scaling the ramparts have reached the Versaillist outposts +in the Bois de Boulogne. + +The Versailles troops are endeavouring to cut a way through the wood to +the Avenue of Neuilly. + +The cannonade in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe is increasing in +intensity. + + +MAY 18th. + +To-day was a day of feasting, and National Guards surrounded the +Churches of St. Augustin and La Trinité, and forced the priests to stop +Divine service, and turned out the congregations. The establishment of +the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul was also surrounded. An +inventory was made of the goods, the Sisters being themselves placed +under lock and key until to-morrow, when they will be turned out. + +Bodies are being removed from the crypt of the Church of Les Petits +Pères, near the Bank of France, for examination. Rumours are afloat that +people have been recently buried there under false names, and bones +strew the pavement on both sides of the church door. + +The Versaillais are at a distance of 200 metres from the ramparts from +the Point du Jour to Vanves. The National Guards in great numbers are +assembled under the cover of the ramparts, and an attack is hourly +expected. Shells have fallen on the bridge of Grenelle, killing several +persons. An attack was made yesterday on the Zoological Gardens of the +Bois de Boulogne, which turned out disastrously for the Federals. + +The fire from the Insurgents' batteries on the _enceinte_ has been +stronger to-day than at any time previously since the opening of the new +redoubt at Montretout. They have been throwing shells from La Muette +against the troops in the Bois de Boulogne, but mortars placed in the +Bois near the large lake have been responding vigorously, and a field +battery at Mortemart, the south-eastern extremity of the Bois, has been +protecting, by its fire, the Engineers working at the breaching battery, +and also doing some damage to the Artillery on the bastion. + +Between Passy and Auteuil the Insurgents are in considerable force +behind the _enceinte_. Their three batteries on the _enceinte_, between +the Point du Jour and Montrouge, have been firing on the military +position at Bas Meudon and Issy. There has been a return shelling from +these positions between the rival Artillery. + +Engineers are engaged in sapping from Issy in the direction of +Vaugirard. They are much exposed to the batteries of the Insurgents, but +neither yesterday nor to-day did I see a single shell fall into the +French lines where they are at work. + +The Committee of Public Safety has issued an appeal to the National +Guards calling upon them to secure the triumph of Paris, and describing +the fearful results which would ensue from the victory of the Versailles +troops. + +A later attack which was made on Neuilly yesterday was repulsed. + +This morning the Federal batteries at Montmartre are bombarding the +Château Bécon. + +The _Journal Officiel_ of the Commune of to-day accuses the agents of +Versailles of having caused the explosion of the cartridge manufactory, +and says that a hundred persons have fallen victims to it. Four arrests +have been made in connexion with this affair. The _Vérité_ demonstrates +that the explosion could not have been the result of intention, but was +solely attributable to accident. The same paper states that no shell +fell in the Champ de Mars at the time of the explosion. + +The Versailles troops are constructing trenches within 200 yards of the +Auteuil Gate, but the breach is not yet assailable. + +Fort Montrouge still holds out, but offers only a feeble resistance. + +The Communists claim to-day to have repulsed all attacks. + +The bombardment is incessant. + +The German troops are taking up imposing positions. + +The tribunals of the Commune have decided to-day as to who among the +prisoners in the hands of the Commune are to be regarded as hostages. It +is asserted that three hostages will be executed to-morrow. + + +MAY 19th. + +The firing was heavier last night than it has ever been. There were both +a cannonade and a fusillade. Everybody thought that the Versaillais had +at last made their assault. It appears that the Communists attempted a +sortie, and were repulsed with great loss. Numerous waggons filled with +wounded were taken to Versailles. Various battalions returned to Paris, +apparently much dispirited. Numerous reinforcements, however, were +brought up. + +The bullets are falling so thickly about the ramparts that the +Communists with difficulty maintain their position there. The Versailles +shell-practice has improved. The shells burst about the bastions instead +of in the town. + +The conscription is carried on with increased rigour, death being +threatened to those who refuse to serve. A Lieutenant-Colonel and a +Commandant have been sentenced, the one to 15 years' and the other to 10 +years' imprisonment for cowardice, and their battalion has been +dissolved. The Chief and Staff of the 6th Legion have been dismissed for +not disarming the refractory battalions. + +It is said the prisoners accused of firing the cartridge manufactory are +to be shot in 24 hours. + +Much fear is entertained for the fate of the hostages, whose execution +has been so strongly advocated in the Commune, in reprisal for the +alleged violation and murder of an _infirmière_ by the Versaillais. + +Some iron cupola-shaped cases, capable of holding each 1,000lb. of +powder, were to-day taken to the barricades near the ramparts for the +purpose of blowing them up if necessary. + +It has been proposed in the Commune to abolish all titles of rank, with +the emoluments and advantages appertaining to them; also that all +children now illegitimate shall be for the future legitimate; and that, +instead of the present form of marriage, any man over 18 and woman over +16 may be allowed to go before a municipal magistrate and declare their +wish to marry. + +The only breaching battery that has as yet opened fire is that +established in the Parc aux Princes, at 400 metres distance from the +ramparts. It directs its fire against the _enceinte_ at Auteuil, where +the gates and the drawbridge have been destroyed. + +The Fort of Montrouge is almost surrounded by the troops, who advance +also by means of trenches towards the Redoubt of Hautes Bruyères. + +Towards the South a series of attacks have been made, with the view of +driving all the Insurgents on that side from their positions outside the +_enceinte_. + +Last night, in an affair at Lagrange, the military put 110 Insurgents +_hors de combat_ and made 43 prisoners. + +All the breaching works are not yet completed. + +To-day the Insurgents have been firing from La Muette, which is on the +_enceinte_ between Passy and Auteuil, and I observed that they had added +to the number of their guns between the Point du Jour and Montrouge. +Yesterday they had three batteries between those points; to-day they +have been firing from five. + +Mont Valérien has done very little to-day, and Montretout has not been +so violent as usual, but the military batteries at Bas Meudon, Les +Moulineanx, and Issy have been very active, as have likewise been the +mortars and field guns in the Bois de Boulogne. + +Twenty-one members of the Commune no longer attend the sittings of that +body, but remain in their Arrondissements. + +Four hundred Versailles Chasseurs are said to have deserted from their +own side into Paris yesterday. + +Batteries of 30 guns have been established at the Dauphine Gate. + +The _Cri du peuple_ says the Committee have determined rather to blow up +Paris than capitulate. + +A requisition has been made of the silver candlesticks at the Church of +Notre Dame des Victoires. + +No one without a special pass is allowed to leave the city at night by +the Eastern or Northern gates. + +The Commune has ordered that all prostitutes and drunkards shall be +arrested. + +A decree of the Committee of Public Safety, published to-day, orders the +suppression of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, _Avenir National_, _Patrie_, +_Commune_, _Justice_, and five other newspapers. + +No new journals will be allowed to appear until the end of the war. + +All articles must be signed by the writer. + +Attacks on the Government will be dealt with according to martial law. + +Officers who hesitate to obey the orders of the Committee of Public +Safety will be tried for high treason by court-martial. + +The _Salut Public_ alleges that one of the chief persons implicated in +the explosion of the cartridge manufactory is Count Ladislas Zamoyski, +and that papers have been found upon him proving him to be in +communication with the Government of Versailles. + +The same paper announces that the Germans demand that an armistice +should be entered into between the Commune and the Versailles +Government, in order that a _Plebiscite_ of all France may be held to +decide upon the future form of Government. + +The Commune has seized the silver ornaments and other valuables of the +Church of the Trinity. All the other churches of Paris will shortly be +treated in a similar manner, and will then be closed. + +All arrests and requisitions are being carried out by Flourens's corps +of Avengers. + +The demolition of the Expiatory Chapel was commenced to-day. + +The gate at Point du Jour is destroyed. + +Yesterday evening two battalions of troops carried the Ory Farm and +Plichon House, near Fort Montrouge, at the point of the bayonet. The +Federalists had about 400 killed and wounded, and lost 42 prisoners, +including a Chief of Battalion. The troops also captured a flag, but +subsequently evacuated the conquered positions, as they were too much +exposed to the fire of the enemy. The loss of the Versailles troops was +small. + + * * * * * + + +THE VENDÔME COLUMN. + +Foul is the bird that soils her own nest! As though they had not +suffered enough of mortification and defeat at the hands of the enemy, +the Parisians have succeeded in emptying the cup of disgrace to the +dregs by dragging down the monument of their military glory, amid hoots +and hisses, and toppling over the effigy of their greatest soldier-hero +on to a bed of mire, at the same time publicly tearing the tricoloured +national flag which has for so many years led their armies to victory. +Upon the official announcement some days back that the Vendôme Column +was to be sacrificed as an insult to the principles of fraternity, +everybody laughed and thought it a good joke, never believing that the +plan would be carried out, even in spite of the ominous scaffoldings and +curtains which rose around its base. A few days later we were told that +it had been sawn through, and that a solemn Festival would be held to +commemorate this new display of liberty. We thought the party of Order +would protest; that the veterans of the Invalides would make a movement; +that the mass of the population would insist upon the abandonment of +such a piece of folly. But we forgot the state of coma into which +respectable Paris has fallen, and that those who had allowed themselves +to be ground down by a tyrannical few would scarcely bestir themselves +in defence of their public monuments. It became apparent that the column +was really doomed, and the Rue de la Paix was crowded by an expectant +multitude at about 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon; the balconies were +filled with ladies; all the windows were pasted with paper to neutralize +the expected concussion, while cake and newspaper vendors and _marchands +de coco_ plied a busy trade, and elbowed their way about among the +people down below. Three ropes had been fastened round the top of the +column beneath the statue, communicating with a crazy-looking windlass +and anchor placed in the centre of the road at the entrance of the Rue +Neuve des Capucines, and a long narrow dung heap filled with sand and +branches had been spread in the square to deaden the shock of the +falling mass. Public excitement was at its height, and the strangest +surmises went from mouth to mouth as to how far the statue would be +thrown, whether balconies would fall and slates be shuffled down, and +whether the great weight would or would not crash through the vaulted +arch into the sewers under the road. Still the crowd increased in +numbers, when at about 4 o'clock a cordon of National Guards was formed, +who pushed back the people as far as the Rue des Augustins, leaving an +empty space along the Rue de la Paix, which was duly watered in true +Parisian style, and became the arena for a display of equestrian prowess +on the part of sundry officers and members of the Commune. They rattled +backwards and forwards at full gallop, and made figures of eight, and +turned and twisted in a marvellous manner, suggestive rather of a circus +than a barrack-yard; but their evolutions served to amuse the crowd, who +waited patiently until sunset, when it became evident that the affair +would be put off until the morrow. It turned out that the members of the +artistic federation who, with Courbet at their head, had decided on this +piece of Vandalism, had been playing off a little practical joke upon +the crowd, for their preparations were not complete, and workmen were +still hacking at the stonework from behind their curtain screen until +evening had settled into night. With the easy good nature of a Paris +crowd, everybody quietly went home, a few disappointed at the failure of +a promised excitement, but by far the greater number rejoicing in their +hearts at the reprieve of the bronze pillar which they had been +accustomed from childhood to regard with pride. Tuesday's _Officiel_ +positively announced the ceremony for that day at 2, and the concourse +was greater than ever. The Rue de la Paix and the space behind, up to +the steps of the New Opera, was a sea of heads, and the _élite_ of +Communal aristocracy who held passes to the Square itself were forced to +elbow their way and struggle through relays of guards long before the +prescribed hour in order to be certain of getting there at all. So far +all their arrangements were so bad as to suggest misgivings as to the +result of the attempt. Three meagre ropes were to do the deed, while two +beams, applied one on either side the column, were to give it the proper +inclination as it fell. Now, every one knows that, from some fault in +its construction, the Column has always leant a little towards the +Ministère des Cultes, and people moved restlessly about, uncertain where +to station themselves, lest the tottering mass, once set in motion, +should fall in an entirely different direction from the one intended. +The bed, too, which was to receive it seemed strangely small and +narrow, and it appeared a matter of doubt whether the bronze Emperor +might not force his way into one of the adjoining houses, and pay a +visit as little desired as it was expected. Meanwhile, a party of +workmen continued to drive wedges into the space which had been sawn, +while others gave a finishing touch to the dung heaps and cleared away +the curtains and scaffolding that had obscured their operations. At +half-past 3 the Commune arrived on horseback, attended by their Staff, +and placed themselves in front of the crowd in the Rue de la Paix--a +mounted squadron of some 200 persons; while at a given signal a number +of bands stationed at different points began to play a medley of +patriotic airs, regardless of general effect. Trumpets brayed forth +signals, and all strained their eyes into the dazzling sky, not without +having first assured themselves of a safe retreat through some friendly +doorway in case of a disaster, as the ropes were seen to tighten--"See! +It moves!" "No, 'tis the effect of a passing cloud;" and, after a +second's pause of intense anxiety one of the ropes snapped, knocking +down in its whirl several men at the windlass. And now began a murmur +and a shaking of heads, "Ah, I knew it could not succeed; they will be +obliged to blow it up with gunpowder; shame on them for the attempt!" +"Why cannot they leave it alone?" said one man to his neighbour, "it has +cost so much." "Yes, it has," replied the other; "it has cost us +millions of human lives on the plains of Germany and in the Russian +snows." The attempt had failed, and people were preparing to move away, +when news arrived that the Commune were not going to be thus baffled, +but had sent for more ropes and apparatus, and were determined to have +their way at any price. Meanwhile, the great figure looked calmly down +upon his persecutors, seemingly as secure as ever, while the bands +continued to play, and the horsemen galloped about the square. It was +half-past 4 before the two new ropes arrived, and fully 5 o'clock before +they had been hoisted to their places, not being attached to the capstan +like the others, but held, one on either side the road, by 50 sailors +each. Brute force had failed, and so they had determined to try the +effect of a series of swings. People laughed at these renewed +preparations; and could scarcely be kept close under the houses out of +immediate danger. The ropes slackened and tightened again for a final +effort, and a cry burst from the assembled multitude in the horror of a +coming danger which might be incalculable as the great giant swayed for +a few seconds and finally tottered down with an awful crash, separating +into rings in the air, upon the foul bed which had been prepared for +him: a shapeless mass of shattered metal and stone lying in uneven coils +like some mighty serpent. The wooden sentry-boxes in the square reeled +round and fell, while a cloud of filth and dust obscured the fallen +monster, and men looked awe-struck at one another like naughty children +who had broken something which they ought not to have dared to touch. +The moment of compunction was a short one, and a howling throng rushed +with one accord into the noisome cloud, fighting and quarrelling for +bits of bronze and stone, and a man near me drew back, half stifled for +an instant, saying, with disgust, "See what a stench the Empire has!" +The statue had fallen beyond the heap, and, having smashed the pavement +into splinters, lay a wreck, with one arm broken and the head severed +from the body, while women kicked and spat upon it, waving their arms +wildly, and shouting, "_Vive la République!_" "_Vive la Commune!_" All +the bands struck on the _Marseillaise_ in different keys, a few people +crowded on the remnants of the pedestal waving red flags and shrieking +in their excitement, and a sergeant who endeavoured to unburden himself +of an oration was speedily gagged and hustled down to make way for the +great "Bergeret _lui-même_," who, in all the glory of a red scarf and +tassels, waved his hat and struggled to be heard above the general +hubbud of music, voices, and battering of bronze. "Citizens," he said, +"the 26th of Floréal will be memorable in our history. Thus we triumph +over military despotism, that bloody negation of the rights of man. The +First Empire placed the collar of servitude about our necks--it began +and ended in carnage--and left us a legacy of a Second Empire, which was +finally to end in the disgrace of Sedan." Much more he said, but his +voice was drowned in the continued hammering of metal, while our +attention was distracted by peremptory orders to "move on." Such an +order at such a moment was particularly exasperating, and led to many +little tussles with citizens, who refused to consider this a pleasant +opening to the era of liberty, an exasperation very considerably +increased at the different exits from the square by an uncompromising +search into the contents of pockets, and a consequent disgorging of +trophies and remembrances. A fight was going on meantime in the Rue de +la Paix between a company of Marines and the multitude of people +gathered in the street, who struggled and fought with an energy worthy +of a better cause in hopes of gaining a share in the spoils. As I +emerged from the conflict into the comparative peace and coolness of the +Boulevard, I was stopped by a procession--two battalions of National +Guards returning much shorn of numbers, from the Bois de Boulogne, +bringing with them in a furniture waggon a portion of their dead, among +whom was their colonel, whose feet projected from under the flapping +awning of the cart. + +An order of the day of Marshal Mac-Mahon has been published in which he +announces the demolition of the Vendôme Column. He says:-- + +"The foreigner respected it; the Commune of Paris has overthrown it. Men +calling themselves Frenchmen have dared to destroy, under the eyes of +the Germans, who saw the deed, this witness of the victories of our +fathers against Europe in coalition. The Commune hopes thus to efface +the memory of the military virtues of which the Column was the glorious +symbol. Soldiers! if the recollections which the Column commemorated are +no longer graven upon brass, they will remain in our hearts. Inspired by +them, we know how to give France another proof of bravery, devotion, and +patriotism." + + +MAY 20th. + +M. ROCHEFORT. + +Never have I witnessed a scene of greater excitement than the entry of +Rochefort into Versailles as a prisoner to-day. He was brought in by the +St. Germain road, and was seated in a family omnibus drawn by two +horses. First came a squadron of gendarmes, then the omnibus, surrounded +by Chasseurs D'Afrique, and lastly a squadron of the same corps. In the +vehicle with Rochefort were his secretary, Mouriot, and four police +agents dressed in plain clothes. Outside the omnibus were an officer of +the gendarmerie in uniform and two or three _sergents-de-ville_ not in +uniform. Rochefort's moustache had disappeared. He had himself shaved +closely before setting out from Paris in order to disguise himself, but +there was no mistaking him. It was half-past 1 o'clock in the afternoon +when the _cortège_, arriving at the end of the Boulevard du Roi, entered +the Rue des Réservoirs. Every one ran into the street, and shouts of +execration were raised on all sides. It was no mere demonstration of a +mob. The citizens of all classes joined in it. One man ventured to cry +"Vive Rochefort!" He was kicked by several persons who happened to be +near him, and was saved from further violence only by arrest at the +hands of the _sergents-de-ville_. Along the rue des Réservoirs, the Rue +de la Pompe, the Place Hoche, the Rue de Hoche, and the Avenue St. Cloud +Rochefort was greeted with incessant shouts of "_À bas l'assassin; à +pied le brigand; à mort_!" The people wanted to have him out of the +omnibus, and it was with difficulty the cavalry prevented them from +dragging him out and inflicting summary execution. The cavalcade was +obliged to go at a slow pace, but finally he was safely lodged in gaol. +I believe that but for the precautions taken by the Government he would +have been killed before he had got near it. The demand to have an +example made of him, and the dissatisfaction at seeing him brought to +prison in a carriage, were loud and general. + +There was a tremendous fire against the bastions this morning at 5 +o'clock, and a strong fire has been maintained all day. + +The fire of the Insurgents is much weaker than it was yesterday and the +day before, except at Vaugirard, and from there to Montrouge, where +mitrailleuses and musketry were brought into requisition. + +Up to 5 o'clock this afternoon Auteuil still shelled. + +From 3 o'clock I have observed a very large number of the Versailles +troops under arms at a short distance from the Point du Jour, and a +considerable body of the Insurgents watching them from near the +Vaugirard Gate. + +At 5 o'clock the white flag was displayed at the Porte d'Auteuil. + +Orders have been given for the troops to march onward and occupy it. + +M. Thiers has issued a circular, dated noon to-day, in which he says:-- + +"Several Prefects having demanded that news should be published, the +following answer has been sent to them:--Those persons who are uneasy +are greatly mistaken. Our troops are working at the approaches, and at +the moment of writing the breaching batteries continue their fire upon +the walls. Never have we been so near the end. The members of the +Commune are busy making their escape." + +The breaching batteries are still keeping up a very heavy fire against +the _enceinte_. + +M. Thiers has sent a despatch to the Prefects announcing that the gate +of St. Cloud was forced down by the fire of the Versailles guns, and +General Douai then rushed with his men into the interior. The troops +under Generals Ladmirault and Glinchamps were at once set in motion to +follow them. + +The Versailles troops entered Paris at 4 o'clock this afternoon at two +different points--namely, by the St. Cloud Gate at Point du Jour, and by +the gate of Montrouge. + +The ramparts were abandonned by the Insurgents. + + * * * * * + + +THE CAPTURE OF PARIS. + +MAY 21st.--AND 22d. + +The great event of yesterday came upon every one by surprise. It had +been expected, but not for yesterday. + +Even the Marshal Commanding-in-Chief looked onward to at least six more +days of sapping and mounting of batteries and actual breaching before +his army would be able to make the final movement. + +A certain number of the troops were inside the _enceinte_ before any one +but themselves knew of it, and Auteuil and the Point du Jour were +shelled for nearly two hours after they had fallen into possession of +the forces of Versailles. + +One man, M. Clément, an officer of Engineers, played a prominent part +in this historical affair. Soon after midday, proceeding cautiously in +advance of a party of his men, who were lying in concealment between the +nearest parallel and the Porte de St. Cloud, he crept up to the bastion +and found it and the ramparts adjoining without a single sentinel. +Keeping near the ground, he waved a white handkerchief; it was seen by +the small party of Engineers who were lying outside the last parallel, +and also by Lieutenant Trèves, of the French Navy. At first the signal +was not understood; but M. Clément continued to wave the handkerchief +violently, and beckon to those who saw him to come on immediately. It +was with difficulty 100 men could be collected in the trenches, but +about that number advanced and occupied the deserted position. In the +meantime the word was passed from post to post in their rear, and a +batallion was soon on its way after them. By half-past 3 o'clock +dispositions had been effected for occupying both Auteuil and the Point +du Jour with a sufficient force, and proceeding to the other gates both +right and left. The gates and drawbridge of Auteuil had been demolished +several days previously, but the Insurgents had substituted an enormous +barricade, which shut off the iron bridge uniting the Railway Station +with the Viaduct. + +The Division of General Vergeé marched direct upon Auteuil. Scarcely had +the first column arrived there, when volleys of musketry were opened by +the Insurgents concealed in houses. A few of the troops were put _hors +de combat_ by this fire, but the artillery of the Division turned their +pieces on the ramparts against the enemy, Mitrailleuses were also +brought into requisition by the troops, and within an hour the +Insurgents had fled to a distance. + +The Division of General Douai entered by the gate of St. Cloud, which is +at the Point du Jour, and occupied the salient between the ramparts and +the viaduct. Here there was a second bastion of considerable solidity. +The soldiers entered the half-ruined barracks and casemates, and made +prisoners of a number of Insurgents whom they found concealed there. + +Immediate preparations were then made for the advance right and left, +but as the enemy was still keeping up a fire from 7-pounders and +Mitrailleuses, along the bastions between Vaugirard and Montrouge, a +regular assault of these positions by the division under General Cissey +was determined upon. I have already announced that it has been +successful. + +The Division began to march in by the Gates of Vaugirard and Montrouge. +At 2 o'clock this morning La Muette was occupied without serious +resistance. + +A Division subsequently advanced to Passy to join that which had taken +La Muette. + +Such was the suddenness with which the occupation of the Point du Jour +had been effected that, as I have stated, the firing from the military +batteries continued for a considerable time after the first of the +troops were in it. It was not till 4 o'clock that the order to cease +firing in that direction left the Head-Quarters. In the meantime, +hundreds of people stood on the Avenue and Terrace of Meudon watching +the cannonade, and believing that all the posts of the Insurgents were +still occupied by the enemy. Even the officers and men in the batteries +did not know why the order to cease firing had been sent round. + +I have just returned, after having followed in the rear of General +Vinoy's last column, going to take up positions in the neighbourhood of +the Trocadéro. I have wandered all over the Point du Jour, visited +Auteuil, and have walked along by the bastions between the Gate of St. +Cloud at the Point du Jour and the Gate of Auteuil. Having watched the +other side of the Sèvres Bridge, I was surprised on passing along the +Sèvres road to observe that, very little damage had been done to the +houses at the end of it near the _enceinte_. One or two bore the marks +of shells, but the fact is that nearly all had escaped, and what I saw +at the _enceinte_ and within it, shows that the artillery practice of +the Versailles side had been exceedingly good throughout the +bombardment. The people on the Sèvres road had kept their shops open +amid all the terrible firing. Only some two or three houses had been +closed. They stood at a dangerous angle to the batteries at Meudon. On +one of them was chalked "_fermée pour cause du bombardement._" Between +the last of the houses and the ramparts, and at a distance of not more +than 100 yards from the latter, were the newly-cut trenches which the +troops had constructed. Good gabions protected them in front, and there +was a plentiful supply of fascines lying all about. The doors of the +Porte were no longer to be seen, except in little bits on the roadway. +The drawbridge had succumbed bodily, and its place was supplied with +some planks. The posthouse was in ruins, and the stone walls on either +side between the gates and the parapet of the fortifications had been +crumbled into rubbish; the glacis from the Point du Jour to Auteuil had +been ploughed up in such a manner that not a yard of it was to be seen +without a shell hole. To say that the parapet had been riddled would not +be correct. It is smashed here and there, and at intervals everywhere, +but in no place between the two Gates I am referring to is the earthwork +inside the parapet laid bare, nor has a breach, properly so called, been +anywhere made. The doors and gate walls of both gates are smashed +through, but all along, despite serious disfigurement, the parapet is +strong still. + +To come back to the Point du Jour--that is as much a ruin as the town of +St. Cloud. From the gate to the Railway Station there is not a single +habitable house; not three have roofs, and not one has its windows and +walls intact. Every lamppost has been scattered about the road in small +pieces, and a stranger who had not heard of the bombardment might be +pardoned for supposing that the streets had been macadamized with the +fragments of shells. Strange to say, the staircase leading from the +Booking Office of the Railway Station to the line over head is +uninjured, or nearly so, and by its means I was enabled to ascend and +walk through that Viaduct which I have been looking at from a distance +as shells have been battering it for the last six weeks. It is much +knocked about, and so is the bridge underneath it, which in a series of +arches spans the river, but both will be serviceable still after some +repair. Huge stones, displaced from their settings and broken into +small pieces, lie scattered on the bridge and its approaches. From the +Viaduct I could see an immense conflagration in the neighbourhood of the +Champ de Mars, and a combat between the troops and the Insurgents was +going on. In the Place de la Concorde and the Rue de Rivoli, all down to +the Trocadéro, reserves were in waiting with their chassepots stacked on +each side of the road, but there was no fighting along the Quays. +General Vinoy had established himself in his new Head-Quarters, and the +70,000 or 80,000 men already in the heart of the city are believed to be +quite sufficient to dispose of the last desperadoes of the Commune. The +sounds of battle we heard from more than one point, and yet every one +spoke of the Insurrection as in its last agonies. Men and women once +more held up their heads and snapped their fingers at Delescluze, +Dombrowski, and the Commune, but there was sad evidence all around us of +what this rebellion had done. There in the little cemetery behind the +ramparts lay the unburied and mangled remains of 32 National Guards who +had been killed at the batteries just above. The whole place was a +picture of ruin and desolation. Passing out of the Point du Jour by the +opining where the Porte de St. Cloud had stood, whole and entire, even +after the Prussian bombardment, but where there is not a vestige of it +bigger than a splinter now, I walked along the glacis in the direction +of Auteuil. I was surprised to find that, at a distance of less than an +eighth of a mile from the latter place, the military had fixed their +gabions, sapped right up the glacis, and to within four or five yards of +the fosse. The trenches had been cut across the Bois de Boulogne. +Nothing, however, like enough of the parapet and the earthwork above had +been thrown down to fill up the fosse. Indeed, no effort whatever had +been made in the way of filling up, except at either side of the two +Portes, so that an assault at any other than these points would have +been a very difficult undertaking. On the glacis I saw the dead and +decomposed body of a man not in uniform. He lay on his side, with one +hand under his head and the other raised in the air. A gentleman who +lives close by stated that the deceased, with two or three other men, +had come out to fire stray shots at the soldiers in the trenches. As he +lay there to-day I perceived that he had been pierced by several rifle +balls. The gates at Auteuil have disappeared as completely as those at +Point du Jour, and at the Railway Station behind the iron railway bridge +over the road all the habitations are, so to speak, in a heap. The +French term "_débris_" best describes what is left of Auteuil and its +surroundings. Stone, mortar, iron bridge metal, lamp posts, trees, are +smashed, pounded, and scattered. No one who visited Auteuil in happier +times would recognize even the spot on which it stood. As specimens of +successful bombardment the Point du Jour and the three barracks behind +the _enceinte_ that lie between them may be cited among the most +complete that even modern artillery has succeeded in producing. + +A great explosion, followed by a conflagration, occurred at half-past 12 +at the Staff Quarters near the Esplanade of the Invalides. + +Paris is now completely surrounded. + +It is asserted that Dombrowski is hemmed in at Ouen. + +The Insurgents have established a battery upon the terrace of the Garden +of the Tuileries, the fire of which sweeps over the Champs Elysées; but +this position has been turned by General Clinchamp, and there is reason +to hope that the resistance will not be of long duration. + +The Versailles troops have already captured from 8,000 to 10,000 +prisoners. + +Fighting has been going on all this morning, the cannonade and musketry +fire being incessant. + +There is a large fire in the neighbourhood of the St. Lazare Railway +Station, and a dense cloud of smoke hangs over the heights of +Montmartre. Not only have the Germans completely isolated Paris, but all +communication between Versailles and St. Denis is also cut off. Trains +arriving from the North no longer enter Paris, but stop at St. Denis. + +It is rumoured that the Prussians occupy Fort Vincennes. + +The strictest orders have been given to the German outposts to drive +back all Insurgents, and the advanced corps have been doubled tonight to +prevent any from breaking through the circle of investment north of +Paris. + +A wounded Insurgent General attempted to pass the Prussian outposts, but +was forced to retrace his steps. + + +MAY THE 23d. + +It may be desirable that I should add some particulars to the account I +have already given of the way in which the troops moved from the +_enceinte_ to the different positions they occupied in Paris last night. +The first column, proceeding between the railway and the Fortifications, +made its way from Auteuil to La Muette; the second, starting from +Auteuil, threw down a barricade which had been erected behind the +railway arch, and, taking the Rue Raynouard and the Rue Franklin, +proceeded by the high ground to the Trocadéro. This march was not a +rapid one, because at every step precautions had to be taken against +snares that might have been laid by the Insurgents. The Artillerymen and +the Engineers entered the houses on the terraces and examined the powder +stores in the Rue Beethoven in order to ensure the column against an +explosion. The third column, setting out from the Point du Jour, marched +along the quays to the Bridge of Jéna. At this point there was a +junction of the three columns, and a line of occupation from Passy to +the river side at that bridge was established. The fourth column crossed +the river at the Point du Jour, and marched along the quay of Grenelle. +Upon entering the Champs de Mars they found that the Insurgents were +encamped in considerable force there. Skirmishers were thrown out, and, +opening fire, they drove out the enemy without any serious difficulty, +although the latter had a park of artillery. The Insurgents showed fight +for some time, and a struggle was maintained on the right of the Champs +de Mars, where the temporary wooden barracks have been erected. The +Insurgents formed in a sort of hollow square at the four sides of the +portion of the ground which for some time has been covered with +artillery _caissons_, and responded to the attack upon them by a +vigorous fire, but being opposed on two sides by an overwhelming force, +they gave way, without any very great loss on either side. The tricolour +was planted on the Pavilion d'École. + +From the Arc de Triomphe there was no fighting down the Champs Élysées, +but there was a struggle at the Palais de l'Industrie before the troops +obtained possession of that building. Under the orders of certain +members of the Commune, the Insurgents resisted with a musketry fire. + +Montmartre kept firing in the direction of the Trocadéro throughout the +day. Its fire did not kill or wound many men, but it retarded the +advance of the troops towards the heart of the city. + +The fire which I mentioned yesterday as having been seen by me from the +Viaduct of the Point du Jour was caused by the blowing up of the riding +school of the École d'Etat Major, which was filled with cartridges. + +Dombrowski has not been taken. He escaped from La Muette when the troops +entered, leaving behind him the silver service which was in the room +where he had been about to sit down to dinner. + +Assy, was taken on the Quai de Billy. + +Montmartre has been carried after a rather sharp struggle. The tricolour +now waves over the Buttes. + +For some hours I witnessed the fighting to day. I found that early this +morning all the important positions of Montmartre had been taken by the +two Corps d'Armée of Generals Douai and Ladmirault. The latter General +had occupied the station of St. Ouen and the Place of Clichy, and he had +advanced to Montmartre by an external movement, keeping for some +distance outside the ramparts. At the same time General Douai made a +direct movement from inside the city by the Parc de Monceaux. In this +manner Montmartre had been almost entirely surrounded. There was a hard +contest, but the troops succeeded in entering the Buttes. A large number +of the Insurgents were killed in the action, and about 4,000 were made +prisoners. The number of cannon and mitrailleuses taken was very +considerable, amounting to some hundreds. Belleville is still in the +hands of the Insurgents, as are also the Hôtel de Ville and the +Tuileries. The Red flag was floating on them at half-past 5 o'clock. +Severe fighting was going on across the Place de la Concorde between the +Insurgents occupying the mansion of the Ministry of Marine, at the +corner of the Rue Royale, and the troops on the other side of the river +in the Palace of the Corps Législatif. A gunboat which the Insurgents +had under the Pont Royal, close to the Tuileries, was firing constantly. +The Insurgents in the Rue de Rivoli and the garden of the Tuileries were +using mitrailleuses and rifles, and the troops along the Boulevard at +the edge of the Place des Invalides, close to the river, were attacking +them with four-pounder guns. Fort Vanves was firing on the Insurgent +positions in the neighbourhood of Montrouge and the Faubourg St. +Germain, and the Federalists were shelling Vanves from Forts Montrouge +and Bicêtre. There was musketry skirmishing at various points in the +Faubourg St. Germain. The Insurgents occupy houses, from which they keep +up a rapid fire to impede the march of General Cissey's troops. Among +the prisoners taken to-day many have been recognized as old Reds who +were actively engaged in the insurrection of June, 1848. A movement has +been ordered which will result in completely shutting in the Insurgents +within a circle formed by the whole Army of Paris. The Madeleine is in +the hands of the military. Several fires have broken out in the city. +Colonel Piquemalle, Chief of the Staff of General Vergé, was killed +to-day. + +The following circular despatch was yesterday forwarded to the Prefects +of the several Departments. + +"The tricolour flag waves over the Buttes-Montmartre and the Northern +Railway station. These decisive points were carried by the troops of +Generals Ladmirault and Clinchant, who captured between 2,000 and 3,000 +prisoners. General Douai has taken the Church of the Trinity, and is +marching upon the Mairie in the Rue Drouot. + +"Generals Cissey and Vinoy are advancing towards the Hôtel-de-Ville and +the Tuileries. + + +MAY 24th. + +"The Generals, desiring to treat the city with lenity, withheld any +attack upon public monuments in which the insurgents had taken up +positions. This morning they carried the Place de la Concorde. The +Ministry of Finances, the Hôtel of the Conseil d'Etat, the Palace of the +Légion of Honour, and the Palace of the Tuileries were burnt by the +insurgents. When the troops gained possession of the Tuileries, it was +but a mass of smouldering ashes. The Louvre will be saved. The Hôtel de +Ville is in flames. I am convinced that the insurrection will be +completely conquered by this evening at the latest. No one could have +prevented the crime of these wicked wretches. They have made use of +petroleum for their incendiary purposes, and have sent petroleum bombs +against the soldiers. What remedy can be applied? The best of the +Generals of the army have shown an amount of talent and valour which has +excited the admiration of foreigners. + +I have just returned from witnessing one of the saddest sights that has +occurred in the world's history. + +I announced that the insurgents had set fire to several of the public +buildings of Paris, the Royal and historical Tuileries included. Flames +and bombshells are fast reducing the magnificent city to a huge and +shapeless ruin. Its architectural glories are rapidly passing away in +smoke and flame, such as have never been witnessed since the burning of +Moscow, and amid a roar of cannon, a screaming of mitrailleuses, a +bursting of projectiles, and a horrid rattle of musketry from different +quarters which are appalling. A more lovely day it would be impossible +to imagine, a sky of unusual brightness, blue as the clearest ever seen, +a sun of surpassing brilliancy even for Paris, scarcely a breath of wind +to ruffle the Seine. Such of the great buildings as the spreading +conflagration has not reached stand in the clearest relief as they are +seen for probably the last time; but in a dozen spots, at both sides of +the bridges, sheets of flame and awful volumes of smoke rise to the sky +and positively obscure the light of the sun. I am making these notes on +the Trocadéro. Close and immediately opposite to me is the Invalides, +with its gilded dome shining brightly as ever. The wide esplanade of the +École Militaire, almost immediately underneath it, is nearly covered +with armed men, cannon, and horses. Shells from the positions of General +Cissey, at Montrouge, are every minute falling close to the lofty dome +of the Panthéon. It and the fine building of Val de Grace, near it, seem +certain to be destroyed by missiles before the incendiary fire reaches +them. There is a dense smoke close to St. Sulpice, and now flame rises +amid the smoke, and the two towers of the church are illuminated as no +electric light could illuminate them. Some large building is on fire +there. Every one asks which it is; but no one can approach that Quarter +to put the matter beyond doubt. Burnt leaves of books are flying towards +us, and the prevailing opinion is that the Sorbonne and its Library are +being consumed. There are a dozen other fires between that and the +river. No one doubts that the Palais de Justice is sharing the fate of +the Tuileries and the Louvres. The Château of the Tuileries has all but +disappeared. The centre cupola has fallen in, and so has the roof along +the entire length of the building. Some of the lower stories yet burn, +for fire and smoke are rushing fiercely from the openings where up to +this morning there were window-frames and windows. + +The Louvre is not yet wholly gone, and perhaps the fire will not reach +all its Courts. As well as we can make out through the flame and smoke +rushing across the gardens of the Tuileries, the fire has reached the +Palais Royal. Every one is now crying out, "The Palais Royal burns!" and +we ascertain that it does. We cannot see Notre Dame or the Hôtel Dieu. +It is probable that both are fast becoming ashes. Not an instant passes +without an explosion. Stones and timber and iron are flying high into +the air, and falling to the earth with horrible crashes. The very trees +are on fire. They are crackling, and their leaves and branches are like +tinder. The buildings in the Place de la Concorde reflect the flames, +and every stone in them is like bright gold. Montmartre is still outside +the circle of the flames; but the little wind that is blowing carries +the smoke up to it, and in the clear heavens it rises black as Milton's +Pandemonium. The New Opera House is as yet uninjured; but the smoke +encircles it, and it will be next to a miracle if it escapes. We see +clearly now that the Palais de Justice, the Ste. Chapelle, the +Prefecture of Police, and the Hôtel de Ville are all blazing without a +possibility existing of any portion of any one of them being saved from +the general wreck and ruin. + +The military are as far as the Pont Neuf on the left bank of the river, +and just beyond the Hôtel de Ville on the right. Now, at 6 o'clock, it +is all but certain that when this fire is extinguished scarcely one of +the great monuments of Paris will have escaped entire destruction. + +The barricade of the Insurgents at the end of the Rue Royale was taken +last night by a movement in which the troops made their way from house +to house, starting from the Rue Boissy d'Anglas, to the Rue Faubourg St. +Honoré. The fighting in the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré and the Avenue +Marigny was very severe. Six shells fell and exploded in the grounds of +the British Embassy. The two houses which formed the angles at the +corners of the Rue Royale and the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré were burnt to +the ground. The Place Vendôme was taken by the troops. In the Faubourg +St. Germain during the whole night an energetic combat was raging +between the Insurgents and the men of General Cissey's division. + +The Versailles batteries are firing furiously against the Quarters +which still hold out. By the aid of the telescope the horrible fact is +disclosed of numerous dead and wounded left lying about the streets +without any succour whatever. + + +MAY 25th. + +I have been over a large portion of the city to-day and I am happy to +say that, though large fires are still raging, the conflagration is not +spreading to the extent that had been apprehended. The destruction done +by the street fighting and the desolation which prevails in the +principal Boulevards and other leading thoroughfares exceed all I could +have imagined from a more distant view. + +I went to the Porte de la Muette, and, getting round to the left, +approached the Arc de Triomphe from the Avenue de L'Impératrice. All +along I found trees, lamp-posts, and the façades of houses smashed by +shells. Turning off by the Rue de Morny, I worked my way round to the +Boulevard Haussmann. It was impossible to proceed along by the pavement, +as on either side at intervals of a few feet felled trees and thick +branches had been laid down by the insurgents to obstruct the passage of +the troops. On Monday last the Federals had occupied the houses, and +fired from the corridors. All the fronts of the houses were disfigured +by rifle balls, the corridors were broken, and the handsome stone +cornices very much battered. The beautiful columns of the Madeleine are +sadly injured, the fluted edges having been in many places shot away. +The two houses in the Rue Royale, at the corner of the Rue Faubourg St. +Honoré, were blazing still, and the smoke and ashes that flew from them +were stifling the pompiers, who were working energetically there and at +other points; some of their corps were shot. It had been discovered that +they, instead of throwing water on the fires they were called upon to +extinguish, were actually pumping petroleum into the flames, and so +adding to their fury. When this was detected the guilty firemen were +surrounded by a body of cavalry, conducted into the Parc de Monceaux, +and there shot. I could count the number of people I met along the +Boulevards, so few were those who ventured to walk about. The fears of +petroleum and explosions are universal. The inhabitants had either +stopped up, or were engaged in stopping up, every chink through which +petroleum might be thrown into their houses. Their cellar lights, their +ventilators, and their gratings were being made impervious by sand, +mortar, and other materials. This precaution was taken because women +and children partisans of the Commune, have in numerous instances been +detected throwing petroleum into houses. Not a shop was entirely open, +and those that opened only doors were inferior restaurants and wine +houses. Around the railing in the Place Vendôme troopers' horses were +tied. The bronze figure of the Emperor was on its back, the shattered +and prostrate Column lay about in fragments. On visiting the +neighbourhood of Montmartre, and ascending an Observatory there I found +there was a cannon and musketry fire going on in the district of +Belleville and the Buttes de Chaumont. The Insurgents had not been +dislodged, and as the troops have undergone much fatigue since Monday a +regular attack on Belleville will not be made till to-morrow morning. +General Clinchant will bring his forces against it in the rear, and +General Vinoy's soldiers will advance upon it from the Boulevards. On +coming round by the quay to the Place de la Concorde I found that all +the statues of the French cities are injured, and some very +considerably. Of several the arms and heads are off. The splendid +fountains in the centre of the Place are dreadfully smashed. The stone +balustrade is badly broken in a hundred places. The lamp posts are all +down, and this once charming spot presents a most melancholy +appearance. I found a crowd looking over the wall of the wharf beside +the bridge. I looked over and found a number of labourers digging a huge +square grave in which to bury some 25 Insurgents, who lay mangled and +dead along the wall. + +The Hôtel de Ville is still smoking. So are the ashes of the Tuileries. +Happily not very much of the Louvre is destroyed, and at the Palais +Royal the fire was extinguished when only a portion of that building had +been consumed. The Prefecture of Police is consumed, but the Palais de +Justice is not, and the Sainte Chapelle has suffered but little injury. +The greatest conflagration of to-day was that at the Grenier +d'Abondance. The flames and smoke from it rose high over the city. There +were other fires, but, happily, not in the centre of the city. I could +not learn in what particular buildings they were rising, but I believe +that a frightful fire is raging at the Entrepot des Vins, on the Quai +St. Bernard. + +M. Thiers has addressed the following Circular to the Departements:-- + +"We are masters of Paris, with the exception of a very small portion, +which will be occupied this morning. The Tuileries are in ashes, the +Louvre is saved. A portion of the Ministry of Finance along the Rue de +Rivoli, the Palais d'Orsay, where the Council of State holds its +sittings, and the Court of Accounts have been burnt. Such is the +condition in which Paris is delivered to us by the wretches who +oppressed it. We have already in our hands 12,000 prisoners, and shall +certainly have from 18,000 to 20,000. The soil of Paris is strewn with +corpses of the Insurgents. The frightful spectacle will, it is hoped, +serve as a lesson to those insensate men who dared to declare themselves +partisans of the Commune. Justice will soon be satisfied. The human +conscience is indignant at the monstrous acts which France and the world +have now witnessed. The Army has behaved admirably. We are happy in the +midst of our misfortune to be able to announce that, thanks to the +wisdom of our Generals, it has suffered very small losses." + +The troops have captured the Hôtel de Ville, and have occupied Fort +Montrouge. + +The military operations are being actively and energetically carried on +by the three Corps which are now in Paris. It is hoped that they will be +in possession of the whole of the capital by this evening. + +It is asserted that General Vinoy has been appointed Governor of Paris. + +The newspapers state that Delescluze, Cluseret, Félix Pyat, and Ranvier +have been made prisoners, but the news is not officially confirmed. + +Firemen have been summoned by telegraph from all the districts around +Paris. + +Fort Bicêtre has been occupied by the troops. + +It is stated that Raoul Rigault was shot this morning. + +A dense cloud of smoke still hangs over Paris, which gives rise to fears +of fresh conflagrations. + +Since noon to-day a south-easterly wind has arisen, causing the +conflagration to extend in the direction of the Bastille, and +threatening the city with destruction. + +The Versailles batteries are firing vigorously upon Belleville. + +The fires are apparently slackening. The wind fortunately veered round +to the west at 5 o'clock this evening, and this change was followed by a +calm, which has since continued. The sky is still lurid from the +reflection of the flames, and the _débris_ from the burning buildings +fall at distances of 20 kilomètres. + +It is said that the Mazas prison is burnt to ashes, and fears are +entertained for the safety of the Archbishop, who was incarcerated +there. + +It is reported that considerable bodies of Insurgents attempted to +escape from Paris in the direction of Aubervilliers and Romainville, +but they were driven back. + +The cannonading from the Versailles batteries at Montmartre against +Belleville and Chaumont continues. + + +MAY 26th. + +The attack on Belleville was made this morning soon after daybreak. +General Clinchant approached it from the ramparts, and General Bruat's +Division marched on it in front from the direction of the Rue de Paris. +The troops had to attack seven barricades successively. When they had +made a partial progress the Insurgents, seeing defeat inevitable, +offered to surrender on condition that their lives should be spared. +This was refused, and the struggle continued till the military +succeeded. A large number of the Insurgents were shot. Many cannon and +22 red flags were captured. + +Last night a large group of the Insurgents imprisoned in the docks of +Satory, attempted a rising. The battalion in charge fired, and a number +of the prisoners were shot dead. The portion of the Palais Royal +consumed by the fire on Wednesday is the block of buildings in which +Prince Napoleon resided. The library of the Louvre has been destroyed. +The fire was arrested at the portion of the building occupied by the +Gendarmerie. Between the Louvre and the Hôtel de Ville several shops and +private houses have been reduced to ashes. The Théâtre Lyrique is burnt +down. Of the Hôtel de Ville nothing remains but some walls. The Hotel of +the Ministry of Finance and that of the Cour des Comptes are both +destroyed. One of the towers of the Conciergerie, the Prefecture of +Police, and a portion of the Palais de Justice are burnt. The Grenier +d'Abonbance has disappeared, after being in flames for many hours +yesterday. A shell charged with petroleum struck and set on fire the +turret of the Church of St. Eustache. This part of the building crumbled +away; but the church itself was saved. In the Rue Royale eight houses +have been entirely, and two partially, consumed by the fire which broke +out at the corners of the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré. In the latter street +four houses have been consumed. The upper story of the British Embassy +has been much injured by shells. Several women have been arrested while +in the act of firing on the troops, and it is said that one _cantinière_ +caused the death of ten soldiers by putting poison in their wine. Some +of the women whom I have seen marched from Paris as prisoners are +dressed in the uniform of National Guards. Not a few of the female +prisoners are very furious-looking. Several attempts at escape and +assassination have been made by prisoners. They are marched between a +double line of Cavalry, each of the latter holding a revolver in his +hand, with his finger on the trigger. Women found throwing petroleum +into houses have been shot on the spot. Since Monday there has been a +very large number of summary executions in the streets of Paris. At No. +27, Rue Oudinot, where Les Ambulances de la Presse have their +Head-Quarters, the bodies of 52 persons thus despatched are now +deposited. On one, which is dressed in the uniform of a National Guard, +bank notes to the amount of 150,000f. were found. + +Viard, a member of the Commune, was arrested in the Rue de l'Université +yesterday. Gustave Courbet, an artist of celebrity, and also a member of +the Commune, has died at Satory of poison, supposed to have been +administered by himself. He expired in great agony. He it was who +promoted the idea of destroying the Column in the Place Vendôme. Raoul +Rigault, Procureur de la Commune, has been shot. Napoléon Gaillard, +Director of the Barricades, was insubordinate at Satory, and was shot by +the side of the fosse there. It is reported that Cluseret, Amouroux, +and Clément, all members of the Commune, have been arrested. + +Fort d'Ivry has been evacuated by the Insurgents. They blew it up on +leaving, and the troops have taken possession of it. Six thousand +insurgents surrendered at discretion this morning at the Barrière +d'Italie. + +The affair of Belleville is not yet concluded. There is fighting still. +A great fire is raging in the direction Buttes de Chaumont. + + +MAY 27th. + +If it is difficult to realize the present condition of Paris, it is +still more difficult to describe it. We creep timidly about the streets, +haunted by the constant dread, either of being arrested as belonging to +the Commune, pressed into a _chaîne_, or struck by the fragment of some +chance shell, and oppressed ever by the scenes of destruction and +desolation that surround us; the whole forming a combination which +produces a sensation more nearly allied to nightmare than to any +psychological experience with which I am familiar, but yet requiring +some new word to define it. The angry ring of the volleys of execution; +the strings of men and women hurried off to their doom; the curses of an +infuriated populace; the brutal violence of an exasperated soldiery, +are sights and sounds calculated to produce a strange and powerful +effect on the mind. Yesterday afternoon I drove over as much of the city +already in the occupation of the Versaillists as was consistent with +safety. Following the Boulevard Clichy in order to avoid the _chaînes_ +in the neighbourhood of the Madeleine, I passed the scenes of terrible +fighting. The Place Clichy was a mass of barricades and shattered +houses, the _façades_ marked with bullets as if pitted with the +smallpox, the windows smashed, and the evidences of a fearful struggle +visible everywhere. It seemed as if the ground had been disputed here +house by house; but from all I can learn of the resistance, the actual +defenders of the barricades, though resolute men, were few in number. +One of the most marked characteristics of this fighting has been the +cowardice of the many as compared with the courage and resolution of the +few; some of the barricades were abandoned by their defenders by +hundreds, only ten or a dozen remaining to the last, and holding their +ground until they were all killed or wounded. Passing up the Rue +Lafayette, I reached the Head Quarters of the Fifth Corps, where, +happening to know an officer, I was present at the examination of some +prisoners who were brought in, as every soldier who thinks he has good +ground for suspicion can arrest men or women, and drag them to the +divisional tribunal. They are captured in shoals. One lame man with a +villanous countenance, who was brought in while I was there, was accused +of being a _chef de barricade_, and having been taken in the act. He was +put through a short sharp fire of cross-examination, his pockets emptied +and his clothes felt, and he was then hurried off to take his place in +the ranks of the condemned ones that are forwarded to Versailles. +Instant execution is only ordered in the more extreme cases, excepting +where the fighting is actually going on, and then the troops give very +little quarter. The bitterness of the belligerents against each other is +of a far more intense and sanguinary kind than that which ordinarily +exists between combatants. The soldiery, looking at the pedestal on the +Place Vendôme and at the numerous public buildings which in some form or +other are associated with their military history, now all smoking ruins, +can scarcely contain their rage, and not unnaturally vent it with +ferocity on an enemy which deliberately planned the destruction of Paris +as the price of victory to the conquerors, and who are even yet +endeavouring to carry out their diabolical design of destroying the +houses still uninjured by secretly introducing petroleum balls and +fusées into the cellars. I saw a soldier suddenly seize a man as he was +apparently harmlessly walking along the street; his pockets were emptied +and found to contain cartridges and combustible balls of various sizes. +Another soldier and a sailor rushed to the spot; the latter drew his +revolver, and I expected would have shot the man then and there, but he +was satisfied on seeing his comrade prick him sharply with his bayonet. +The two soldiers then hurried the culprit off in front of them cuffing +him occasionally on the head, and accelerating his progress with the +points of their bayonets while they cursed him heartily. A small crowd +eagerly followed to see his fate, which they loudly hoped would be +instant execution; and, looking at the detestable nature of the contents +of his pockets and of his intentions, one could scarcely blame either +his captors or their sympathizers if they called for vengeance, and long +ere this, he has probably ceased to exist. One woman was caught with +these fire balls on two occasions, having succeeded once in escaping. As +a general rule, the hand-dog look of the prisoners is their most +striking characteristic. I passed one gang of about 50 yesterday, and +tried in vain, as I walked by their side, to catch a man's eye, or even +to see a face turned fairly up to the light of day. With heads bare, and +eyes steadily fixed on the ground, they passed between rows of people, +who howled and hooted at them, and it was not till I reached the head of +the short column that I observed a slender figure walking alone in the +costume of the National Guard, with long, fair hair floating over the +shoulders, a bright blue eye, and a handsome, bold, young face that +seemed to know neither shame nor fear. When the female spectators +detected at a glance that this seeming young National Guardsman was a +woman, their indignation found vent in strong language, for the torrent +of execration seems to flow more freely from feminine lips when the +object is a woman than if it be one of the opposite sex; but the only +response of the victim was to glare right and left with heightened +colour and flashing eyes, in marked contrast to the cowardly crew that +followed her. If the French nation were composed only of French women +what a terrible nation it would be! + +The aspect of the Boulevards is the strangest sight imaginable. I +followed them from the Porte St. Martin to the Rue de la Paix. There was +fighting at the Château d'Eau, and without either a pass or an ambulance +_brassard_ a nearer approach to the scene of action was undesirable; +indeed, until recently, the shells had been bursting here in every +direction, and their holes might be seen in the centre of those +pavements heretofore sacred to the _flâneurs_ of Paris. Strewn over the +streets were branches of trees; and fragments of masonry that had been +knocked from the houses, bricks and mortar, torn proclamations, shreds +of clothings half concealing bloodstains, were now the interesting and +leading features of that fashionable resort; foot passengers were few +and far between, the shops and _cafés_ hermetically sealed, excepting +where bullets had made air holes, and during my whole afternoon's +promenade I only met three other carriages besides my own. The Place de +l'Opéra was a camping ground of artillery, the Place Vendôme a confusion +of barricades, guarded by sentries and the Rue Royale a mass of +_débris_. Looked at from the Madeleine the desolation and ruin of that +handsome street were lamentable to behold. The Place de la Concorde was +a desert, and in the midst of it lay the statue of Lille with the head +off. The last time I had looked on that face it was covered with crape, +in mourning for the entry of the Prussians. Near the bridge were 24 +corpses of Insurgents, laid out in a row, waiting to be buried under the +neighbouring paving stones. To the right the skeleton of the Tuileries +reared its gaunt shell, the framework of the lofty wing next the Seine +still standing; but the whole of the roof of the central building was +gone, and daylight visible through all the windows right into the Place +de Carrousel. General Mac-Mahon's head-quarters were at the Affaires +Etrangères, which were intact. After a visit there, I passed the Corps +Législatif, also uninjured by fire, but much marked by shot and shell, +and so along the Quais the whole way to the Mint, at which point General +Vinoy had established his head-quarters. At the corner of the Rue du Bac +the destruction was something appalling. The Rue du Bac is an impassable +mound of ruins, 15 or 20 feet high, completely across the street as far +as I could see. The Légion d'Honneur, the Cour des Comptes, and Conseil +d'Etat were still smoking, but there was nothing left of them but the +blackened shells of their noble _façades_ to show how handsome they had +once been. At this point, in whichever direction one looked, the same +awful devastation met the eye--to the left the smouldering Tuileries, to +the right, the long line of ruin where the fire had swept through the +magnificent palaces on the Quai, and overhead again to-day a cloud of +smoke, more black and abundant even than yesterday, incessantly rolling +its dense volumes from behind Notre-Dame, whose two towers were happily +standing uninjured. This fire issued from the Grenier d'Abondance and +other buildings in the neighbourhood of the Jardin des Plantes. In +another direction the Arsenal was also burning. One marked result of a +high state of civilization is, that it has furnished improved facilities +for incendiarism, which seem to have been developed even more completely +than the means of counteracting them. Along the Quais under the trees, +cavalry horses were picketed, and a force was about to leave General +Vinoy's head-quarters just as I reached it, to support an attack which +was even then being made upon the Place de la Bastille, where the +Insurgents were still holding out. On the opposite side of the river +were the smoking ruins of the Théâtre Châtelet and the Hôtel de Ville. +Passing through the Place du Carrousel into the Rue de Rivoli, I had a +more complete view of the entire destruction which has overtaken the +Tuileries and some of the adjoining buildings. The lower end of the Rue +de Rivoli towards the Faubourg St. Antoine was densely crowded with +troops, and passage in that direction was interdicted, while at the +other end, near the Place de la Concorde, there was a _chaîne_; so I +struck once more across to the Boulevards, past the Palais Royal, a +large part of which is burnt, wearied and sickened with the waste of +ruins through which I had passed, and meeting with only one incident, +when I found myself in the midst of a panic-stricken throng all running +away from a series of cracker-like explosions, which turned out to be +cartridges that from some unexplained cause had begun to go off +spontaneously under our feet. To-day the firing is more distant and less +audible. The insurgents are still holding the heights of Belleville and +Père-Lachaise. In the Jardin des Plantes the loss of the troops was +heavy, but up to this time they have won their ground with a less loss +than could have been anticipated, and the fearful mortality of Generals +which characterized the last "_Campagne Parisienne_" has happily not +been repeated upon this occasion. So far, no General has been either +killed or wounded. + +The affair of Belleville is not yet concluded. There is fighting still. +A great fire is raging in the direction of the Buttes de Chaumont. + +Loud reports have been heard within the walls of Mazas, and it is +supposed that the hostages have been massacred. + +Courbet, Amouroux, Gambon, and Valles have been executed. + +The night is quiet. + +Shells have fallen on the Boulevard Ménilmontant. Great hopes are +entertained that the rains will check the conflagration. A few shells +have fallen in the Rue de la Paix. Constant arrests or executions are +being made of women who throw incendiary matter down the cellar +gratings. Many bodies have been exhumed from under shattered houses, +some with large sums of money on them. News reaches us that troops of +the Line have occupied Ménilmontant and the Cemetery of Père-Lachaise. +The Federals had declared Père-Lachaise to be their last stronghold, +and that they were prepared to defend it tomb by tomb. The National +Guard will be dissolved to-morrow. Upwards of 1,000 prisoners were +marched up the Boulevard this morning, escorted by mounted Hussars. +Delescluze has been taken at Villiers le Bel. General Eudes and Ranvier +have also been taken. The public buildings destroyed up to the present +time are the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the Ministry of Finance, the +Cour des Comptes, the Prefecture of Police, the Palace of the Légion of +Honour, the Caisse des Dépôts, Graineterie, and the Garde Meuble. The +Panthéon was saved by a rush of Marines, who cut a slow match before it +reached the powder barrels in the crypt. The Châtelet, Lyrique, and +Porte St. Martin Théâtres have been burnt, also the great barracks of +the Rue des Célestins. Part of the roof of St. Eustache has fallen in. + +The fighting still continues round the Château d'Eau. There will be no +difficulty, however, in disarming the National Guard. Valles fought for +his life, and received a sabre cut across the face and several bullets +before he finally fell close to the Tour St. Jacques. Rows of bodies +line the quays awaiting burial where they fell. The individuals arrested +will be tried by Court-Martial at Versailles. The Court-Martial will +commence its sittings on Monday. Many women and children have been +executed around the Luxembourg, having been convicted of firing on +soldiers. Fort Bicêtre is still in Federal hands, but the garrison is +said to have exhausted its ammunition. Bergeret gave the order for +burning the Tuileries. General Douai, by promptness of action, prevented +the fire spreading to the Louvre. Humour has it that Delescluze and +Pyat, disguised as beggars, were recognized in the Rue du Petit Carreau, +and shot. Thirteen women have just been executed after being publicly +disgraced in the Place Vendôme. They were caught in the act of spreading +petroleum. Such papers as have appeared announce the execution of the +Archbishop of Paris and the curé of the Madeleine. + +The Column Vendôme is to be rebuilt. + +With an English friend I this morning made my way along the line of +Boulevards running east of the Madeleine. A marvellous change had come +over them since yesterday; they were crowded with troops of the Line and +civilians fraternizing with them, and wandering about to look for the +traces of the recent conflict without danger of being shot from windows +or being pressed into the service of the Communists to build or fight +behind a barricade. It was our plan to make for the Hôtel de Ville, and +we took the Bourse in our way. Everything was so quiet that we half +hoped the fighting in that part of Paris at any rate was over, and we +were in consequence greatly astonished to hear near us the furious +beating of the _rappel_, as regulars were all about. We thought for a +moment a hot conflict was at hand, but we had forgotten, not +unnaturally, considering how long it is since we had seen or heard of +them, the Party of Order. It was they who were rallying valiantly at the +Bourse round the new tricolour banner and a few gentlemen who wore +tricolour _brassards_ or pretty bunches of tricolour riband, and whose +general tidiness and freshness contrasted strikingly with the grimy, +business-like look of the real soldiers close by. These were streaming +into the Place des Victoires, close by, receiving cheers and +congratulations from the people about in the square or at the windows, +who seemed delighted to see them. The men were in capital spirits, and +told us they were carrying everything before them, that the Insurgents +fought often well enough so far as mere pluck went, but were everywhere +outmanoeuvred, and at nearly every barricade found themselves taken at +once in front, flank, and rear. This exactly tallied with what we had +already heard and seen. An officer told his men to keep a sharp look out +on the windows of the houses about, lest they should be surprised by a +fusillade. "No fear of that," said a _bourgeois_; "not a gun will be +fired at you in this Quarter." This looked peaceful enough, and we were +considerably astonished therefore as we went up a street a little +further on, the Rue d'Aboukir, I think, to find ourselves facing a +barricade about 150 yards off, manned, and with a flag floating over it +that looked very red. We stared hard and long, but the flag was +unmistakably red, and therefore, supposing any Regulars to advance, we +were directly between two fires. We accordingly turned into a side +street and waited patiently, as it seemed impossible that Regulars and +Reds so near each other should escape collision. The Regulars were sure +to come on; the only question was whether the Reds would run. As I +looked up another parallel street, the Rue de Cléry, I think, I found +the question answered in an odd way. There, within thirty yards, were +two officers of Reds lounging leisurely about and stopping now and then +to talk to people at doors. I suppose they were told of the near +approach of the Regulars, for they turned back in the direction of their +barricade. But meantime the Regulars had advanced, and, therefore, the +enemies were at one moment within 40 paces of each other, though, being +in different streets, they were unconscious of each other's near +vicinity. Both parties seemed, as they well might, thoroughly at home, +the people, whatever might be their secret sympathies, showing a decent +appearance, at least, of impartiality to all men with arms in their +hands, and yet in a few minutes or seconds--for there was now no doubt +that they were about to fight--everybody was on the _qui vive_, getting +ready to escape if necessary. The extraordinary feature of these Paris +street fights is that many of them go on with a crowd of non-combatants, +men, women, and children, as close to them on both sides as if the whole +affair were a theatrical representation of a sensational melodramatic +kind, where a good deal of powder and blue lights would be burnt, but no +bullets or lives would be spent. In streets in which fighting actually +occurs no one of course shows except combatants, and these show as +little as possible, lying down or sheltering behind extempore +barricades and windows. The people indoors, as may be supposed, do not +keep near them, as the bullets fired down the sides of the streets under +cover of doorways or corner houses glance and ricochet about in the +wildest way. Scarcely a window escapes if the fight lasts long, but +adjoining streets running at right angles to the fighting ground are for +the moment comparatively safe, and the people crowd about the doorways +in these, the more venturesome getting close to street corners, and +every now and then cautiously craning their necks round to see, if +possible, whether shots tell. + +Perhaps the strangest thing about a Paris street fight is that up to the +very last moment one sees people running quietly along, utterly +unconscious of danger, right between two lines of fire, with loaded +mitrailleuses within a hundred yards of them. One minute before the +fight I am describing began this morning, an old lady, with a large +market basket on her arm, was leisurely walking down the Rue d'Aboukir +between the barricades and soldiers mustering quietly at the corner of +the Rue Montmartre. She was probably making way to the Halles Centrales +close by to get something for breakfast, in happy ignorance of the fact +that at that very moment soldiers were firing, as far as we could see, +right into it. I found afterwards that the Reds were then in occupation +of it, and had loop-holed the Church of St. Eustache, which they held in +great force. Shouts of warning from the crowd standing near me at the +corner of the Rue Montmartre made her at last quicken her pace, though I +doubt whether she quite understood them or knew her danger. I scarcely +know whether Paris combatants at this period are considerate enough to +wait till the ground is clear of non-combatants, or whether out of +politeness each side was waiting for the other to fire first. In any +case the regulars did not wait long. A colonel of the Staff, with cane +in one hand and in the other a map of Paris, studying, stood at the +corner of a side street, gave his men the order to commence instantly. A +soldier on each side took a step forward, and exposing himself as little +as possible fired up at the barricade. After he had fired he fell back +to reload, and another all ready took his place, so that, though there +were at first very few men--not more than 20 perhaps--firing was pretty +hot. Quick came back the response of the Reds, and whizzing went their +bullets down the street, or crashing against projecting corners of the +houses, so near one's ears that it was at first hard to keep from +dodging, despite one's convictions that only Irish guns shoot round +corners. Ricochet balls were not only not more dangerous, but probably +were less dangerous, at the corner than farther off. Some stood as near +as they could to the soldiers. It would be impossible to do this with +the Reds, as they would insist one's taking up a rifle and shooting or +being shot; but the Regulars, so far from forcing, would not even allow +an amateur to indulge in fancy shooting. But taking hurried shots round +a corner at men crouched hundreds of yards off behind well-built +barricades is too slow work to be satisfactory, and the officials came +and began to show signs of impatience. The leader, from a safe post of +observation, was able to take a cool searching view of the situation, +and ordered some of his men, whose numbers were gradually increasing as +they hurried up the street below, ducking heads and hugging walls, to +mount some of the corner houses, while others extemporized a barricade +in the street. To mount the houses was easy enough, though the door of +one had to be broken in, and presently we heard glass tumbling down as +muzzles of rifles were poked through the upper panes, and soon sharp +cracks and thick puffs of smoke leaping out showed that the men had +settled down to their work. The barricade was a more difficult matter, +as it had to be made full in front of the enemy's fire; but it was +contrived with wonderful coolness and rapidity, the civilians about +eagerly bringing stones. Two or three barrels appeared as if by magic. +By pushing the barricade cautiously across the street, by lying down +under cover of one bit as they built another, the Regulars soon had +cover enough to fire comparatively at ease straight up at the barricade, +while their comrades at the windows took it from above in flank. I was +sometimes within a few feet of them, and was much struck by their +coolness and military common sense, if I may use the expression. They +did the work before them in a quiet, business-like way, in what, during +the late war, was considered by some the best feature of Prussian +fighting, not shirking risk when it was necessary, but, on the other +hand, not needlessly exposing themselves for the sake of swagger, +especially of the officers. This morning, the officers not being wanted, +had the sense to keep quietly out of harm's way and smoke their +cigarettes like unconcerned civilians when not giving orders to their +men. The Reds, on the other hand, fought capitally, keeping up a brisk +and well-directed fire. Yet, strange to say, nobody was wounded; I mean +on our side. + + +MAY 28th. + +A week has elapsed to-day since the Versailles troops established +themselves inside the _enceinte_, and the fighting has been incessant +ever since; this is hard work enough for the assailants, who number +nearly 150,000 men; but for the soldiers--if soldiers they can be +called--of the Commune, the effort has already been almost superhuman. +Gradually diminishing in numbers, constantly finding themselves forced +upon a smaller area, and, therefore, the target of a more concentrated +fire, hemmed in upon all sides, with ammunition and provisions falling +short, exposed to a heavy rain, which has been falling incessantly for +48 hours, unable to seek repose in any spot sheltered from the shells of +the enemy, which are pouring in unremitting showers upon every corner of +their position, the situation of the Insurgents is desperate in the +extreme, and it cannot be denied that they are fighting with an energy +and a heroism worthy of a better cause. Reports are so varied and +contradictory as to the fate of their leaders that even the Generals of +the French army do not know positively who is commanding them; but if +the prisoners are to be believed, the irrepressible Cluseret has again +risen to the surface, and is the heart and soul of the defence. As the +position of the Insurgents becomes desperate, it seems to produce a +greater ferocity on both sides. The rebels neither ask nor give quarter; +they have made up their minds that death, whether as combatants or as +prisoners, is their only alternative, and men and women seem to be +lashed up to a frenzy which has converted them into a set of wild beasts +caught in a trap, and rendering their extermination a necessity. I went +yesterday to the Jardin des Plantes, as the entire left bank of the +Seine is now in the hands of the Government troops, and found M. +Decaisne, the celebrated botanical professor, still safe and sound, +after having passed through three days of unparalleled suspense. On +Wednesday the _rappel_ had been beaten by the Insurgents, and notice was +publicly given that the Panthéon was to be blown up at 2 o'clock. The +result was a general "stampede" of the inhabitants in an agony of terror +and dismay. For two or three hours women and children came pouring out +of the doomed quarter, unable to save any of their property, and not +even yet assured that they had escaped the limits of the explosion. At 5 +o'clock no explosion had occurred, and the rumour spread that the +attempt had failed for want of a sufficient quantity of powder. I told +you how the Panthéon was saved; the people went back to their houses, +only to witness severe street fighting, the result of which was to drive +the Insurgents slowly across the river, where they made a fierce stand +at a _tête du pont_ erected at the end of the bridge of Austerlitz. This +had only been carried the evening before my visit to it, and bore all +the marks of an actual battlefield. Here were eight or ten bodies strewn +behind the barricade, with groups of women and young children gathered +round inspecting them, and lifting, with a morbid curiosity, the cloths +which had been thrown over them to conceal their distorted countenances. +These men had been killed in hard fighting, men and accoutrements were +strewn thickly around, the houses were smashed and riddled with shot. +The barricade, a formidable earthwork and battery, was pounded into a +mere heap--everything betokened a bitter struggle; and, indeed, I had +already heard from a Staff officer that the Line had lost more heavily +at this point than elsewhere. Passing along the side of the canal, we +endeavoured to reach the Bastille, but were stopped by a battery which +was firing at Père-Lachaise, and which was receiving shells in reply +from the cemetery. We therefore retraced our steps past the long gaunt +skeleton of the Prefecture of the Police, which was still smoking, and +which had contained a body of political prisoners incarcerated by the +Insurgents, but released by them in order to work at barricades. This +proved their salvation, as they were enabled to effect their escape on +the approach of the troops. It is reported, nevertheless, that some +still lie buried beneath these smouldering ruins. To the right of the +Bastille we could see a heavy volume of smoke rising apparently from a +point corresponding to the position of the prison of Mazas. We are still +in utter darkness as to the fate of the Archbishop and the clergy in +confinement with him, but the tragedy of the Dominicans leaves us little +hope. About 20 of these priests were imprisoned on Friday, the 19th, at +Fort Bicêtre. On Thursday, when this had to be abandoned, they were +hurried away to the Gobelins on the promise of being set at liberty. +Instead of this they were driven to work on the barricades, then dragged +to a prison in the Avenue d'Italie. At half-past 4 in the afternoon they +were visited by a certain M. Cerisier with a company of the 101st +battalion of the National Guards, who deliberately loaded in their +presence. The outside door of the prison was then thrown open, and they +were ordered to leave it one by one. As they marched out singly they +were shot successively by order of Cerisier, with the exception of the +narrator of the occurrence, and one or two others who were either missed +or slightly wounded and escaped. Twelve bodies of these unhappy men have +already been recovered. + +There is also no doubt that M. Gustave Chaudey, one of the principal +editors of the _Siècle_, and a literary man of some eminence and high +character, who had incurred the displeasure of the Communists, has been +shot by them. On the other side the executions are wholesale. It is +estimated that upwards of 2,000 persons have been shot already on the +left bank of the Seine alone, evidently a small proportion of the total +number. Wherever women and children are to be observed leaning over the +parapet of the Seine intently regarding some object below, one may be +sure that the attraction is a group of hideously mutilated corpses of +men who have been brought down to the river side, and then with their +backs to the wall have met their doom. On the sloping roads leading down +from the _quai_ to the river may also be seen inequalities where the +road has been recently disturbed and where the freshly-turned earth +indicates burial-places. Not far from these bodies were lying several +dead horses, from which the people were cutting steaks. The inside of +the Hôtel de Ville presents a curious scene, the solid masses of stone +and lime of which the rubbish is composed having fallen in in the form +of a crater, which fills up the whole central place. Under this mound +are said to be buried from 200 to 300 Insurgents who were unable to +escape at the last moment, and thus fell the victims of the +conflagration they had themselves originated. The mutilation of the +ornamental work of this magnificent specimen of architecture is simply +hideous; there is scarcely a square inch of the _façade_ untouched by +shot or shell. Anxious, if possible, to judge of the progress of the +attack which was being made on the Insurgent position at Père-Lachaise, +I reached the Place Château d'Eau, which had been taken the day before +from the Insurgents. I found it, however, impossible to go beyond the +angle of the Wall near the Ambigu. Here a small crowd was collected +which was dispersed by a shot just as I approached, and the place itself +was a solitary desert, for it was swept from the heights of Belleville +down the Faubourg du Temple. Passing along the Boulevard Magenta, we +obtained from the point where the Rue du Faubourg St. Denis traverses +the Rue Lafayette, a view of an Insurgent barricade, on which a red flag +was still flying, and which was turned by the troops while we were +there. We were looking down the long, straight line of street totally +deserted, and in the far distance watching the barricade, beyond which +rose the occasional puffs of smoke from a musketry fire, when we +suddenly saw the red trousers scampering across in twos and threes, and +then in larger numbers, and knew that the barricade had been taken, and +that it was safe to come out of our cover and walk on the opposite side +of the street. All this time the whistling and bursting of the shell +overhead was as incessant and loud as I have ever heard on the field of +battle. We were directly in the line of fire between Montmartre and Père +la Chaise, although completely protected from it, as everything passed +overhead. But the terrific rushing through the air of the projectiles, +and the cracking and bursting at each end when they reached their +destination, made a music which it requires a Parisian education +thoroughly to appreciate. Heavy volumes of smoke rose from the besieged +quarter, and the destruction of life and property upon the doomed area +which the Insurgents have chosen as their final stronghold must be +something appalling. Near the angle of the street at which we stood lay +the dead body of a man, covered with a cloth, who had been shot not many +hours before in an adjoining Court. It was evident from the looks and +tone of the inhabitants of this neighbourhood that their sympathies were +strongly with the Communists. They muttered gloomily and savagely to +each other, scarcely daring to raise their suspicious glances from the +ground, for they knew not which of their neighbours might not have +denounced them, and that the day of danger was by no means past. +Probably two-thirds of the men now gathered at their shopdoors had +fought actively for the Commune. At the Prévôté of the 5th corps I had +an interesting instance of the effect of denunciations. While there some +men who had been intrusted with the arrest of General Henry returned +from their expedition. General Henry, it will be remembered, was one of +the earliest leaders of the movement, and I went down to see where he +had openly established himself as Commander-in-Chief of the National +Guard in the Vaugirard quarter. About the 16th of March, or two days +before the Revolution several attempts were made to arrest him but the +task was so dangerous that they all failed. Throughout the movement this +man has exhibited daring and intelligence, and his capture is much +desired. In consequence of the information received his haunt was +visited, and the result I saw in the shape of a blue Prussian overcoat +stained with blood and perforated with a bullet-hole, a tunic still +more bloody and torn, a very jaunty braided jacket quite clean and new, +a Prussian undress cap, and a very handsome sword. The proprietor had +evidently been wounded, and had succeeded in evading his captors, if +still alive, by some secret contrivance, which, however, the honour of +the denouncer was pledged to discover; it was evident that he had +provided himself with a Prussian uniform, in the hope of passing through +the German lines, and the blood on his coat would seem to indicate that +he had made the attempt and failed. From this barrack, just prior to my +visit, had been removed several wounded children, most of them under +eight years old. One of the most horrible features of the war in a +thickly-peopled city is to be found in the sufferings which it entails +upon the innocent who are thus early familiarized with scenes of blood +and violence, and who too often, unfortunately, are themselves the +victims of them. The _gamins_ of Paris love to dabble in petroleum and +play with lucifer matches, and revel in destruction and conflagration. +More daring than their elders, they stick with their mothers to +barricades after the father of the family has deemed it prudent to +retire, and numerous are the stories of their heroism and courage. +Unfortunately, their propensities for arson render them liable to be +shot, and it is sad to see how many children are often comprised in a +band of prisoners. I went underground to the cells in which the +prisoners were confined at the Prévôté, and wandered along narrow, +subterranean passages, where the noisome exhalations were almost +stifling, into dark cells, where the eye got at last sufficiently +accustomed to the light to distinguish the relics left by the prisoners: +here a pair of stays of which some female prisoner had divested herself, +there a red cockade, all kinds of articles of clothing steeped in slime +of indescribable foulness; and cowering at one end of the corridor a +dozen prisoners waiting to know their fate. They were more respectable +than usual, and not apparently of a very sanguinary type. They were all +men. To-day no less than a hundred women were marched down the streets +in one gang. The papers are so full of false reports that it is scarcely +safe to give news which has not been verified. Thus, unless I had seen +the Genius of Liberty on the top of the column in the Place de la +Bastille, and visited the Jardin des Plantes, I might have reported the +accounts, of which the papers are full, of the destruction of the figure +on the Column and of the animals and rare plants in the gardens, which +you will be happy to hear are all in a state of perfect health and +preservation. I am afraid, however, it is only too true that half the +Gobelins are destroyed, and that 67 of the "Frères de la Doctrine +Chrétienne" have been shot by their fellow-Christians of the Commune. A +friend of mine saw Madame Millière in a prisoners' gang, and we have +authentic intelligence to-day that her husband, one of the most +pestilent of the apostles of Fraternity and wholesale slaughter, has +been executed. + +The streets are full of the National Guards of Order, carrying their +rifles to the different dépôts to be given up, for the disarmament of +the entire National Guard has been determined on, and it is to be hoped +that this most useless body in time of foreign invasion and most +dangerous one in moments of internal trouble will be extinguished and +abolished for ever throughout all the towns of France. Meantime the +Boulevards and streets from which the fighting has receded are slowly +waking into life, the tricolor waves from the windows in token of +loyalty and sympathy with the Government, and at least two cafés are +open on the Boulevards, but as yet only here and there the shutters of a +shop are lowered. + +The roar of the batteries from Montmartre is still continuous, but it is +hardly possible that the Insurgents can continue the struggle for 24 +hours longer. + +Fighting was going on at Belleville about an hour ago, but still there +is every reason the believe that the insurrection is virtually over. A +great number of prisoners, escorted by cavalry, have just been marched +down the Boulevards. They were said to be 5,000, but this is probably an +exaggeration. They came from the Buttes Chaumont, where many of them +have been kept two days and a half without food. A more villainous +collection of faces I never beheld. There were many women, among them +some in men's clothes, some as _cantinières_ or _ambulancières_, and +very young boys and old men. Nearly 1,500 were Regular soldiers, or at +least wore their uniform. Their coats were turned inside out, as a mark +of disgrace. As they passed through the crowd lining each side of the +Boulevards they were met with cries of "_A mort, crapule, +fusillez-les!_" Four women in the Amazon uniform and the Regulars +excited special indignation. One prisoner, near the New Opera, refused +to march, and was twice stabbed with bayonets. He was then tied to a +horse's tail, and afterwards placed on the horse, but he threw himself +off, and again refused to march. He was put into a cart and carried off +to the nearest place of execution to be shot. Another prisoner, who +also refused to march, was dragged by the hands and hair of the head +along the road. The crowd called out to the soldiers to shoot him, and +declared that but for the presence of the soldiers they would themselves +execute summary justice on him. The troops, headed by the Marquis de +Galifet, were loudly cheered as they passed. + +I went early this morning to Père-Lachaise. Shells were still falling so +thickly near the Boulevard du Temple that no one was allowed to pass. I +had to go a very roundabout way to get to the Place Bastille, as at +numerous barricades everybody who passed was compelled to assist in +pulling them down. The barricades were of astonishing strength. Behind +the barricade on the Boulevard Mazas lay three bodies of National +Guards--apparently shot in its defence. A little lower down on the +Boulevard Voltaire lay seven men dead, as if they had there made their +last desperate stand. There were some old gray-headed men among them. We +were told that their bodies were left there for recognition, and women +occasionally came up and claimed them. The Regulars had also suffered +severely there, but their dead had been immediately removed. Further on, +the stone barricades had been protected by a second line of large sacks +stuffed with rags and papers, and piled upon each other. At the corner +of Rue Roquette lay over 70 corpses of men, executed for being found +with arms in their hands. They lay piled over each other, and the +pavement and gutters streamed with blood. The crowd were not allowed to +approach them. We entered Père-Lachaise and found it full of troops, +chiefly of the Marine Brigade. There is no truth in the stories that the +cemetery was defended tomb by tomb. There had been no bayonet or even +fusillade fighting there, but the shells had shattered many of the +tombs, here and there laying bare the coffins below. The position was so +strong that the Marines could account for its abandonment only by the +fact that the Insurgents were utterly disorganized for want of leaders. +The shelling, however, had been sufficiently vigorous to compel the +troops to retire after they took it last night, and to return for +reinforcements. They retook the position early this morning. The +Insurgents had abandoned a battery of seven guns which commanded the +whole position. We could see from it that sharp fighting was still going +on at Belleville, probably the last stronghold. As we passed the prison +of La Roquette, we heard about ninety rifle-shots and then a +mitrailleuse, and were told by the troops that prisoners were being +executed. We had great difficulty in passing through the Faubourg St. +Antoine, and were stopped by at least five _cordons_ of sentries. They +told us that the Insurgents were _en fuite_, that the Quartier was +_suspect_, and that, therefore, nobody was allowed to pass. When we got +through, many people asked us to put their letters into the post for +them, as they were close prisoners. The streets were filled with arms +and equipments. + +Only a few houses in Belleville still hold out. The Insurgents are +surrendering by thousands. The insurrection is considered over. + +Most of those who founded the Comité du Salut Public have been taken. +The Insurgents are being shot by hundreds. In the Faubourg St. Antoine +great numbers of men and women were found carrying petroleum, and at +once shot. + +The _Moniteur_ says that Félix Pyat and Paschal Grousset left Paris +yesterday in a balloon, which passed over Niort towards the sea. + + +MAY 29th. + +By Saturday evening the various Corps of the Versailles troops, steadily +converging on the Insurgents from the North, South, and West, had forced +them into their last strongholds of Père-Lachaise, and at the Buttes +Chaumont, in Belleville; and M. THIERS on Saturday announced that the +final attack would be made on Sunday morning. But the troops waited no +longer to finish their terrible work. On Saturday Père-Lachaise was +taken by General VINOY; in the evening the Buttes Chaumont were carried +by General LADMIRAULT. The two corps united, and the remaining +Insurgents were forced into narrow space at the edge of the _enceinte_, +where they are hemmed in between the Versailles troops and the +Prussians, and must surrender or be killed. They have also been driven +out of all the Forts except Vincennes, and those who hold that Fort have +asked the Bavarian troops outside to permit their escape. At five +o'clock yesterday all fighting had ceased. + +"The Revolution is crushed;" but at what a cost, and amid what horrors! +"Peace," says M. THIERS, "is about to be restored, but it will not +succeed in relieving all honest and patriotic hearts of the profound +sorrow with which they are afflicted." We know not, indeed, how or when +such relief is to come; for ruin has been wrought and crimes have been +perpetrated which will leave on Paris and on Frenchmen an ineffaceable +brand. After the first appalling news of the great conflagrations, a +faint hope had arisen that the ultimate result might prove less +disastrous than had been apprehended, and it is true that a few of the +noble buildings which were thought doomed have escaped. But the almost +universal wreck would of itself almost obliterate for the moment the +sense of relief, and the material ruin now constitutes the least horror +in the scene. It is sufficiently distressing to picture every Quarter of +the great Capital, which but the other day was the beauty of the world, +scarred by conflagrations, torn by shells, pitted with musketry, and +stained with blood. It is terrible to think that in a city "like Paris" +fire and sword, and instruments of destruction still more hellish, have +swept from West to East, and from South to North; that most of its noble +palaces are but gaunt and blackened walls, and its finest streets laid +in heaps of as utter ruin as the mounds of Nineveh. The mind is +overwhelmed by the mere physical spectacle of this whirlwind of blazing +destruction suddenly bursting over a noble city so near us, which we +knew so well, and the inhabitants of which were but yesterday our +neighbours and our friends. But even this is overpowered by the awful +human ruin which it expresses and reflects. On both sides alike we hear +of incredible acts of assassination and slaughter. The Insurgents have +fulfilled, so far as they were able, their threats against the lives of +their hostages as mercilessly as their other menaces. The Archbishop of +PARIS, the Curé of the Madeleine, President BONJEAN, with priests, +gendarmes, soldiers, and other victims to the number of 64, have been +shot, and 168 others were only saved by the arrival of the troops. This +massacre of distinguished and inoffensive men is one of those crimes +which never die, and which blacken for ever the memory of their authors. +But in the spirit of murder and hatred it displays the Communists seem +not very much worse than their antagonists. It sounds like trifling for +M. THIERS to be denouncing the Insurgents for having shot a captive +officer "without respect for the laws of war." The laws of war! They are +mild and Christian compared with the inhuman laws of revenge under which +the Versailles troops have been shooting, bayoneting, ripping up +prisoners, women and children, during the last six days. We have not a +word to say for the black ruffians who, it is clear, deliberately +planned the utter destruction of Paris, the burning of its inhabitants, +and the obliteration of its treasures; but if soldiers will convert +themselves into fiends in attacking fiends, is it any wonder if they +redouble the fiendishness of the struggle? Fury has inflamed fury, and +hate has embittered hate, until all the wild passions of the human heart +have been fused into one vast and indistinguishable conflagration. + +So far as we can recollect there has been nothing like it in history. +The siege of Jerusalem may afford some parallel, but Roman soldiers +never so utterly lost their self-control as the Versailles troops appear +to have done. We are beggared for words to describe the scene, and +exclaim that it is hell upon earth. It is nothing less. There are all +the physical and all the moral accessories. Fire and brimstone, storm +and tempest, torture, insult, hatred, despair, all forms of malice, +murder, and destruction, have been raging in Paris during the last few +days. Women forgetting their sex and their gentleness to commit +assassination, to poison soldiers, to burn and to slay; little children +converted into demons of destruction, and dropping petroleum into the +areas of houses; soldiers in turn forgetting all distinctions of sex and +age, and shooting down prisoners like vermin, now by scores and now by +hundreds,--all combine to enact on civilized ground, and within the +sight and hearing of their fellow-men, scenes which find a parallel only +in the infernal regions imagined by prophets and poets. This is what +human nature is capable of; for Frenchmen are men, and we shudder for +our race. But, at all events, what hope is to be seen for France in +this seething abyss? This tragedy is the end of eighty years of +revolutions, of an eighty years' struggle after Liberty and Fraternity, +eighty years of attempts again and again renewed to rebuild French +Society on a new and harmonious basis. The end is a fiercer hatred, +deeper divisions, wilder passions, and more eternal distrust. Will these +six days of savage devastation tend to heal the existing breach between +the lower and the middle classes of France? Will the mutual slaughter of +soldiers and citizens tend towards that essential condition of a happy +State; mutual confidence between the Army and the People? Will the blood +of another butchered Archbishop sow the seeds of peace between the +Priests and their Socialist foes? That which we seem at present to see +in this outbreak of hell is the permanent creation of yawning abysses +between classes, institutions, memories, and men. Paris may, perhaps, be +rebuilt; but what is to wipe out the blood with which every street of +Paris is now stained, and when will women cease to hand down to their +children the envenomed hatreds of May, 1871? Where, above all, are the +signs of that combined generosity, firmness and foresight in statesmen +or soldiers which alone could lay the first stone of reconciliation? The +prospect is too black for France and for Europe for us to dare look +forward. We have no heart at present to balance the faults and crimes of +the two sides, or to assign the relative blame. We only see the worst +outburst ever yet displayed of human passions; we see it at the close of +fifteen centuries of Christian civilization; we see it in one of the +most gifted races of the world, and we know not where to look for hope +or consolation. + + +MAY 30th. + +Paris is perfectly tranquil. Shops are opening. The streets are crowded +with people examining the amount of damage done. Prisoners in groups of +a hundred are being marched under escort down the Boulevards. Fighting +ceased about 3 yesterday afternoon. A few shots were fired from the +windows at Belleville, where frightful scenes are said to have been +enacted. The more desperate characters, felons and escaped _forçats_ of +the worst description, turned at the last moment on their own comrades +because they refused to continue the fight. Some women murdered with +knives two young men for the same reason. In consequence of the firing +from the windows, an immense number of executions occurred. The park of +the Buttes Chaumont was strewn with corpses. The soldiers were so +furious that the officers found it necessary to warn strangers of the +danger of incurring suspicion. A few of the inhabitants of Belleville +were declaring openly to passers by that the affair was not yet over, +and that terrible reprisals would be wreaked upon the soldiers. These +boasts have not yet been fulfilled, but general apprehensions are, +nevertheless, entertained that those of the insurgents who have escaped +justice will try to inaugurate a secret system of arson and +assassination. Constant discoveries of petroleum are still being made. +The danger is increased by the fact that women, who, on account of their +sex, are more likely lo escape notice, are really the most desperate. +Great precautions are taken at night. The streets are full of sentries +and all circulation is strictly forbidden. Any one who ventures out +without the password runs the risk of being locked up all night. There +are diversities of opinion relative to the Archbishop's fate even now. +Some people affirm that he has escaped; but the evidence is in favour of +his having been murdered at La Roquette. + +Fears are entertained of an epidemic consequent upon the hurried burial +of so many dead under the pavement of the streets. + + +MAY 31st AND JUNE 1st. + +The search for Insurgents from house to house is still going on +vigorously. It is still very hard either to leave or even to enter +Paris, Gourde, the Communist Minister of Finance, has been found. It is +said by Insurgents that Cluseret ought to be among the last batch of +prisoners taken at Fort Vincennes. This being their last place of refuge +it is expected that many other ringleaders will be discovered. + +The Communist commander of that Fort sent to the Bavarian General a list +of his officers and men, requesting for the former passes into +Switzerland, for the latter passes into France. After various +negotiations, the affair was left in the hands of General Vinoy, and it +was agreed that all the garrison of Vincennes, having never fired a +shot, should be detained prisoners only temporarily; but that all +fugitives who had taken refuge there should be surrendered +unconditionally. The garrison eagerly consented to the terms, and at +once put their chiefs in prison. Orders were found on many of them, +signed Ulysse Parent, for the burning of the Hôtel de Ville, the Bourse, +and other places. + +The Luxembourg is to replace temporarily the Hôtel de Ville, and the +Staff has already moved there. Everything is going on quietly enough in +most parts of Paris, but in the Belleville Quarter life is still unsafe. +Not only shots are fired from windows, but occasionally Insurgents fire +off revolvers upon officers at a few yards' distance. Many fear that, +notwithstanding the large numbers of the Insurgents caught, and the +terrible example made, enough have escaped to give further trouble, if +not by open resistance, at least by arson and secret assassination. The +severities, moreover, exercised by the military authorities have +produced a pretty strong feeling of reaction against them, and in some +of even the least revolutionary Quarters the troops are scarcely +popular, certainly not so popular as when they entered Paris. The +Insurgents find many sympathizers to hide them, and assist their escape +from Paris. + +The policy of England with reference to those who have escaped is +watched with great anxiety. + +Active measures are being taken to cleanse the streets and rid them of +the dead bodies, some of which had been buried where they fell under the +barricades, with a foot or two of soil over them. Passers-by are pressed +into the service as burying parties, and the English Embassy has +received complaints from Englishmen of having been seized for this +purpose. The smell of corpses in some places is offensively strong, and +it is feared this hot weather following upon the heavy rain may breed a +pestilence. + +Traffic in the streets at night is getting easier, though the _cafés_ +have to be closed at 11. The unpopularity of the troops is no doubt, in +part due to the deeply-rooted Parisian dislike of military rule and the +abolition of the National Guard--a measure which, however necessary, +under no circumstances is likely to be welcome. + +The firemen of Havre who came to Paris to aid in extinguishing the +recent conflagrations have returned home to-day. + +One of the most important of the "hostages" who suffered death at the +hands of the Commune--the most important person of their lay victims--M. +Bonjean, was President of the Court of Cassation, and it was only the +fact of his holding a high position, and being respected by all persons +whose respect was worth having, that can have rendered him odious. He +was a very old man, as old at least as the Abbé Deguerry. It was chiefly +as a Judge and not as a politician that his name was known to the world, +yet, all that was known of him as a politician was in his favour. +Indeed, he enjoyed the rare distinction of being, perhaps, the one +Liberal member of an Assembly so bigoted and so subservient as was the +Senate under the Empire. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he remained +firm at his post during the siege and during the far more perilous +period of the conflict between M. Thiers and the Comité Central. His +arrest was, so to speak, an accident, as he happened to be paying, or +expected to pay, a visit, by appointment, to the house of his friend, +the Procureur-général, when the police of the Communists were taking +possession of the house of the latter officer. He bore his imprisonment, +old as he was, with patience and resignation, remarking that for the +last 40 years he had been self-condemned to upwards of 12 hours' hard +labour a day over his books and papers, and that he could work as well +at these in a prison cell as in a palace. + +JUNE 2d, AND 3rd. + +Two days ago I was so fortunate as to meet Mons. Petit, the Secretary of +the late Archbishop, who had only escaped from the prison in which he +had been confined with the unfortunate Prelate the day before. M. Petit +did not himself see M. Darboy executed, though he saw the procession +pass and heard the firing. Out of 16 priests and 38 gendarmes confined +in the prison, 26 were shot, and the fate of the remainder had been +decided upon when an attempt to escape made by the criminal prisoners, +who were the original occupants of the gaol, succeeded, and with the +help of one of the gaolers the whole body made an attack upon the +Insurgent guard, who, in fact, did not wait for it, but abandoned their +post as soon as they perceived that all their prisoners were at liberty. +The priests succeeded in changing their clerical costume, but not in +sufficiently disguising themselves, for M. Petit saw four of his +companions shot at the first barricade they reached; he therefore fled +back to his prison, and, finding a common prison shirt, he reduced his +costume to that garments and took refuge in a bed in the hospital ward. +The prison was not again guarded, but those who casually passed through +it supposed him to be a sick prisoner not worth notice; and here he +remained until Sunday evening, when his suspense was put an end to by +the arrival of the soldiery. In the Chapelle Ardente of the Madeleine +lies the body of the _curé_ of that church, who was shot by the side of +the Archbishop, and a stream of persons, mostly women, with saddened, +awe-struck faces passed through it all yesterday afternoon. The body of +the Archbishop has been recovered, and is at the Palace. + +I have now explored Paris in every direction to judge with some degree +of accuracy of the extent of the damage done, but I will spare you any +detailed account of those scenes of havoc and ruin, that I have partly +described already which differ in their character according to the agent +of destruction, and which consist of ruins caused by shells and ruins +caused by fire. Houses which have been destroyed by shells present a far +more ghastly appearance than those which have been burnt, and the aspect +of the street at Point du Jour is calculated to strike the imagination +of those who are now entering Paris for the first time from Versailles +by that gate. The same may be said of the houses on both sides of the +Avenue de la Grande Armée, and in the neighbourhood of the Porte +Maillot; but nothing that I have seen equals the Auteuil Railway +Station, where the building, the line, and the railway bridge have all +been crumpled up together, as if some giant hand had squeezed them into +a shapeless mass. The iron bridge still spans the road, but with rails +and girders so contorted and covered with _débris_ that we were afraid +to drive under it for fear the slight concussion caused by a carriage +passing beneath might bring the tottering mass down on our heads. A +little beyond, a sentry is placed to prevent people passing beneath a +house which is on the verge of crumbling to the ground. It is a lofty, +handsome building, elegantly furnished, and quite new, which has been +completely cut in two, and the furniture of each successive story is +thus exposed. One room on the fourth floor was apparently a boudoir, for +the rich crimson-covered furniture stands trembling at the edge of the +"_parquet_," and a heavy armchair threatens with the least jar to come +down with a crash into the middle of the road. It was reserved for +French artillery to complete the work which the German artillery began. +I drove round this same road some days after the first siege, and, +compared to their present condition, these suburbs might then have been +considered well preserved and habitable. Looking at the long _enceinte_ +of fortifications with its battered breaches and crumbling embrasures, +one is puzzled whether M. Thiers deserves more credit for the skill with +which he put it up or for that with which he has knocked it down. + +Anxious to see to what condition the conquerors have reduced the +Insurgent stronghold at Belleville, I have returned from penetrating its +disagreeable recesses. As usual, even in peaceful times, the lower part +of the Faubourg du Temple was densely crowded with an agitated, +restless throng, composed principally of women. Most of the shops were +shut, probably because their owners were either shot or in prison. Those +who lounged in their doorways looked surly and suspicious; nor is this +much to be wondered at, for during the last two days every domicile has +been searched in this Quarter from attic to cellar, and every street +swarms with denouncers and soldiers. As we approached Ménilmontant the +crowd became thinner, and the soldiers more numerous, until they almost +lined the street on either side. Here and there were piles of broken +arms and heaps of National Guard coats and trousers. The road was +literary strewn with caps, which had been torn from the heads of +prisoners and flung in the mud. Old women were rummaging in the heaps +for something worth taking away which was not of a military character, +as their operations were closely watched by the soldiery, who were by no +means of an amiable type. Here were no signs of fraternization or +amicable intercourse. At one place at least a dozen omnibuses were +collected and crammed with arms and military stores, a magazine of which +I saw in the process of being emptied. Three thousand Orsini bombs were +also found. I have specimens of two kinds in my possession; one is +circular, flat, and hollow, about six inches in diameter and an inch and +a half thick, and fitted all round its edge with little hammers, which +play upon a glass case inside filled with nitro-glycerine. Whichever way +the bomb falls it is sure to strike one of these hammers, which explodes +the nitro-glycerine. The other is a zinc ball, rather smaller than a +cricket ball, filled with powder and covered with nipples, upon which +are percussion caps. It cannot fall without striking a cap and +exploding. It is natural that the discovery of such objects should +exasperate the soldiery, for whom they were intended, and who cannot yet +walk with any feeling of security along streets filled with a population +who employ such diabolical engines of destruction. Hitherto, in most of +the instances in which they have been used, the culprit has been a +woman; more reckless and vindictive than the men, they have, in many +instances, literally courted death, forcing their fate by acts of +violence when escape was evidently impossible. Near the top of the steep +hill which leads to the Mairie of Ménilmontant were several _cordons_ of +sentries, through which we had some difficulty in passing, owing to a +commotion which had scarcely yet subsided, and which showed how +combustible were the materials of which the population here is +composed. There had been an altercation between a sergeant of the Line +and a citizen, in which the latter had offered some violence and had +been shot on the spot; his body was still palpitating on the pavement as +I came suddenly and unexpectedly upon it, and we were warned, by an +angry cry of "_au large_" from a sentry, that it would be a very simple +matter in the then temper of the soldiery to meet the same fate. It is +easy to imagine the scowling looks and stifled curses of the men and +women glaring from doorways and windows at the execution of a friend +before their eyes, and we began to feel that we were objects of equal +suspicion and dislike on either side. At every step we were challenged, +and the fact that we had a military pass made it clear to the +Bellevilleites that we were their enemies. We had now reached the crown +of the hill--the very heart of Belleville, and the last stronghold of +the Insurgents. It was crowded with soldiery: an hour in Belleville +under existing circumstances is enough to satisfy the morbid appetite +for excitement which may tempt people to go there. Notwithstanding the +crowds on the Boulevards, many of the shops are still shut, in +consequence of the absence of their owners from Paris. The difficulties +of entering and leaving the city are still so great that many days must +elapse before the ordinary population can return. Meantime, the want of +gas makes the streets as they were in the darkest moments of the siege, +and the gloom after dark, combined with the dangers of arrest, does not +tempt people to remain abroad much later than 10 o'clock. + +Yesterday, out of one of the houses from which a shot had been fired, an +innocent Englishman, who, being elderly and deaf, knew nothing of what +had happened, came downstairs unsuspectingly on to the pavement into the +middle of the crowd, and had a very narrow escape for his life. Some +ingenious self-constituted detective called out "That's the man," and +the crowd, having long waited in vain for somebody, were only too glad +to have a victim thus extemporized to their hands, and if a few of the +cooler and more humane bystanders had not interfered, the Englishman +might have been murdered in cold blood and in broad daylight. As it was, +he got off with no more serious injury than torn clothes and a mauling +which may keep him to his bed for a fortnight. + +What, to those who have witnessed the recent transformation scenes in +the great Parisian melodrama, is newest and strangest is the crowd of +well-dressed holyday-making loungers streaming so thickly over the +broad pavement that it is no easy matter to get through them, and +occupying every available chair outside the adjoining _café_. Where in +the world do they all come from? Many of them have stories of their +recent experiences to tell which, well arranged, might make the fortune +of a theatrical manager--stories so sensational that one would feel +bound to refuse them credence if they were not in perfect harmony with +the sensational scenes of which every third man's personal experience +has supplied him with a specimen. One man has been close prisoner in a +cellar two days and nights while fighting has been going on all around +him and over his head. Another has had to fly amid bullets from the +suffocating smoke of burning buildings, his ears still ringing with the +cries of poor wretches who could not muster up their courage for the +rush, and who risked a lingering death under the fallen ruins. + +Numerous corpses have been dug out of cellars over which had fallen +masses of burning houses, and many probably still remain, at which it is +impossible to get. In the Rue Royale and its immediate neighbourhood +last night the air was tainted with the unmistakable smell of putrefying +bodies, which, it was supposed, were lying under the huge masses of +smouldering woodwork and masonry still heaped upon them. The fire, +though the engines have been at work at it six days and nights, has not +yet been completely extinguished, and last night I and a friend, +although he had his wife to protect him, were compelled to take our turn +at the pumps. We in vain pleaded that we would not leave the lady alone. +The head of the pressgang who had kidnapped us would be delighted to +take care of her while we worked, and as soon as it appeared that we +were only to work a short time--not to be kept on indefinitely into the +small hours of the night--we were not sorry to lend a helping hand. A +fresh batch of captives, condemned to hard labour, shortly came up and +replaced us. One of our objections to being kept long at work was that +it was getting late, and that after dark it is no very easy or safe +matter to go about the streets. + + +JUNE 4th AND 5th. + +Large crowds took advantage of the free permission accorded yesterday to +pass through the gates of Paris, and to-day the streets are filled to +overflowing with sightseers examining the ruins and other traces of the +siege. Many foreigners have already arrived, some for pleasure, some to +recommence business operations. + +Arrests are still numerous of men and women, many of the arrested +apparently belonging to the respectable classes. + +It has been proposed to set on foot throughout Europe a subscription to +restore the public buildings destroyed in Paris. + +It is hoped that in two days the telegraphs will again be open to the +public. The post is already working well, thanks to the exertions of M. +Rampont. + +All impediments in the way of entering and leaving Paris have been +removed, as I said; persons are only required to show their passports +when demanded by the police. + +The military authorities have entertained favourably the requests of +theatrical managers for permission to re-open the theatres, but the +re-opening of the _cafés chantants_ has not yet been authorized. + +Aubry, agent of the International Society and treasurer of the Commune, +was arrested yesterday. + +It is said that, until further orders, no one is to be allowed to pass +the gates of Paris after 9 p.m. Patrols of cavalry traverse Paris and +the environs all night. + +The _Figaro_ calculates the number of insurgents still at large in Paris +who have escaped military justice at 50,000 men. These persons will, it +thinks, always constitute a source of danger, and will only await a +favourable opportunity for exciting disturbances. + + +JUNE 6th. + +A gang of prisoners passing down the Boulevard is a never ending source +of interest, and with some reason, for the prisoners now are not the +scum of Belleville and La Villette, swept at haphazard out of their +lanes and alleys, but the more prominent men, who have been lying hid +ever since, and are being discovered or denounced singly, so that there +are seldom more than two or three in a batch, and these are generally +persons of note. I saw two parties yesterday, one containing three men +and two women, all of quite a different type from the ragged hangdog +squads that used to be driven past between lines of cavalry. These were +well-dressed, gentlemanlike men and modest, respectable-looking women +who seemed by no means either afraid or ashamed of the position in which +they found themselves. On another occasion I observed two men, also of +the _bourgeoisie_ class, both of them very superior to usual prisoners. +One of them had his hands tied firmly behind his back. They both boldly +looked the crowd that followed them in the face; but the arrest which +caused the greatest interest was that of M. Paschal Grousset, who was +caught hidden and disguised as a woman at 39 Rue Condorcet, and who was +honoured with a conveyance and a cavalry escort to protect him from the +crowd. M. Pyat still succeeds in evading the authorities, and there is +even some doubt whether the numerous persons who went to see the body of +M. Deslescluze when it was exposed in the church of St. Elizabeth, and +who declared that they recognized it, were not the victims of a +delusion, and whether that gentleman may not still turn up like Sir +Roger Tichborne to discomfit the minds of his old friends, who now seem +uncertain whether they know him or not. + +Monday being the first day when the gates of Paris, as well as the +railway stations, were open to the public, there was an influx and +efflux on a large scale, the people who swarmed in were people from a +distance who had taken refuge in the country, and were returning with +their baggage to their homes. Those who swarmed out were for the most +part sightseers whom events have kept close prisoners in Paris for the +last two months, and who are now flocking to the outside of the +_enceinte_ to visit their former haunts of pleasure in the immediate +vicinity, which are now desolate wastes, and to compare the condition of +the suburbs as damaged by the Germans with their present condition as +destroyed by themselves. An examination for arms and weapons to be +extended to every room in Paris is now being made, and the military +authorities continue their active _perquisitions_ for men and documents +with tolerable success. Upon two successive occasions, however, shots +have been fired within the last few days from a window in a house in the +Place Beauveau upon officers, fortunately without injury, but the +would-be murderer has not been found. + + +JUNE 7th. + +Ten thousand incendiary bombs have been discovered in the catacombs. As +23,000 were manufactured by the Commune according to documents found on +prisoners, and of these not many were used, a large number are believed +to be still somewhere concealed. + +Nearly all the missing pieces of the Colonne Vendôme have been +recovered. It is thought the Column can be exactly restored. + +A strange proposal is made to preserve untouched the ruins of the Hôtel +de Ville. It is seriously discussed, and finds many advocates. + +On the extradition question the more moderate journals suggest that +Government should content itself with demanding the surrender of those +Insurgents against whom it can make out some case of ordinary +non-political crime. + +Crowds still flock from all parts into Paris. + +Perfect tranquility prevails, though numerous arrests continue to be +made. + +It is believed that the prisoners will be classified in three +categories, the first consisting of persons against whom only minor +charges are preferred, the second of those charged with offences which +entail transportation, the third of criminals of the worst class, some +of them being accused of offences which may be punished by death. + +The funeral of the Archbishop of Paris and the other distinguished +hostages assassinated by the Commune is expected to be a very imposing +ceremony. A Commission of 50 Deputies will officially represent the +Assembly on the occasion, but a very much larger number of Deputies will +attend. The chief of the Executive power and the other members of the +Government will be present at Notre-Dame, where the funeral service +will be celebrated to morrow morning at 11 o'clock. + +The body of the Archbishop will be removed from the Archiepiscopal +Palace, in the Rue de Grenelle, at 10 o'clock. It will be carried on a +bed of state by seven Deacons. The seven Suffragan Bishops of the +Archdiocese of Paris will act as pall bearers. + +Monseigneur Darboy will be interred in the tomb of the Archbishops of +Paris in the vaults of the Cathedral See. + +The Abbé Duguerry will be burried in the vaults of the Madeleine, and +the other hostages in the Cemetery of Père-Lachaise. + +The cause of the delay in opening the courts-martial at Versailles to +try the Communist prisoners is that a supplementary act of indictment +has been rendered necessary by the discovery of important documents on +several of the recently-arrested members of the Commune. + + +JUNE 8th AND 9th. + +The inhabitants of the second Arrondissement have been warned that +everybody who does not give up his firearms may be tried before a court +martial. + +An Anglo-Indian ex-officer is said to be gravely compromised in the +Insurrection, but the number of British subjects engaged in it appears +to have been ludicrously exaggerated:--not 20 have had cases made out +against them. + +The number of Communists belonging to the International and similar +societies is estimated at 120,000. Arrests are still numerous. One of +the men who shot the Archbishop, and for whom the police had long looked +in vain, was yesterday arrested at his funeral. + +The _Journal officiel_ publishes a circular note of M. Jules Favre, +dated the 6th inst., in reference to the causes of the Parisian +Insurrection. The principal of these is the collecting together of +300,000 workmen who were brought to Paris by the works executed under +the Empire, and who were led away by Jacobin agitators, and who were +vanquished on the 31st of October. + +After that came the action of the International Society composed of +working men, the doctrines and dangers of which are explained in the +circular. + + +JUNE 10th. + +It is calculated that 70,000 travellers entered Paris between Saturday +and Tuesday by the Northern line alone. Many had to travel in luggage +vans. Paris, notwithstanding, does not appear full. Most of the +visitors make a very short stay. The dull condition of trade is loudly +complained of. + +The idea of burning the corpses which have not been properly buried has +been abandoned; it is proposed to exhume all those buried in the Parc +des Monceaux, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and other temporary burial +places, and to transfer them to a new cemetery beyond Fort Vanves. + +One hundred and fifty pretended firemen were executed yesterday at +Versailles. + +The Commander of the 9th Army Corps of Paris has issued a notice, +stating that the surrender of arms has been slow, and the last delay has +expired. The military authorities will, therefore, treat the offenders +with severity. Active searches have been made in the Rue St. Honoré +to-day. + +The Courts-martial at Versailles will try the prisoners exclusively for +offences against the common law, and will not consider them as political +offenders. + + +JUNE 11th. + +The close inspection which has been made of the sewers in Paris has +already led to the discovery of large quantities of weapons and +ammunition, and also of many ex-Federalist combatants, who, despairing +of escape from the regular troops, sought refuge in the subterranean +passages with whatever provisions they could secure. The greater part of +these miserable creatures are in a most deplorable condition from hunger +and the poisonous atmosphere of their hiding places. On Friday, at the +angle of the Rue Vavin and the outer Boulevard, the scavengers found +five bodies in the sewer, one that of an officer, and all mutilated by +rats. The bodies were brought out by means of ropes, and after search +for papers and documents, were interred in the Mont Parnasse Cemetery. + + +JUNE 12th. + +On Wednesday the Commissary of Police for the Quartier Saint Victor +received information that the ex-General of the Commune, Rossel, was in +concealment at the Hôtel Montebello, upon the Boulevard St. Germain. The +Commissary proceeded to the hotel, and upon searching the place found in +a room on the third floor a person dressed in the uniform of the Eastern +Railway service. Upon being questioned this person stated that his name +was Tirobois, that he was an engineer living at Metz, but had been +summoned to Paris by the railway managers on account of the pressure of +traffic on the line. 'Are you sure of that?' asked the Commissary. +'Parbleu.' 'Well, in the name of the law I arrest you. You are Rossel.' +'I? not at all.' The prisoner was taken to the Prefecture de Police +established at the Barracks of the Cité, and thence in a boat to the +Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the head-quarters of the municipal +police are established. During the whole of the journey thither, being +closely pressed with questions by the Commissary, the pretended Tirobois +continued his denials. Upon being further interrogated at the Ministry +of Foreign Affairs, he replied, 'I have told you all I know about +myself. Do not ask me any more.' Tirobois was then conveyed to the +Ministry of War, where he was confronted with a number of persons who +were detained in custody. Some of these declared that he was Rossel, but +others, the majority, denied that he was the Communist ex-General. About +10 o'clock at night the prisoner was formally questioned as to his +history. When the customary question, 'What is the name of your mother?' +was put, he became confused, turned red, and, suddenly springing up, +exclaimed, 'Why carry on this pretence any longer. Of what good is this +acting and these lies. Yes, I am Colonel Rossel.' After this avowal the +prisoner was removed under escort to the dépôt of the Prefecture. Upon +being searched there was found 225f. in notes, a political article, and +a longitudinal section of the different public monuments in Paris. The +next day he was taken to Versailles and lodged at the Grandes Écuries. +His real description is Louis Nathaniel Rossel, born at St. Brieuc +(Côtes du Nord), September 9, 1844, of Louis and of Sarah Campbell. The +_Figaro_ states that the artist Courbet was captured at the house of one +of his friends, a pianoforte maker in the Rue St. Gilles. He was +concealed behind a bedstead, and, upon being threatened with a revolver, +gave himself up without attempting resistance. + +The destruction at the Gobelins has not been so extensive as had been +apprehended. Only a small portion of the buildings has been burnt, and +work has already been resumed in the parts which have been spared. Even +in those rooms which have been destroyed not all the works of art have +been lost, and especially the "Dead Christ" after Philippes de +Champagne, and the portrait of Louis XIV, after Rigault, have been +saved. The collection of ancient patterns has also been preserved. + + +JUNE 13th + +Some disquieting rumours about the condition of La Villette have caused +the troops quartered there to be strongly reinforced; nevertheless, +perfect tranquility so far prevails. + +Business is greatly improving, orders for _articles de Paris_ coming in +pretty freely, and the fine weather bringing increasing crowds of +visitors. + +Some further important arrests have been made, including Urbain, alleged +to have been the principal instigator of the massacre of the hostages. + + +JUNE 14th. + +Paris is rapidly resuming its old appearance. The Cafés and Concerts in +the Champs Élysées recommence to-morrow, and various theatres are +re-opening. + + +JUNE 15th. + +People, in France, are discussing the causes of the late insurrection, +and measuring the consideration to which the Insurgents, whether as +rebels or refugees, are justly entitled. That the tendency of opinion +should be strongly against the Communists is natural, for the +justification of their revolt appears difficult, while their last acts +have excited universal abhorrence. It is, indeed, perfectly true that +they had no grievance against the Government which they defied, for +though, perhaps, the National Assembly might not have voted for a +Republic, no Republic which could have been voted by any Assembly of +Frenchmen would have satisfied the Insurgents of Paris. The political +leanings of the Assembly may be put out of the question in searching for +the origin of the Civil War. That war was hatched in the brooding minds +of Parisian workmen, intent on one single object, and it became +practicable when the Revolution of September last put arms in their +hands and the capitulation of February left them there still. + +The one fixed idea of the workmen of Paris was that work entitled them +to something more than wages. They had so long and so intently +contemplated the relations between labour and capital that they knew +nothing of any other elements of human society, or of any other classes +beyond employers and employed. They saw that a hundred workmen got their +five francs a day each, and that the single person who hired them got +his thousands a year. We are not aware that, as a rule, they were +ill-paid or overworked, or in any way oppressed. We should infer rather +that they were in the receipt of good wages, that they possessed +education as well as skill, and that they had leisure enough and to +spare for discussion and thought. The misfortune was that they thought +of one subject only, until at last their conceptions grew actually +monstrous. It was not all at once that they reached the doctrines +recently declared. There is a wide difference between the ideas of 1871 +and those of 1848. At the latter period the labourer was held simply to +be worthy of his hire, and nothing was proposed beyond such an +organization of labour as would insure a constant supply of work for all +who wanted it, at wages determined rather by considerate adjustment than +unrestricted competition. But the men of the Commune had advanced far +ahead of such old Tories of Socialism and Democracy as LEDRU ROLLIN and +LOUIS BLANC. Still occupied with the one single prospect of their daily +life, and regarding the relations between capital and labour as the +be-all and end-all of existence, they had reached the conclusion that +all capital should be transferred bodily to themselves; that they alone +ought to constitute society, that all other classes should be +dispossessed as worthless, and all established institutions abolished as +effete. They began their demolition with the nation itself. They would +have no nation, no France, no French Government. They renounced not +only all Kings and Emperors, but all Presidents, all Conventions, and +all Parliaments, the latter especially. In the place of such authorities +they proposed to substitute Committees of working men, and to cut up the +country into such areas as Trade Unions might conveniently govern. For +their own particular Union they thought Paris might serve well enough, +and so they stipulated for their own sovereignty within these limits +under the title of the Commune. On those terms--every other species of +authority and power being excluded--they believed they could put into +practice their one idea of turning their own little world upside down +and making the working class everything and other classes nothing. As +they never looked beyond their own workshops, they considered that none +but working people had ever done any duties or suffered any wrongs, and +that no others, therefore, were entitled to any rights. The one object +of their hatred, envy, and antagonism was capital, and they resolved to +take capital into their own hands. For the future they would lead easy +lives, and be the lords instead of the slaves of their old and detested +enemy. + +In those pretensions and those desires originated the Revolution just +suppressed. The war thus undertaken was a Civil War, conducted without +the least respect to any laws of war at all. The flight of the +Government left the entire Capital not only with all its resources, but +with all its treasures and all its inhabitants, in the hands of the +insurgents. With these advantages they preferred their demands. They +asked for the Capital of France to be delivered over to them as an +estate or province within which they might proscribe the worship of GOD, +appropriate every form of capital, and depose all authority and all +ranks in favour of their own. Failing this, and in the event of their +being defeated in the actual war, they asked for amnesty and liberty to +depart. At first they reckoned on victory, for the Assembly appeared +disorganized and its armies wavering; the support of other great towns +was anticipated, and the outlaws of every country in Europe--the +veterans of the universal Revolution--had carried their swords to the +service of its latest and ripest expression--the Parisian Commune. +Moreover, they had tremendous means of extortion in their hands. They +held possession of all that was precious and admirable in the Capital of +France, and they declared that, if they were neither allowed to prevail +nor permitted to escape, they would spare nothing in their vengeance. In +preparation for the worst they stored combustibles in the noblest +edifices of the city, and then, laying their hands on some of the most +eminent and venerated of its inhabitants, they penned them in a body for +the contingency of prospective slaughter. They had no more personal +animosity against Monseigneur DARBOY than against any statue in the +Tuileries or the Louvre. Animate and inanimate objects were marked for +destruction on precisely the same grounds--the necessity of putting +stress upon the enemy; and the threat was actually executed because its +execution might improve the effect of terrorism another day. Of laws or +of rules of war these men took not the slightest account. The military +leaders of the insurrection had been trained in combats where every +imaginable expedient had been held lawful, and the Committee of the +International thought no price too high for the realization of their +fixed idea. Soldiers and workmen alike were prepared for any extremity +of outrage either in pursuit of victory or prosecution of revenge. + +Such was the cause and such the conduct of this two months' war; but a +war, nevertheless, it was, waged by a political insurrection on behalf +of a political object. It is very true that the Insurgents aimed at no +form of polity known to the world, and that it would have been +impossible to content them by any measure of civil freedom or political +rights. Their chief and most peremptory demand was, not for any rights +of their own, but for the suppression of the rights of others. They +denounced the extension of the suffrage to the rural population, and, as +they were in a very small minority themselves, they protested against +the right of any majority to outvote them, though they were preparing +all the while to impose their own will on a constituency of ten times +their number. + +Such are my summary reflections concerning that gigantic insurrection. + +Now, my Dear, that I have brought my daily correspondence to an end, +happy shall I be, if such as may happen to read my small volume can find +the perusal of it as interesting as you told it was to you. + +I don't expect to stay much longer abroad: I shall soon return to +England but quite heart-rent at what my eyes have witnessed, and +notwithstanding my admiration for the noble qualities of the french +nation, more than once, I fear, I shall not be able to refrain +exclaiming: _Poor France!_ + + +THE END. + + + + +HISTORICAL INFORMATIONS ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS BURNT + + +The Palais Royal, built on the site of Cardinal Richelieu's Palace, +faces the Louvre, and adjoins the Place des Victoires. Given by Louis +XIV, to his brother the Duke of Orleans, it passed from him to the +Regent Duke. Here, but not in the existing edifice, the Regent and his +daughter held their incredible orgies; here lived his grandson Egalité, +who rebuilt the palace after a fire, and relieved his embarrassments by +erecting the ranges of shops. The Palais Royal Gardens were the nursery +of the First Revolution; they were the favourite resort of Camille +Desmoulins and the other mob orators not yet sitting in Convention; and +in them was unfurled, on the 13th of July, 1789, that tricolour flag +which was to prove even a deadlier symbol than the red and white roses +plucked once for England's woe in our own Temple-gardens. At the Palais +Royal Egalité hatched the plots which ended in his execution, when it +was disposed of by lottery, to be bought back, repaired, and beautified +by the Orleans family after the Restoration, and inhabited by them till +the second death of the Monarchy, in 1830, removed them to the +Tuileries. In 1848 the palace was plundered and the interior destroyed +by the mob, who at the same time burnt Louis Philippe's fine library. +The Palais was turned into a barrack, but when the new Republic +developed into an Empire, it naturally changed back again into a palace. +The Emperor made it over to his uncle Jerome, who left it to Prince +Napoleon, by whom it was fitted up in sumptuous style. The great +staircase and its balustrades and the Galerie des Fêtes were fine in art +and in general effect, but nothing that may have been destroyed can be +half so great a loss as the Library which went in 1848, or as the Hôtel +de Ville, a magnificent structure, dating in part from 1628. The +additions of 1842 to this municipal palace cost 640,000_l_., and some of +the saloons were the most gorgeous in Paris, perhaps in the world. Here +in the days gone by, the Prefect of the Seine was wont to entertain his +7,000 guests in the great gallery, with its gilt Corinthian columns and +3,000 wax lights, the whole suite of rooms measuring more than 1,000 +yards in length. In and about the building were some 500 statues of +French celebrities, from Charlemagne to Louis XIV, in a full-bottomed +wig. Painting, gilding, carving, glass, and velvet here had done their +utmost, and as a specimen of magnificence in the modern French taste +the furniture and decorations of the Hôtel de Ville were unrivalled. The +building, however, was far from depending altogether on its sumptuous +upholstery. Not only was the architecture worthy of all praise and the +art of much of the decoration as intrinsic as its gold, but here had +been enacted many famous and infamous scenes in the history of Paris. +Here the first Commune held its bloody sittings; here Robespierre took +refuge with his partisans, and was found by the soldiers with his broken +jaw; the "Citizen King" was presented here to the people by Lafayette +from a central window; here the soldiers were quartered in 1848; and +here in 1871 was the stronghold of the last Commune, less bloody in its +life but more desperate in its death than the first. + +The Palais de Justice is a vast pile, which includes the Sainte +Chapelle, numerous courts of law, and the Prison of the Conciergerie. +Anciently the site of palaces inhabited by the Kings down to Francis I., +afterwards the meeting place of the Parliaments of Paris, it has been +repaired and rebuilt since 1831 at a cost of nearly 1,000,000_l_. The +courts of law open from the vast but inelegant Salle des Pas Perdus, +which answers to our Westminster-hall. One of these courts was the +Chamber of the Tribunal Revolutionnaire, and communicated by a small +door with the Conciergerie Prison. In the precincts of the Palais +stands, or stood, the Sainte Chapelle, an exquisite specimen on a small +scale of the best style of Gothic architecture. The Chapelle was +finished in 1248, having been built by Pierre de Montereau to enshrine +the thorns of our Lord's crown and the wood of the Cross, relics bought +for an immense sum from the Emperor Baldwin by St. Louis, and carried +through the streets of Paris by the King barefoot. In 1791 the Sainte +Chapelle became a club, then a corn store, then a record office; Louis +Philippe commenced its restoration, and up to the fall of the Empire +about 2,000,000f. had been spent upon it. It is in two stories, +corresponding with the floors of the ancient palace; the lower chapel, +or crypt, was intended for the servants, the upper, on a level with the +Royal apartments, for the Royal family. The glass is exquisite, and the +statues of the twelve Apostles date from the 13th century, and are +admirable specimens of the art of their age. A small square hole to the +south of the nave communicates with a room in which Louis XI was wont to +sit and hear mass without fear of assassination. + +GRAND-HOTEL + +_12, Boulevard des Capucines, 12._ + + * * * * * + +REOPENING + +=After entire restoration.= + + * * * * * + +The new direction of the Grand-Hotel has greatly reduced the prices. + +The price for service will be no more charged to travellers. + +=700 rooms and drawing-rooms= + +very comfortably furnished, from +5 francs a day, service included. + + * * * * * + +=TABLE D'HOTE= + +BREAKFASTS--at 4 francs, wine included, + every day from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m. + +DINNERS--at 6 francs, wine included, + every day at 6 p.m. precisely. + + * * * * * + +MEALS BY THE CARD. + + * * * * * + +SPECIAL SERVICE AT MED PRICE. + +Including the lodging, fuel, light, service and food, with choice to +take the meals in the apartments, in the restaurant, or at the table +d'hôte: + +1st class--30 frs. 24 sh. 6 d. +2d d° --25 » 20 » 5 » +3d d° --20 » 16 » 4 » + +OPPOSITE THE NEW OPERA GRANDE BRASSERIE.--GRAND BREWERY + +ENGLISH ALES,--DUTCH BEER + +COFFEE-HOUSE.--EATING-HOUSE + +_Breakfasts at 2 Fr. 50 (2 shil.).--Dinners at 4 Fr. 50 and à la carte +(bill of fare)_ + +31, BOULEVARD HAUSSMAN =The most comfortable in Paris= + + * * * * * + +CABOURG-DIVES + +GRAND HOTEL DE LA PLAGE + +Establishment for bathing situated in the most luxuriant and salubrious +country in Normandy + +SPLENDID CASINO.--ROOMS FOR THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES + + * * * * * + +=DIEPPE= + +HOTEL ROYAL ON THE PLAGE + +THE MOST COMFORTABLE + +Kept by Mme LAFOSSE + + * * * * * + +=CAEN= + +HOTEL DE LA VICTOIRE + +NEAR THE CATHEDRAL + +_Kept by Mr BEUZELIN_ + + * * * * * + +WINE AND SPIRITS + +J. CHAIGNEAU AND CO + +_31 and 33, rue Doidy_ + +=BORDEAUX= + +Appointed to supply H.M. the king of sweden and norway + + * * * * * + +CAEN. TYP. F. LE BLAC-HARDEL. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Insurrection in Paris, by An Englishman: Davy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS *** + +***** This file should be named 19912-8.txt or 19912-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/9/1/19912/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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.org + + +Title: The Insurrection in Paris + +Author: An Englishman: Davy + +Release Date: November 24, 2006 [EBook #19912] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS</h1> + +<p class="center">RELATED<br /><br /> +BY</p> + +<h3>AN ENGLISHMAN</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>An eye-witness of that frightful war and of the terrible evils which +accompanied it</i></p> + +<p class="center">PRICE: 2 fr. 50 c.</p> + +<h3>PARIS<br /><br /> +A. LEMOIGNE, EDITOR</h3> + +<p class="center">26, PLACE VENDÔME</p> + +<h3>1871</h3> + +<p class="center">Imprimerie de F. Le Blanc-Hardel, rue Froide, 2 et 4, à Caen.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p style="margin-left: 50%; margin-right: auto;"><i>Paris, June the 25<sup>th</sup> 1871.</i></p> + + +<h3>DEAR EDWARD,</h3> +<p style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;">To you who have been pleased to take some interest in what I wrote about +Paris, I inscribe this small volume which, according to your suggestion, +I publish under the form of a nearly day per day correspondence.</p> +<p style="margin-left: 50%; margin-right: auto;"><i>Yours truly</i>,<br /><br /> + DAVY.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>RECOLLECTIONS</h2> + +<h3>OF THE</h3> + +<h1>PARISIAN INSURRECTION.</h1> + + +<p>The desire of appreciating <i>de visu</i> the results of a five month's siege +in a town of two million inhabitants, unexampled in the annals of +humanity, made me leave London on the twentieth of March.</p> + +<p>Hardly landed in the Capital of France which I thought of finding +tranquil and occupied in exercising its genius in repairing the +disasters caused by the enemy, I heard with stupefaction that Paris, a +prey to civil war, was under the blow of a fresh siege.</p> + +<p>Sad change! the German helmets had given place to the French kepys; +citizens of the same nation were going to cut one another's throats.</p> + +<p>My first thought was to withdraw from this mournful and dangerous +spectacle. Of what importance to me, a simple citizen of Great Britain, +were the disorders and furies of that people, in turn our most cruel +enemy or our friend according to circumstances, as European politics or +the interests of sovereigns make of them our adversary or our ally?—Why +expose myself voluntarily to the heart-rending and often dangerous +trials of a war that had none of my sympathies either on the one side or +on the other of the enclosure? Was I going to see a great people +breaking its irons and fighting to death in order to recover its rights +and liberty?—No—the French people had at last the government of their +choice,—the Republic. There was, then, question of an impious war, +undertaken by a blind multitude for the profit of a few hidden +ambitions: that is to say, a war without grandeur and without interest +for a simple spectator.</p> + +<p>However, after due reflection, I overcame my repugnance. I had, in my +excursions, remarked, among the armed bands, so many heterogeneous +elements; that is to say, thousands of individuals of all social +positions and of so many nationalities, that I began to think it would +perhaps be useful to my compatriots to hear by and by a sincere recital, +written by a disinterested pen, of the events about to take place.</p> + +<p>I did not conceal from myself the dangers to which my curiosity would +expose me; but had I not, and that too without any advantage, incurred +as great dangers in escalading Mont-Blanc and in going up along the +borders of the Nile? Besides, as is generally the case, the certainty of +an imminent peril only served to strengthen my resolution. Moreover, not +wishing to run any useless risk, I thought good to take a few +precautions: I went to see Monsieur ***, an old French refugee that I +had known at London, by the interposition of M. Causidiere. I asked him +if he could not procure me a permission, a pass, some paper or other.</p> + +<p>«Are you quite decided on staying?»</p> + +<p>Asked that gentleman, whom I do not name for a reason that will be +appreciated by the reader.</p> + +<p>«Perfectly decided.»</p> + +<p>«Could nothing, not even good advice, make you renounce your intention?»</p> + +<p>«Nothing.»</p> + +<p>«Then come with me to the Town-hall.»</p> + +<p>I followed him; and, half an hour afterwards, I was in possession of a +pass signed by two members of the Commune.</p> + +<p>This precaution was not to be useless. A few days afterwards, going to +see the fort of Vanves, strongly menaced, I was arrested and taken +before the commander of the Fort.</p> + +<p>This officer examined my pass; and, hesitating without doubt as to my +identity, he put several questions to me in English. My answers +certainly satisfied him, for he took me by the hand and said to me in a +tone not without emotion:</p> + +<p>«Go, Sir, I will give you some one to accompany you; I like the English; +I have seen them under fire; I was at Inkermann.»</p> + +<p>The next day, having advanced too near Courbevoie, I was arrested by a +patrol, and taken before a Commander of the army of Versailles. There I +exhibited a letter from the ambassador's.</p> + +<p>«Ah!» said the Commander, «I knew in the Crimea two brave officers of +your name.»</p> + +<p>«John and Lewis—Captains—they were cousins of mine.»</p> + +<p>«That is it exactly—what has become of them?»</p> + +<p>«Lewis is in the Indies—John is dead.»</p> + +<p>«He is very happy», said the commander sorrowfully, in bowing to me.»</p> + +<p>I went back, not without thinking of those two men—of those two +brothers-in-arms, who perhaps were going to fire upon each other, after +having mingled their blood before the enemy for the defence of their +country. Alas! I was destined to see greater crimes.</p> + +<p>Certain, henceforth, of being able to get safely out of all scrapes, +thanks to my pass of the commune and my papers from the ambassador's, I +persevered in following step by step the events I am about to relate.</p> + +<p>Not having the pretention to write the history of the French revolution, +with an appreciation of its consequences, as was done by our illustrious +compatriot Carlisle for the revolution of 93, I will content myself with +a simple and daily account of what I have seen and heard, and nothing +more.</p> + +<p>The events offer of themselves sufficient interest and need not be +augmented.</p> + +<p>In default of merit to which this book, so rapidly got up, cannot +pretend, I dare hope that its sincerity will gain for it the reader's +sympathy and esteem.</p> + +<p>Paris.<br /><br /></p> + +<p>A certain calm reigned in the city in consequence of the hope that was +entertained of seeing the commune come to an understanding with the +government of Versailles. Several battalions even marched only because +they were forced to do so. This hesitation was caused by the convocation +of all the freemasons for bringing about a reconciliation between the +two parties. It was, in fact, on this very day, that all the freemasons +of Paris went to the Town-hall to hear pronounced, by several members of +the commune, speeches of a fiery character and leading to civil war.</p> + +<p>All efforts of reconciliation have failed. Dombrowski, then, has ordered +the inhabitants of Neuilly to leave in 24 hours, having the intention to +reduce the village to ashes. The day ended by the arrest of general +Cluseret.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 1<sup>rst</sup>.</h3> + +<p>This day is signalized by the capture of the railway-station of Clamart, +where the insurgents lost, in addition to 60 prisoners, about 300 killed +by the bayonet. The soldiers of Versailles gave no quarter, excited as +they were at the sight of the deserters of the Line who served in the +ranks of the commune.</p> + +<p>It was also on this day that general Mariouze retook the castle of Issy, +having captured 250 insurgents. This number was increased by others, +made prisoners during the day, and they arrived at Versailles 400 in +number.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 2<sup>nd</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The scaffolding for the destruction of the Vendôme Column is arranged, +and the eighth of this month is the day fixed for its fall.</p> + +<p>The fighting around Paris continues violent and the troops of Versailles +press steadily forward.</p> + +<p>The railway-companies are taxed to the amount of 2,000,000 fr.</p> + +<p>Let us terminate this day by the recital of the pillage of Notre-Dame.<br /><br /></p> + + +<h3>NOTRE-DAME PLUNDERED.</h3> + +<p>People were astonished that the commune should have restored the +treasure of Notre-Dame after having had it taken away. To day the +astonishment will cease: the furniture and vases had been brought back +only to be re-taken.</p> + +<p>On monday, april 26th., in the afternoon, a certain number of national +guards, accompanied by the self-styled delegates of the commune, loaded, +for the second time, in two carriages, the treasure of Notre-Dame. Then, +having doubtless met with some difficulties, they had the horses taken +away and left the two carriages loaded.</p> + +<p>The next day, at 1 o'clock, a pompous bill was stuck up at the town-hall +and at the mayory of the 4th. arrondissement, announcing that the +treasure of Notre-Dame had all just been restored. But, at about 3 +o'clock, fifty national guards arrived at Notre-Dame, the horses were +again put to, and the two vehicles were taken no body knows where.</p> + +<p>These gentlemen are to return, for they have only done half their work; +time has not permitted them to take all.</p> + +<p>Such then is the end of the promises and protestations of gentlemen, +members of the commune, who declare aloud that probity is their ruling +virtue.</p> + +<p>These gentlemen propose, moreover, it is said, to rake up, so to speak, +the very ground; that is to say, to upset every thing in the church, +cellars and calorifères. They insist on finding there arms and +ammunition.</p> + +<p>It is true that, during the siege, the gunners of the national guard, +who occupied the park of artillery established round the basilic, +demanded of the chapter's steward the authorisation to put in the +cellars and calorifères their ammunition which was exposed to the shells +of the Prussians, and that this authorisation was granted them without +the least difficulty.</p> + +<p>After the Armistice, they took away all these arms; but could they have +had the indelicacy to leave some behind in order to be able to justify +the impious and sacrilegious robbery they were meditating. This would be +odious but not impossible in such times as these.</p> + +<p>A few days before two men employed in guarding the church were arrested. +They were kept 3 or 4 days, and, before being set at liberty, the keys +of the church were taken from them. What took place is however unknown, +for the poor fellows are afraid to utter a word.</p> + +<p>A commissary came, in the name of the commune, to sequester the objects +belonging to the church Sainte-Marguerite, in the little borough of St. +Antoine. A picket of 10 national guards is in permanence in the church +to keep sight of the clergy.</p> + +<p>The church Saint-Merry has also been ransacked by the sicaires of the +Commune.</p> + +<p>The vicar, fortunately, had stolen away from their <i>fraternal</i> visit.</p> + +<p>The church Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs is transformed into a club-house.</p> + +<p>The parishioners are robbed, plundered, driven from their temples, and +the preaching of the Gospel is replaced in the pulpit by the +declamations of epileptic tribunes.</p> + +<p>At Plaisance they have sequestered a chalice and a sum of 175 franks, +the personal property of M. l'abbé Orse, first vicar.</p> + +<p>The curate, M. Blondeau, is in the prisons of the Commune.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 3<sup>d</sup>.</h3> + +<p>A manifestation, provoked by the Freemasons, took place in the +afternoon. A body of several thousands of people crossed the +Champs-Élysées, carrying green branches and white flags. Arrived at the +gate Maillot, the firing ceased, but the manifestation was warned not to +approach and that only two parliamentarians would be received. They +accordingly presented themselves and will be this evening at Versailles. +It is reported that yesterday 200 soldiers, wearing the uniform of +troops of the Line, went down the Champs-Élysées. It was said they were +deserters from Versailles. We can positively state as a certain fact, +that from the first week of april no deserter has been counted in the +army of Versailles.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 4<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Two brigades carried off last night the park, the castle and cemetery of +Issy, taking 8 guns, ammunition and a hundred prisoners. They had a few +dead and 20 wounded. The cemetery is about 210 yards from the fort. The +capture of this fort appears imminent.</p> + +<p>Yesterday, M<sup>r</sup>. Thiers received two parliamentarians, freemasons, who +declared, however, they had no mandate. M<sup>r</sup>. Thiers gave them an answer +similar to those already known; that he desired more than any body the +end of the civil war, but that France could not capitulate before a few +insurgents; that they must apply for peace to the commune who had +troubled it.</p> + +<p>Yesterday evening, a parliamentarian summoned the fort of Issy to +capitulate.</p> + +<p>The insurgents answered that they were going to deliberate about it, +that they would give a reply in half an hour; then they asked for a +prolongation of the delay.—The parliamentarian returned.</p> + +<p>The negociations for the capitulation, resumed in the morning, will +probably succeed.</p> + +<p>The coup de main on the farm of Bonamy, in front of Châtillon, was +executed by a company of the 70th. and by that of the scouts of 71st.</p> + +<p>Two officers of the insurgents were killed, and 30 insurgents killed or +wounded. They made 75 prisoners and among them 4 officers.</p> + +<p>The last military facts of the day took place in the quarries and park +of Issy which were vigorously carried by the battalions of the brigades +Derocha, Paturel and Berthe, with the assistance of the marine +musketeers.</p> + +<p>The insurgents, in very large numbers, retired precipitately, leaving +numerous dead and wounded, as well as a hundred prisoners, 8 pieces of +artillery, much ammunition and 8 horses.</p> + +<p>Nothing particular this afternoon. The insurgents are busy about mining +Paris, and the Versailles troops have silenced the firing of the fort of +Issy which is now completely invested.</p> + +<p>The fort of Issy is summoned to surrender, but Rossel, previously +colonel, who has replaced General Cluseret, gives the parliamentarian a +most arrogant answer of refusal threatening to have shot any other +messenger of the army of Versailles, the bearer of such a demand.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 5, 6<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Such was the remark I heard made yesterday by a poor and very old +peasant woman as she stopped work for a moment in a field above +Montretout to look at the Fort firing. She followed up this admirable +summary of recent military operations by asking me whether it was not +amazing that somebody could not "invent" a means to put a stop to this +Civil War. I think the whole world must concur with this poor old +woman. It is always the same repetition that is certain, and it is so +to even a greater degree than she was aware of. Not only is the +cannonading the same repetition, but the game of taking positions, +giving them up and retaking them, to lose or abandon them once more, has +been the night work of the last week. Except it may be by treason, or by +the Commune falling to pieces, they are not nearer a march on Paris than +they were three weeks ago. I won't say a month ago, because then the +work could have been done by a few thousand good troops. A non-official +organ of the Government now tells us to be confident, because "unless in +the case of such accidents as one cannot suppose, or of unforeseen +surprises, <i>some weeks</i> will be sufficient to bring to an end the +necessary but sad entreprise of the attack on Paris!" The same paper is +of opinion that only "some months" will have elapsed before order is +restored in the capital. It thinks the <i>Journal Officiel</i> ridiculously +sanguine, because the latter says, "our works of approach advance with a +rapidity which elicits the admiration of all men of art, and which +promises to France a speedy end of its trials, and to Paris a +deliverance from the horrible tyrants who oppress it." Perhaps it is +because the artillerists and other military men whom I meet are not +"men of art," but certainly I cannot find that any of them take so +bright a view of the position. I have just spoken with a very +distinguished foreign officer who has seen the position here and who has +been every where to look at the Insurgent side. He tells me that at the +batteries outside the city he saw some very good men, but that, taken as +a whole, the National Guards within the city are the most miserable lot +he ever saw under arms. All the barricades are admirably made as to +workmanship, but there is not one of them that could not be taken by +troops approaching from streets at angles with the points at which those +obstructions are placed. The Place Vendôme is "a rat-trap," and the +Insurgent chiefs take good care not to make it their own Head-Quarters. +The gallant gentleman to whom I refer believes that if the troops once +got inside the <i>enceinte</i>, the insurrection would utterly collapse; but +if the military confine themselves to the operations in which they are +now engaged it will be a considerable time before Paris gives in. Such +is the report of a competent and impartial authority. Rumours of the +most contradictory character are rife from morning till night in the +open air lobby of the Assembly—the Rue des Réservoirs. Deputies who +"ought to know better" circulate very absurd <i>canards</i>; but, as remarks +a local print, "<i>Que voulez-vous? On s'ennuie, il faut bien passer le +temps!</i>" In my last letter of Thursday night I stated that the affair at +Moulin Saquet was a repetition of that at the Clamart Station. I find +to-day a contradiction of the statement that insurgents were butchered +at Moulin Saquet. It is true, nevertheless. The Commune, wishing, no +doubt, to keep the whole truth from their followers fearing its +disheartening effect, state enough for their purpose, which is to +represent the Versailles Government as assassins. It says that 15 of the +National Guards were killed with knives. The fact is as I stated it. The +redoubt was taken by surprise, and the soldiers gave no quarter. The +number I gave as that of the wretched men killed by the bayonet was 450. +I was under the mark. In his report of the affair General Cissey +says,—"Two hundred insurgents were left dead on the spot. We have taken +many insurgent officers and 300 prisoners and cannon." The Commune +alleges that the redoubt fell into the hands of the Versailles troops by +means of treason. In this instance I dare say the cry of "<i>Nous sommes +trahis!</i>" is not far from the truth. The unfortunate garrison were +asleep when the troops entered, the sentinels having, as is alleged, +fled, when they found the enemy was upon them. There were 800 men in the +redoubt, and before they could prepare any effective resistance the +massacre was effected. Now, after all this slaughter and capture of +prisoners and guns, Moulin Saquet is again in the hands of the +Insurgents. The Commune boasts that the National Guards attacked it with +much dash, and re-took it from the troops of Versailles. The fact is +these troops found the place too hot for them, and were obliged to +abandon it. It is exposed to the fire of Bicêtre, Ivry, and Hautes +Bruyères. Was it worth while for the sake of eight cannon to commit such +a terrific slaughter? Most of the prisoners taken on the occasion declare +that they had been forced to serve, and that they had been sent to +Moulin Saquet as a punishment for their having refused to march on +Neuilly. Among the captives is an interesting looking young woman, in +the uniform of a <i>cantinière</i>. Poor thing, she is wounded and in +hospital. Her story is that some months ago she became the wife of a +young man, who after the breaking out of the Civil War was forced to +serve in the ranks of the Insurgents. For eight days she was without any +tidings of him, and in her despair she adopted the uniform in which she +was wounded and captured, in order that she might visit all the outposts +in search of her husband. She had not succeeded in finding him, and she +does not know whether he is living. Had she been successful she would +have died by his side rather than have been separated from him again. I +am happy to say that the wound of this heroine is only slight, and that +everything is being done to promote her recovery.</p> + +<p>If the Insurgents have not actually re-taken the Clamart Station, the +scene of the other slaughter, they have established themselves very +close to it, in a cutting which forms a communication between the +Station and a barricade on the line of railway. As the Station is under +fire from Fort Vanves I have no doubt that the military found it +impossible to hold it, and that if not now in it the Insurgents may +re-occupy it whenever they like. Again, there was much boasting about +the taking of the Château of Issy. We were told that it was an admirable +position, completely screened from the insurgent fire, and affording an +excellent vantage ground for riflemen. I saw it on fire yesterday. The +Insurgents succeeded in making their shells reach it and making it very +much too hot for the Chasseurs. The truth is the Insurgents have been +doing the Versaillais quite as much damage as the latter have been +inflicting on them. The fire from the batteries at and about the Point +du Jour has been excellent. There must be artillerists there quite as +good as any on this side. The manner in which the ruins of Fort Issy +have been defended is surprising. There is not a roof or a window frame +in one of its barracks, but from the embrasures in the earthworks the +fire is still kept up from one or two points. To take it by assault +would be a matter of no difficulty, but General Faron believes that it +is mined, and even in its crippled position he won't venture to attack +it at close quarters. With the exception of bayoneting some 500 poor +wretches who could not defend themselves, taking a few hundred prisoners +who are rather an embarrassment to them, and capturing a few cannon +which they don't themselves want and which the Insurgents can easily +replace, the Government has done nothing this week. In the words of the +old peasant woman, <i>C'est toujours la même répétition</i>.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 7<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>In consequence of a large placard posted over the walls of Paris this +morning I passed through the gate of the private garden of the +Tuileries, and made my way, in company with a crowd of citizens of all +classes, through the apartments occupied but a few months ago by the +ex-Emperor and Empress. The printed invitation announced that we might +see the rooms in which the "tyrant" had lived, for the modest sum of 50c., +but that, should we think proper to take tickets for the concert, +"whereby these saloons might be at length rendered useful to the +people," we should be permitted to enjoy the extra show gratis. I took a +ticket, and joined myself to a thick stream of people who belonged to +every nationality and rank of life, and whose remarks and criticisms +were most edifying. There were shopkeepers and their wives, only too +delighted to take advantage of the mildest dissipation; gentlemen whose +National Guard trousers were rendered respectable by the gray jacket or +blouse of a citizen; humdrum housewives who approved everything, and +gaped their admiration of so much gorgeous wall-colouring; there were +flaunting ladies in bonnets of the latest fashion and marvellous +petticoats, who criticized the curtains and pointed the parasol of scorn +at faded draperies; people who felt the heavy hand of the spectre of +departed glory, and people who exulted at beholding the hidden recesses +of an Imperial mansion laid bare to the jokes and ribaldry of +Belleville and La Villette. Every class of Parisian society was +represented in the throng that swayed and hustled through the rooms, but +the saddest sight of all was a knot or two of decrepit veterans from the +Invalides who leant against the balustrade of the grand staircase, and +gazed with pinched-up lips and dry eyes at the National Guards on duty, +lounging and carousing down below. The stairs were littered with bedding +and cooking utensils, shirts and stockings hanging to dry over the gilt +railings, while in the square at the stairs' foot were ranged benches +and boards on trestles, and there the soldiers of the Guard sat in +picturesque groups enough, contrasting in the carelessness and dirt of +their general appearance with the lavish ornaments of marble and gilt +work which served as a background to their figures. Marching orders, +more or less thumbed and torn, hung in fragments from the panelled +walls; names in pencil and names in ink, and names scrawled with a +finger-nail, defaced the doors and staircase wall. A sentry stood at +every door to see that the citizens behaved themselves—a precaution by +no means unnecessary, the outward aspect of certain members of the crowd +being taken into consideration. In the Salle de la Paix a number of +women were busy uncovering a number of chairs for the promised concert, +and in the Salle des Maréchaux beyond, where the concert was to be +given, velvet benches were already occupied by old ladies in white caps +with baskets in their hands, who presented a stern aspect of endurance, +as though they were determined to sit there through the preparations as +well as the promised entertainment, and still to continue sitting until +turned out by sword and bayonet. The "Salle des Maréchaux" exists no +more except in name, for men on ladders were employed covering up the +portraits which decorate the hall with screens of red silk—I suppose +lest the past glory of French heroes should pale the brilliancy of the +National Guard, just as the bas-reliefs of the Vendôme Column act as an +outrage upon the susceptibilities of the Commune. White cloths were +being tied over the busts of Napoleon's Generals, and everything +relating to the past carefully obliterated—a rather foolish proceeding, +considering that the bee-spangled Imperial curtains still hang over the +doors, and festoons of the same drapery decorate the gallery above. The +brocaded panels of the Salle du Trône were objects of much remark among +the ladies, as were the tapestries of the Salle des Gobelins; but the +bareness and total absence of furniture were commented on freely on all +sides. Not a chair or a window blind, or even a door-plate or handle, is +to be seen in any of the rooms, except in those used for the concerts, +and the question arose, naturally enough. "Where is it all gone to?" The +same demand was made so often of an elderly bourgeois on duty at the end +of the Salle de Diane that he was fairly bewildered, and looked round +for help, and hailing the gold stripes on my cap as a haven of relief, +he forthwith seized upon me as a superior officer, and insisted on an +explanation. "You know there were quantities of cases carried off during +the time before Sedan," he said, "but, with all their cunning, they +can't have dismantled a whole palace of this size, can they?" And the +crowd stood round endeavouring to account for the nakedness of the land, +until a remark that the Commune had been feathering their nests with the +chairs and tables dispersed them laughing. The Empress's bedroom was a +great attraction, Chaplin's charming decorations being subjects of +sufficient interest, independent of the absent furniture. The +looking-glasses which spring from the walls called down ejaculations of +delight from a party of dressmakers, who carefully took notes of the +mechanism, "in order to imitate it, my dear, when Paris becomes itself +again." There was a large placard upon the wall of a kind of library, +inviting the attention of the public to the secret arrangements in a +recess whereby the Empress obtained her dresses and linen from some +manufactory of garments above, and an old lady, after having carefully +examined the elaborate details, turned away with a sigh and a shake of +the head. "How foolish of them, after all, not to have done a little for +us in order that they might have continued to abide in this paradise!" +How different was the Empress's apartment this morning, bare and crowded +with the dregs of the Paris population, from the night when I last saw +it, the night of her flight, when bed-clothes still littered the floor, +and gloves and little odds and ends of female finery told of recent +occupation! All was silent then with the stillness of a coming storm; +now the walls re-echo with a stir of unhallowed feet, and the spring +sunshine streams in at the open window accompanied by whiffs from the +garden below, while a distant cry reaches us from the street beyond of +"<i>Le Vengeur</i>," "<i>Le Cri du Peuple</i>," "<i>Le dernier ordre du Comité du +Salut Public</i>," and we detect curls of smoke about the Arch of Triumph, +which remind us that the bombardment still goes on. A reflective sentry +at the door of the <i>cabinet de travail</i> begged me to remark the +portraits set round above the doors. "Those are the Empress's favourite +ladies," he informed me; "are they not <i>salopines</i>, one would say, of +the period of Montespan? And those were the ladies who were models for +the women of our land—no wonder that Paris should have become the +Gomorrah that it is!" In the evening the concert was given, and a +wonderful bear-garden the Imperial Palace presented. Members of the +Commune flitted about in red draperies and tried to find room on the +already crowded benches for the struggling mob, who rubbed their hot +faces with their unaccustomed white gloves, and used such language to +each other as, it is to be hoped, those august walls have seldom heard. +Meanwhile, the crowd increased in numbers, and by 8 o'clock the +reception rooms were full, and some 2,000 people still stood in a long +string in the garden outside. They behaved with the wondrous good nature +which characterizes a French crowd, laughing over the absurdity of their +predicament and waving the tickets, which they would never be enabled to +present, jestingly at one another. In course of time the whole of the +<i>jardin privé</i> was full of people, who looked up at the lights streaming +from the windows, and sat about on chairs quietly smoking their cigars +and enjoying the lovely evening, listening to the occasional boom at +the other end of the long alley, where a bright flash which bore death +upon its wings appeared in the sky from time to time, in mockery of the +gas-lit chandeliers and feeble attempts at revelry that were going on +above our heads.</p> + +<p>The reigning scandal of the day is the affair of the Convent of Picpus. +So highly roused has public indignation been by the supposed discovery +of atrocities committed within those jealous walls that the people have +been peremptorily excluded until the investigations of justice shall be +complete. I managed, however, to penetrate within the precincts by +attaching myself to the <i>cortège</i> of an English friend, who was +journeying thither under special official orders, to investigate the +case of an English Sister named Garret. In the Rue de Picpus, near Mazas +prison, stand two large buildings, each surrounded by high walls, above +which may be seen green trees at intervals. The one is an establishment +of the Jesuites; the other the Convent of the White Nuns. The Jesuites +Brothers escaped at the first sign of approaching danger, but the +Sisters held their own until forced into cabs and conveyed to the cells +of St. Lazare, there to await the results of a judicial inquiry into +certain matters that are deemed suspicious. Arrived at the gate of the +Convent, we were obliged to force our way through a crowd of angry +people who demanded instant permission to enter, and who were as +persistently swept back by a group of National Guards—we, however, +being admitted inside the door under cover of the official pass and +signatures. In the court-yard, under the shade of some fine trees, a few +Guards were playing bowls in the Jesuit's alley, and making up to one of +them, whose cap displayed tokens of authority, we mentioned our +business, and begged permission to see what was to be seen. Our friend +was very civil, accepted a cigar, and marched us off to go the rounds. +He pointed out to us the fact, of which there certainly could exist no +kind of doubt, that the two buildings communicated one with the other, +by means of an old door which still exists at the back of a stable, as +well as by other apertures in the garden wall, which show signs of +having been recently closed up. The Jesuit's garden is a most beautiful +one, occupying a space of some 12 acres, laid out with care and +furnished with fruit trees of every description, pruned and trained +after the latest horticultural designs. There are wondrously ingenious +plans, too, for irrigating the beds, forcing pits and hothouses, and +long alleys with vines trained over them. Through the old door above +mentioned we passed into the Sister's garden, equally large and +beautiful, though not kept with the same care. In the centre stands a +gymnasium, I suppose for the use of the children brought up under the +Sisters' care, and further is their cemetery, a lovely spot, where, +under the heavy shade of ancient cypresses, lie bearers of some of the +most ancient names in France—"Prince of Salm-Kyrbourg, immolated under +the Terror, aged 49;" "Rochefoucauld," "De Noailles," "Montmorency," +"the great Lafayette," the whole family of the Talleyrand-Périgords, and +legions of Princes and Princesses. Some of the vaults have been opened, +and many lead coffins, half-covered with rotting velvet and gold lace, +lie exposed to the light of day, awaiting an examination at the hands of +the Minister of Justice. At the extreme end of the garden, however, are +the three little conical huts, side by side, resembling white ants' +nests, which have been the prime cause of so much excitement and +judicial inquiry. When the Convent was occupied by the National Guards +these little huts were tenanted each by an old woman, enclosed in a +wooden cage, like a chickens' pen, the three buildings being similar in +size and construction, six feet square by seven in height, with a slate +roof, through which daylight was visible, while the three old women +were all of them hopeless idiots. The Lady Superior has kept her lips +resolutely closed up to the present time, but admitted, when first +questioned, that the three sufferers had lived in their hideous prison +for nine years, in an atmosphere of stifling heat throughout the summer +and half frozen with cold throughout the winter; "but," she added, "they +were idiots when they came." The conductor of the inquiry replied that, +if such were the case, it was illegal to have admitted them to the +Convent at all, and that even supposing them to have been admitted, the +place where they were found was not a fit dwelling-place for a dog. A +key was discovered among her papers, labelled "key of the great vault;" +but where this great vault may be has not yet been found out. The +Superior and her nuns keep a uniform and persistent silence upon the +point; excavations have been made at different points in the garden, and +under the high altar of the chapel, but hitherto without effect. At one +end of the nuns' garden stands an isolated building, in which were found +mattresses furnished with straps and buckles, also two iron corsets, an +iron skull-cap, and a species of rack turned by a cog-wheel, evidently +intended for bending back the body with force. The Superior explained +that these were orthopædic instruments—a superficial falsehood. The +mattresses and straps struck me as being easily accounted for; I have +seen such things used in French midwifery, and in cases of violent +delirium; but the rack and its adjuncts are justly objects of grave +suspicion, for they imply a use of brutal force which no disease at +present known would justify. On our way back through the gardens our +guide made a <i>détour</i> in order to show us a great subterranean +warehouse, where an enormous quantity of potatoes was stored, as well as +barrels full of salt pork, while in a yard hard by lay grunting a fat +pig. "Look at this!" cried our National Guard indignantly. "Look at +these stores, which might have helped to feed the starving poor of the +arrondissement during our six months' siege, and think that these people +were begging from door to door the whole time for money to buy broken +victuals for their pensioners!" Arrived at the entrance gate our guide +nudged me, telling me in whispers to look at the old woman who was +wandering about, followed by a younger one, stooping from time to time +to pick up a leaf or rub her hands with sand and gravel. "That is Sœur +Bernadine," he said, "one of the three prisoners of the wooden cages. +She is the most sane in mind of the three, and we keep her here under +the care of one of our wives to cheer her up. She is only 50, though she +looks past 70. The other two have been removed, as they were rendered +violent by the crowd and change of scene." I passed close to her and she +looked up—a soft, pale face, with sunken eyes shaded by the frills of a +great cap. She looked at me dazedly, without taking any notice, and +stooping again, filled her hands with refuse coffee grounds, which she +put into her mouth until prevented by her companion. Without showing the +least prejudice in the matter, I think I can safely say that the ladies +now shut up at St. Lazare will find it no easy matter to clear +themselves of blame; for, though there are doubtless many suspicious +circumstances that maybe explained away, there are also hard facts which +will remain hard facts in spite of the most elaborate attempts at +refutation.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 8<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>In consequence of the bombardment daily expected from the Montretout +batteries people have been hurriedly leaving Paris in great numbers.</p> + +<p>Fort Vanves took fire last night, and had to be evacuated. It was found +impossible to extinguish the fire. It is still burning.</p> + +<p>The explosion at Issy arose from a torpedo, not a powder magazine. The +Fort is evacuated.</p> + +<p>There has been a general heavy firing to-day, and the Point du Jour has +suffered severely.</p> + +<p>Father Hogan, the <i>curé</i> of St. Sulpice, a British subject, was again +arrested yesterday. Mr. Malet has with difficulty procured his release +on condition that he leaves Paris.</p> + +<p>The Government troops were compelled to evacuate the railway station at +Clamart in consequence of the effluvia arising from the great number of +unburied corpses in and about the station, which was then occupied by +the Federalists, subsequently again evacuated by them upon the approach +of the Versailles troops.</p> + +<p>The Government have sent away to the Departments all the young soldiers +who have parents or relations domiciled in Paris.</p> + +<p>The statement that M. Schneider intented to remove his iron foundries +from Creuzot to Stockton-on-Tees is incorrect. A large number of models +and designs have been sent from Creuzot to foundries at +Stockton-on-Tees, where it is intended to instruct a staff of workmen in +the production of steel before commencing that branch of manufacture at +the French establishment.</p> + +<p>Fort Issy was captured and occupied by the Government troops this +morning.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 9<sup>th</sup>.—<span class="smcap">and</span> 10<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Forts Montrouge and Vanves have been reduced to silence by a battery of +mitrailleuses established on a parapet of Issy, which picks off Federal +artillerymen when they show themselves. Seven guns on bastions 72, 73, +and 74 have been dismounted by the new battery of Montretout and the +bastions silenced. Many prisoners are said to have been taken at Issy +yesterday.</p> + +<p>The National Guards of Vaugirard and the Panthéon decline to march, +barely a third of their numbers having answered the call.</p> + +<p>The Vendôme Column is definitively to fall on Friday.</p> + +<p>The Lycée, on the high ground behind Issy, is being hurriedly formed +into a fortress mounted with guns, earthworks connecting it with Vanves.</p> + +<p>Three shells per second are said to have fallen on Auteuil this morning.</p> + +<p>Nineteen battalions were reviewed yesterday by Colonel Rossel in the +Place de la Concorde. Rossel continues to command in spite of his +resignation yesterday, which is attributed to a quarrel with the Central +Committee. The Committee of Public Safety is still sitting. It is +rumoured that should he decline to withdraw his resignation, the +functions of the Ministry of War would be absorbed by the Committee of +Public Safety, who would attach to themselves an Assistant Military +Commission, headed by Dombrowski.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 10<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The Committee of Public Safety, in consequence of the proclamation of M. +Thiers, which was placarded in Paris, has issued a decree ordering the +furniture and property of M. Thiers to be seized, and his house in the +Place St. Georges to be immediately demolished.</p> + +<p>The Commune, in its sitting of yesterday, decided to bring Colonel +Rossel before a court-martial.</p> + +<p>Delescluze has been appointed Delegate of War.</p> + +<p>Colonel Rossel was arrested yesterday and handed over to the custody of +Citizen Gerardin. At 5 p.m. an announcement was made to the Commune that +Rossel had left with Gerardin. The Commune accepted the offer of General +Bergeret to re-arrest Rossel. Nevertheless, at 2 o'clock this morning +this had not been effected.</p> + +<p>Félix Pyat, in the <i>Vengeur</i>, accuses Rossel of treason.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 11<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>There is increasing discouragement among the National Guards, in spite +of the retaking of Vanves. The <i>Vengeur</i> hints at a plot headed by +Gerardin, and states that 400 National Guards, who exhibited no numbers +of their battalions, were assembled for an unknown purpose at the +Luxembourg; that at the same time officers who were making a domiciliary +visit at Gerardin's house were attacked, and that in another quarter an +attempt was made to assassinate Dombrowski.</p> + +<p>A considerable portion of masonry from the Auteuil Viaduct has fallen +into the water.</p> + +<p>A search has been made at the Bank of France under the excuse of looking +for arms. It is said that the <i>employés</i> of the Bank are armed and +victualled, and will stand a siege rather than surrender the gold under +their care.</p> + +<p>In consequence of pressure from Delescluze the Central Committee abandon +the direction of the War Administration, and Moreau resigns his office +of Civil Delegate.</p> + +<p>The furniture and pictures are being carted from M. Thiers' house, and +sounds of hammering within suggest the commencement of its demolition.</p> + +<p>Six newspapers have been suppressed—viz., the <i>Univers</i>, <i>Spectateur</i>, +<i>Moniteur</i>, <i>Étoile</i>, <i>Anonyme</i>, and <i>Observateur</i>.</p> + +<p>The batteries at Montretout continue a vigorous firing. Throughout last +night they received only six shells from the Insurgents.</p> + +<p>The shells thrown from the floating battery bridge at the Point du Jour +and from the land batteries near that point generally drop short of the +mark and fall either into the Seine or on the slopes of the railway by +the right bank.</p> + +<p>This afternoon I saw many projectiles from Montretout and Meudon explode +among the houses at the Point du Jour and the <i>enceinte</i> near it. The +wall screening the Ceinture Railway between Auteuil and Vaugirard has +been dreadfully battered in various places.</p> + +<p>The Bois de Boulogne, in a semicircle from about the Villa Rothschild to +Bagatelle, following the race course at Longchamps, is one vast camp, +and from this camp to the village of Boulogne the work of constructing +trenches parallel with the <i>enceinte</i> is being pushed rapidly forward. I +saw hundreds of men working at them to-day.</p> + +<p>The Fort of Vanves is still occupied by the Insurgents, but Moulin de +Pierres and Châtillon cover it with shells.</p> + +<p>By means of cannon shots the troops of Versailles have demolished the +houses in the village of Vanves, as they concealed and covered the +postern of the Fort. The military had succeeded in occupying the +village, but were obliged to abandon it because the houses were exposed +to the fire of the Insurgents.</p> + +<p>There has been a sharp musketry fire to-day in the plantations to the +north-east of Issy, and just over the Vaugirard road.</p> + +<p>There has been fighting of the same kind in the direction of the St. +Ouen station at the other end of the lines. The sphere of attack is +again being extended, and in consequence of this the Insurgents are +obliged to defend themselves at, perhaps, three or four points +simultaneously.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 12<sup>th</sup>.—13<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>There was a considerable movement in the city yesterday consequent on +desperate attempts to enlist refractory citizens in marching battalions. +Pressgangs paraded the streets all day, and many men within the ages of +19 and 40 were, it is said, temporarily incarcerated in the Church of +Notre Dame de Lorette.</p> + +<p>An extraordinary meeting was held at the Hôtel de Ville in consequence +of a supposed discovery of a reactionary plot. Forty-seven Gendarmes, +says the <i>Mot d'Ordre</i>, were found in the Marine Barracks disguised as +National Guards, besides a great quantity of tricoloured <i>brassards</i>.</p> + +<p>M. Beslay, surnamed the Father of the Commune, has retired, because he +disapproves the confiscation of M. Thiers' goods.</p> + +<p>The new batteries on Montmartre opened fire last night, but ceased this +morning.</p> + +<p>The 46th battalion Montrouge were relieved from duty two hours before +their time last night because they talked of opening the Gates. This +battalion consists for the most part of shopkeepers.</p> + +<p>The new battalion called the "Vengeurs du Père Duchesne" were shut up in +the Luxembourg Gardens, all points of egress being guarded, because they +declined to march outside the city.</p> + +<p>Difficulties have arisen in the Quartier Val de Grace, consequent upon +the heavy tax recently levied on meat.</p> + +<p>The Versaillais gunboats at the Asnières Bridge forced the Federal +troops to recoil several hundred yards towards the city walls.</p> + +<p>Félix Pyat announces his opinion publicly that the fall of the Commune +is imminent.</p> + +<p>Mortars are being placed on the top of the Arc de Triomphe.</p> + +<p>The demolition of the house of M. Thiers has commenced.</p> + +<p>The Central Committee have ordered that all the quarters of Paris shall +be searched for arms and refractory National Guards. All the young men +in Paris are to be armed.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 14<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>A large crowd has been waiting in the Rue de la Paix since 4 o'clock to +see the fall of the Vendôme Column. Its fall had been officially +promised at that hour, but up to half-past 6 it was still standing. It +will probably fall to-day. The tricolour flag has just been attached to +the statue, amid faint cheers from the crowd.</p> + +<p>An Armistice has been arranged for next Wednesday, to enable the +inhabitants of Vanves and the neighbourhood to remove.</p> + +<p>Cluseret, Megy, and Schoelcher have been released.</p> + +<p>The 8th and 11th Battalions have been disarmed on suspicion of being +reactionary.</p> + +<p>Paschal Grousset has sent a circular to the principal towns of France, +inviting them to join the Communal movement.</p> + +<p>The approaches are now within 150 metres of the <i>enceinte</i>, and a +breaching battery is being constructed. The Montretout batteries have +already made a considerable breach in the <i>enceinte</i> by the side of the +Auteuil Gate, which has been demolished.</p> + +<p>There was a very lively fusillade this afternoon between troops in the +Bois de Boulogne and the Insurgents, who fired from houses and other +shelter behind the <i>enceinte</i> between Passy and Auteuil. Mortars were +also used by the military.</p> + +<p>The Insurgents have shot a captain of Engineers who imprudently advanced +beyond the Versailles lines.</p> + +<p>In the Fort of Vanves a soldier of the Line has been found; his feet +were tied together, and there are numbers of bayonet wounds in different +parts of his body. The Insurgents had made him prisoner.</p> + +<p>Of the 60 pieces of cannon left in the Fort, the greater number had been +rendered useless by the fire of the troops.</p> + +<p>It is believed that the garrison escaped by a subterranean passage +communicating between Forts Vanves and Montrouge.</p> + +<p>Every commander of an Army Corps will henceforward have the command of +an Arrondissement, and will be answerable for the defensive measures +undertaken in his zone.</p> + +<p>All persons in the possession of sulphur and phosphorus must declare to +the Commune the amount of each within three days.</p> + +<p>La Cecilia has again undertaken the command at Petit Vanves.</p> + +<p>Torpedoes are to be laid down at exposed parts.</p> + +<p>The night has passed off quietly, and nothing of any importance has +transpired.</p> + +<p>The Versailles troops are under the walls of Paris, and are exchanging +shots with the Insurgents on the ramparts from the Muette Gate to the +Issy Gate.</p> + +<p>The Federalists have been driven out of their entrenchments between +Forts Vanves and Issy.</p> + +<p>A battery is being erected in the garden of the Tuileries, from which +the Communists will be able to keep up a flank fire upon the Champs +Elysées.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt of the existence of a serious conspiracy, possessing +wide ramifications, in Paris to effect the overthrow of the Commune.</p> + +<p>The Garden of the Luxembourg has been closed, and is occupied by four +battalions of National Guards, as a precaution against the rising which +is apprehended.</p> + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 15<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> announced that the Column would positively fall +to-day at 2. A great concourse assembled. Bands played. The Commune and +their Staff, amounting to 200, attended on horseback. At 3.45 p.m. an +attempt was made, which failed owing to the breaking of a snatchblock. +The ropes slackened suddenly, injuring two men. Another attempt was +made, fresh ropes having been added, and the Column fell at about 10 +minutes to 6. It broke up in the air as it fell. The concussion was +nothing like what had been expected. No glass was broken or injury done +to the Square, excepting that the Column forced itself into the ground. +The excitement was intense. The crowd rushed with loud cheers to +scramble for fragments, while speeches were made by members of the +Commune, mounted on fallen masses, and red flags were hoisted on the +pedestal. Immense crowds assembled in the streets outside, making it +almost impossible to leave the Place Vendôme. It was forbidden to take +away any fragments, and people were searched before leaving the Square.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may the</span> 16<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Two hundred National Guards entered the Grand Hotel last night. After +having searched every room, under the pretence of looking for arms, +they retired with a good deal of plunder.</p> + +<p>This is on that subject a letter forwarded by Mister van Henbeck to the +<i>Figaro Journal</i>.</p> + +<p>It has been spoken in different ways of the frequent searches made in +the Grand Hotel, since the occupation by the admiral Saisset and his +Staff, which had rendered the Hotel suspected by the "Commune" and the +"Comité Central."</p> + +<p>The last visit of these <i>Gentlemen</i>, has been marked by many strange +proceedings:</p> + +<p>In the night of may 15th a band of about 300 armed men, pseudo-sailors +of the "Commune" and Belgian volunteers of both sex, rushed into the +Hotel. During five hours these mad men, several of them being +intoxicated, had to make in every part of the Hotel fantastic searches, +they went breaking the doors and menacing the administrator, the clerks +and servants.</p> + +<p>They had no mandamus to do that, but the pretext was the arrestation of +a battalion of "Gendarmes" and the discovery of a subterranean vault +leading to Versailles.</p> + +<p>The search for "Gendarmes" was not long to make, but the one for the +vault was stopped only when they had found the wine cellar. The door was +knocked out:</p> + +<p>The great attention they paid to those investigations can be evaluated +by a consummation of 1764 francs of wine.</p> + +<p>That operation began at 4 a.m. and was out at 6.</p> + +<p>The whistles of those supposed sailors and the trumpets of the "Fédérés" +ordered the end of that small festival. The cellar was left a-side, and +the servants of the Hotel were obliged to bring up in the court-yard +those of the band who could not walk any more; at last, the troop went +out carrying away a good supply of provisions as wine, cigars, watches, +jewels and purses stolen in the servants' rooms, and also clocks and +about a hundred table-plates belonging to the Hotel.</p> + +<p>They went with empty hands, but the pockets were full. Two of the +servants were obliged to go with them, and they said they would come +back the next day to arrest many others.</p> + +<p>These wicked orgies having no political character, I will address myself +to the "Code pénal" for a repression, and I deliver into the hands of +the "Procureur de la République" a complaint justified by the deposings +of all my servants, and indicating the names of the chiefs of that +curious performance.</p> + +<p>Be good enough, Sir, to believe me yours most respectfully: V.....</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 45%; margin-right: auto;"> +<i>Administrator of the Grand Hotel</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The Insurgents have evacuated all their positions between Fort Vanves +and the <i>enceinte</i>.</p> + +<p>The only gunboats now beneath the Viaduct at the Point du Jour are mere +wrecks, and their guns have completely disappeared.</p> + +<p>The Insurgents' battery on a bastion between Vaugirard and Montrouge has +been firing frequently to-day. One of its shells came as far as Bas +Meudon.</p> + +<p>Fort Issy has been directing its fire upon the Point du Jour. About noon +there were two conflagrations at the Point du Jour and one at Auteuil.</p> + +<p>The soldiers working at the parallels and the breaching batteries are +suffering from the musketry of Insurgents behind the <i>enceinte</i>. As many +as 30 of them have been killed during one night, but the sap has been +carried to within less than 400 metres of the ramparts.</p> + +<p>The Insurgents are raising additional barricades in the Rue de +Vaugirard, and also at Passy and Auteuil. Pontoon bridges and fascines +in great numbers are being sent forward to the military foreposts.</p> + +<p>The Committee of Public Safety has appointed a military Commission to +replace the existing Commission; it is composed of Arnold, Avrial, +Johannard, Tridon, and Varein.</p> + +<p>Henri has been appointed Chief of the Staff of the War Ministry, and +Mathieu commander of the troops posted between the Point du Jour and the +Wagram Gate.</p> + +<p>All mechanics over 40 years of age have been called out to work at the +city defences. They will receive 3f. 75c. as daily pay.</p> + +<p>Important resolutions are expected to be taken at the sitting of the +Commune to-day, and the serious division will be terminated by the +dissolution of the Central Committee, or by the absorption of the +Committee of Public Safety in the Central Committee.</p> + +<p>The Commune announces that the Versailles troops were repulsed in +several attacks made by them last night upon the barricades at +Châtillon, Moulin de Pierre, and Moulin Saquet.</p> + +<p>There was a vigorous engagement yesterday evening at the Dauphine and +Maillot Gates, and the Versailles troops were driven back with +considerable loss.</p> + +<p>It is rumoured that Fort Montrouge has been evacuated.</p> + +<p>The Commune declares that it has a reserve force of 20,000 men.</p> + +<p>Of M. Thiers' house little more, it is feared, than the outer walls +remain standing.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 17<sup>th</sup></h3> + +<p>The "Majority of the Commune"—as the Commune is now spoken of in +consequence of the secession of 22 of its members—has resolved to form +a Central Club like that of the Jacobins, composed of delegates from +various clubs of Paris, in order to keep itself <i>en rapport</i> with public +opinion.</p> + +<p>The 12th Legion has formed a battalion of women, who in addition to +their other military duties are to disarm publicly all runaways.</p> + +<p>The Communal Delegation of the 2<sup>d</sup> Arrondissement, considering that +slavery was considered immoral even before the American War, and that a +standing army has been suppressed by the Commune, decrees that all +houses of ill fame in their quarter shall be immediately closed, as +involving traffic in human beings.</p> + +<p>Peter's Restaurant was searched last night, and several arrests were +made, among them officers of the National Guard suspected of complicity +in the Tricolour Brassard Plot. The Restaurant is closed.</p> + +<p>The heaviest firing to-day has been against the Point du Jour. Large +pieces of Marine Artillery have been placed on the ramparts behind +Montrouge.</p> + +<p>A terrific explosion has just (6 o'clock) created general alarm. +Enormous volumes of smoke are visible from a great distance. The +cartridge manufactory near the École Militaire has exploded. Six hundred +<i>employés</i>, chiefly women, are said to have been killed. Bullets were +launched in all directions, killing and wounding many passers by.</p> + +<p>The Insurgents have constructed a battery of Marine pieces, which much +embarrasses the troops and retards the breaching works. Breaches will be +opened at three points—namely, at Mortemart, opposite Auteuil, at +Bastion 65, opposite the Parc-aux-Princes in the Bois and in the +neighbourhood of Vaugirard.</p> + +<p>This afternoon the Insurgents fired from three batteries between the +left bank ending the viaduct at the Point du Jour and Montrouge. One of +these batteries was placed close to the Vaugirard Gate, and its fire was +directed to a point at which the Engineers were supposed to be +constructing a trench.</p> + +<p>There were conflagrations this evening in Auteuil, the Point du Jour, +and between the latter place and Vaugirard. The flame and smoke were +distinctly visible. We hear it was the blowing up of a powder factory in +the Rue de Wagram, Paris, or at the Trocadéro.</p> + +<p>The Committee of Public Safety, in order to save the country from a +military dictatorship, has associated Civil Commissioners with the +various Generals of the Commune. With Dombrowski are joined Burger and +Dereuve, with La Cecilia, Johannard, and with Wrobleski, Leo Meillet.</p> + +<p>All passenger and goods trains leaving Paris have to stop outside the +walls for examination. Trains contravening this order will not be +permitted to proceed.</p> + +<p>Possessors of petroleum are to declare the amount they hold to the +authorities within 48 hours.</p> + +<p>Fort Montrouge is still held, and is strongly supported by the Hautes +Bruyères.</p> + +<p>The Government troops have not yet occupied Vanves; they are pressing +upon Billancourt and La Marette.</p> + +<p>A letter of General Cluseret in the <i>Mot d'ordre</i> advises that every +exertion should be made for the erection of barricades at the Barrière +de l'Etoile, the Place Roi de Rome, and the Place Eylau, with a second +line between the Passy Gate and the Grenelle Bridge, and a third line +from the Pont de la Concorde to the Ouen Gate.</p> + +<p>The Versailles and Auteuil Gates of Paris have been demolished by the +cannonade. The neighbouring bastions are subjected to a tremendous fire, +but do not reply.</p> + +<p>Fort Issy, which is now in the hands of the Versailles troops, is +vigorously bombarding Petit Vanves, Grenelle, and Point du Jour.</p> + +<p>The last is utterly untenable by the Insurgent gunners.</p> + +<p>A belief obtains that the Versailles Engineers are laying a mine under +the walls of Paris in the direction of the Muette Gate. The disagreement +between the Commune and the Central Committee continues.</p> + +<p>The Versailles troops have made good their communications from Montrouge +to Issy, and have established batteries on the glacis before Fort +Vanves. They are vigorously attacking Bicêtre and Hautes Bruyères.</p> + +<p>A terrible bombardment of the Maillot Gate and the Arc de Triomphe is +going on.</p> + +<p>The Federalists in the village of Malakoff are in danger of being cut +off from Paris, while those stationed in the villages of Petit Vanves +and Montrouge have been compelled to retire into the city.</p> + +<p>Ladders for scaling the ramparts have reached the Versaillist outposts +in the Bois de Boulogne.</p> + +<p>The Versailles troops are endeavouring to cut a way through the wood to +the Avenue of Neuilly.</p> + +<p>The cannonade in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe is increasing in +intensity.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 18<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>To-day was a day of feasting, and National Guards surrounded the +Churches of St. Augustin and La Trinité, and forced the priests to stop +Divine service, and turned out the congregations. The establishment of +the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul was also surrounded. An +inventory was made of the goods, the Sisters being themselves placed +under lock and key until to-morrow, when they will be turned out.</p> + +<p>Bodies are being removed from the crypt of the Church of Les Petits +Pères, near the Bank of France, for examination. Rumours are afloat that +people have been recently buried there under false names, and bones +strew the pavement on both sides of the church door.</p> + +<p>The Versaillais are at a distance of 200 metres from the ramparts from +the Point du Jour to Vanves. The National Guards in great numbers are +assembled under the cover of the ramparts, and an attack is hourly +expected. Shells have fallen on the bridge of Grenelle, killing several +persons. An attack was made yesterday on the Zoological Gardens of the +Bois de Boulogne, which turned out disastrously for the Federals.</p> + +<p>The fire from the Insurgents' batteries on the <i>enceinte</i> has been +stronger to-day than at any time previously since the opening of the new +redoubt at Montretout. They have been throwing shells from La Muette +against the troops in the Bois de Boulogne, but mortars placed in the +Bois near the large lake have been responding vigorously, and a field +battery at Mortemart, the south-eastern extremity of the Bois, has been +protecting, by its fire, the Engineers working at the breaching battery, +and also doing some damage to the Artillery on the bastion.</p> + +<p>Between Passy and Auteuil the Insurgents are in considerable force +behind the <i>enceinte</i>. Their three batteries on the <i>enceinte</i>, between +the Point du Jour and Montrouge, have been firing on the military +position at Bas Meudon and Issy. There has been a return shelling from +these positions between the rival Artillery.</p> + +<p>Engineers are engaged in sapping from Issy in the direction of +Vaugirard. They are much exposed to the batteries of the Insurgents, but +neither yesterday nor to-day did I see a single shell fall into the +French lines where they are at work.</p> + +<p>The Committee of Public Safety has issued an appeal to the National +Guards calling upon them to secure the triumph of Paris, and describing +the fearful results which would ensue from the victory of the Versailles +troops.</p> + +<p>A later attack which was made on Neuilly yesterday was repulsed.</p> + +<p>This morning the Federal batteries at Montmartre are bombarding the +Château Bécon.</p> + +<p>The <i>Journal Officiel</i> of the Commune of to-day accuses the agents of +Versailles of having caused the explosion of the cartridge manufactory, +and says that a hundred persons have fallen victims to it. Four arrests +have been made in connexion with this affair. The <i>Vérité</i> demonstrates +that the explosion could not have been the result of intention, but was +solely attributable to accident. The same paper states that no shell +fell in the Champ de Mars at the time of the explosion.</p> + +<p>The Versailles troops are constructing trenches within 200 yards of the +Auteuil Gate, but the breach is not yet assailable.</p> + +<p>Fort Montrouge still holds out, but offers only a feeble resistance.</p> + +<p>The Communists claim to-day to have repulsed all attacks.</p> + +<p>The bombardment is incessant.</p> + +<p>The German troops are taking up imposing positions.</p> + +<p>The tribunals of the Commune have decided to-day as to who among the +prisoners in the hands of the Commune are to be regarded as hostages. It +is asserted that three hostages will be executed to-morrow.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 19<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The firing was heavier last night than it has ever been. There were both +a cannonade and a fusillade. Everybody thought that the Versaillais had +at last made their assault. It appears that the Communists attempted a +sortie, and were repulsed with great loss. Numerous waggons filled with +wounded were taken to Versailles. Various battalions returned to Paris, +apparently much dispirited. Numerous reinforcements, however, were +brought up.</p> + +<p>The bullets are falling so thickly about the ramparts that the +Communists with difficulty maintain their position there. The Versailles +shell-practice has improved. The shells burst about the bastions instead +of in the town.</p> + +<p>The conscription is carried on with increased rigour, death being +threatened to those who refuse to serve. A Lieutenant-Colonel and a +Commandant have been sentenced, the one to 15 years' and the other to 10 +years' imprisonment for cowardice, and their battalion has been +dissolved. The Chief and Staff of the 6th Legion have been dismissed for +not disarming the refractory battalions.</p> + +<p>It is said the prisoners accused of firing the cartridge manufactory are +to be shot in 24 hours.</p> + +<p>Much fear is entertained for the fate of the hostages, whose execution +has been so strongly advocated in the Commune, in reprisal for the +alleged violation and murder of an <i>infirmière</i> by the Versaillais.</p> + +<p>Some iron cupola-shaped cases, capable of holding each 1,000lb. of +powder, were to-day taken to the barricades near the ramparts for the +purpose of blowing them up if necessary.</p> + +<p>It has been proposed in the Commune to abolish all titles of rank, with +the emoluments and advantages appertaining to them; also that all +children now illegitimate shall be for the future legitimate; and that, +instead of the present form of marriage, any man over 18 and woman over +16 may be allowed to go before a municipal magistrate and declare their +wish to marry.</p> + +<p>The only breaching battery that has as yet opened fire is that +established in the Parc aux Princes, at 400 metres distance from the +ramparts. It directs its fire against the <i>enceinte</i> at Auteuil, where +the gates and the drawbridge have been destroyed.</p> + +<p>The Fort of Montrouge is almost surrounded by the troops, who advance +also by means of trenches towards the Redoubt of Hautes Bruyères.</p> + +<p>Towards the South a series of attacks have been made, with the view of +driving all the Insurgents on that side from their positions outside the +<i>enceinte</i>.</p> + +<p>Last night, in an affair at Lagrange, the military put 110 Insurgents +<i>hors de combat</i> and made 43 prisoners.</p> + +<p>All the breaching works are not yet completed.</p> + +<p>To-day the Insurgents have been firing from La Muette, which is on the +<i>enceinte</i> between Passy and Auteuil, and I observed that they had added +to the number of their guns between the Point du Jour and Montrouge. +Yesterday they had three batteries between those points; to-day they +have been firing from five.</p> + +<p>Mont Valérien has done very little to-day, and Montretout has not been +so violent as usual, but the military batteries at Bas Meudon, Les +Moulineanx, and Issy have been very active, as have likewise been the +mortars and field guns in the Bois de Boulogne.</p> + +<p>Twenty-one members of the Commune no longer attend the sittings of that +body, but remain in their Arrondissements.</p> + +<p>Four hundred Versailles Chasseurs are said to have deserted from their +own side into Paris yesterday.</p> + +<p>Batteries of 30 guns have been established at the Dauphine Gate.</p> + +<p>The <i>Cri du peuple</i> says the Committee have determined rather to blow up +Paris than capitulate.</p> + +<p>A requisition has been made of the silver candlesticks at the Church of +Notre Dame des Victoires.</p> + +<p>No one without a special pass is allowed to leave the city at night by +the Eastern or Northern gates.</p> + +<p>The Commune has ordered that all prostitutes and drunkards shall be +arrested.</p> + +<p>A decree of the Committee of Public Safety, published to-day, orders the +suppression of the <i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i>, <i>Avenir National</i>, <i>Patrie</i>, +<i>Commune</i>, <i>Justice</i>, and five other newspapers.</p> + +<p>No new journals will be allowed to appear until the end of the war.</p> + +<p>All articles must be signed by the writer.</p> + +<p>Attacks on the Government will be dealt with according to martial law.</p> + +<p>Officers who hesitate to obey the orders of the Committee of Public +Safety will be tried for high treason by court-martial.</p> + +<p>The <i>Salut Public</i> alleges that one of the chief persons implicated in +the explosion of the cartridge manufactory is Count Ladislas Zamoyski, +and that papers have been found upon him proving him to be in +communication with the Government of Versailles.</p> + +<p>The same paper announces that the Germans demand that an armistice +should be entered into between the Commune and the Versailles +Government, in order that a <i>Plebiscite</i> of all France may be held to +decide upon the future form of Government.</p> + +<p>The Commune has seized the silver ornaments and other valuables of the +Church of the Trinity. All the other churches of Paris will shortly be +treated in a similar manner, and will then be closed.</p> + +<p>All arrests and requisitions are being carried out by Flourens's corps +of Avengers.</p> + +<p>The demolition of the Expiatory Chapel was commenced to-day.</p> + +<p>The gate at Point du Jour is destroyed.</p> + +<p>Yesterday evening two battalions of troops carried the Ory Farm and +Plichon House, near Fort Montrouge, at the point of the bayonet. The +Federalists had about 400 killed and wounded, and lost 42 prisoners, +including a Chief of Battalion. The troops also captured a flag, but +subsequently evacuated the conquered positions, as they were too much +exposed to the fire of the enemy. The loss of the Versailles troops was +small.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p>THE VENDÔME COLUMN.</p> + +<p>Foul is the bird that soils her own nest! As though they had not +suffered enough of mortification and defeat at the hands of the enemy, +the Parisians have succeeded in emptying the cup of disgrace to the +dregs by dragging down the monument of their military glory, amid hoots +and hisses, and toppling over the effigy of their greatest soldier-hero +on to a bed of mire, at the same time publicly tearing the tricoloured +national flag which has for so many years led their armies to victory. +Upon the official announcement some days back that the Vendôme Column +was to be sacrificed as an insult to the principles of fraternity, +everybody laughed and thought it a good joke, never believing that the +plan would be carried out, even in spite of the ominous scaffoldings and +curtains which rose around its base. A few days later we were told that +it had been sawn through, and that a solemn Festival would be held to +commemorate this new display of liberty. We thought the party of Order +would protest; that the veterans of the Invalides would make a movement; +that the mass of the population would insist upon the abandonment of +such a piece of folly. But we forgot the state of coma into which +respectable Paris has fallen, and that those who had allowed themselves +to be ground down by a tyrannical few would scarcely bestir themselves +in defence of their public monuments. It became apparent that the column +was really doomed, and the Rue de la Paix was crowded by an expectant +multitude at about 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon; the balconies were +filled with ladies; all the windows were pasted with paper to neutralize +the expected concussion, while cake and newspaper vendors and <i>marchands +de coco</i> plied a busy trade, and elbowed their way about among the +people down below. Three ropes had been fastened round the top of the +column beneath the statue, communicating with a crazy-looking windlass +and anchor placed in the centre of the road at the entrance of the Rue +Neuve des Capucines, and a long narrow dung heap filled with sand and +branches had been spread in the square to deaden the shock of the +falling mass. Public excitement was at its height, and the strangest +surmises went from mouth to mouth as to how far the statue would be +thrown, whether balconies would fall and slates be shuffled down, and +whether the great weight would or would not crash through the vaulted +arch into the sewers under the road. Still the crowd increased in +numbers, when at about 4 o'clock a cordon of National Guards was formed, +who pushed back the people as far as the Rue des Augustins, leaving an +empty space along the Rue de la Paix, which was duly watered in true +Parisian style, and became the arena for a display of equestrian prowess +on the part of sundry officers and members of the Commune. They rattled +backwards and forwards at full gallop, and made figures of eight, and +turned and twisted in a marvellous manner, suggestive rather of a circus +than a barrack-yard; but their evolutions served to amuse the crowd, who +waited patiently until sunset, when it became evident that the affair +would be put off until the morrow. It turned out that the members of the +artistic federation who, with Courbet at their head, had decided on this +piece of Vandalism, had been playing off a little practical joke upon +the crowd, for their preparations were not complete, and workmen were +still hacking at the stonework from behind their curtain screen until +evening had settled into night. With the easy good nature of a Paris +crowd, everybody quietly went home, a few disappointed at the failure of +a promised excitement, but by far the greater number rejoicing in their +hearts at the reprieve of the bronze pillar which they had been +accustomed from childhood to regard with pride. Tuesday's <i>Officiel</i> +positively announced the ceremony for that day at 2, and the concourse +was greater than ever. The Rue de la Paix and the space behind, up to +the steps of the New Opera, was a sea of heads, and the <i>élite</i> of +Communal aristocracy who held passes to the Square itself were forced to +elbow their way and struggle through relays of guards long before the +prescribed hour in order to be certain of getting there at all. So far +all their arrangements were so bad as to suggest misgivings as to the +result of the attempt. Three meagre ropes were to do the deed, while two +beams, applied one on either side the column, were to give it the proper +inclination as it fell. Now, every one knows that, from some fault in +its construction, the Column has always leant a little towards the +Ministère des Cultes, and people moved restlessly about, uncertain where +to station themselves, lest the tottering mass, once set in motion, +should fall in an entirely different direction from the one intended. +The bed, too, which was to receive it seemed strangely small and +narrow, and it appeared a matter of doubt whether the bronze Emperor +might not force his way into one of the adjoining houses, and pay a +visit as little desired as it was expected. Meanwhile, a party of +workmen continued to drive wedges into the space which had been sawn, +while others gave a finishing touch to the dung heaps and cleared away +the curtains and scaffolding that had obscured their operations. At +half-past 3 the Commune arrived on horseback, attended by their Staff, +and placed themselves in front of the crowd in the Rue de la Paix—a +mounted squadron of some 200 persons; while at a given signal a number +of bands stationed at different points began to play a medley of +patriotic airs, regardless of general effect. Trumpets brayed forth +signals, and all strained their eyes into the dazzling sky, not without +having first assured themselves of a safe retreat through some friendly +doorway in case of a disaster, as the ropes were seen to tighten—"See! +It moves!" "No, 'tis the effect of a passing cloud;" and, after a +second's pause of intense anxiety one of the ropes snapped, knocking +down in its whirl several men at the windlass. And now began a murmur +and a shaking of heads, "Ah, I knew it could not succeed; they will be +obliged to blow it up with gunpowder; shame on them for the attempt!" +"Why cannot they leave it alone?" said one man to his neighbour, "it has +cost so much." "Yes, it has," replied the other; "it has cost us +millions of human lives on the plains of Germany and in the Russian +snows." The attempt had failed, and people were preparing to move away, +when news arrived that the Commune were not going to be thus baffled, +but had sent for more ropes and apparatus, and were determined to have +their way at any price. Meanwhile, the great figure looked calmly down +upon his persecutors, seemingly as secure as ever, while the bands +continued to play, and the horsemen galloped about the square. It was +half-past 4 before the two new ropes arrived, and fully 5 o'clock before +they had been hoisted to their places, not being attached to the capstan +like the others, but held, one on either side the road, by 50 sailors +each. Brute force had failed, and so they had determined to try the +effect of a series of swings. People laughed at these renewed +preparations; and could scarcely be kept close under the houses out of +immediate danger. The ropes slackened and tightened again for a final +effort, and a cry burst from the assembled multitude in the horror of a +coming danger which might be incalculable as the great giant swayed for +a few seconds and finally tottered down with an awful crash, separating +into rings in the air, upon the foul bed which had been prepared for +him: a shapeless mass of shattered metal and stone lying in uneven coils +like some mighty serpent. The wooden sentry-boxes in the square reeled +round and fell, while a cloud of filth and dust obscured the fallen +monster, and men looked awe-struck at one another like naughty children +who had broken something which they ought not to have dared to touch. +The moment of compunction was a short one, and a howling throng rushed +with one accord into the noisome cloud, fighting and quarrelling for +bits of bronze and stone, and a man near me drew back, half stifled for +an instant, saying, with disgust, "See what a stench the Empire has!" +The statue had fallen beyond the heap, and, having smashed the pavement +into splinters, lay a wreck, with one arm broken and the head severed +from the body, while women kicked and spat upon it, waving their arms +wildly, and shouting, "<i>Vive la République!</i>" "<i>Vive la Commune!</i>" All +the bands struck on the <i>Marseillaise</i> in different keys, a few people +crowded on the remnants of the pedestal waving red flags and shrieking +in their excitement, and a sergeant who endeavoured to unburden himself +of an oration was speedily gagged and hustled down to make way for the +great "Bergeret <i>lui-même</i>," who, in all the glory of a red scarf and +tassels, waved his hat and struggled to be heard above the general +hubbud of music, voices, and battering of bronze. "Citizens," he said, +"the 26th of Floréal will be memorable in our history. Thus we triumph +over military despotism, that bloody negation of the rights of man. The +First Empire placed the collar of servitude about our necks—it began +and ended in carnage—and left us a legacy of a Second Empire, which was +finally to end in the disgrace of Sedan." Much more he said, but his +voice was drowned in the continued hammering of metal, while our +attention was distracted by peremptory orders to "move on." Such an +order at such a moment was particularly exasperating, and led to many +little tussles with citizens, who refused to consider this a pleasant +opening to the era of liberty, an exasperation very considerably +increased at the different exits from the square by an uncompromising +search into the contents of pockets, and a consequent disgorging of +trophies and remembrances. A fight was going on meantime in the Rue de +la Paix between a company of Marines and the multitude of people +gathered in the street, who struggled and fought with an energy worthy +of a better cause in hopes of gaining a share in the spoils. As I +emerged from the conflict into the comparative peace and coolness of the +Boulevard, I was stopped by a procession—two battalions of National +Guards returning much shorn of numbers, from the Bois de Boulogne, +bringing with them in a furniture waggon a portion of their dead, among +whom was their colonel, whose feet projected from under the flapping +awning of the cart.</p> + +<p>An order of the day of Marshal Mac-Mahon has been published in which he +announces the demolition of the Vendôme Column. He says:—</p> + +<p>"The foreigner respected it; the Commune of Paris has overthrown it. Men +calling themselves Frenchmen have dared to destroy, under the eyes of +the Germans, who saw the deed, this witness of the victories of our +fathers against Europe in coalition. The Commune hopes thus to efface +the memory of the military virtues of which the Column was the glorious +symbol. Soldiers! if the recollections which the Column commemorated are +no longer graven upon brass, they will remain in our hearts. Inspired by +them, we know how to give France another proof of bravery, devotion, and +patriotism."</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 20<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>M. ROCHEFORT.</p> + +<p>Never have I witnessed a scene of greater excitement than the entry of +Rochefort into Versailles as a prisoner to-day. He was brought in by the +St. Germain road, and was seated in a family omnibus drawn by two +horses. First came a squadron of gendarmes, then the omnibus, surrounded +by Chasseurs D'Afrique, and lastly a squadron of the same corps. In the +vehicle with Rochefort were his secretary, Mouriot, and four police +agents dressed in plain clothes. Outside the omnibus were an officer of +the gendarmerie in uniform and two or three <i>sergents-de-ville</i> not in +uniform. Rochefort's moustache had disappeared. He had himself shaved +closely before setting out from Paris in order to disguise himself, but +there was no mistaking him. It was half-past 1 o'clock in the afternoon +when the <i>cortège</i>, arriving at the end of the Boulevard du Roi, entered +the Rue des Réservoirs. Every one ran into the street, and shouts of +execration were raised on all sides. It was no mere demonstration of a +mob. The citizens of all classes joined in it. One man ventured to cry +"Vive Rochefort!" He was kicked by several persons who happened to be +near him, and was saved from further violence only by arrest at the +hands of the <i>sergents-de-ville</i>. Along the rue des Réservoirs, the Rue +de la Pompe, the Place Hoche, the Rue de Hoche, and the Avenue St. Cloud +Rochefort was greeted with incessant shouts of "<i>À bas l'assassin; à +pied le brigand; à mort</i>!" The people wanted to have him out of the +omnibus, and it was with difficulty the cavalry prevented them from +dragging him out and inflicting summary execution. The cavalcade was +obliged to go at a slow pace, but finally he was safely lodged in gaol. +I believe that but for the precautions taken by the Government he would +have been killed before he had got near it. The demand to have an +example made of him, and the dissatisfaction at seeing him brought to +prison in a carriage, were loud and general.</p> + +<p>There was a tremendous fire against the bastions this morning at 5 +o'clock, and a strong fire has been maintained all day.</p> + +<p>The fire of the Insurgents is much weaker than it was yesterday and the +day before, except at Vaugirard, and from there to Montrouge, where +mitrailleuses and musketry were brought into requisition.</p> + +<p>Up to 5 o'clock this afternoon Auteuil still shelled.</p> + +<p>From 3 o'clock I have observed a very large number of the Versailles +troops under arms at a short distance from the Point du Jour, and a +considerable body of the Insurgents watching them from near the +Vaugirard Gate.</p> + +<p>At 5 o'clock the white flag was displayed at the Porte d'Auteuil.</p> + +<p>Orders have been given for the troops to march onward and occupy it.</p> + +<p>M. Thiers has issued a circular, dated noon to-day, in which he says:—</p> + +<p>"Several Prefects having demanded that news should be published, the +following answer has been sent to them:—Those persons who are uneasy +are greatly mistaken. Our troops are working at the approaches, and at +the moment of writing the breaching batteries continue their fire upon +the walls. Never have we been so near the end. The members of the +Commune are busy making their escape."</p> + +<p>The breaching batteries are still keeping up a very heavy fire against +the <i>enceinte</i>.</p> + +<p>M. Thiers has sent a despatch to the Prefects announcing that the gate +of St. Cloud was forced down by the fire of the Versailles guns, and +General Douai then rushed with his men into the interior. The troops +under Generals Ladmirault and Glinchamps were at once set in motion to +follow them.</p> + +<p>The Versailles troops entered Paris at 4 o'clock this afternoon at two +different points—namely, by the St. Cloud Gate at Point du Jour, and by +the gate of Montrouge.</p> + +<p>The ramparts were abandonned by the Insurgents.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p>THE CAPTURE OF PARIS.</p> + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 21<sup>st</sup>.—<span class="smcap">and</span> 22<sup>d</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The great event of yesterday came upon every one by surprise. It had +been expected, but not for yesterday.</p> + +<p>Even the Marshal Commanding-in-Chief looked onward to at least six more +days of sapping and mounting of batteries and actual breaching before +his army would be able to make the final movement.</p> + +<p>A certain number of the troops were inside the <i>enceinte</i> before any one +but themselves knew of it, and Auteuil and the Point du Jour were +shelled for nearly two hours after they had fallen into possession of +the forces of Versailles.</p> + +<p>One man, M. Clément, an officer of Engineers, played a prominent part +in this historical affair. Soon after midday, proceeding cautiously in +advance of a party of his men, who were lying in concealment between the +nearest parallel and the Porte de St. Cloud, he crept up to the bastion +and found it and the ramparts adjoining without a single sentinel. +Keeping near the ground, he waved a white handkerchief; it was seen by +the small party of Engineers who were lying outside the last parallel, +and also by Lieutenant Trèves, of the French Navy. At first the signal +was not understood; but M. Clément continued to wave the handkerchief +violently, and beckon to those who saw him to come on immediately. It +was with difficulty 100 men could be collected in the trenches, but +about that number advanced and occupied the deserted position. In the +meantime the word was passed from post to post in their rear, and a +batallion was soon on its way after them. By half-past 3 o'clock +dispositions had been effected for occupying both Auteuil and the Point +du Jour with a sufficient force, and proceeding to the other gates both +right and left. The gates and drawbridge of Auteuil had been demolished +several days previously, but the Insurgents had substituted an enormous +barricade, which shut off the iron bridge uniting the Railway Station +with the Viaduct.</p> + +<p>The Division of General Vergeé marched direct upon Auteuil. Scarcely had +the first column arrived there, when volleys of musketry were opened by +the Insurgents concealed in houses. A few of the troops were put <i>hors +de combat</i> by this fire, but the artillery of the Division turned their +pieces on the ramparts against the enemy, Mitrailleuses were also +brought into requisition by the troops, and within an hour the +Insurgents had fled to a distance.</p> + +<p>The Division of General Douai entered by the gate of St. Cloud, which is +at the Point du Jour, and occupied the salient between the ramparts and +the viaduct. Here there was a second bastion of considerable solidity. +The soldiers entered the half-ruined barracks and casemates, and made +prisoners of a number of Insurgents whom they found concealed there.</p> + +<p>Immediate preparations were then made for the advance right and left, +but as the enemy was still keeping up a fire from 7-pounders and +Mitrailleuses, along the bastions between Vaugirard and Montrouge, a +regular assault of these positions by the division under General Cissey +was determined upon. I have already announced that it has been +successful.</p> + +<p>The Division began to march in by the Gates of Vaugirard and Montrouge. +At 2 o'clock this morning La Muette was occupied without serious +resistance.</p> + +<p>A Division subsequently advanced to Passy to join that which had taken +La Muette.</p> + +<p>Such was the suddenness with which the occupation of the Point du Jour +had been effected that, as I have stated, the firing from the military +batteries continued for a considerable time after the first of the +troops were in it. It was not till 4 o'clock that the order to cease +firing in that direction left the Head-Quarters. In the meantime, +hundreds of people stood on the Avenue and Terrace of Meudon watching +the cannonade, and believing that all the posts of the Insurgents were +still occupied by the enemy. Even the officers and men in the batteries +did not know why the order to cease firing had been sent round.</p> + +<p>I have just returned, after having followed in the rear of General +Vinoy's last column, going to take up positions in the neighbourhood of +the Trocadéro. I have wandered all over the Point du Jour, visited +Auteuil, and have walked along by the bastions between the Gate of St. +Cloud at the Point du Jour and the Gate of Auteuil. Having watched the +other side of the Sèvres Bridge, I was surprised on passing along the +Sèvres road to observe that, very little damage had been done to the +houses at the end of it near the <i>enceinte</i>. One or two bore the marks +of shells, but the fact is that nearly all had escaped, and what I saw +at the <i>enceinte</i> and within it, shows that the artillery practice of +the Versailles side had been exceedingly good throughout the +bombardment. The people on the Sèvres road had kept their shops open +amid all the terrible firing. Only some two or three houses had been +closed. They stood at a dangerous angle to the batteries at Meudon. On +one of them was chalked "<i>fermée pour cause du bombardement.</i>" Between +the last of the houses and the ramparts, and at a distance of not more +than 100 yards from the latter, were the newly-cut trenches which the +troops had constructed. Good gabions protected them in front, and there +was a plentiful supply of fascines lying all about. The doors of the +Porte were no longer to be seen, except in little bits on the roadway. +The drawbridge had succumbed bodily, and its place was supplied with +some planks. The posthouse was in ruins, and the stone walls on either +side between the gates and the parapet of the fortifications had been +crumbled into rubbish; the glacis from the Point du Jour to Auteuil had +been ploughed up in such a manner that not a yard of it was to be seen +without a shell hole. To say that the parapet had been riddled would not +be correct. It is smashed here and there, and at intervals everywhere, +but in no place between the two Gates I am referring to is the earthwork +inside the parapet laid bare, nor has a breach, properly so called, been +anywhere made. The doors and gate walls of both gates are smashed +through, but all along, despite serious disfigurement, the parapet is +strong still.</p> + +<p>To come back to the Point du Jour—that is as much a ruin as the town of +St. Cloud. From the gate to the Railway Station there is not a single +habitable house; not three have roofs, and not one has its windows and +walls intact. Every lamppost has been scattered about the road in small +pieces, and a stranger who had not heard of the bombardment might be +pardoned for supposing that the streets had been macadamized with the +fragments of shells. Strange to say, the staircase leading from the +Booking Office of the Railway Station to the line over head is +uninjured, or nearly so, and by its means I was enabled to ascend and +walk through that Viaduct which I have been looking at from a distance +as shells have been battering it for the last six weeks. It is much +knocked about, and so is the bridge underneath it, which in a series of +arches spans the river, but both will be serviceable still after some +repair. Huge stones, displaced from their settings and broken into +small pieces, lie scattered on the bridge and its approaches. From the +Viaduct I could see an immense conflagration in the neighbourhood of the +Champ de Mars, and a combat between the troops and the Insurgents was +going on. In the Place de la Concorde and the Rue de Rivoli, all down to +the Trocadéro, reserves were in waiting with their chassepots stacked on +each side of the road, but there was no fighting along the Quays. +General Vinoy had established himself in his new Head-Quarters, and the +70,000 or 80,000 men already in the heart of the city are believed to be +quite sufficient to dispose of the last desperadoes of the Commune. The +sounds of battle we heard from more than one point, and yet every one +spoke of the Insurrection as in its last agonies. Men and women once +more held up their heads and snapped their fingers at Delescluze, +Dombrowski, and the Commune, but there was sad evidence all around us of +what this rebellion had done. There in the little cemetery behind the +ramparts lay the unburied and mangled remains of 32 National Guards who +had been killed at the batteries just above. The whole place was a +picture of ruin and desolation. Passing out of the Point du Jour by the +opining where the Porte de St. Cloud had stood, whole and entire, even +after the Prussian bombardment, but where there is not a vestige of it +bigger than a splinter now, I walked along the glacis in the direction +of Auteuil. I was surprised to find that, at a distance of less than an +eighth of a mile from the latter place, the military had fixed their +gabions, sapped right up the glacis, and to within four or five yards of +the fosse. The trenches had been cut across the Bois de Boulogne. +Nothing, however, like enough of the parapet and the earthwork above had +been thrown down to fill up the fosse. Indeed, no effort whatever had +been made in the way of filling up, except at either side of the two +Portes, so that an assault at any other than these points would have +been a very difficult undertaking. On the glacis I saw the dead and +decomposed body of a man not in uniform. He lay on his side, with one +hand under his head and the other raised in the air. A gentleman who +lives close by stated that the deceased, with two or three other men, +had come out to fire stray shots at the soldiers in the trenches. As he +lay there to-day I perceived that he had been pierced by several rifle +balls. The gates at Auteuil have disappeared as completely as those at +Point du Jour, and at the Railway Station behind the iron railway bridge +over the road all the habitations are, so to speak, in a heap. The +French term "<i>débris</i>" best describes what is left of Auteuil and its +surroundings. Stone, mortar, iron bridge metal, lamp posts, trees, are +smashed, pounded, and scattered. No one who visited Auteuil in happier +times would recognize even the spot on which it stood. As specimens of +successful bombardment the Point du Jour and the three barracks behind +the <i>enceinte</i> that lie between them may be cited among the most +complete that even modern artillery has succeeded in producing.</p> + +<p>A great explosion, followed by a conflagration, occurred at half-past 12 +at the Staff Quarters near the Esplanade of the Invalides.</p> + +<p>Paris is now completely surrounded.</p> + +<p>It is asserted that Dombrowski is hemmed in at Ouen.</p> + +<p>The Insurgents have established a battery upon the terrace of the Garden +of the Tuileries, the fire of which sweeps over the Champs Elysées; but +this position has been turned by General Clinchamp, and there is reason +to hope that the resistance will not be of long duration.</p> + +<p>The Versailles troops have already captured from 8,000 to 10,000 +prisoners.</p> + +<p>Fighting has been going on all this morning, the cannonade and musketry +fire being incessant.</p> + +<p>There is a large fire in the neighbourhood of the St. Lazare Railway +Station, and a dense cloud of smoke hangs over the heights of +Montmartre. Not only have the Germans completely isolated Paris, but all +communication between Versailles and St. Denis is also cut off. Trains +arriving from the North no longer enter Paris, but stop at St. Denis.</p> + +<p>It is rumoured that the Prussians occupy Fort Vincennes.</p> + +<p>The strictest orders have been given to the German outposts to drive +back all Insurgents, and the advanced corps have been doubled tonight to +prevent any from breaking through the circle of investment north of +Paris.</p> + +<p>A wounded Insurgent General attempted to pass the Prussian outposts, but +was forced to retrace his steps.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may the</span> 23<sup>d</sup>.</h3> + +<p>It may be desirable that I should add some particulars to the account I +have already given of the way in which the troops moved from the +<i>enceinte</i> to the different positions they occupied in Paris last night. +The first column, proceeding between the railway and the Fortifications, +made its way from Auteuil to La Muette; the second, starting from +Auteuil, threw down a barricade which had been erected behind the +railway arch, and, taking the Rue Raynouard and the Rue Franklin, +proceeded by the high ground to the Trocadéro. This march was not a +rapid one, because at every step precautions had to be taken against +snares that might have been laid by the Insurgents. The Artillerymen and +the Engineers entered the houses on the terraces and examined the powder +stores in the Rue Beethoven in order to ensure the column against an +explosion. The third column, setting out from the Point du Jour, marched +along the quays to the Bridge of Jéna. At this point there was a +junction of the three columns, and a line of occupation from Passy to +the river side at that bridge was established. The fourth column crossed +the river at the Point du Jour, and marched along the quay of Grenelle. +Upon entering the Champs de Mars they found that the Insurgents were +encamped in considerable force there. Skirmishers were thrown out, and, +opening fire, they drove out the enemy without any serious difficulty, +although the latter had a park of artillery. The Insurgents showed fight +for some time, and a struggle was maintained on the right of the Champs +de Mars, where the temporary wooden barracks have been erected. The +Insurgents formed in a sort of hollow square at the four sides of the +portion of the ground which for some time has been covered with +artillery <i>caissons</i>, and responded to the attack upon them by a +vigorous fire, but being opposed on two sides by an overwhelming force, +they gave way, without any very great loss on either side. The tricolour +was planted on the Pavilion d'École.</p> + +<p>From the Arc de Triomphe there was no fighting down the Champs Élysées, +but there was a struggle at the Palais de l'Industrie before the troops +obtained possession of that building. Under the orders of certain +members of the Commune, the Insurgents resisted with a musketry fire.</p> + +<p>Montmartre kept firing in the direction of the Trocadéro throughout the +day. Its fire did not kill or wound many men, but it retarded the +advance of the troops towards the heart of the city.</p> + +<p>The fire which I mentioned yesterday as having been seen by me from the +Viaduct of the Point du Jour was caused by the blowing up of the riding +school of the École d'Etat Major, which was filled with cartridges.</p> + +<p>Dombrowski has not been taken. He escaped from La Muette when the troops +entered, leaving behind him the silver service which was in the room +where he had been about to sit down to dinner.</p> + +<p>Assy, was taken on the Quai de Billy.</p> + +<p>Montmartre has been carried after a rather sharp struggle. The tricolour +now waves over the Buttes.</p> + +<p>For some hours I witnessed the fighting to day. I found that early this +morning all the important positions of Montmartre had been taken by the +two Corps d'Armée of Generals Douai and Ladmirault. The latter General +had occupied the station of St. Ouen and the Place of Clichy, and he had +advanced to Montmartre by an external movement, keeping for some +distance outside the ramparts. At the same time General Douai made a +direct movement from inside the city by the Parc de Monceaux. In this +manner Montmartre had been almost entirely surrounded. There was a hard +contest, but the troops succeeded in entering the Buttes. A large number +of the Insurgents were killed in the action, and about 4,000 were made +prisoners. The number of cannon and mitrailleuses taken was very +considerable, amounting to some hundreds. Belleville is still in the +hands of the Insurgents, as are also the Hôtel de Ville and the +Tuileries. The Red flag was floating on them at half-past 5 o'clock. +Severe fighting was going on across the Place de la Concorde between the +Insurgents occupying the mansion of the Ministry of Marine, at the +corner of the Rue Royale, and the troops on the other side of the river +in the Palace of the Corps Législatif. A gunboat which the Insurgents +had under the Pont Royal, close to the Tuileries, was firing constantly. +The Insurgents in the Rue de Rivoli and the garden of the Tuileries were +using mitrailleuses and rifles, and the troops along the Boulevard at +the edge of the Place des Invalides, close to the river, were attacking +them with four-pounder guns. Fort Vanves was firing on the Insurgent +positions in the neighbourhood of Montrouge and the Faubourg St. +Germain, and the Federalists were shelling Vanves from Forts Montrouge +and Bicêtre. There was musketry skirmishing at various points in the +Faubourg St. Germain. The Insurgents occupy houses, from which they keep +up a rapid fire to impede the march of General Cissey's troops. Among +the prisoners taken to-day many have been recognized as old Reds who +were actively engaged in the insurrection of June, 1848. A movement has +been ordered which will result in completely shutting in the Insurgents +within a circle formed by the whole Army of Paris. The Madeleine is in +the hands of the military. Several fires have broken out in the city. +Colonel Piquemalle, Chief of the Staff of General Vergé, was killed +to-day.</p> + +<p>The following circular despatch was yesterday forwarded to the Prefects +of the several Departments.</p> + +<p>"The tricolour flag waves over the Buttes-Montmartre and the Northern +Railway station. These decisive points were carried by the troops of +Generals Ladmirault and Clinchant, who captured between 2,000 and 3,000 +prisoners. General Douai has taken the Church of the Trinity, and is +marching upon the Mairie in the Rue Drouot.</p> + +<p>"Generals Cissey and Vinoy are advancing towards the Hôtel-de-Ville and +the Tuileries.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 24<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>"The Generals, desiring to treat the city with lenity, withheld any +attack upon public monuments in which the insurgents had taken up +positions. This morning they carried the Place de la Concorde. The +Ministry of Finances, the Hôtel of the Conseil d'Etat, the Palace of the +Légion of Honour, and the Palace of the Tuileries were burnt by the +insurgents. When the troops gained possession of the Tuileries, it was +but a mass of smouldering ashes. The Louvre will be saved. The Hôtel de +Ville is in flames. I am convinced that the insurrection will be +completely conquered by this evening at the latest. No one could have +prevented the crime of these wicked wretches. They have made use of +petroleum for their incendiary purposes, and have sent petroleum bombs +against the soldiers. What remedy can be applied? The best of the +Generals of the army have shown an amount of talent and valour which has +excited the admiration of foreigners.</p> + +<p>I have just returned from witnessing one of the saddest sights that has +occurred in the world's history.</p> + +<p>I announced that the insurgents had set fire to several of the public +buildings of Paris, the Royal and historical Tuileries included. Flames +and bombshells are fast reducing the magnificent city to a huge and +shapeless ruin. Its architectural glories are rapidly passing away in +smoke and flame, such as have never been witnessed since the burning of +Moscow, and amid a roar of cannon, a screaming of mitrailleuses, a +bursting of projectiles, and a horrid rattle of musketry from different +quarters which are appalling. A more lovely day it would be impossible +to imagine, a sky of unusual brightness, blue as the clearest ever seen, +a sun of surpassing brilliancy even for Paris, scarcely a breath of wind +to ruffle the Seine. Such of the great buildings as the spreading +conflagration has not reached stand in the clearest relief as they are +seen for probably the last time; but in a dozen spots, at both sides of +the bridges, sheets of flame and awful volumes of smoke rise to the sky +and positively obscure the light of the sun. I am making these notes on +the Trocadéro. Close and immediately opposite to me is the Invalides, +with its gilded dome shining brightly as ever. The wide esplanade of the +École Militaire, almost immediately underneath it, is nearly covered +with armed men, cannon, and horses. Shells from the positions of General +Cissey, at Montrouge, are every minute falling close to the lofty dome +of the Panthéon. It and the fine building of Val de Grace, near it, seem +certain to be destroyed by missiles before the incendiary fire reaches +them. There is a dense smoke close to St. Sulpice, and now flame rises +amid the smoke, and the two towers of the church are illuminated as no +electric light could illuminate them. Some large building is on fire +there. Every one asks which it is; but no one can approach that Quarter +to put the matter beyond doubt. Burnt leaves of books are flying towards +us, and the prevailing opinion is that the Sorbonne and its Library are +being consumed. There are a dozen other fires between that and the +river. No one doubts that the Palais de Justice is sharing the fate of +the Tuileries and the Louvres. The Château of the Tuileries has all but +disappeared. The centre cupola has fallen in, and so has the roof along +the entire length of the building. Some of the lower stories yet burn, +for fire and smoke are rushing fiercely from the openings where up to +this morning there were window-frames and windows.</p> + +<p>The Louvre is not yet wholly gone, and perhaps the fire will not reach +all its Courts. As well as we can make out through the flame and smoke +rushing across the gardens of the Tuileries, the fire has reached the +Palais Royal. Every one is now crying out, "The Palais Royal burns!" and +we ascertain that it does. We cannot see Notre Dame or the Hôtel Dieu. +It is probable that both are fast becoming ashes. Not an instant passes +without an explosion. Stones and timber and iron are flying high into +the air, and falling to the earth with horrible crashes. The very trees +are on fire. They are crackling, and their leaves and branches are like +tinder. The buildings in the Place de la Concorde reflect the flames, +and every stone in them is like bright gold. Montmartre is still outside +the circle of the flames; but the little wind that is blowing carries +the smoke up to it, and in the clear heavens it rises black as Milton's +Pandemonium. The New Opera House is as yet uninjured; but the smoke +encircles it, and it will be next to a miracle if it escapes. We see +clearly now that the Palais de Justice, the Ste. Chapelle, the +Prefecture of Police, and the Hôtel de Ville are all blazing without a +possibility existing of any portion of any one of them being saved from +the general wreck and ruin.</p> + +<p>The military are as far as the Pont Neuf on the left bank of the river, +and just beyond the Hôtel de Ville on the right. Now, at 6 o'clock, it +is all but certain that when this fire is extinguished scarcely one of +the great monuments of Paris will have escaped entire destruction.</p> + +<p>The barricade of the Insurgents at the end of the Rue Royale was taken +last night by a movement in which the troops made their way from house +to house, starting from the Rue Boissy d'Anglas, to the Rue Faubourg St. +Honoré. The fighting in the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré and the Avenue +Marigny was very severe. Six shells fell and exploded in the grounds of +the British Embassy. The two houses which formed the angles at the +corners of the Rue Royale and the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré were burnt to +the ground. The Place Vendôme was taken by the troops. In the Faubourg +St. Germain during the whole night an energetic combat was raging +between the Insurgents and the men of General Cissey's division.</p> + +<p>The Versailles batteries are firing furiously against the Quarters +which still hold out. By the aid of the telescope the horrible fact is +disclosed of numerous dead and wounded left lying about the streets +without any succour whatever.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 25<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>I have been over a large portion of the city to-day and I am happy to +say that, though large fires are still raging, the conflagration is not +spreading to the extent that had been apprehended. The destruction done +by the street fighting and the desolation which prevails in the +principal Boulevards and other leading thoroughfares exceed all I could +have imagined from a more distant view.</p> + +<p>I went to the Porte de la Muette, and, getting round to the left, +approached the Arc de Triomphe from the Avenue de L'Impératrice. All +along I found trees, lamp-posts, and the façades of houses smashed by +shells. Turning off by the Rue de Morny, I worked my way round to the +Boulevard Haussmann. It was impossible to proceed along by the pavement, +as on either side at intervals of a few feet felled trees and thick +branches had been laid down by the insurgents to obstruct the passage of +the troops. On Monday last the Federals had occupied the houses, and +fired from the corridors. All the fronts of the houses were disfigured +by rifle balls, the corridors were broken, and the handsome stone +cornices very much battered. The beautiful columns of the Madeleine are +sadly injured, the fluted edges having been in many places shot away. +The two houses in the Rue Royale, at the corner of the Rue Faubourg St. +Honoré, were blazing still, and the smoke and ashes that flew from them +were stifling the pompiers, who were working energetically there and at +other points; some of their corps were shot. It had been discovered that +they, instead of throwing water on the fires they were called upon to +extinguish, were actually pumping petroleum into the flames, and so +adding to their fury. When this was detected the guilty firemen were +surrounded by a body of cavalry, conducted into the Parc de Monceaux, +and there shot. I could count the number of people I met along the +Boulevards, so few were those who ventured to walk about. The fears of +petroleum and explosions are universal. The inhabitants had either +stopped up, or were engaged in stopping up, every chink through which +petroleum might be thrown into their houses. Their cellar lights, their +ventilators, and their gratings were being made impervious by sand, +mortar, and other materials. This precaution was taken because women +and children partisans of the Commune, have in numerous instances been +detected throwing petroleum into houses. Not a shop was entirely open, +and those that opened only doors were inferior restaurants and wine +houses. Around the railing in the Place Vendôme troopers' horses were +tied. The bronze figure of the Emperor was on its back, the shattered +and prostrate Column lay about in fragments. On visiting the +neighbourhood of Montmartre, and ascending an Observatory there I found +there was a cannon and musketry fire going on in the district of +Belleville and the Buttes de Chaumont. The Insurgents had not been +dislodged, and as the troops have undergone much fatigue since Monday a +regular attack on Belleville will not be made till to-morrow morning. +General Clinchant will bring his forces against it in the rear, and +General Vinoy's soldiers will advance upon it from the Boulevards. On +coming round by the quay to the Place de la Concorde I found that all +the statues of the French cities are injured, and some very +considerably. Of several the arms and heads are off. The splendid +fountains in the centre of the Place are dreadfully smashed. The stone +balustrade is badly broken in a hundred places. The lamp posts are all +down, and this once charming spot presents a most melancholy +appearance. I found a crowd looking over the wall of the wharf beside +the bridge. I looked over and found a number of labourers digging a huge +square grave in which to bury some 25 Insurgents, who lay mangled and +dead along the wall.</p> + +<p>The Hôtel de Ville is still smoking. So are the ashes of the Tuileries. +Happily not very much of the Louvre is destroyed, and at the Palais +Royal the fire was extinguished when only a portion of that building had +been consumed. The Prefecture of Police is consumed, but the Palais de +Justice is not, and the Sainte Chapelle has suffered but little injury. +The greatest conflagration of to-day was that at the Grenier +d'Abondance. The flames and smoke from it rose high over the city. There +were other fires, but, happily, not in the centre of the city. I could +not learn in what particular buildings they were rising, but I believe +that a frightful fire is raging at the Entrepot des Vins, on the Quai +St. Bernard.</p> + +<p>M. Thiers has addressed the following Circular to the Departements:—</p> + +<p>"We are masters of Paris, with the exception of a very small portion, +which will be occupied this morning. The Tuileries are in ashes, the +Louvre is saved. A portion of the Ministry of Finance along the Rue de +Rivoli, the Palais d'Orsay, where the Council of State holds its +sittings, and the Court of Accounts have been burnt. Such is the +condition in which Paris is delivered to us by the wretches who +oppressed it. We have already in our hands 12,000 prisoners, and shall +certainly have from 18,000 to 20,000. The soil of Paris is strewn with +corpses of the Insurgents. The frightful spectacle will, it is hoped, +serve as a lesson to those insensate men who dared to declare themselves +partisans of the Commune. Justice will soon be satisfied. The human +conscience is indignant at the monstrous acts which France and the world +have now witnessed. The Army has behaved admirably. We are happy in the +midst of our misfortune to be able to announce that, thanks to the +wisdom of our Generals, it has suffered very small losses."</p> + +<p>The troops have captured the Hôtel de Ville, and have occupied Fort +Montrouge.</p> + +<p>The military operations are being actively and energetically carried on +by the three Corps which are now in Paris. It is hoped that they will be +in possession of the whole of the capital by this evening.</p> + +<p>It is asserted that General Vinoy has been appointed Governor of Paris.</p> + +<p>The newspapers state that Delescluze, Cluseret, Félix Pyat, and Ranvier +have been made prisoners, but the news is not officially confirmed.</p> + +<p>Firemen have been summoned by telegraph from all the districts around +Paris.</p> + +<p>Fort Bicêtre has been occupied by the troops.</p> + +<p>It is stated that Raoul Rigault was shot this morning.</p> + +<p>A dense cloud of smoke still hangs over Paris, which gives rise to fears +of fresh conflagrations.</p> + +<p>Since noon to-day a south-easterly wind has arisen, causing the +conflagration to extend in the direction of the Bastille, and +threatening the city with destruction.</p> + +<p>The Versailles batteries are firing vigorously upon Belleville.</p> + +<p>The fires are apparently slackening. The wind fortunately veered round +to the west at 5 o'clock this evening, and this change was followed by a +calm, which has since continued. The sky is still lurid from the +reflection of the flames, and the <i>débris</i> from the burning buildings +fall at distances of 20 kilomètres.</p> + +<p>It is said that the Mazas prison is burnt to ashes, and fears are +entertained for the safety of the Archbishop, who was incarcerated +there.</p> + +<p>It is reported that considerable bodies of Insurgents attempted to +escape from Paris in the direction of Aubervilliers and Romainville, +but they were driven back.</p> + +<p>The cannonading from the Versailles batteries at Montmartre against +Belleville and Chaumont continues.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 26<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The attack on Belleville was made this morning soon after daybreak. +General Clinchant approached it from the ramparts, and General Bruat's +Division marched on it in front from the direction of the Rue de Paris. +The troops had to attack seven barricades successively. When they had +made a partial progress the Insurgents, seeing defeat inevitable, +offered to surrender on condition that their lives should be spared. +This was refused, and the struggle continued till the military +succeeded. A large number of the Insurgents were shot. Many cannon and +22 red flags were captured.</p> + +<p>Last night a large group of the Insurgents imprisoned in the docks of +Satory, attempted a rising. The battalion in charge fired, and a number +of the prisoners were shot dead. The portion of the Palais Royal +consumed by the fire on Wednesday is the block of buildings in which +Prince Napoleon resided. The library of the Louvre has been destroyed. +The fire was arrested at the portion of the building occupied by the +Gendarmerie. Between the Louvre and the Hôtel de Ville several shops and +private houses have been reduced to ashes. The Théâtre Lyrique is burnt +down. Of the Hôtel de Ville nothing remains but some walls. The Hotel of +the Ministry of Finance and that of the Cour des Comptes are both +destroyed. One of the towers of the Conciergerie, the Prefecture of +Police, and a portion of the Palais de Justice are burnt. The Grenier +d'Abonbance has disappeared, after being in flames for many hours +yesterday. A shell charged with petroleum struck and set on fire the +turret of the Church of St. Eustache. This part of the building crumbled +away; but the church itself was saved. In the Rue Royale eight houses +have been entirely, and two partially, consumed by the fire which broke +out at the corners of the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré. In the latter street +four houses have been consumed. The upper story of the British Embassy +has been much injured by shells. Several women have been arrested while +in the act of firing on the troops, and it is said that one <i>cantinière</i> +caused the death of ten soldiers by putting poison in their wine. Some +of the women whom I have seen marched from Paris as prisoners are +dressed in the uniform of National Guards. Not a few of the female +prisoners are very furious-looking. Several attempts at escape and +assassination have been made by prisoners. They are marched between a +double line of Cavalry, each of the latter holding a revolver in his +hand, with his finger on the trigger. Women found throwing petroleum +into houses have been shot on the spot. Since Monday there has been a +very large number of summary executions in the streets of Paris. At No. +27, Rue Oudinot, where Les Ambulances de la Presse have their +Head-Quarters, the bodies of 52 persons thus despatched are now +deposited. On one, which is dressed in the uniform of a National Guard, +bank notes to the amount of 150,000f. were found.</p> + +<p>Viard, a member of the Commune, was arrested in the Rue de l'Université +yesterday. Gustave Courbet, an artist of celebrity, and also a member of +the Commune, has died at Satory of poison, supposed to have been +administered by himself. He expired in great agony. He it was who +promoted the idea of destroying the Column in the Place Vendôme. Raoul +Rigault, Procureur de la Commune, has been shot. Napoléon Gaillard, +Director of the Barricades, was insubordinate at Satory, and was shot by +the side of the fosse there. It is reported that Cluseret, Amouroux, +and Clément, all members of the Commune, have been arrested.</p> + +<p>Fort d'Ivry has been evacuated by the Insurgents. They blew it up on +leaving, and the troops have taken possession of it. Six thousand +insurgents surrendered at discretion this morning at the Barrière +d'Italie.</p> + +<p>The affair of Belleville is not yet concluded. There is fighting still. +A great fire is raging in the direction Buttes de Chaumont.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 27<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>If it is difficult to realize the present condition of Paris, it is +still more difficult to describe it. We creep timidly about the streets, +haunted by the constant dread, either of being arrested as belonging to +the Commune, pressed into a <i>chaîne</i>, or struck by the fragment of some +chance shell, and oppressed ever by the scenes of destruction and +desolation that surround us; the whole forming a combination which +produces a sensation more nearly allied to nightmare than to any +psychological experience with which I am familiar, but yet requiring +some new word to define it. The angry ring of the volleys of execution; +the strings of men and women hurried off to their doom; the curses of an +infuriated populace; the brutal violence of an exasperated soldiery, +are sights and sounds calculated to produce a strange and powerful +effect on the mind. Yesterday afternoon I drove over as much of the city +already in the occupation of the Versaillists as was consistent with +safety. Following the Boulevard Clichy in order to avoid the <i>chaînes</i> +in the neighbourhood of the Madeleine, I passed the scenes of terrible +fighting. The Place Clichy was a mass of barricades and shattered +houses, the <i>façades</i> marked with bullets as if pitted with the +smallpox, the windows smashed, and the evidences of a fearful struggle +visible everywhere. It seemed as if the ground had been disputed here +house by house; but from all I can learn of the resistance, the actual +defenders of the barricades, though resolute men, were few in number. +One of the most marked characteristics of this fighting has been the +cowardice of the many as compared with the courage and resolution of the +few; some of the barricades were abandoned by their defenders by +hundreds, only ten or a dozen remaining to the last, and holding their +ground until they were all killed or wounded. Passing up the Rue +Lafayette, I reached the Head Quarters of the Fifth Corps, where, +happening to know an officer, I was present at the examination of some +prisoners who were brought in, as every soldier who thinks he has good +ground for suspicion can arrest men or women, and drag them to the +divisional tribunal. They are captured in shoals. One lame man with a +villanous countenance, who was brought in while I was there, was accused +of being a <i>chef de barricade</i>, and having been taken in the act. He was +put through a short sharp fire of cross-examination, his pockets emptied +and his clothes felt, and he was then hurried off to take his place in +the ranks of the condemned ones that are forwarded to Versailles. +Instant execution is only ordered in the more extreme cases, excepting +where the fighting is actually going on, and then the troops give very +little quarter. The bitterness of the belligerents against each other is +of a far more intense and sanguinary kind than that which ordinarily +exists between combatants. The soldiery, looking at the pedestal on the +Place Vendôme and at the numerous public buildings which in some form or +other are associated with their military history, now all smoking ruins, +can scarcely contain their rage, and not unnaturally vent it with +ferocity on an enemy which deliberately planned the destruction of Paris +as the price of victory to the conquerors, and who are even yet +endeavouring to carry out their diabolical design of destroying the +houses still uninjured by secretly introducing petroleum balls and +fusées into the cellars. I saw a soldier suddenly seize a man as he was +apparently harmlessly walking along the street; his pockets were emptied +and found to contain cartridges and combustible balls of various sizes. +Another soldier and a sailor rushed to the spot; the latter drew his +revolver, and I expected would have shot the man then and there, but he +was satisfied on seeing his comrade prick him sharply with his bayonet. +The two soldiers then hurried the culprit off in front of them cuffing +him occasionally on the head, and accelerating his progress with the +points of their bayonets while they cursed him heartily. A small crowd +eagerly followed to see his fate, which they loudly hoped would be +instant execution; and, looking at the detestable nature of the contents +of his pockets and of his intentions, one could scarcely blame either +his captors or their sympathizers if they called for vengeance, and long +ere this, he has probably ceased to exist. One woman was caught with +these fire balls on two occasions, having succeeded once in escaping. As +a general rule, the hand-dog look of the prisoners is their most +striking characteristic. I passed one gang of about 50 yesterday, and +tried in vain, as I walked by their side, to catch a man's eye, or even +to see a face turned fairly up to the light of day. With heads bare, and +eyes steadily fixed on the ground, they passed between rows of people, +who howled and hooted at them, and it was not till I reached the head of +the short column that I observed a slender figure walking alone in the +costume of the National Guard, with long, fair hair floating over the +shoulders, a bright blue eye, and a handsome, bold, young face that +seemed to know neither shame nor fear. When the female spectators +detected at a glance that this seeming young National Guardsman was a +woman, their indignation found vent in strong language, for the torrent +of execration seems to flow more freely from feminine lips when the +object is a woman than if it be one of the opposite sex; but the only +response of the victim was to glare right and left with heightened +colour and flashing eyes, in marked contrast to the cowardly crew that +followed her. If the French nation were composed only of French women +what a terrible nation it would be!</p> + +<p>The aspect of the Boulevards is the strangest sight imaginable. I +followed them from the Porte St. Martin to the Rue de la Paix. There was +fighting at the Château d'Eau, and without either a pass or an ambulance +<i>brassard</i> a nearer approach to the scene of action was undesirable; +indeed, until recently, the shells had been bursting here in every +direction, and their holes might be seen in the centre of those +pavements heretofore sacred to the <i>flâneurs</i> of Paris. Strewn over the +streets were branches of trees; and fragments of masonry that had been +knocked from the houses, bricks and mortar, torn proclamations, shreds +of clothings half concealing bloodstains, were now the interesting and +leading features of that fashionable resort; foot passengers were few +and far between, the shops and <i>cafés</i> hermetically sealed, excepting +where bullets had made air holes, and during my whole afternoon's +promenade I only met three other carriages besides my own. The Place de +l'Opéra was a camping ground of artillery, the Place Vendôme a confusion +of barricades, guarded by sentries and the Rue Royale a mass of +<i>débris</i>. Looked at from the Madeleine the desolation and ruin of that +handsome street were lamentable to behold. The Place de la Concorde was +a desert, and in the midst of it lay the statue of Lille with the head +off. The last time I had looked on that face it was covered with crape, +in mourning for the entry of the Prussians. Near the bridge were 24 +corpses of Insurgents, laid out in a row, waiting to be buried under the +neighbouring paving stones. To the right the skeleton of the Tuileries +reared its gaunt shell, the framework of the lofty wing next the Seine +still standing; but the whole of the roof of the central building was +gone, and daylight visible through all the windows right into the Place +de Carrousel. General Mac-Mahon's head-quarters were at the Affaires +Etrangères, which were intact. After a visit there, I passed the Corps +Législatif, also uninjured by fire, but much marked by shot and shell, +and so along the Quais the whole way to the Mint, at which point General +Vinoy had established his head-quarters. At the corner of the Rue du Bac +the destruction was something appalling. The Rue du Bac is an impassable +mound of ruins, 15 or 20 feet high, completely across the street as far +as I could see. The Légion d'Honneur, the Cour des Comptes, and Conseil +d'Etat were still smoking, but there was nothing left of them but the +blackened shells of their noble <i>façades</i> to show how handsome they had +once been. At this point, in whichever direction one looked, the same +awful devastation met the eye—to the left the smouldering Tuileries, to +the right, the long line of ruin where the fire had swept through the +magnificent palaces on the Quai, and overhead again to-day a cloud of +smoke, more black and abundant even than yesterday, incessantly rolling +its dense volumes from behind Notre-Dame, whose two towers were happily +standing uninjured. This fire issued from the Grenier d'Abondance and +other buildings in the neighbourhood of the Jardin des Plantes. In +another direction the Arsenal was also burning. One marked result of a +high state of civilization is, that it has furnished improved facilities +for incendiarism, which seem to have been developed even more completely +than the means of counteracting them. Along the Quais under the trees, +cavalry horses were picketed, and a force was about to leave General +Vinoy's head-quarters just as I reached it, to support an attack which +was even then being made upon the Place de la Bastille, where the +Insurgents were still holding out. On the opposite side of the river +were the smoking ruins of the Théâtre Châtelet and the Hôtel de Ville. +Passing through the Place du Carrousel into the Rue de Rivoli, I had a +more complete view of the entire destruction which has overtaken the +Tuileries and some of the adjoining buildings. The lower end of the Rue +de Rivoli towards the Faubourg St. Antoine was densely crowded with +troops, and passage in that direction was interdicted, while at the +other end, near the Place de la Concorde, there was a <i>chaîne</i>; so I +struck once more across to the Boulevards, past the Palais Royal, a +large part of which is burnt, wearied and sickened with the waste of +ruins through which I had passed, and meeting with only one incident, +when I found myself in the midst of a panic-stricken throng all running +away from a series of cracker-like explosions, which turned out to be +cartridges that from some unexplained cause had begun to go off +spontaneously under our feet. To-day the firing is more distant and less +audible. The insurgents are still holding the heights of Belleville and +Père-Lachaise. In the Jardin des Plantes the loss of the troops was +heavy, but up to this time they have won their ground with a less loss +than could have been anticipated, and the fearful mortality of Generals +which characterized the last "<i>Campagne Parisienne</i>" has happily not +been repeated upon this occasion. So far, no General has been either +killed or wounded.</p> + +<p>The affair of Belleville is not yet concluded. There is fighting still. +A great fire is raging in the direction of the Buttes de Chaumont.</p> + +<p>Loud reports have been heard within the walls of Mazas, and it is +supposed that the hostages have been massacred.</p> + +<p>Courbet, Amouroux, Gambon, and Valles have been executed.</p> + +<p>The night is quiet.</p> + +<p>Shells have fallen on the Boulevard Ménilmontant. Great hopes are +entertained that the rains will check the conflagration. A few shells +have fallen in the Rue de la Paix. Constant arrests or executions are +being made of women who throw incendiary matter down the cellar +gratings. Many bodies have been exhumed from under shattered houses, +some with large sums of money on them. News reaches us that troops of +the Line have occupied Ménilmontant and the Cemetery of Père-Lachaise. +The Federals had declared Père-Lachaise to be their last stronghold, +and that they were prepared to defend it tomb by tomb. The National +Guard will be dissolved to-morrow. Upwards of 1,000 prisoners were +marched up the Boulevard this morning, escorted by mounted Hussars. +Delescluze has been taken at Villiers le Bel. General Eudes and Ranvier +have also been taken. The public buildings destroyed up to the present +time are the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the Ministry of Finance, the +Cour des Comptes, the Prefecture of Police, the Palace of the Légion of +Honour, the Caisse des Dépôts, Graineterie, and the Garde Meuble. The +Panthéon was saved by a rush of Marines, who cut a slow match before it +reached the powder barrels in the crypt. The Châtelet, Lyrique, and +Porte St. Martin Théâtres have been burnt, also the great barracks of +the Rue des Célestins. Part of the roof of St. Eustache has fallen in.</p> + +<p>The fighting still continues round the Château d'Eau. There will be no +difficulty, however, in disarming the National Guard. Valles fought for +his life, and received a sabre cut across the face and several bullets +before he finally fell close to the Tour St. Jacques. Rows of bodies +line the quays awaiting burial where they fell. The individuals arrested +will be tried by Court-Martial at Versailles. The Court-Martial will +commence its sittings on Monday. Many women and children have been +executed around the Luxembourg, having been convicted of firing on +soldiers. Fort Bicêtre is still in Federal hands, but the garrison is +said to have exhausted its ammunition. Bergeret gave the order for +burning the Tuileries. General Douai, by promptness of action, prevented +the fire spreading to the Louvre. Humour has it that Delescluze and +Pyat, disguised as beggars, were recognized in the Rue du Petit Carreau, +and shot. Thirteen women have just been executed after being publicly +disgraced in the Place Vendôme. They were caught in the act of spreading +petroleum. Such papers as have appeared announce the execution of the +Archbishop of Paris and the curé of the Madeleine.</p> + +<p>The Column Vendôme is to be rebuilt.</p> + +<p>With an English friend I this morning made my way along the line of +Boulevards running east of the Madeleine. A marvellous change had come +over them since yesterday; they were crowded with troops of the Line and +civilians fraternizing with them, and wandering about to look for the +traces of the recent conflict without danger of being shot from windows +or being pressed into the service of the Communists to build or fight +behind a barricade. It was our plan to make for the Hôtel de Ville, and +we took the Bourse in our way. Everything was so quiet that we half +hoped the fighting in that part of Paris at any rate was over, and we +were in consequence greatly astonished to hear near us the furious +beating of the <i>rappel</i>, as regulars were all about. We thought for a +moment a hot conflict was at hand, but we had forgotten, not +unnaturally, considering how long it is since we had seen or heard of +them, the Party of Order. It was they who were rallying valiantly at the +Bourse round the new tricolour banner and a few gentlemen who wore +tricolour <i>brassards</i> or pretty bunches of tricolour riband, and whose +general tidiness and freshness contrasted strikingly with the grimy, +business-like look of the real soldiers close by. These were streaming +into the Place des Victoires, close by, receiving cheers and +congratulations from the people about in the square or at the windows, +who seemed delighted to see them. The men were in capital spirits, and +told us they were carrying everything before them, that the Insurgents +fought often well enough so far as mere pluck went, but were everywhere +outmanœuvred, and at nearly every barricade found themselves taken at +once in front, flank, and rear. This exactly tallied with what we had +already heard and seen. An officer told his men to keep a sharp look out +on the windows of the houses about, lest they should be surprised by a +fusillade. "No fear of that," said a <i>bourgeois</i>; "not a gun will be +fired at you in this Quarter." This looked peaceful enough, and we were +considerably astonished therefore as we went up a street a little +further on, the Rue d'Aboukir, I think, to find ourselves facing a +barricade about 150 yards off, manned, and with a flag floating over it +that looked very red. We stared hard and long, but the flag was +unmistakably red, and therefore, supposing any Regulars to advance, we +were directly between two fires. We accordingly turned into a side +street and waited patiently, as it seemed impossible that Regulars and +Reds so near each other should escape collision. The Regulars were sure +to come on; the only question was whether the Reds would run. As I +looked up another parallel street, the Rue de Cléry, I think, I found +the question answered in an odd way. There, within thirty yards, were +two officers of Reds lounging leisurely about and stopping now and then +to talk to people at doors. I suppose they were told of the near +approach of the Regulars, for they turned back in the direction of their +barricade. But meantime the Regulars had advanced, and, therefore, the +enemies were at one moment within 40 paces of each other, though, being +in different streets, they were unconscious of each other's near +vicinity. Both parties seemed, as they well might, thoroughly at home, +the people, whatever might be their secret sympathies, showing a decent +appearance, at least, of impartiality to all men with arms in their +hands, and yet in a few minutes or seconds—for there was now no doubt +that they were about to fight—everybody was on the <i>qui vive</i>, getting +ready to escape if necessary. The extraordinary feature of these Paris +street fights is that many of them go on with a crowd of non-combatants, +men, women, and children, as close to them on both sides as if the whole +affair were a theatrical representation of a sensational melodramatic +kind, where a good deal of powder and blue lights would be burnt, but no +bullets or lives would be spent. In streets in which fighting actually +occurs no one of course shows except combatants, and these show as +little as possible, lying down or sheltering behind extempore +barricades and windows. The people indoors, as may be supposed, do not +keep near them, as the bullets fired down the sides of the streets under +cover of doorways or corner houses glance and ricochet about in the +wildest way. Scarcely a window escapes if the fight lasts long, but +adjoining streets running at right angles to the fighting ground are for +the moment comparatively safe, and the people crowd about the doorways +in these, the more venturesome getting close to street corners, and +every now and then cautiously craning their necks round to see, if +possible, whether shots tell.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the strangest thing about a Paris street fight is that up to the +very last moment one sees people running quietly along, utterly +unconscious of danger, right between two lines of fire, with loaded +mitrailleuses within a hundred yards of them. One minute before the +fight I am describing began this morning, an old lady, with a large +market basket on her arm, was leisurely walking down the Rue d'Aboukir +between the barricades and soldiers mustering quietly at the corner of +the Rue Montmartre. She was probably making way to the Halles Centrales +close by to get something for breakfast, in happy ignorance of the fact +that at that very moment soldiers were firing, as far as we could see, +right into it. I found afterwards that the Reds were then in occupation +of it, and had loop-holed the Church of St. Eustache, which they held in +great force. Shouts of warning from the crowd standing near me at the +corner of the Rue Montmartre made her at last quicken her pace, though I +doubt whether she quite understood them or knew her danger. I scarcely +know whether Paris combatants at this period are considerate enough to +wait till the ground is clear of non-combatants, or whether out of +politeness each side was waiting for the other to fire first. In any +case the regulars did not wait long. A colonel of the Staff, with cane +in one hand and in the other a map of Paris, studying, stood at the +corner of a side street, gave his men the order to commence instantly. A +soldier on each side took a step forward, and exposing himself as little +as possible fired up at the barricade. After he had fired he fell back +to reload, and another all ready took his place, so that, though there +were at first very few men—not more than 20 perhaps—firing was pretty +hot. Quick came back the response of the Reds, and whizzing went their +bullets down the street, or crashing against projecting corners of the +houses, so near one's ears that it was at first hard to keep from +dodging, despite one's convictions that only Irish guns shoot round +corners. Ricochet balls were not only not more dangerous, but probably +were less dangerous, at the corner than farther off. Some stood as near +as they could to the soldiers. It would be impossible to do this with +the Reds, as they would insist one's taking up a rifle and shooting or +being shot; but the Regulars, so far from forcing, would not even allow +an amateur to indulge in fancy shooting. But taking hurried shots round +a corner at men crouched hundreds of yards off behind well-built +barricades is too slow work to be satisfactory, and the officials came +and began to show signs of impatience. The leader, from a safe post of +observation, was able to take a cool searching view of the situation, +and ordered some of his men, whose numbers were gradually increasing as +they hurried up the street below, ducking heads and hugging walls, to +mount some of the corner houses, while others extemporized a barricade +in the street. To mount the houses was easy enough, though the door of +one had to be broken in, and presently we heard glass tumbling down as +muzzles of rifles were poked through the upper panes, and soon sharp +cracks and thick puffs of smoke leaping out showed that the men had +settled down to their work. The barricade was a more difficult matter, +as it had to be made full in front of the enemy's fire; but it was +contrived with wonderful coolness and rapidity, the civilians about +eagerly bringing stones. Two or three barrels appeared as if by magic. +By pushing the barricade cautiously across the street, by lying down +under cover of one bit as they built another, the Regulars soon had +cover enough to fire comparatively at ease straight up at the barricade, +while their comrades at the windows took it from above in flank. I was +sometimes within a few feet of them, and was much struck by their +coolness and military common sense, if I may use the expression. They +did the work before them in a quiet, business-like way, in what, during +the late war, was considered by some the best feature of Prussian +fighting, not shirking risk when it was necessary, but, on the other +hand, not needlessly exposing themselves for the sake of swagger, +especially of the officers. This morning, the officers not being wanted, +had the sense to keep quietly out of harm's way and smoke their +cigarettes like unconcerned civilians when not giving orders to their +men. The Reds, on the other hand, fought capitally, keeping up a brisk +and well-directed fire. Yet, strange to say, nobody was wounded; I mean +on our side.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 28<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>A week has elapsed to-day since the Versailles troops established +themselves inside the <i>enceinte</i>, and the fighting has been incessant +ever since; this is hard work enough for the assailants, who number +nearly 150,000 men; but for the soldiers—if soldiers they can be +called—of the Commune, the effort has already been almost superhuman. +Gradually diminishing in numbers, constantly finding themselves forced +upon a smaller area, and, therefore, the target of a more concentrated +fire, hemmed in upon all sides, with ammunition and provisions falling +short, exposed to a heavy rain, which has been falling incessantly for +48 hours, unable to seek repose in any spot sheltered from the shells of +the enemy, which are pouring in unremitting showers upon every corner of +their position, the situation of the Insurgents is desperate in the +extreme, and it cannot be denied that they are fighting with an energy +and a heroism worthy of a better cause. Reports are so varied and +contradictory as to the fate of their leaders that even the Generals of +the French army do not know positively who is commanding them; but if +the prisoners are to be believed, the irrepressible Cluseret has again +risen to the surface, and is the heart and soul of the defence. As the +position of the Insurgents becomes desperate, it seems to produce a +greater ferocity on both sides. The rebels neither ask nor give quarter; +they have made up their minds that death, whether as combatants or as +prisoners, is their only alternative, and men and women seem to be +lashed up to a frenzy which has converted them into a set of wild beasts +caught in a trap, and rendering their extermination a necessity. I went +yesterday to the Jardin des Plantes, as the entire left bank of the +Seine is now in the hands of the Government troops, and found M. +Decaisne, the celebrated botanical professor, still safe and sound, +after having passed through three days of unparalleled suspense. On +Wednesday the <i>rappel</i> had been beaten by the Insurgents, and notice was +publicly given that the Panthéon was to be blown up at 2 o'clock. The +result was a general "stampede" of the inhabitants in an agony of terror +and dismay. For two or three hours women and children came pouring out +of the doomed quarter, unable to save any of their property, and not +even yet assured that they had escaped the limits of the explosion. At 5 +o'clock no explosion had occurred, and the rumour spread that the +attempt had failed for want of a sufficient quantity of powder. I told +you how the Panthéon was saved; the people went back to their houses, +only to witness severe street fighting, the result of which was to drive +the Insurgents slowly across the river, where they made a fierce stand +at a <i>tête du pont</i> erected at the end of the bridge of Austerlitz. This +had only been carried the evening before my visit to it, and bore all +the marks of an actual battlefield. Here were eight or ten bodies strewn +behind the barricade, with groups of women and young children gathered +round inspecting them, and lifting, with a morbid curiosity, the cloths +which had been thrown over them to conceal their distorted countenances. +These men had been killed in hard fighting, men and accoutrements were +strewn thickly around, the houses were smashed and riddled with shot. +The barricade, a formidable earthwork and battery, was pounded into a +mere heap—everything betokened a bitter struggle; and, indeed, I had +already heard from a Staff officer that the Line had lost more heavily +at this point than elsewhere. Passing along the side of the canal, we +endeavoured to reach the Bastille, but were stopped by a battery which +was firing at Père-Lachaise, and which was receiving shells in reply +from the cemetery. We therefore retraced our steps past the long gaunt +skeleton of the Prefecture of the Police, which was still smoking, and +which had contained a body of political prisoners incarcerated by the +Insurgents, but released by them in order to work at barricades. This +proved their salvation, as they were enabled to effect their escape on +the approach of the troops. It is reported, nevertheless, that some +still lie buried beneath these smouldering ruins. To the right of the +Bastille we could see a heavy volume of smoke rising apparently from a +point corresponding to the position of the prison of Mazas. We are still +in utter darkness as to the fate of the Archbishop and the clergy in +confinement with him, but the tragedy of the Dominicans leaves us little +hope. About 20 of these priests were imprisoned on Friday, the 19th, at +Fort Bicêtre. On Thursday, when this had to be abandoned, they were +hurried away to the Gobelins on the promise of being set at liberty. +Instead of this they were driven to work on the barricades, then dragged +to a prison in the Avenue d'Italie. At half-past 4 in the afternoon they +were visited by a certain M. Cerisier with a company of the 101st +battalion of the National Guards, who deliberately loaded in their +presence. The outside door of the prison was then thrown open, and they +were ordered to leave it one by one. As they marched out singly they +were shot successively by order of Cerisier, with the exception of the +narrator of the occurrence, and one or two others who were either missed +or slightly wounded and escaped. Twelve bodies of these unhappy men have +already been recovered.</p> + +<p>There is also no doubt that M. Gustave Chaudey, one of the principal +editors of the <i>Siècle</i>, and a literary man of some eminence and high +character, who had incurred the displeasure of the Communists, has been +shot by them. On the other side the executions are wholesale. It is +estimated that upwards of 2,000 persons have been shot already on the +left bank of the Seine alone, evidently a small proportion of the total +number. Wherever women and children are to be observed leaning over the +parapet of the Seine intently regarding some object below, one may be +sure that the attraction is a group of hideously mutilated corpses of +men who have been brought down to the river side, and then with their +backs to the wall have met their doom. On the sloping roads leading down +from the <i>quai</i> to the river may also be seen inequalities where the +road has been recently disturbed and where the freshly-turned earth +indicates burial-places. Not far from these bodies were lying several +dead horses, from which the people were cutting steaks. The inside of +the Hôtel de Ville presents a curious scene, the solid masses of stone +and lime of which the rubbish is composed having fallen in in the form +of a crater, which fills up the whole central place. Under this mound +are said to be buried from 200 to 300 Insurgents who were unable to +escape at the last moment, and thus fell the victims of the +conflagration they had themselves originated. The mutilation of the +ornamental work of this magnificent specimen of architecture is simply +hideous; there is scarcely a square inch of the <i>façade</i> untouched by +shot or shell. Anxious, if possible, to judge of the progress of the +attack which was being made on the Insurgent position at Père-Lachaise, +I reached the Place Château d'Eau, which had been taken the day before +from the Insurgents. I found it, however, impossible to go beyond the +angle of the Wall near the Ambigu. Here a small crowd was collected +which was dispersed by a shot just as I approached, and the place itself +was a solitary desert, for it was swept from the heights of Belleville +down the Faubourg du Temple. Passing along the Boulevard Magenta, we +obtained from the point where the Rue du Faubourg St. Denis traverses +the Rue Lafayette, a view of an Insurgent barricade, on which a red flag +was still flying, and which was turned by the troops while we were +there. We were looking down the long, straight line of street totally +deserted, and in the far distance watching the barricade, beyond which +rose the occasional puffs of smoke from a musketry fire, when we +suddenly saw the red trousers scampering across in twos and threes, and +then in larger numbers, and knew that the barricade had been taken, and +that it was safe to come out of our cover and walk on the opposite side +of the street. All this time the whistling and bursting of the shell +overhead was as incessant and loud as I have ever heard on the field of +battle. We were directly in the line of fire between Montmartre and Père +la Chaise, although completely protected from it, as everything passed +overhead. But the terrific rushing through the air of the projectiles, +and the cracking and bursting at each end when they reached their +destination, made a music which it requires a Parisian education +thoroughly to appreciate. Heavy volumes of smoke rose from the besieged +quarter, and the destruction of life and property upon the doomed area +which the Insurgents have chosen as their final stronghold must be +something appalling. Near the angle of the street at which we stood lay +the dead body of a man, covered with a cloth, who had been shot not many +hours before in an adjoining Court. It was evident from the looks and +tone of the inhabitants of this neighbourhood that their sympathies were +strongly with the Communists. They muttered gloomily and savagely to +each other, scarcely daring to raise their suspicious glances from the +ground, for they knew not which of their neighbours might not have +denounced them, and that the day of danger was by no means past. +Probably two-thirds of the men now gathered at their shopdoors had +fought actively for the Commune. At the Prévôté of the 5th corps I had +an interesting instance of the effect of denunciations. While there some +men who had been intrusted with the arrest of General Henry returned +from their expedition. General Henry, it will be remembered, was one of +the earliest leaders of the movement, and I went down to see where he +had openly established himself as Commander-in-Chief of the National +Guard in the Vaugirard quarter. About the 16th of March, or two days +before the Revolution several attempts were made to arrest him but the +task was so dangerous that they all failed. Throughout the movement this +man has exhibited daring and intelligence, and his capture is much +desired. In consequence of the information received his haunt was +visited, and the result I saw in the shape of a blue Prussian overcoat +stained with blood and perforated with a bullet-hole, a tunic still +more bloody and torn, a very jaunty braided jacket quite clean and new, +a Prussian undress cap, and a very handsome sword. The proprietor had +evidently been wounded, and had succeeded in evading his captors, if +still alive, by some secret contrivance, which, however, the honour of +the denouncer was pledged to discover; it was evident that he had +provided himself with a Prussian uniform, in the hope of passing through +the German lines, and the blood on his coat would seem to indicate that +he had made the attempt and failed. From this barrack, just prior to my +visit, had been removed several wounded children, most of them under +eight years old. One of the most horrible features of the war in a +thickly-peopled city is to be found in the sufferings which it entails +upon the innocent who are thus early familiarized with scenes of blood +and violence, and who too often, unfortunately, are themselves the +victims of them. The <i>gamins</i> of Paris love to dabble in petroleum and +play with lucifer matches, and revel in destruction and conflagration. +More daring than their elders, they stick with their mothers to +barricades after the father of the family has deemed it prudent to +retire, and numerous are the stories of their heroism and courage. +Unfortunately, their propensities for arson render them liable to be +shot, and it is sad to see how many children are often comprised in a +band of prisoners. I went underground to the cells in which the +prisoners were confined at the Prévôté, and wandered along narrow, +subterranean passages, where the noisome exhalations were almost +stifling, into dark cells, where the eye got at last sufficiently +accustomed to the light to distinguish the relics left by the prisoners: +here a pair of stays of which some female prisoner had divested herself, +there a red cockade, all kinds of articles of clothing steeped in slime +of indescribable foulness; and cowering at one end of the corridor a +dozen prisoners waiting to know their fate. They were more respectable +than usual, and not apparently of a very sanguinary type. They were all +men. To-day no less than a hundred women were marched down the streets +in one gang. The papers are so full of false reports that it is scarcely +safe to give news which has not been verified. Thus, unless I had seen +the Genius of Liberty on the top of the column in the Place de la +Bastille, and visited the Jardin des Plantes, I might have reported the +accounts, of which the papers are full, of the destruction of the figure +on the Column and of the animals and rare plants in the gardens, which +you will be happy to hear are all in a state of perfect health and +preservation. I am afraid, however, it is only too true that half the +Gobelins are destroyed, and that 67 of the "Frères de la Doctrine +Chrétienne" have been shot by their fellow-Christians of the Commune. A +friend of mine saw Madame Millière in a prisoners' gang, and we have +authentic intelligence to-day that her husband, one of the most +pestilent of the apostles of Fraternity and wholesale slaughter, has +been executed.</p> + +<p>The streets are full of the National Guards of Order, carrying their +rifles to the different dépôts to be given up, for the disarmament of +the entire National Guard has been determined on, and it is to be hoped +that this most useless body in time of foreign invasion and most +dangerous one in moments of internal trouble will be extinguished and +abolished for ever throughout all the towns of France. Meantime the +Boulevards and streets from which the fighting has receded are slowly +waking into life, the tricolor waves from the windows in token of +loyalty and sympathy with the Government, and at least two cafés are +open on the Boulevards, but as yet only here and there the shutters of a +shop are lowered.</p> + +<p>The roar of the batteries from Montmartre is still continuous, but it is +hardly possible that the Insurgents can continue the struggle for 24 +hours longer.</p> + +<p>Fighting was going on at Belleville about an hour ago, but still there +is every reason the believe that the insurrection is virtually over. A +great number of prisoners, escorted by cavalry, have just been marched +down the Boulevards. They were said to be 5,000, but this is probably an +exaggeration. They came from the Buttes Chaumont, where many of them +have been kept two days and a half without food. A more villainous +collection of faces I never beheld. There were many women, among them +some in men's clothes, some as <i>cantinières</i> or <i>ambulancières</i>, and +very young boys and old men. Nearly 1,500 were Regular soldiers, or at +least wore their uniform. Their coats were turned inside out, as a mark +of disgrace. As they passed through the crowd lining each side of the +Boulevards they were met with cries of "<i>A mort, crapule, +fusillez-les!</i>" Four women in the Amazon uniform and the Regulars +excited special indignation. One prisoner, near the New Opera, refused +to march, and was twice stabbed with bayonets. He was then tied to a +horse's tail, and afterwards placed on the horse, but he threw himself +off, and again refused to march. He was put into a cart and carried off +to the nearest place of execution to be shot. Another prisoner, who +also refused to march, was dragged by the hands and hair of the head +along the road. The crowd called out to the soldiers to shoot him, and +declared that but for the presence of the soldiers they would themselves +execute summary justice on him. The troops, headed by the Marquis de +Galifet, were loudly cheered as they passed.</p> + +<p>I went early this morning to Père-Lachaise. Shells were still falling so +thickly near the Boulevard du Temple that no one was allowed to pass. I +had to go a very roundabout way to get to the Place Bastille, as at +numerous barricades everybody who passed was compelled to assist in +pulling them down. The barricades were of astonishing strength. Behind +the barricade on the Boulevard Mazas lay three bodies of National +Guards—apparently shot in its defence. A little lower down on the +Boulevard Voltaire lay seven men dead, as if they had there made their +last desperate stand. There were some old gray-headed men among them. We +were told that their bodies were left there for recognition, and women +occasionally came up and claimed them. The Regulars had also suffered +severely there, but their dead had been immediately removed. Further on, +the stone barricades had been protected by a second line of large sacks +stuffed with rags and papers, and piled upon each other. At the corner +of Rue Roquette lay over 70 corpses of men, executed for being found +with arms in their hands. They lay piled over each other, and the +pavement and gutters streamed with blood. The crowd were not allowed to +approach them. We entered Père-Lachaise and found it full of troops, +chiefly of the Marine Brigade. There is no truth in the stories that the +cemetery was defended tomb by tomb. There had been no bayonet or even +fusillade fighting there, but the shells had shattered many of the +tombs, here and there laying bare the coffins below. The position was so +strong that the Marines could account for its abandonment only by the +fact that the Insurgents were utterly disorganized for want of leaders. +The shelling, however, had been sufficiently vigorous to compel the +troops to retire after they took it last night, and to return for +reinforcements. They retook the position early this morning. The +Insurgents had abandoned a battery of seven guns which commanded the +whole position. We could see from it that sharp fighting was still going +on at Belleville, probably the last stronghold. As we passed the prison +of La Roquette, we heard about ninety rifle-shots and then a +mitrailleuse, and were told by the troops that prisoners were being +executed. We had great difficulty in passing through the Faubourg St. +Antoine, and were stopped by at least five <i>cordons</i> of sentries. They +told us that the Insurgents were <i>en fuite</i>, that the Quartier was +<i>suspect</i>, and that, therefore, nobody was allowed to pass. When we got +through, many people asked us to put their letters into the post for +them, as they were close prisoners. The streets were filled with arms +and equipments.</p> + +<p>Only a few houses in Belleville still hold out. The Insurgents are +surrendering by thousands. The insurrection is considered over.</p> + +<p>Most of those who founded the Comité du Salut Public have been taken. +The Insurgents are being shot by hundreds. In the Faubourg St. Antoine +great numbers of men and women were found carrying petroleum, and at +once shot.</p> + +<p>The <i>Moniteur</i> says that Félix Pyat and Paschal Grousset left Paris +yesterday in a balloon, which passed over Niort towards the sea.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 29<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>By Saturday evening the various Corps of the Versailles troops, steadily +converging on the Insurgents from the North, South, and West, had forced +them into their last strongholds of Père-Lachaise, and at the Buttes +Chaumont, in Belleville; and M. <span class="smcap">Thiers</span> on Saturday announced that the +final attack would be made on Sunday morning. But the troops waited no +longer to finish their terrible work. On Saturday Père-Lachaise was +taken by General <span class="smcap">Vinoy</span>; in the evening the Buttes Chaumont were carried +by General <span class="smcap">Ladmirault</span>. The two corps united, and the remaining +Insurgents were forced into narrow space at the edge of the <i>enceinte</i>, +where they are hemmed in between the Versailles troops and the +Prussians, and must surrender or be killed. They have also been driven +out of all the Forts except Vincennes, and those who hold that Fort have +asked the Bavarian troops outside to permit their escape. At five +o'clock yesterday all fighting had ceased.</p> + +<p>"The Revolution is crushed;" but at what a cost, and amid what horrors! +"Peace," says M. <span class="smcap">Thiers</span>, "is about to be restored, but it will not +succeed in relieving all honest and patriotic hearts of the profound +sorrow with which they are afflicted." We know not, indeed, how or when +such relief is to come; for ruin has been wrought and crimes have been +perpetrated which will leave on Paris and on Frenchmen an ineffaceable +brand. After the first appalling news of the great conflagrations, a +faint hope had arisen that the ultimate result might prove less +disastrous than had been apprehended, and it is true that a few of the +noble buildings which were thought doomed have escaped. But the almost +universal wreck would of itself almost obliterate for the moment the +sense of relief, and the material ruin now constitutes the least horror +in the scene. It is sufficiently distressing to picture every Quarter of +the great Capital, which but the other day was the beauty of the world, +scarred by conflagrations, torn by shells, pitted with musketry, and +stained with blood. It is terrible to think that in a city "like Paris" +fire and sword, and instruments of destruction still more hellish, have +swept from West to East, and from South to North; that most of its noble +palaces are but gaunt and blackened walls, and its finest streets laid +in heaps of as utter ruin as the mounds of Nineveh. The mind is +overwhelmed by the mere physical spectacle of this whirlwind of blazing +destruction suddenly bursting over a noble city so near us, which we +knew so well, and the inhabitants of which were but yesterday our +neighbours and our friends. But even this is overpowered by the awful +human ruin which it expresses and reflects. On both sides alike we hear +of incredible acts of assassination and slaughter. The Insurgents have +fulfilled, so far as they were able, their threats against the lives of +their hostages as mercilessly as their other menaces. The Archbishop of +<span class="smcap">Paris</span>, the Curé of the Madeleine, President <span class="smcap">Bonjean</span>, with priests, +gendarmes, soldiers, and other victims to the number of 64, have been +shot, and 168 others were only saved by the arrival of the troops. This +massacre of distinguished and inoffensive men is one of those crimes +which never die, and which blacken for ever the memory of their authors. +But in the spirit of murder and hatred it displays the Communists seem +not very much worse than their antagonists. It sounds like trifling for +M. <span class="smcap">Thiers</span> to be denouncing the Insurgents for having shot a captive +officer "without respect for the laws of war." The laws of war! They are +mild and Christian compared with the inhuman laws of revenge under which +the Versailles troops have been shooting, bayoneting, ripping up +prisoners, women and children, during the last six days. We have not a +word to say for the black ruffians who, it is clear, deliberately +planned the utter destruction of Paris, the burning of its inhabitants, +and the obliteration of its treasures; but if soldiers will convert +themselves into fiends in attacking fiends, is it any wonder if they +redouble the fiendishness of the struggle? Fury has inflamed fury, and +hate has embittered hate, until all the wild passions of the human heart +have been fused into one vast and indistinguishable conflagration.</p> + +<p>So far as we can recollect there has been nothing like it in history. +The siege of Jerusalem may afford some parallel, but Roman soldiers +never so utterly lost their self-control as the Versailles troops appear +to have done. We are beggared for words to describe the scene, and +exclaim that it is hell upon earth. It is nothing less. There are all +the physical and all the moral accessories. Fire and brimstone, storm +and tempest, torture, insult, hatred, despair, all forms of malice, +murder, and destruction, have been raging in Paris during the last few +days. Women forgetting their sex and their gentleness to commit +assassination, to poison soldiers, to burn and to slay; little children +converted into demons of destruction, and dropping petroleum into the +areas of houses; soldiers in turn forgetting all distinctions of sex and +age, and shooting down prisoners like vermin, now by scores and now by +hundreds,—all combine to enact on civilized ground, and within the +sight and hearing of their fellow-men, scenes which find a parallel only +in the infernal regions imagined by prophets and poets. This is what +human nature is capable of; for Frenchmen are men, and we shudder for +our race. But, at all events, what hope is to be seen for France in +this seething abyss? This tragedy is the end of eighty years of +revolutions, of an eighty years' struggle after Liberty and Fraternity, +eighty years of attempts again and again renewed to rebuild French +Society on a new and harmonious basis. The end is a fiercer hatred, +deeper divisions, wilder passions, and more eternal distrust. Will these +six days of savage devastation tend to heal the existing breach between +the lower and the middle classes of France? Will the mutual slaughter of +soldiers and citizens tend towards that essential condition of a happy +State; mutual confidence between the Army and the People? Will the blood +of another butchered Archbishop sow the seeds of peace between the +Priests and their Socialist foes? That which we seem at present to see +in this outbreak of hell is the permanent creation of yawning abysses +between classes, institutions, memories, and men. Paris may, perhaps, be +rebuilt; but what is to wipe out the blood with which every street of +Paris is now stained, and when will women cease to hand down to their +children the envenomed hatreds of May, 1871? Where, above all, are the +signs of that combined generosity, firmness and foresight in statesmen +or soldiers which alone could lay the first stone of reconciliation? The +prospect is too black for France and for Europe for us to dare look +forward. We have no heart at present to balance the faults and crimes of +the two sides, or to assign the relative blame. We only see the worst +outburst ever yet displayed of human passions; we see it at the close of +fifteen centuries of Christian civilization; we see it in one of the +most gifted races of the world, and we know not where to look for hope +or consolation.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 30<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Paris is perfectly tranquil. Shops are opening. The streets are crowded +with people examining the amount of damage done. Prisoners in groups of +a hundred are being marched under escort down the Boulevards. Fighting +ceased about 3 yesterday afternoon. A few shots were fired from the +windows at Belleville, where frightful scenes are said to have been +enacted. The more desperate characters, felons and escaped <i>forçats</i> of +the worst description, turned at the last moment on their own comrades +because they refused to continue the fight. Some women murdered with +knives two young men for the same reason. In consequence of the firing +from the windows, an immense number of executions occurred. The park of +the Buttes Chaumont was strewn with corpses. The soldiers were so +furious that the officers found it necessary to warn strangers of the +danger of incurring suspicion. A few of the inhabitants of Belleville +were declaring openly to passers by that the affair was not yet over, +and that terrible reprisals would be wreaked upon the soldiers. These +boasts have not yet been fulfilled, but general apprehensions are, +nevertheless, entertained that those of the insurgents who have escaped +justice will try to inaugurate a secret system of arson and +assassination. Constant discoveries of petroleum are still being made. +The danger is increased by the fact that women, who, on account of their +sex, are more likely lo escape notice, are really the most desperate. +Great precautions are taken at night. The streets are full of sentries +and all circulation is strictly forbidden. Any one who ventures out +without the password runs the risk of being locked up all night. There +are diversities of opinion relative to the Archbishop's fate even now. +Some people affirm that he has escaped; but the evidence is in favour of +his having been murdered at La Roquette.</p> + +<p>Fears are entertained of an epidemic consequent upon the hurried burial +of so many dead under the pavement of the streets.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">may</span> 31<sup>st</sup> <span class="smcap">and june</span> 1<sup>st</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The search for Insurgents from house to house is still going on +vigorously. It is still very hard either to leave or even to enter +Paris, Gourde, the Communist Minister of Finance, has been found. It is +said by Insurgents that Cluseret ought to be among the last batch of +prisoners taken at Fort Vincennes. This being their last place of refuge +it is expected that many other ringleaders will be discovered.</p> + +<p>The Communist commander of that Fort sent to the Bavarian General a list +of his officers and men, requesting for the former passes into +Switzerland, for the latter passes into France. After various +negotiations, the affair was left in the hands of General Vinoy, and it +was agreed that all the garrison of Vincennes, having never fired a +shot, should be detained prisoners only temporarily; but that all +fugitives who had taken refuge there should be surrendered +unconditionally. The garrison eagerly consented to the terms, and at +once put their chiefs in prison. Orders were found on many of them, +signed Ulysse Parent, for the burning of the Hôtel de Ville, the Bourse, +and other places.</p> + +<p>The Luxembourg is to replace temporarily the Hôtel de Ville, and the +Staff has already moved there. Everything is going on quietly enough in +most parts of Paris, but in the Belleville Quarter life is still unsafe. +Not only shots are fired from windows, but occasionally Insurgents fire +off revolvers upon officers at a few yards' distance. Many fear that, +notwithstanding the large numbers of the Insurgents caught, and the +terrible example made, enough have escaped to give further trouble, if +not by open resistance, at least by arson and secret assassination. The +severities, moreover, exercised by the military authorities have +produced a pretty strong feeling of reaction against them, and in some +of even the least revolutionary Quarters the troops are scarcely +popular, certainly not so popular as when they entered Paris. The +Insurgents find many sympathizers to hide them, and assist their escape +from Paris.</p> + +<p>The policy of England with reference to those who have escaped is +watched with great anxiety.</p> + +<p>Active measures are being taken to cleanse the streets and rid them of +the dead bodies, some of which had been buried where they fell under the +barricades, with a foot or two of soil over them. Passers-by are pressed +into the service as burying parties, and the English Embassy has +received complaints from Englishmen of having been seized for this +purpose. The smell of corpses in some places is offensively strong, and +it is feared this hot weather following upon the heavy rain may breed a +pestilence.</p> + +<p>Traffic in the streets at night is getting easier, though the <i>cafés</i> +have to be closed at 11. The unpopularity of the troops is no doubt, in +part due to the deeply-rooted Parisian dislike of military rule and the +abolition of the National Guard—a measure which, however necessary, +under no circumstances is likely to be welcome.</p> + +<p>The firemen of Havre who came to Paris to aid in extinguishing the +recent conflagrations have returned home to-day.</p> + +<p>One of the most important of the "hostages" who suffered death at the +hands of the Commune—the most important person of their lay victims—M. +Bonjean, was President of the Court of Cassation, and it was only the +fact of his holding a high position, and being respected by all persons +whose respect was worth having, that can have rendered him odious. He +was a very old man, as old at least as the Abbé Deguerry. It was chiefly +as a Judge and not as a politician that his name was known to the world, +yet, all that was known of him as a politician was in his favour. +Indeed, he enjoyed the rare distinction of being, perhaps, the one +Liberal member of an Assembly so bigoted and so subservient as was the +Senate under the Empire. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he remained +firm at his post during the siege and during the far more perilous +period of the conflict between M. Thiers and the Comité Central. His +arrest was, so to speak, an accident, as he happened to be paying, or +expected to pay, a visit, by appointment, to the house of his friend, +the Procureur-général, when the police of the Communists were taking +possession of the house of the latter officer. He bore his imprisonment, +old as he was, with patience and resignation, remarking that for the +last 40 years he had been self-condemned to upwards of 12 hours' hard +labour a day over his books and papers, and that he could work as well +at these in a prison cell as in a palace.</p> + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 2<sup>d</sup>, <span class="smcap">and</span> 3<sup>rd</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Two days ago I was so fortunate as to meet Mons. Petit, the Secretary of +the late Archbishop, who had only escaped from the prison in which he +had been confined with the unfortunate Prelate the day before. M. Petit +did not himself see M. Darboy executed, though he saw the procession +pass and heard the firing. Out of 16 priests and 38 gendarmes confined +in the prison, 26 were shot, and the fate of the remainder had been +decided upon when an attempt to escape made by the criminal prisoners, +who were the original occupants of the gaol, succeeded, and with the +help of one of the gaolers the whole body made an attack upon the +Insurgent guard, who, in fact, did not wait for it, but abandoned their +post as soon as they perceived that all their prisoners were at liberty. +The priests succeeded in changing their clerical costume, but not in +sufficiently disguising themselves, for M. Petit saw four of his +companions shot at the first barricade they reached; he therefore fled +back to his prison, and, finding a common prison shirt, he reduced his +costume to that garments and took refuge in a bed in the hospital ward. +The prison was not again guarded, but those who casually passed through +it supposed him to be a sick prisoner not worth notice; and here he +remained until Sunday evening, when his suspense was put an end to by +the arrival of the soldiery. In the Chapelle Ardente of the Madeleine +lies the body of the <i>curé</i> of that church, who was shot by the side of +the Archbishop, and a stream of persons, mostly women, with saddened, +awe-struck faces passed through it all yesterday afternoon. The body of +the Archbishop has been recovered, and is at the Palace.</p> + +<p>I have now explored Paris in every direction to judge with some degree +of accuracy of the extent of the damage done, but I will spare you any +detailed account of those scenes of havoc and ruin, that I have partly +described already which differ in their character according to the agent +of destruction, and which consist of ruins caused by shells and ruins +caused by fire. Houses which have been destroyed by shells present a far +more ghastly appearance than those which have been burnt, and the aspect +of the street at Point du Jour is calculated to strike the imagination +of those who are now entering Paris for the first time from Versailles +by that gate. The same may be said of the houses on both sides of the +Avenue de la Grande Armée, and in the neighbourhood of the Porte +Maillot; but nothing that I have seen equals the Auteuil Railway +Station, where the building, the line, and the railway bridge have all +been crumpled up together, as if some giant hand had squeezed them into +a shapeless mass. The iron bridge still spans the road, but with rails +and girders so contorted and covered with <i>débris</i> that we were afraid +to drive under it for fear the slight concussion caused by a carriage +passing beneath might bring the tottering mass down on our heads. A +little beyond, a sentry is placed to prevent people passing beneath a +house which is on the verge of crumbling to the ground. It is a lofty, +handsome building, elegantly furnished, and quite new, which has been +completely cut in two, and the furniture of each successive story is +thus exposed. One room on the fourth floor was apparently a boudoir, for +the rich crimson-covered furniture stands trembling at the edge of the +"<i>parquet</i>," and a heavy armchair threatens with the least jar to come +down with a crash into the middle of the road. It was reserved for +French artillery to complete the work which the German artillery began. +I drove round this same road some days after the first siege, and, +compared to their present condition, these suburbs might then have been +considered well preserved and habitable. Looking at the long <i>enceinte</i> +of fortifications with its battered breaches and crumbling embrasures, +one is puzzled whether M. Thiers deserves more credit for the skill with +which he put it up or for that with which he has knocked it down.</p> + +<p>Anxious to see to what condition the conquerors have reduced the +Insurgent stronghold at Belleville, I have returned from penetrating its +disagreeable recesses. As usual, even in peaceful times, the lower part +of the Faubourg du Temple was densely crowded with an agitated, +restless throng, composed principally of women. Most of the shops were +shut, probably because their owners were either shot or in prison. Those +who lounged in their doorways looked surly and suspicious; nor is this +much to be wondered at, for during the last two days every domicile has +been searched in this Quarter from attic to cellar, and every street +swarms with denouncers and soldiers. As we approached Ménilmontant the +crowd became thinner, and the soldiers more numerous, until they almost +lined the street on either side. Here and there were piles of broken +arms and heaps of National Guard coats and trousers. The road was +literary strewn with caps, which had been torn from the heads of +prisoners and flung in the mud. Old women were rummaging in the heaps +for something worth taking away which was not of a military character, +as their operations were closely watched by the soldiery, who were by no +means of an amiable type. Here were no signs of fraternization or +amicable intercourse. At one place at least a dozen omnibuses were +collected and crammed with arms and military stores, a magazine of which +I saw in the process of being emptied. Three thousand Orsini bombs were +also found. I have specimens of two kinds in my possession; one is +circular, flat, and hollow, about six inches in diameter and an inch and +a half thick, and fitted all round its edge with little hammers, which +play upon a glass case inside filled with nitro-glycerine. Whichever way +the bomb falls it is sure to strike one of these hammers, which explodes +the nitro-glycerine. The other is a zinc ball, rather smaller than a +cricket ball, filled with powder and covered with nipples, upon which +are percussion caps. It cannot fall without striking a cap and +exploding. It is natural that the discovery of such objects should +exasperate the soldiery, for whom they were intended, and who cannot yet +walk with any feeling of security along streets filled with a population +who employ such diabolical engines of destruction. Hitherto, in most of +the instances in which they have been used, the culprit has been a +woman; more reckless and vindictive than the men, they have, in many +instances, literally courted death, forcing their fate by acts of +violence when escape was evidently impossible. Near the top of the steep +hill which leads to the Mairie of Ménilmontant were several <i>cordons</i> of +sentries, through which we had some difficulty in passing, owing to a +commotion which had scarcely yet subsided, and which showed how +combustible were the materials of which the population here is +composed. There had been an altercation between a sergeant of the Line +and a citizen, in which the latter had offered some violence and had +been shot on the spot; his body was still palpitating on the pavement as +I came suddenly and unexpectedly upon it, and we were warned, by an +angry cry of "<i>au large</i>" from a sentry, that it would be a very simple +matter in the then temper of the soldiery to meet the same fate. It is +easy to imagine the scowling looks and stifled curses of the men and +women glaring from doorways and windows at the execution of a friend +before their eyes, and we began to feel that we were objects of equal +suspicion and dislike on either side. At every step we were challenged, +and the fact that we had a military pass made it clear to the +Bellevilleites that we were their enemies. We had now reached the crown +of the hill—the very heart of Belleville, and the last stronghold of +the Insurgents. It was crowded with soldiery: an hour in Belleville +under existing circumstances is enough to satisfy the morbid appetite +for excitement which may tempt people to go there. Notwithstanding the +crowds on the Boulevards, many of the shops are still shut, in +consequence of the absence of their owners from Paris. The difficulties +of entering and leaving the city are still so great that many days must +elapse before the ordinary population can return. Meantime, the want of +gas makes the streets as they were in the darkest moments of the siege, +and the gloom after dark, combined with the dangers of arrest, does not +tempt people to remain abroad much later than 10 o'clock.</p> + +<p>Yesterday, out of one of the houses from which a shot had been fired, an +innocent Englishman, who, being elderly and deaf, knew nothing of what +had happened, came downstairs unsuspectingly on to the pavement into the +middle of the crowd, and had a very narrow escape for his life. Some +ingenious self-constituted detective called out "That's the man," and +the crowd, having long waited in vain for somebody, were only too glad +to have a victim thus extemporized to their hands, and if a few of the +cooler and more humane bystanders had not interfered, the Englishman +might have been murdered in cold blood and in broad daylight. As it was, +he got off with no more serious injury than torn clothes and a mauling +which may keep him to his bed for a fortnight.</p> + +<p>What, to those who have witnessed the recent transformation scenes in +the great Parisian melodrama, is newest and strangest is the crowd of +well-dressed holyday-making loungers streaming so thickly over the +broad pavement that it is no easy matter to get through them, and +occupying every available chair outside the adjoining <i>café</i>. Where in +the world do they all come from? Many of them have stories of their +recent experiences to tell which, well arranged, might make the fortune +of a theatrical manager—stories so sensational that one would feel +bound to refuse them credence if they were not in perfect harmony with +the sensational scenes of which every third man's personal experience +has supplied him with a specimen. One man has been close prisoner in a +cellar two days and nights while fighting has been going on all around +him and over his head. Another has had to fly amid bullets from the +suffocating smoke of burning buildings, his ears still ringing with the +cries of poor wretches who could not muster up their courage for the +rush, and who risked a lingering death under the fallen ruins.</p> + +<p>Numerous corpses have been dug out of cellars over which had fallen +masses of burning houses, and many probably still remain, at which it is +impossible to get. In the Rue Royale and its immediate neighbourhood +last night the air was tainted with the unmistakable smell of putrefying +bodies, which, it was supposed, were lying under the huge masses of +smouldering woodwork and masonry still heaped upon them. The fire, +though the engines have been at work at it six days and nights, has not +yet been completely extinguished, and last night I and a friend, +although he had his wife to protect him, were compelled to take our turn +at the pumps. We in vain pleaded that we would not leave the lady alone. +The head of the pressgang who had kidnapped us would be delighted to +take care of her while we worked, and as soon as it appeared that we +were only to work a short time—not to be kept on indefinitely into the +small hours of the night—we were not sorry to lend a helping hand. A +fresh batch of captives, condemned to hard labour, shortly came up and +replaced us. One of our objections to being kept long at work was that +it was getting late, and that after dark it is no very easy or safe +matter to go about the streets.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 4<sup>th</sup> <span class="smcap">and</span> 5<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Large crowds took advantage of the free permission accorded yesterday to +pass through the gates of Paris, and to-day the streets are filled to +overflowing with sightseers examining the ruins and other traces of the +siege. Many foreigners have already arrived, some for pleasure, some to +recommence business operations.</p> + +<p>Arrests are still numerous of men and women, many of the arrested +apparently belonging to the respectable classes.</p> + +<p>It has been proposed to set on foot throughout Europe a subscription to +restore the public buildings destroyed in Paris.</p> + +<p>It is hoped that in two days the telegraphs will again be open to the +public. The post is already working well, thanks to the exertions of M. +Rampont.</p> + +<p>All impediments in the way of entering and leaving Paris have been +removed, as I said; persons are only required to show their passports +when demanded by the police.</p> + +<p>The military authorities have entertained favourably the requests of +theatrical managers for permission to re-open the theatres, but the +re-opening of the <i>cafés chantants</i> has not yet been authorized.</p> + +<p>Aubry, agent of the International Society and treasurer of the Commune, +was arrested yesterday.</p> + +<p>It is said that, until further orders, no one is to be allowed to pass +the gates of Paris after 9 p.m. Patrols of cavalry traverse Paris and +the environs all night.</p> + +<p>The <i>Figaro</i> calculates the number of insurgents still at large in Paris +who have escaped military justice at 50,000 men. These persons will, it +thinks, always constitute a source of danger, and will only await a +favourable opportunity for exciting disturbances.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 6<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>A gang of prisoners passing down the Boulevard is a never ending source +of interest, and with some reason, for the prisoners now are not the +scum of Belleville and La Villette, swept at haphazard out of their +lanes and alleys, but the more prominent men, who have been lying hid +ever since, and are being discovered or denounced singly, so that there +are seldom more than two or three in a batch, and these are generally +persons of note. I saw two parties yesterday, one containing three men +and two women, all of quite a different type from the ragged hangdog +squads that used to be driven past between lines of cavalry. These were +well-dressed, gentlemanlike men and modest, respectable-looking women +who seemed by no means either afraid or ashamed of the position in which +they found themselves. On another occasion I observed two men, also of +the <i>bourgeoisie</i> class, both of them very superior to usual prisoners. +One of them had his hands tied firmly behind his back. They both boldly +looked the crowd that followed them in the face; but the arrest which +caused the greatest interest was that of M. Paschal Grousset, who was +caught hidden and disguised as a woman at 39 Rue Condorcet, and who was +honoured with a conveyance and a cavalry escort to protect him from the +crowd. M. Pyat still succeeds in evading the authorities, and there is +even some doubt whether the numerous persons who went to see the body of +M. Deslescluze when it was exposed in the church of St. Elizabeth, and +who declared that they recognized it, were not the victims of a +delusion, and whether that gentleman may not still turn up like Sir +Roger Tichborne to discomfit the minds of his old friends, who now seem +uncertain whether they know him or not.</p> + +<p>Monday being the first day when the gates of Paris, as well as the +railway stations, were open to the public, there was an influx and +efflux on a large scale, the people who swarmed in were people from a +distance who had taken refuge in the country, and were returning with +their baggage to their homes. Those who swarmed out were for the most +part sightseers whom events have kept close prisoners in Paris for the +last two months, and who are now flocking to the outside of the +<i>enceinte</i> to visit their former haunts of pleasure in the immediate +vicinity, which are now desolate wastes, and to compare the condition of +the suburbs as damaged by the Germans with their present condition as +destroyed by themselves. An examination for arms and weapons to be +extended to every room in Paris is now being made, and the military +authorities continue their active <i>perquisitions</i> for men and documents +with tolerable success. Upon two successive occasions, however, shots +have been fired within the last few days from a window in a house in the +Place Beauveau upon officers, fortunately without injury, but the +would-be murderer has not been found.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 7<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Ten thousand incendiary bombs have been discovered in the catacombs. As +23,000 were manufactured by the Commune according to documents found on +prisoners, and of these not many were used, a large number are believed +to be still somewhere concealed.</p> + +<p>Nearly all the missing pieces of the Colonne Vendôme have been +recovered. It is thought the Column can be exactly restored.</p> + +<p>A strange proposal is made to preserve untouched the ruins of the Hôtel +de Ville. It is seriously discussed, and finds many advocates.</p> + +<p>On the extradition question the more moderate journals suggest that +Government should content itself with demanding the surrender of those +Insurgents against whom it can make out some case of ordinary +non-political crime.</p> + +<p>Crowds still flock from all parts into Paris.</p> + +<p>Perfect tranquility prevails, though numerous arrests continue to be +made.</p> + +<p>It is believed that the prisoners will be classified in three +categories, the first consisting of persons against whom only minor +charges are preferred, the second of those charged with offences which +entail transportation, the third of criminals of the worst class, some +of them being accused of offences which may be punished by death.</p> + +<p>The funeral of the Archbishop of Paris and the other distinguished +hostages assassinated by the Commune is expected to be a very imposing +ceremony. A Commission of 50 Deputies will officially represent the +Assembly on the occasion, but a very much larger number of Deputies will +attend. The chief of the Executive power and the other members of the +Government will be present at Notre-Dame, where the funeral service +will be celebrated to morrow morning at 11 o'clock.</p> + +<p>The body of the Archbishop will be removed from the Archiepiscopal +Palace, in the Rue de Grenelle, at 10 o'clock. It will be carried on a +bed of state by seven Deacons. The seven Suffragan Bishops of the +Archdiocese of Paris will act as pall bearers.</p> + +<p>Monseigneur Darboy will be interred in the tomb of the Archbishops of +Paris in the vaults of the Cathedral See.</p> + +<p>The Abbé Duguerry will be burried in the vaults of the Madeleine, and +the other hostages in the Cemetery of Père-Lachaise.</p> + +<p>The cause of the delay in opening the courts-martial at Versailles to +try the Communist prisoners is that a supplementary act of indictment +has been rendered necessary by the discovery of important documents on +several of the recently-arrested members of the Commune.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 8<sup>th</sup> <span class="smcap">and</span> 9<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The inhabitants of the second Arrondissement have been warned that +everybody who does not give up his firearms may be tried before a court +martial.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Indian ex-officer is said to be gravely compromised in the +Insurrection, but the number of British subjects engaged in it appears +to have been ludicrously exaggerated:—not 20 have had cases made out +against them.</p> + +<p>The number of Communists belonging to the International and similar +societies is estimated at 120,000. Arrests are still numerous. One of +the men who shot the Archbishop, and for whom the police had long looked +in vain, was yesterday arrested at his funeral.</p> + +<p>The <i>Journal officiel</i> publishes a circular note of M. Jules Favre, +dated the 6th inst., in reference to the causes of the Parisian +Insurrection. The principal of these is the collecting together of +300,000 workmen who were brought to Paris by the works executed under +the Empire, and who were led away by Jacobin agitators, and who were +vanquished on the 31st of October.</p> + +<p>After that came the action of the International Society composed of +working men, the doctrines and dangers of which are explained in the +circular.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 10<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>It is calculated that 70,000 travellers entered Paris between Saturday +and Tuesday by the Northern line alone. Many had to travel in luggage +vans. Paris, notwithstanding, does not appear full. Most of the +visitors make a very short stay. The dull condition of trade is loudly +complained of.</p> + +<p>The idea of burning the corpses which have not been properly buried has +been abandoned; it is proposed to exhume all those buried in the Parc +des Monceaux, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and other temporary burial +places, and to transfer them to a new cemetery beyond Fort Vanves.</p> + +<p>One hundred and fifty pretended firemen were executed yesterday at +Versailles.</p> + +<p>The Commander of the 9<sup>th</sup> Army Corps of Paris has issued a notice, +stating that the surrender of arms has been slow, and the last delay has +expired. The military authorities will, therefore, treat the offenders +with severity. Active searches have been made in the Rue St. Honoré +to-day.</p> + +<p>The Courts-martial at Versailles will try the prisoners exclusively for +offences against the common law, and will not consider them as political +offenders.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 11<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>The close inspection which has been made of the sewers in Paris has +already led to the discovery of large quantities of weapons and +ammunition, and also of many ex-Federalist combatants, who, despairing +of escape from the regular troops, sought refuge in the subterranean +passages with whatever provisions they could secure. The greater part of +these miserable creatures are in a most deplorable condition from hunger +and the poisonous atmosphere of their hiding places. On Friday, at the +angle of the Rue Vavin and the outer Boulevard, the scavengers found +five bodies in the sewer, one that of an officer, and all mutilated by +rats. The bodies were brought out by means of ropes, and after search +for papers and documents, were interred in the Mont Parnasse Cemetery.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 12<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>On Wednesday the Commissary of Police for the Quartier Saint Victor +received information that the ex-General of the Commune, Rossel, was in +concealment at the Hôtel Montebello, upon the Boulevard St. Germain. The +Commissary proceeded to the hotel, and upon searching the place found in +a room on the third floor a person dressed in the uniform of the Eastern +Railway service. Upon being questioned this person stated that his name +was Tirobois, that he was an engineer living at Metz, but had been +summoned to Paris by the railway managers on account of the pressure of +traffic on the line. 'Are you sure of that?' asked the Commissary. +'Parbleu.' 'Well, in the name of the law I arrest you. You are Rossel.' +'I? not at all.' The prisoner was taken to the Prefecture de Police +established at the Barracks of the Cité, and thence in a boat to the +Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the head-quarters of the municipal +police are established. During the whole of the journey thither, being +closely pressed with questions by the Commissary, the pretended Tirobois +continued his denials. Upon being further interrogated at the Ministry +of Foreign Affairs, he replied, 'I have told you all I know about +myself. Do not ask me any more.' Tirobois was then conveyed to the +Ministry of War, where he was confronted with a number of persons who +were detained in custody. Some of these declared that he was Rossel, but +others, the majority, denied that he was the Communist ex-General. About +10 o'clock at night the prisoner was formally questioned as to his +history. When the customary question, 'What is the name of your mother?' +was put, he became confused, turned red, and, suddenly springing up, +exclaimed, 'Why carry on this pretence any longer. Of what good is this +acting and these lies. Yes, I am Colonel Rossel.' After this avowal the +prisoner was removed under escort to the dépôt of the Prefecture. Upon +being searched there was found 225f. in notes, a political article, and +a longitudinal section of the different public monuments in Paris. The +next day he was taken to Versailles and lodged at the Grandes Écuries. +His real description is Louis Nathaniel Rossel, born at St. Brieuc +(Côtes du Nord), September 9, 1844, of Louis and of Sarah Campbell. The +<i>Figaro</i> states that the artist Courbet was captured at the house of one +of his friends, a pianoforte maker in the Rue St. Gilles. He was +concealed behind a bedstead, and, upon being threatened with a revolver, +gave himself up without attempting resistance.</p> + +<p>The destruction at the Gobelins has not been so extensive as had been +apprehended. Only a small portion of the buildings has been burnt, and +work has already been resumed in the parts which have been spared. Even +in those rooms which have been destroyed not all the works of art have +been lost, and especially the "Dead Christ" after Philippes de +Champagne, and the portrait of Louis XIV, after Rigault, have been +saved. The collection of ancient patterns has also been preserved.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 13<sup>th</sup></h3> + +<p>Some disquieting rumours about the condition of La Villette have caused +the troops quartered there to be strongly reinforced; nevertheless, +perfect tranquility so far prevails.</p> + +<p>Business is greatly improving, orders for <i>articles de Paris</i> coming in +pretty freely, and the fine weather bringing increasing crowds of +visitors.</p> + +<p>Some further important arrests have been made, including Urbain, alleged +to have been the principal instigator of the massacre of the hostages.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 14<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>Paris is rapidly resuming its old appearance. The Cafés and Concerts in +the Champs Élysées recommence to-morrow, and various theatres are +re-opening.</p> + + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">june</span> 15<sup>th</sup>.</h3> + +<p>People, in France, are discussing the causes of the late insurrection, +and measuring the consideration to which the Insurgents, whether as +rebels or refugees, are justly entitled. That the tendency of opinion +should be strongly against the Communists is natural, for the +justification of their revolt appears difficult, while their last acts +have excited universal abhorrence. It is, indeed, perfectly true that +they had no grievance against the Government which they defied, for +though, perhaps, the National Assembly might not have voted for a +Republic, no Republic which could have been voted by any Assembly of +Frenchmen would have satisfied the Insurgents of Paris. The political +leanings of the Assembly may be put out of the question in searching for +the origin of the Civil War. That war was hatched in the brooding minds +of Parisian workmen, intent on one single object, and it became +practicable when the Revolution of September last put arms in their +hands and the capitulation of February left them there still.</p> + +<p>The one fixed idea of the workmen of Paris was that work entitled them +to something more than wages. They had so long and so intently +contemplated the relations between labour and capital that they knew +nothing of any other elements of human society, or of any other classes +beyond employers and employed. They saw that a hundred workmen got their +five francs a day each, and that the single person who hired them got +his thousands a year. We are not aware that, as a rule, they were +ill-paid or overworked, or in any way oppressed. We should infer rather +that they were in the receipt of good wages, that they possessed +education as well as skill, and that they had leisure enough and to +spare for discussion and thought. The misfortune was that they thought +of one subject only, until at last their conceptions grew actually +monstrous. It was not all at once that they reached the doctrines +recently declared. There is a wide difference between the ideas of 1871 +and those of 1848. At the latter period the labourer was held simply to +be worthy of his hire, and nothing was proposed beyond such an +organization of labour as would insure a constant supply of work for all +who wanted it, at wages determined rather by considerate adjustment than +unrestricted competition. But the men of the Commune had advanced far +ahead of such old Tories of Socialism and Democracy as <span class="smcap">Ledru Rollin</span> and +<span class="smcap">Louis Blanc</span>. Still occupied with the one single prospect of their daily +life, and regarding the relations between capital and labour as the +be-all and end-all of existence, they had reached the conclusion that +all capital should be transferred bodily to themselves; that they alone +ought to constitute society, that all other classes should be +dispossessed as worthless, and all established institutions abolished as +effete. They began their demolition with the nation itself. They would +have no nation, no France, no French Government. They renounced not +only all Kings and Emperors, but all Presidents, all Conventions, and +all Parliaments, the latter especially. In the place of such authorities +they proposed to substitute Committees of working men, and to cut up the +country into such areas as Trade Unions might conveniently govern. For +their own particular Union they thought Paris might serve well enough, +and so they stipulated for their own sovereignty within these limits +under the title of the Commune. On those terms—every other species of +authority and power being excluded—they believed they could put into +practice their one idea of turning their own little world upside down +and making the working class everything and other classes nothing. As +they never looked beyond their own workshops, they considered that none +but working people had ever done any duties or suffered any wrongs, and +that no others, therefore, were entitled to any rights. The one object +of their hatred, envy, and antagonism was capital, and they resolved to +take capital into their own hands. For the future they would lead easy +lives, and be the lords instead of the slaves of their old and detested +enemy.</p> + +<p>In those pretensions and those desires originated the Revolution just +suppressed. The war thus undertaken was a Civil War, conducted without +the least respect to any laws of war at all. The flight of the +Government left the entire Capital not only with all its resources, but +with all its treasures and all its inhabitants, in the hands of the +insurgents. With these advantages they preferred their demands. They +asked for the Capital of France to be delivered over to them as an +estate or province within which they might proscribe the worship of <span class="smcap">God</span>, +appropriate every form of capital, and depose all authority and all +ranks in favour of their own. Failing this, and in the event of their +being defeated in the actual war, they asked for amnesty and liberty to +depart. At first they reckoned on victory, for the Assembly appeared +disorganized and its armies wavering; the support of other great towns +was anticipated, and the outlaws of every country in Europe—the +veterans of the universal Revolution—had carried their swords to the +service of its latest and ripest expression—the Parisian Commune. +Moreover, they had tremendous means of extortion in their hands. They +held possession of all that was precious and admirable in the Capital of +France, and they declared that, if they were neither allowed to prevail +nor permitted to escape, they would spare nothing in their vengeance. In +preparation for the worst they stored combustibles in the noblest +edifices of the city, and then, laying their hands on some of the most +eminent and venerated of its inhabitants, they penned them in a body for +the contingency of prospective slaughter. They had no more personal +animosity against Monseigneur <span class="smcap">Darboy</span> than against any statue in the +Tuileries or the Louvre. Animate and inanimate objects were marked for +destruction on precisely the same grounds—the necessity of putting +stress upon the enemy; and the threat was actually executed because its +execution might improve the effect of terrorism another day. Of laws or +of rules of war these men took not the slightest account. The military +leaders of the insurrection had been trained in combats where every +imaginable expedient had been held lawful, and the Committee of the +International thought no price too high for the realization of their +fixed idea. Soldiers and workmen alike were prepared for any extremity +of outrage either in pursuit of victory or prosecution of revenge.</p> + +<p>Such was the cause and such the conduct of this two months' war; but a +war, nevertheless, it was, waged by a political insurrection on behalf +of a political object. It is very true that the Insurgents aimed at no +form of polity known to the world, and that it would have been +impossible to content them by any measure of civil freedom or political +rights. Their chief and most peremptory demand was, not for any rights +of their own, but for the suppression of the rights of others. They +denounced the extension of the suffrage to the rural population, and, as +they were in a very small minority themselves, they protested against +the right of any majority to outvote them, though they were preparing +all the while to impose their own will on a constituency of ten times +their number.</p> + +<p>Such are my summary reflections concerning that gigantic insurrection.</p> + +<p>Now, my Dear, that I have brought my daily correspondence to an end, +happy shall I be, if such as may happen to read my small volume can find +the perusal of it as interesting as you told it was to you.</p> + +<p>I don't expect to stay much longer abroad: I shall soon return to +England but quite heart-rent at what my eyes have witnessed, and +notwithstanding my admiration for the noble qualities of the french +nation, more than once, I fear, I shall not be able to refrain +exclaiming: <i>Poor France!</i></p> + + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>HISTORICAL INFORMATIONS ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS BURNT</h2> + + +<p>The Palais Royal, built on the site of Cardinal Richelieu's Palace, +faces the Louvre, and adjoins the Place des Victoires. Given by Louis +XIV, to his brother the Duke of Orleans, it passed from him to the +Regent Duke. Here, but not in the existing edifice, the Regent and his +daughter held their incredible orgies; here lived his grandson Egalité, +who rebuilt the palace after a fire, and relieved his embarrassments by +erecting the ranges of shops. The Palais Royal Gardens were the nursery +of the First Revolution; they were the favourite resort of Camille +Desmoulins and the other mob orators not yet sitting in Convention; and +in them was unfurled, on the 13th of July, 1789, that tricolour flag +which was to prove even a deadlier symbol than the red and white roses +plucked once for England's woe in our own Temple-gardens. At the Palais +Royal Egalité hatched the plots which ended in his execution, when it +was disposed of by lottery, to be bought back, repaired, and beautified +by the Orleans family after the Restoration, and inhabited by them till +the second death of the Monarchy, in 1830, removed them to the +Tuileries. In 1848 the palace was plundered and the interior destroyed +by the mob, who at the same time burnt Louis Philippe's fine library. +The Palais was turned into a barrack, but when the new Republic +developed into an Empire, it naturally changed back again into a palace. +The Emperor made it over to his uncle Jerome, who left it to Prince +Napoleon, by whom it was fitted up in sumptuous style. The great +staircase and its balustrades and the Galerie des Fêtes were fine in art +and in general effect, but nothing that may have been destroyed can be +half so great a loss as the Library which went in 1848, or as the Hôtel +de Ville, a magnificent structure, dating in part from 1628. The +additions of 1842 to this municipal palace cost 640,000<i>l</i>., and some of +the saloons were the most gorgeous in Paris, perhaps in the world. Here +in the days gone by, the Prefect of the Seine was wont to entertain his +7,000 guests in the great gallery, with its gilt Corinthian columns and +3,000 wax lights, the whole suite of rooms measuring more than 1,000 +yards in length. In and about the building were some 500 statues of +French celebrities, from Charlemagne to Louis XIV, in a full-bottomed +wig. Painting, gilding, carving, glass, and velvet here had done their +utmost, and as a specimen of magnificence in the modern French taste +the furniture and decorations of the Hôtel de Ville were unrivalled. The +building, however, was far from depending altogether on its sumptuous +upholstery. Not only was the architecture worthy of all praise and the +art of much of the decoration as intrinsic as its gold, but here had +been enacted many famous and infamous scenes in the history of Paris. +Here the first Commune held its bloody sittings; here Robespierre took +refuge with his partisans, and was found by the soldiers with his broken +jaw; the "Citizen King" was presented here to the people by Lafayette +from a central window; here the soldiers were quartered in 1848; and +here in 1871 was the stronghold of the last Commune, less bloody in its +life but more desperate in its death than the first.</p> + +<p>The Palais de Justice is a vast pile, which includes the Sainte +Chapelle, numerous courts of law, and the Prison of the Conciergerie. +Anciently the site of palaces inhabited by the Kings down to Francis I., +afterwards the meeting place of the Parliaments of Paris, it has been +repaired and rebuilt since 1831 at a cost of nearly 1,000,000<i>l</i>. The +courts of law open from the vast but inelegant Salle des Pas Perdus, +which answers to our Westminster-hall. One of these courts was the +Chamber of the Tribunal Revolutionnaire, and communicated by a small +door with the Conciergerie Prison. In the precincts of the Palais +stands, or stood, the Sainte Chapelle, an exquisite specimen on a small +scale of the best style of Gothic architecture. The Chapelle was +finished in 1248, having been built by Pierre de Montereau to enshrine +the thorns of our Lord's crown and the wood of the Cross, relics bought +for an immense sum from the Emperor Baldwin by St. Louis, and carried +through the streets of Paris by the King barefoot. In 1791 the Sainte +Chapelle became a club, then a corn store, then a record office; Louis +Philippe commenced its restoration, and up to the fall of the Empire +about 2,000,000f. had been spent upon it. It is in two stories, +corresponding with the floors of the ancient palace; the lower chapel, +or crypt, was intended for the servants, the upper, on a level with the +Royal apartments, for the Royal family. The glass is exquisite, and the +statues of the twelve Apostles date from the 13th century, and are +admirable specimens of the art of their age. A small square hole to the +south of the nave communicates with a room in which Louis XI was wont to +sit and hear mass without fear of assassination.</p> + +<hr style='width: 85%;' /> + +<h2>GRAND-HOTEL</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>12, Boulevard des Capucines, 12.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>REOPENING</h3> + +<p class="center"><b>After entire restoration.</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">The new direction of the Grand-Hotel has greatly reduced the prices.</p> + +<p class="center">The price for service will be no more charged to travellers.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>700 rooms and drawing-rooms</b></p> + +<p class="center"> +very comfortably furnished, from<br /> +5 francs a day, service included.<br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3><b>TABLE D'HOTE</b></h3> + +<p class="center"> +BREAKFASTS—at 4 francs, wine included,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">every day from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m.</span><br /> +<br /> +DINNERS—at 6 francs, wine included,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">every day at 6 p.m. precisely.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 10%;' /> + +<p class="center">MEALS BY THE CARD.</p> + +<hr style='width: 10%;' /> + +<p class="center">SPECIAL SERVICE AT MED PRICE.</p> + +<p class="center">Including the lodging, fuel, light, service and food, with choice to +take the meals in the apartments, in the restaurant, or at the table +d'hôte:</p> + +<table summary="prix" cellpadding="2" style="margin-left:35%;margin-right:auto;"> +<tr><td>1<sup>st</sup></td><td>class</td><td>—</td><td>30</td><td> frs. </td><td align="right"> 24</td><td> sh.</td><td align="right"> 6 </td><td>d.</td></tr> +<tr><td>2<sup>d</sup></td><td align="center">d°</td><td> —</td><td>25 </td><td align="center"> » </td><td align="right"> 20 </td><td align="right"> » </td><td align="right"> 5</td><td> »</td></tr> +<tr><td>3<sup>d</sup></td><td align="center">d°</td><td> —</td><td>20 </td><td align="center"> » </td><td align="right"> 16 </td><td align="right"> » </td><td align="right"> 4 </td><td>»</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center">OPPOSITE THE NEW OPERA GRANDE BRASSERIE.—GRAND BREWERY</p> + +<p class="center">ENGLISH ALES,—DUTCH BEER</p> + +<p class="center">COFFEE-HOUSE.—EATING-HOUSE</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Breakfasts at 2 Fr. 50 (2 shil.).—Dinners at 4 Fr. 50 and à la carte +(bill of fare)</i></p> + +<p class="center">31, BOULEVARD HAUSSMAN <br /><b>The most comfortable in Paris</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">CABOURG-DIVES</p> + +<p class="center">GRAND HOTEL DE LA PLAGE</p> + +<p class="center">Establishment for bathing situated in the most luxuriant and salubrious +country in Normandy</p> + +<p class="center">SPLENDID CASINO.—ROOMS FOR THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>DIEPPE</b></p> + +<p class="center">HOTEL ROYAL ON THE PLAGE</p> + +<p class="center">THE MOST COMFORTABLE</p> + +<p class="center">Kept by M<sup>me</sup> LAFOSSE</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>CAEN</b></p> + +<p class="center">HOTEL DE LA VICTOIRE</p> + +<p class="center">NEAR THE CATHEDRAL</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Kept by M<sup>r</sup> BEUZELIN</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">WINE AND SPIRITS</p> + +<h3><br /><span class="smcap">J. CHAIGNEAU and Co</span></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>31 and 33, rue Doidy</i></p> + +<p class="center"><b>BORDEAUX</b></p> + +<p class="center">Appointed to supply H.M. the king of sweden and norway</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">CAEN. TYP. F. LE BLAC-HARDEL.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Insurrection in Paris, by An Englishman: Davy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS *** + +***** This file should be named 19912-h.htm or 19912-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/9/1/19912/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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.org + + +Title: The Insurrection in Paris + +Author: An Englishman: Davy + +Release Date: November 24, 2006 [EBook #19912] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net) + + + + + + + + + +THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS + +RELATED + +BY + +AN ENGLISHMAN + +_An eye-witness of that frightful war and of the terrible evils which +accompanied it_ + +PRICE: 2 fr. 50 c. + +PARIS + +A. LEMOIGNE, EDITOR + +26, PLACE VENDOME + +1871 + +Imprimerie de F. Le Blanc-Hardel, rue Froide, 2 et 4, a Caen. + +_Paris, June the 25th 1871._ + + +DEAR EDWARD, + +To you who have been pleased to take some interest in what I wrote about +Paris, I inscribe this small volume which, according to your suggestion, +I publish under the form of a nearly day per day correspondence. + +_Yours truly_, + +DAVY. + + + + +RECOLLECTIONS + +OF THE + +PARISIAN INSURRECTION. + + +The desire of appreciating _de visu_ the results of a five month's siege +in a town of two million inhabitants, unexampled in the annals of +humanity, made me leave London on the twentieth of March. + +Hardly landed in the Capital of France which I thought of finding +tranquil and occupied in exercising its genius in repairing the +disasters caused by the enemy, I heard with stupefaction that Paris, a +prey to civil war, was under the blow of a fresh siege. + +Sad change! the German helmets had given place to the French kepys; +citizens of the same nation were going to cut one another's throats. + +My first thought was to withdraw from this mournful and dangerous +spectacle. Of what importance to me, a simple citizen of Great Britain, +were the disorders and furies of that people, in turn our most cruel +enemy or our friend according to circumstances, as European politics or +the interests of sovereigns make of them our adversary or our ally?--Why +expose myself voluntarily to the heart-rending and often dangerous +trials of a war that had none of my sympathies either on the one side or +on the other of the enclosure? Was I going to see a great people +breaking its irons and fighting to death in order to recover its rights +and liberty?--No--the French people had at last the government of their +choice,--the Republic. There was, then, question of an impious war, +undertaken by a blind multitude for the profit of a few hidden +ambitions: that is to say, a war without grandeur and without interest +for a simple spectator. + +However, after due reflection, I overcame my repugnance. I had, in my +excursions, remarked, among the armed bands, so many heterogeneous +elements; that is to say, thousands of individuals of all social +positions and of so many nationalities, that I began to think it would +perhaps be useful to my compatriots to hear by and by a sincere recital, +written by a disinterested pen, of the events about to take place. + +I did not conceal from myself the dangers to which my curiosity would +expose me; but had I not, and that too without any advantage, incurred +as great dangers in escalading Mont-Blanc and in going up along the +borders of the Nile? Besides, as is generally the case, the certainty of +an imminent peril only served to strengthen my resolution. Moreover, not +wishing to run any useless risk, I thought good to take a few +precautions: I went to see Monsieur ***, an old French refugee that I +had known at London, by the interposition of M. Causidiere. I asked him +if he could not procure me a permission, a pass, some paper or other. + +"Are you quite decided on staying?" + +Asked that gentleman, whom I do not name for a reason that will be +appreciated by the reader. + +"Perfectly decided." + +"Could nothing, not even good advice, make you renounce your intention?" + +"Nothing." + +"Then come with me to the Town-hall." + +I followed him; and, half an hour afterwards, I was in possession of a +pass signed by two members of the Commune. + +This precaution was not to be useless. A few days afterwards, going to +see the fort of Vanves, strongly menaced, I was arrested and taken +before the commander of the Fort. + +This officer examined my pass; and, hesitating without doubt as to my +identity, he put several questions to me in English. My answers +certainly satisfied him, for he took me by the hand and said to me in a +tone not without emotion: + +"Go, Sir, I will give you some one to accompany you; I like the English; +I have seen them under fire; I was at Inkermann." + +The next day, having advanced too near Courbevoie, I was arrested by a +patrol, and taken before a Commander of the army of Versailles. There I +exhibited a letter from the ambassador's. + +"Ah!" said the Commander, "I knew in the Crimea two brave officers of +your name." + +"John and Lewis--Captains--they were cousins of mine." + +"That is it exactly--what has become of them?" + +"Lewis is in the Indies--John is dead." + +"He is very happy", said the commander sorrowfully, in bowing to me." + +I went back, not without thinking of those two men--of those two +brothers-in-arms, who perhaps were going to fire upon each other, after +having mingled their blood before the enemy for the defence of their +country. Alas! I was destined to see greater crimes. + +Certain, henceforth, of being able to get safely out of all scrapes, +thanks to my pass of the commune and my papers from the ambassador's, I +persevered in following step by step the events I am about to relate. + +Not having the pretention to write the history of the French revolution, +with an appreciation of its consequences, as was done by our illustrious +compatriot Carlisle for the revolution of 93, I will content myself with +a simple and daily account of what I have seen and heard, and nothing +more. + +The events offer of themselves sufficient interest and need not be +augmented. + +In default of merit to which this book, so rapidly got up, cannot +pretend, I dare hope that its sincerity will gain for it the reader's +sympathy and esteem. + +Paris. + + +A certain calm reigned in the city in consequence of the hope that was +entertained of seeing the commune come to an understanding with the +government of Versailles. Several battalions even marched only because +they were forced to do so. This hesitation was caused by the convocation +of all the freemasons for bringing about a reconciliation between the +two parties. It was, in fact, on this very day, that all the freemasons +of Paris went to the Town-hall to hear pronounced, by several members of +the commune, speeches of a fiery character and leading to civil war. + +All efforts of reconciliation have failed. Dombrowski, then, has ordered +the inhabitants of Neuilly to leave in 24 hours, having the intention to +reduce the village to ashes. The day ended by the arrest of general +Cluseret. + + +MAY 1rst. + +This day is signalized by the capture of the railway-station of Clamart, +where the insurgents lost, in addition to 60 prisoners, about 300 killed +by the bayonet. The soldiers of Versailles gave no quarter, excited as +they were at the sight of the deserters of the Line who served in the +ranks of the commune. + +It was also on this day that general Mariouze retook the castle of Issy, +having captured 250 insurgents. This number was increased by others, +made prisoners during the day, and they arrived at Versailles 400 in +number. + + +MAY 2nd. + +The scaffolding for the destruction of the Vendome Column is arranged, +and the eighth of this month is the day fixed for its fall. + +The fighting around Paris continues violent and the troops of Versailles +press steadily forward. + +The railway-companies are taxed to the amount of 2,000,000 fr. + +Let us terminate this day by the recital of the pillage of Notre-Dame. + + * * * * * + + +NOTRE-DAME PLUNDERED. + +People were astonished that the commune should have restored the +treasure of Notre-Dame after having had it taken away. To day the +astonishment will cease: the furniture and vases had been brought back +only to be re-taken. + +On monday, april 26th., in the afternoon, a certain number of national +guards, accompanied by the self-styled delegates of the commune, loaded, +for the second time, in two carriages, the treasure of Notre-Dame. Then, +having doubtless met with some difficulties, they had the horses taken +away and left the two carriages loaded. + +The next day, at 1 o'clock, a pompous bill was stuck up at the town-hall +and at the mayory of the 4th. arrondissement, announcing that the +treasure of Notre-Dame had all just been restored. But, at about 3 +o'clock, fifty national guards arrived at Notre-Dame, the horses were +again put to, and the two vehicles were taken no body knows where. + +These gentlemen are to return, for they have only done half their work; +time has not permitted them to take all. + +Such then is the end of the promises and protestations of gentlemen, +members of the commune, who declare aloud that probity is their ruling +virtue. + +These gentlemen propose, moreover, it is said, to rake up, so to speak, +the very ground; that is to say, to upset every thing in the church, +cellars and caloriferes. They insist on finding there arms and +ammunition. + +It is true that, during the siege, the gunners of the national guard, +who occupied the park of artillery established round the basilic, +demanded of the chapter's steward the authorisation to put in the +cellars and caloriferes their ammunition which was exposed to the shells +of the Prussians, and that this authorisation was granted them without +the least difficulty. + +After the Armistice, they took away all these arms; but could they have +had the indelicacy to leave some behind in order to be able to justify +the impious and sacrilegious robbery they were meditating. This would be +odious but not impossible in such times as these. + +A few days before two men employed in guarding the church were arrested. +They were kept 3 or 4 days, and, before being set at liberty, the keys +of the church were taken from them. What took place is however unknown, +for the poor fellows are afraid to utter a word. + +A commissary came, in the name of the commune, to sequester the objects +belonging to the church Sainte-Marguerite, in the little borough of St. +Antoine. A picket of 10 national guards is in permanence in the church +to keep sight of the clergy. + +The church Saint-Merry has also been ransacked by the sicaires of the +Commune. + +The vicar, fortunately, had stolen away from their _fraternal_ visit. + +The church Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs is transformed into a club-house. + +The parishioners are robbed, plundered, driven from their temples, and +the preaching of the Gospel is replaced in the pulpit by the +declamations of epileptic tribunes. + +At Plaisance they have sequestered a chalice and a sum of 175 franks, +the personal property of M. l'abbe Orse, first vicar. + +The curate, M. Blondeau, is in the prisons of the Commune. + + +MAY 3d. + +A manifestation, provoked by the Freemasons, took place in the +afternoon. A body of several thousands of people crossed the +Champs-Elysees, carrying green branches and white flags. Arrived at the +gate Maillot, the firing ceased, but the manifestation was warned not to +approach and that only two parliamentarians would be received. They +accordingly presented themselves and will be this evening at Versailles. +It is reported that yesterday 200 soldiers, wearing the uniform of +troops of the Line, went down the Champs-Elysees. It was said they were +deserters from Versailles. We can positively state as a certain fact, +that from the first week of april no deserter has been counted in the +army of Versailles. + + +MAY 4th. + +Two brigades carried off last night the park, the castle and cemetery of +Issy, taking 8 guns, ammunition and a hundred prisoners. They had a few +dead and 20 wounded. The cemetery is about 210 yards from the fort. The +capture of this fort appears imminent. + +Yesterday, Mr. Thiers received two parliamentarians, freemasons, who +declared, however, they had no mandate. Mr. Thiers gave them an answer +similar to those already known; that he desired more than any body the +end of the civil war, but that France could not capitulate before a few +insurgents; that they must apply for peace to the commune who had +troubled it. + +Yesterday evening, a parliamentarian summoned the fort of Issy to +capitulate. + +The insurgents answered that they were going to deliberate about it, +that they would give a reply in half an hour; then they asked for a +prolongation of the delay.--The parliamentarian returned. + +The negociations for the capitulation, resumed in the morning, will +probably succeed. + +The coup de main on the farm of Bonamy, in front of Chatillon, was +executed by a company of the 70th. and by that of the scouts of 71st. + +Two officers of the insurgents were killed, and 30 insurgents killed or +wounded. They made 75 prisoners and among them 4 officers. + +The last military facts of the day took place in the quarries and park +of Issy which were vigorously carried by the battalions of the brigades +Derocha, Paturel and Berthe, with the assistance of the marine +musketeers. + +The insurgents, in very large numbers, retired precipitately, leaving +numerous dead and wounded, as well as a hundred prisoners, 8 pieces of +artillery, much ammunition and 8 horses. + +Nothing particular this afternoon. The insurgents are busy about mining +Paris, and the Versailles troops have silenced the firing of the fort of +Issy which is now completely invested. + +The fort of Issy is summoned to surrender, but Rossel, previously +colonel, who has replaced General Cluseret, gives the parliamentarian a +most arrogant answer of refusal threatening to have shot any other +messenger of the army of Versailles, the bearer of such a demand. + + +MAY 5, 6th. + +Such was the remark I heard made yesterday by a poor and very old +peasant woman as she stopped work for a moment in a field above +Montretout to look at the Fort firing. She followed up this admirable +summary of recent military operations by asking me whether it was not +amazing that somebody could not "invent" a means to put a stop to this +Civil War. I think the whole world must concur with this poor old +woman. It is always the same repetition that is certain, and it is so +to even a greater degree than she was aware of. Not only is the +cannonading the same repetition, but the game of taking positions, +giving them up and retaking them, to lose or abandon them once more, has +been the night work of the last week. Except it may be by treason, or by +the Commune falling to pieces, they are not nearer a march on Paris than +they were three weeks ago. I won't say a month ago, because then the +work could have been done by a few thousand good troops. A non-official +organ of the Government now tells us to be confident, because "unless in +the case of such accidents as one cannot suppose, or of unforeseen +surprises, _some weeks_ will be sufficient to bring to an end the +necessary but sad entreprise of the attack on Paris!" The same paper is +of opinion that only "some months" will have elapsed before order is +restored in the capital. It thinks the _Journal Officiel_ ridiculously +sanguine, because the latter says, "our works of approach advance with a +rapidity which elicits the admiration of all men of art, and which +promises to France a speedy end of its trials, and to Paris a +deliverance from the horrible tyrants who oppress it." Perhaps it is +because the artillerists and other military men whom I meet are not +"men of art," but certainly I cannot find that any of them take so +bright a view of the position. I have just spoken with a very +distinguished foreign officer who has seen the position here and who has +been every where to look at the Insurgent side. He tells me that at the +batteries outside the city he saw some very good men, but that, taken as +a whole, the National Guards within the city are the most miserable lot +he ever saw under arms. All the barricades are admirably made as to +workmanship, but there is not one of them that could not be taken by +troops approaching from streets at angles with the points at which those +obstructions are placed. The Place Vendome is "a rat-trap," and the +Insurgent chiefs take good care not to make it their own Head-Quarters. +The gallant gentleman to whom I refer believes that if the troops once +got inside the _enceinte_, the insurrection would utterly collapse; but +if the military confine themselves to the operations in which they are +now engaged it will be a considerable time before Paris gives in. Such +is the report of a competent and impartial authority. Rumours of the +most contradictory character are rife from morning till night in the +open air lobby of the Assembly--the Rue des Reservoirs. Deputies who +"ought to know better" circulate very absurd _canards_; but, as remarks +a local print, "_Que voulez-vous? On s'ennuie, il faut bien passer le +temps!_" In my last letter of Thursday night I stated that the affair at +Moulin Saquet was a repetition of that at the Clamart Station. I find +to-day a contradiction of the statement that insurgents were butchered +at Moulin Saquet. It is true, nevertheless. The Commune, wishing, no +doubt, to keep the whole truth from their followers fearing its +disheartening effect, state enough for their purpose, which is to +represent the Versailles Government as assassins. It says that 15 of the +National Guards were killed with knives. The fact is as I stated it. The +redoubt was taken by surprise, and the soldiers gave no quarter. The +number I gave as that of the wretched men killed by the bayonet was 450. +I was under the mark. In his report of the affair General Cissey +says,--"Two hundred insurgents were left dead on the spot. We have taken +many insurgent officers and 300 prisoners and cannon." The Commune +alleges that the redoubt fell into the hands of the Versailles troops by +means of treason. In this instance I dare say the cry of "_Nous sommes +trahis!_" is not far from the truth. The unfortunate garrison were +asleep when the troops entered, the sentinels having, as is alleged, +fled, when they found the enemy was upon them. There were 800 men in the +redoubt, and before they could prepare any effective resistance the +massacre was effected. Now, after all this slaughter and capture of +prisoners and guns, Moulin Saquet is again in the hands of the +Insurgents. The Commune boasts that the National Guards attacked it with +much dash, and re-took it from the troops of Versailles. The fact is +these troops found the place too hot for them, and were obliged to +abandon it. It is exposed to the fire of Bicetre, Ivry, and Hautes +Bruyeres. Was it worth while for the sake of eight cannon to commit such +a terrific slaughter? Most of the prisoners taken on the occasion declare +that they had been forced to serve, and that they had been sent to +Moulin Saquet as a punishment for their having refused to march on +Neuilly. Among the captives is an interesting looking young woman, in +the uniform of a _cantiniere_. Poor thing, she is wounded and in +hospital. Her story is that some months ago she became the wife of a +young man, who after the breaking out of the Civil War was forced to +serve in the ranks of the Insurgents. For eight days she was without any +tidings of him, and in her despair she adopted the uniform in which she +was wounded and captured, in order that she might visit all the outposts +in search of her husband. She had not succeeded in finding him, and she +does not know whether he is living. Had she been successful she would +have died by his side rather than have been separated from him again. I +am happy to say that the wound of this heroine is only slight, and that +everything is being done to promote her recovery. + +If the Insurgents have not actually re-taken the Clamart Station, the +scene of the other slaughter, they have established themselves very +close to it, in a cutting which forms a communication between the +Station and a barricade on the line of railway. As the Station is under +fire from Fort Vanves I have no doubt that the military found it +impossible to hold it, and that if not now in it the Insurgents may +re-occupy it whenever they like. Again, there was much boasting about +the taking of the Chateau of Issy. We were told that it was an admirable +position, completely screened from the insurgent fire, and affording an +excellent vantage ground for riflemen. I saw it on fire yesterday. The +Insurgents succeeded in making their shells reach it and making it very +much too hot for the Chasseurs. The truth is the Insurgents have been +doing the Versaillais quite as much damage as the latter have been +inflicting on them. The fire from the batteries at and about the Point +du Jour has been excellent. There must be artillerists there quite as +good as any on this side. The manner in which the ruins of Fort Issy +have been defended is surprising. There is not a roof or a window frame +in one of its barracks, but from the embrasures in the earthworks the +fire is still kept up from one or two points. To take it by assault +would be a matter of no difficulty, but General Faron believes that it +is mined, and even in its crippled position he won't venture to attack +it at close quarters. With the exception of bayoneting some 500 poor +wretches who could not defend themselves, taking a few hundred prisoners +who are rather an embarrassment to them, and capturing a few cannon +which they don't themselves want and which the Insurgents can easily +replace, the Government has done nothing this week. In the words of the +old peasant woman, _C'est toujours la meme repetition_. + + +MAY 7th. + +In consequence of a large placard posted over the walls of Paris this +morning I passed through the gate of the private garden of the +Tuileries, and made my way, in company with a crowd of citizens of all +classes, through the apartments occupied but a few months ago by the +ex-Emperor and Empress. The printed invitation announced that we might +see the rooms in which the "tyrant" had lived, for the modest sum of 50c., +but that, should we think proper to take tickets for the concert, +"whereby these saloons might be at length rendered useful to the +people," we should be permitted to enjoy the extra show gratis. I took a +ticket, and joined myself to a thick stream of people who belonged to +every nationality and rank of life, and whose remarks and criticisms +were most edifying. There were shopkeepers and their wives, only too +delighted to take advantage of the mildest dissipation; gentlemen whose +National Guard trousers were rendered respectable by the gray jacket or +blouse of a citizen; humdrum housewives who approved everything, and +gaped their admiration of so much gorgeous wall-colouring; there were +flaunting ladies in bonnets of the latest fashion and marvellous +petticoats, who criticized the curtains and pointed the parasol of scorn +at faded draperies; people who felt the heavy hand of the spectre of +departed glory, and people who exulted at beholding the hidden recesses +of an Imperial mansion laid bare to the jokes and ribaldry of +Belleville and La Villette. Every class of Parisian society was +represented in the throng that swayed and hustled through the rooms, but +the saddest sight of all was a knot or two of decrepit veterans from the +Invalides who leant against the balustrade of the grand staircase, and +gazed with pinched-up lips and dry eyes at the National Guards on duty, +lounging and carousing down below. The stairs were littered with bedding +and cooking utensils, shirts and stockings hanging to dry over the gilt +railings, while in the square at the stairs' foot were ranged benches +and boards on trestles, and there the soldiers of the Guard sat in +picturesque groups enough, contrasting in the carelessness and dirt of +their general appearance with the lavish ornaments of marble and gilt +work which served as a background to their figures. Marching orders, +more or less thumbed and torn, hung in fragments from the panelled +walls; names in pencil and names in ink, and names scrawled with a +finger-nail, defaced the doors and staircase wall. A sentry stood at +every door to see that the citizens behaved themselves--a precaution by +no means unnecessary, the outward aspect of certain members of the crowd +being taken into consideration. In the Salle de la Paix a number of +women were busy uncovering a number of chairs for the promised concert, +and in the Salle des Marechaux beyond, where the concert was to be +given, velvet benches were already occupied by old ladies in white caps +with baskets in their hands, who presented a stern aspect of endurance, +as though they were determined to sit there through the preparations as +well as the promised entertainment, and still to continue sitting until +turned out by sword and bayonet. The "Salle des Marechaux" exists no +more except in name, for men on ladders were employed covering up the +portraits which decorate the hall with screens of red silk--I suppose +lest the past glory of French heroes should pale the brilliancy of the +National Guard, just as the bas-reliefs of the Vendome Column act as an +outrage upon the susceptibilities of the Commune. White cloths were +being tied over the busts of Napoleon's Generals, and everything +relating to the past carefully obliterated--a rather foolish proceeding, +considering that the bee-spangled Imperial curtains still hang over the +doors, and festoons of the same drapery decorate the gallery above. The +brocaded panels of the Salle du Trone were objects of much remark among +the ladies, as were the tapestries of the Salle des Gobelins; but the +bareness and total absence of furniture were commented on freely on all +sides. Not a chair or a window blind, or even a door-plate or handle, is +to be seen in any of the rooms, except in those used for the concerts, +and the question arose, naturally enough. "Where is it all gone to?" The +same demand was made so often of an elderly bourgeois on duty at the end +of the Salle de Diane that he was fairly bewildered, and looked round +for help, and hailing the gold stripes on my cap as a haven of relief, +he forthwith seized upon me as a superior officer, and insisted on an +explanation. "You know there were quantities of cases carried off during +the time before Sedan," he said, "but, with all their cunning, they +can't have dismantled a whole palace of this size, can they?" And the +crowd stood round endeavouring to account for the nakedness of the land, +until a remark that the Commune had been feathering their nests with the +chairs and tables dispersed them laughing. The Empress's bedroom was a +great attraction, Chaplin's charming decorations being subjects of +sufficient interest, independent of the absent furniture. The +looking-glasses which spring from the walls called down ejaculations of +delight from a party of dressmakers, who carefully took notes of the +mechanism, "in order to imitate it, my dear, when Paris becomes itself +again." There was a large placard upon the wall of a kind of library, +inviting the attention of the public to the secret arrangements in a +recess whereby the Empress obtained her dresses and linen from some +manufactory of garments above, and an old lady, after having carefully +examined the elaborate details, turned away with a sigh and a shake of +the head. "How foolish of them, after all, not to have done a little for +us in order that they might have continued to abide in this paradise!" +How different was the Empress's apartment this morning, bare and crowded +with the dregs of the Paris population, from the night when I last saw +it, the night of her flight, when bed-clothes still littered the floor, +and gloves and little odds and ends of female finery told of recent +occupation! All was silent then with the stillness of a coming storm; +now the walls re-echo with a stir of unhallowed feet, and the spring +sunshine streams in at the open window accompanied by whiffs from the +garden below, while a distant cry reaches us from the street beyond of +"_Le Vengeur_," "_Le Cri du Peuple_," "_Le dernier ordre du Comite du +Salut Public_," and we detect curls of smoke about the Arch of Triumph, +which remind us that the bombardment still goes on. A reflective sentry +at the door of the _cabinet de travail_ begged me to remark the +portraits set round above the doors. "Those are the Empress's favourite +ladies," he informed me; "are they not _salopines_, one would say, of +the period of Montespan? And those were the ladies who were models for +the women of our land--no wonder that Paris should have become the +Gomorrah that it is!" In the evening the concert was given, and a +wonderful bear-garden the Imperial Palace presented. Members of the +Commune flitted about in red draperies and tried to find room on the +already crowded benches for the struggling mob, who rubbed their hot +faces with their unaccustomed white gloves, and used such language to +each other as, it is to be hoped, those august walls have seldom heard. +Meanwhile, the crowd increased in numbers, and by 8 o'clock the +reception rooms were full, and some 2,000 people still stood in a long +string in the garden outside. They behaved with the wondrous good nature +which characterizes a French crowd, laughing over the absurdity of their +predicament and waving the tickets, which they would never be enabled to +present, jestingly at one another. In course of time the whole of the +_jardin prive_ was full of people, who looked up at the lights streaming +from the windows, and sat about on chairs quietly smoking their cigars +and enjoying the lovely evening, listening to the occasional boom at +the other end of the long alley, where a bright flash which bore death +upon its wings appeared in the sky from time to time, in mockery of the +gas-lit chandeliers and feeble attempts at revelry that were going on +above our heads. + +The reigning scandal of the day is the affair of the Convent of Picpus. +So highly roused has public indignation been by the supposed discovery +of atrocities committed within those jealous walls that the people have +been peremptorily excluded until the investigations of justice shall be +complete. I managed, however, to penetrate within the precincts by +attaching myself to the _cortege_ of an English friend, who was +journeying thither under special official orders, to investigate the +case of an English Sister named Garret. In the Rue de Picpus, near Mazas +prison, stand two large buildings, each surrounded by high walls, above +which may be seen green trees at intervals. The one is an establishment +of the Jesuites; the other the Convent of the White Nuns. The Jesuites +Brothers escaped at the first sign of approaching danger, but the +Sisters held their own until forced into cabs and conveyed to the cells +of St. Lazare, there to await the results of a judicial inquiry into +certain matters that are deemed suspicious. Arrived at the gate of the +Convent, we were obliged to force our way through a crowd of angry +people who demanded instant permission to enter, and who were as +persistently swept back by a group of National Guards--we, however, +being admitted inside the door under cover of the official pass and +signatures. In the court-yard, under the shade of some fine trees, a few +Guards were playing bowls in the Jesuit's alley, and making up to one of +them, whose cap displayed tokens of authority, we mentioned our +business, and begged permission to see what was to be seen. Our friend +was very civil, accepted a cigar, and marched us off to go the rounds. +He pointed out to us the fact, of which there certainly could exist no +kind of doubt, that the two buildings communicated one with the other, +by means of an old door which still exists at the back of a stable, as +well as by other apertures in the garden wall, which show signs of +having been recently closed up. The Jesuit's garden is a most beautiful +one, occupying a space of some 12 acres, laid out with care and +furnished with fruit trees of every description, pruned and trained +after the latest horticultural designs. There are wondrously ingenious +plans, too, for irrigating the beds, forcing pits and hothouses, and +long alleys with vines trained over them. Through the old door above +mentioned we passed into the Sister's garden, equally large and +beautiful, though not kept with the same care. In the centre stands a +gymnasium, I suppose for the use of the children brought up under the +Sisters' care, and further is their cemetery, a lovely spot, where, +under the heavy shade of ancient cypresses, lie bearers of some of the +most ancient names in France--"Prince of Salm-Kyrbourg, immolated under +the Terror, aged 49;" "Rochefoucauld," "De Noailles," "Montmorency," +"the great Lafayette," the whole family of the Talleyrand-Perigords, and +legions of Princes and Princesses. Some of the vaults have been opened, +and many lead coffins, half-covered with rotting velvet and gold lace, +lie exposed to the light of day, awaiting an examination at the hands of +the Minister of Justice. At the extreme end of the garden, however, are +the three little conical huts, side by side, resembling white ants' +nests, which have been the prime cause of so much excitement and +judicial inquiry. When the Convent was occupied by the National Guards +these little huts were tenanted each by an old woman, enclosed in a +wooden cage, like a chickens' pen, the three buildings being similar in +size and construction, six feet square by seven in height, with a slate +roof, through which daylight was visible, while the three old women +were all of them hopeless idiots. The Lady Superior has kept her lips +resolutely closed up to the present time, but admitted, when first +questioned, that the three sufferers had lived in their hideous prison +for nine years, in an atmosphere of stifling heat throughout the summer +and half frozen with cold throughout the winter; "but," she added, "they +were idiots when they came." The conductor of the inquiry replied that, +if such were the case, it was illegal to have admitted them to the +Convent at all, and that even supposing them to have been admitted, the +place where they were found was not a fit dwelling-place for a dog. A +key was discovered among her papers, labelled "key of the great vault;" +but where this great vault may be has not yet been found out. The +Superior and her nuns keep a uniform and persistent silence upon the +point; excavations have been made at different points in the garden, and +under the high altar of the chapel, but hitherto without effect. At one +end of the nuns' garden stands an isolated building, in which were found +mattresses furnished with straps and buckles, also two iron corsets, an +iron skull-cap, and a species of rack turned by a cog-wheel, evidently +intended for bending back the body with force. The Superior explained +that these were orthopaedic instruments--a superficial falsehood. The +mattresses and straps struck me as being easily accounted for; I have +seen such things used in French midwifery, and in cases of violent +delirium; but the rack and its adjuncts are justly objects of grave +suspicion, for they imply a use of brutal force which no disease at +present known would justify. On our way back through the gardens our +guide made a _detour_ in order to show us a great subterranean +warehouse, where an enormous quantity of potatoes was stored, as well as +barrels full of salt pork, while in a yard hard by lay grunting a fat +pig. "Look at this!" cried our National Guard indignantly. "Look at +these stores, which might have helped to feed the starving poor of the +arrondissement during our six months' siege, and think that these people +were begging from door to door the whole time for money to buy broken +victuals for their pensioners!" Arrived at the entrance gate our guide +nudged me, telling me in whispers to look at the old woman who was +wandering about, followed by a younger one, stooping from time to time +to pick up a leaf or rub her hands with sand and gravel. "That is Soeur +Bernadine," he said, "one of the three prisoners of the wooden cages. +She is the most sane in mind of the three, and we keep her here under +the care of one of our wives to cheer her up. She is only 50, though she +looks past 70. The other two have been removed, as they were rendered +violent by the crowd and change of scene." I passed close to her and she +looked up--a soft, pale face, with sunken eyes shaded by the frills of a +great cap. She looked at me dazedly, without taking any notice, and +stooping again, filled her hands with refuse coffee grounds, which she +put into her mouth until prevented by her companion. Without showing the +least prejudice in the matter, I think I can safely say that the ladies +now shut up at St. Lazare will find it no easy matter to clear +themselves of blame; for, though there are doubtless many suspicious +circumstances that maybe explained away, there are also hard facts which +will remain hard facts in spite of the most elaborate attempts at +refutation. + + +MAY 8th. + +In consequence of the bombardment daily expected from the Montretout +batteries people have been hurriedly leaving Paris in great numbers. + +Fort Vanves took fire last night, and had to be evacuated. It was found +impossible to extinguish the fire. It is still burning. + +The explosion at Issy arose from a torpedo, not a powder magazine. The +Fort is evacuated. + +There has been a general heavy firing to-day, and the Point du Jour has +suffered severely. + +Father Hogan, the _cure_ of St. Sulpice, a British subject, was again +arrested yesterday. Mr. Malet has with difficulty procured his release +on condition that he leaves Paris. + +The Government troops were compelled to evacuate the railway station at +Clamart in consequence of the effluvia arising from the great number of +unburied corpses in and about the station, which was then occupied by +the Federalists, subsequently again evacuated by them upon the approach +of the Versailles troops. + +The Government have sent away to the Departments all the young soldiers +who have parents or relations domiciled in Paris. + +The statement that M. Schneider intented to remove his iron foundries +from Creuzot to Stockton-on-Tees is incorrect. A large number of models +and designs have been sent from Creuzot to foundries at +Stockton-on-Tees, where it is intended to instruct a staff of workmen in +the production of steel before commencing that branch of manufacture at +the French establishment. + +Fort Issy was captured and occupied by the Government troops this +morning. + + +MAY 9th.--AND 10th. + +Forts Montrouge and Vanves have been reduced to silence by a battery of +mitrailleuses established on a parapet of Issy, which picks off Federal +artillerymen when they show themselves. Seven guns on bastions 72, 73, +and 74 have been dismounted by the new battery of Montretout and the +bastions silenced. Many prisoners are said to have been taken at Issy +yesterday. + +The National Guards of Vaugirard and the Pantheon decline to march, +barely a third of their numbers having answered the call. + +The Vendome Column is definitively to fall on Friday. + +The Lycee, on the high ground behind Issy, is being hurriedly formed +into a fortress mounted with guns, earthworks connecting it with Vanves. + +Three shells per second are said to have fallen on Auteuil this morning. + +Nineteen battalions were reviewed yesterday by Colonel Rossel in the +Place de la Concorde. Rossel continues to command in spite of his +resignation yesterday, which is attributed to a quarrel with the Central +Committee. The Committee of Public Safety is still sitting. It is +rumoured that should he decline to withdraw his resignation, the +functions of the Ministry of War would be absorbed by the Committee of +Public Safety, who would attach to themselves an Assistant Military +Commission, headed by Dombrowski. + + +MAY 10th. + +The Committee of Public Safety, in consequence of the proclamation of M. +Thiers, which was placarded in Paris, has issued a decree ordering the +furniture and property of M. Thiers to be seized, and his house in the +Place St. Georges to be immediately demolished. + +The Commune, in its sitting of yesterday, decided to bring Colonel +Rossel before a court-martial. + +Delescluze has been appointed Delegate of War. + +Colonel Rossel was arrested yesterday and handed over to the custody of +Citizen Gerardin. At 5 p.m. an announcement was made to the Commune that +Rossel had left with Gerardin. The Commune accepted the offer of General +Bergeret to re-arrest Rossel. Nevertheless, at 2 o'clock this morning +this had not been effected. + +Felix Pyat, in the _Vengeur_, accuses Rossel of treason. + + +MAY 11th. + +There is increasing discouragement among the National Guards, in spite +of the retaking of Vanves. The _Vengeur_ hints at a plot headed by +Gerardin, and states that 400 National Guards, who exhibited no numbers +of their battalions, were assembled for an unknown purpose at the +Luxembourg; that at the same time officers who were making a domiciliary +visit at Gerardin's house were attacked, and that in another quarter an +attempt was made to assassinate Dombrowski. + +A considerable portion of masonry from the Auteuil Viaduct has fallen +into the water. + +A search has been made at the Bank of France under the excuse of looking +for arms. It is said that the _employes_ of the Bank are armed and +victualled, and will stand a siege rather than surrender the gold under +their care. + +In consequence of pressure from Delescluze the Central Committee abandon +the direction of the War Administration, and Moreau resigns his office +of Civil Delegate. + +The furniture and pictures are being carted from M. Thiers' house, and +sounds of hammering within suggest the commencement of its demolition. + +Six newspapers have been suppressed--viz., the _Univers_, _Spectateur_, +_Moniteur_, _Etoile_, _Anonyme_, and _Observateur_. + +The batteries at Montretout continue a vigorous firing. Throughout last +night they received only six shells from the Insurgents. + +The shells thrown from the floating battery bridge at the Point du Jour +and from the land batteries near that point generally drop short of the +mark and fall either into the Seine or on the slopes of the railway by +the right bank. + +This afternoon I saw many projectiles from Montretout and Meudon explode +among the houses at the Point du Jour and the _enceinte_ near it. The +wall screening the Ceinture Railway between Auteuil and Vaugirard has +been dreadfully battered in various places. + +The Bois de Boulogne, in a semicircle from about the Villa Rothschild to +Bagatelle, following the race course at Longchamps, is one vast camp, +and from this camp to the village of Boulogne the work of constructing +trenches parallel with the _enceinte_ is being pushed rapidly forward. I +saw hundreds of men working at them to-day. + +The Fort of Vanves is still occupied by the Insurgents, but Moulin de +Pierres and Chatillon cover it with shells. + +By means of cannon shots the troops of Versailles have demolished the +houses in the village of Vanves, as they concealed and covered the +postern of the Fort. The military had succeeded in occupying the +village, but were obliged to abandon it because the houses were exposed +to the fire of the Insurgents. + +There has been a sharp musketry fire to-day in the plantations to the +north-east of Issy, and just over the Vaugirard road. + +There has been fighting of the same kind in the direction of the St. +Ouen station at the other end of the lines. The sphere of attack is +again being extended, and in consequence of this the Insurgents are +obliged to defend themselves at, perhaps, three or four points +simultaneously. + + +MAY 12th.--13th. + +There was a considerable movement in the city yesterday consequent on +desperate attempts to enlist refractory citizens in marching battalions. +Pressgangs paraded the streets all day, and many men within the ages of +19 and 40 were, it is said, temporarily incarcerated in the Church of +Notre Dame de Lorette. + +An extraordinary meeting was held at the Hotel de Ville in consequence +of a supposed discovery of a reactionary plot. Forty-seven Gendarmes, +says the _Mot d'Ordre_, were found in the Marine Barracks disguised as +National Guards, besides a great quantity of tricoloured _brassards_. + +M. Beslay, surnamed the Father of the Commune, has retired, because he +disapproves the confiscation of M. Thiers' goods. + +The new batteries on Montmartre opened fire last night, but ceased this +morning. + +The 46th battalion Montrouge were relieved from duty two hours before +their time last night because they talked of opening the Gates. This +battalion consists for the most part of shopkeepers. + +The new battalion called the "Vengeurs du Pere Duchesne" were shut up in +the Luxembourg Gardens, all points of egress being guarded, because they +declined to march outside the city. + +Difficulties have arisen in the Quartier Val de Grace, consequent upon +the heavy tax recently levied on meat. + +The Versaillais gunboats at the Asnieres Bridge forced the Federal +troops to recoil several hundred yards towards the city walls. + +Felix Pyat announces his opinion publicly that the fall of the Commune +is imminent. + +Mortars are being placed on the top of the Arc de Triomphe. + +The demolition of the house of M. Thiers has commenced. + +The Central Committee have ordered that all the quarters of Paris shall +be searched for arms and refractory National Guards. All the young men +in Paris are to be armed. + + +MAY 14th. + +A large crowd has been waiting in the Rue de la Paix since 4 o'clock to +see the fall of the Vendome Column. Its fall had been officially +promised at that hour, but up to half-past 6 it was still standing. It +will probably fall to-day. The tricolour flag has just been attached to +the statue, amid faint cheers from the crowd. + +An Armistice has been arranged for next Wednesday, to enable the +inhabitants of Vanves and the neighbourhood to remove. + +Cluseret, Megy, and Schoelcher have been released. + +The 8th and 11th Battalions have been disarmed on suspicion of being +reactionary. + +Paschal Grousset has sent a circular to the principal towns of France, +inviting them to join the Communal movement. + +The approaches are now within 150 metres of the _enceinte_, and a +breaching battery is being constructed. The Montretout batteries have +already made a considerable breach in the _enceinte_ by the side of the +Auteuil Gate, which has been demolished. + +There was a very lively fusillade this afternoon between troops in the +Bois de Boulogne and the Insurgents, who fired from houses and other +shelter behind the _enceinte_ between Passy and Auteuil. Mortars were +also used by the military. + +The Insurgents have shot a captain of Engineers who imprudently advanced +beyond the Versailles lines. + +In the Fort of Vanves a soldier of the Line has been found; his feet +were tied together, and there are numbers of bayonet wounds in different +parts of his body. The Insurgents had made him prisoner. + +Of the 60 pieces of cannon left in the Fort, the greater number had been +rendered useless by the fire of the troops. + +It is believed that the garrison escaped by a subterranean passage +communicating between Forts Vanves and Montrouge. + +Every commander of an Army Corps will henceforward have the command of +an Arrondissement, and will be answerable for the defensive measures +undertaken in his zone. + +All persons in the possession of sulphur and phosphorus must declare to +the Commune the amount of each within three days. + +La Cecilia has again undertaken the command at Petit Vanves. + +Torpedoes are to be laid down at exposed parts. + +The night has passed off quietly, and nothing of any importance has +transpired. + +The Versailles troops are under the walls of Paris, and are exchanging +shots with the Insurgents on the ramparts from the Muette Gate to the +Issy Gate. + +The Federalists have been driven out of their entrenchments between +Forts Vanves and Issy. + +A battery is being erected in the garden of the Tuileries, from which +the Communists will be able to keep up a flank fire upon the Champs +Elysees. + +There is no doubt of the existence of a serious conspiracy, possessing +wide ramifications, in Paris to effect the overthrow of the Commune. + +The Garden of the Luxembourg has been closed, and is occupied by four +battalions of National Guards, as a precaution against the rising which +is apprehended. + +MAY 15th. + +The _Journal Officiel_ announced that the Column would positively fall +to-day at 2. A great concourse assembled. Bands played. The Commune and +their Staff, amounting to 200, attended on horseback. At 3.45 p.m. an +attempt was made, which failed owing to the breaking of a snatchblock. +The ropes slackened suddenly, injuring two men. Another attempt was +made, fresh ropes having been added, and the Column fell at about 10 +minutes to 6. It broke up in the air as it fell. The concussion was +nothing like what had been expected. No glass was broken or injury done +to the Square, excepting that the Column forced itself into the ground. +The excitement was intense. The crowd rushed with loud cheers to +scramble for fragments, while speeches were made by members of the +Commune, mounted on fallen masses, and red flags were hoisted on the +pedestal. Immense crowds assembled in the streets outside, making it +almost impossible to leave the Place Vendome. It was forbidden to take +away any fragments, and people were searched before leaving the Square. + + +MAY THE 16th. + +Two hundred National Guards entered the Grand Hotel last night. After +having searched every room, under the pretence of looking for arms, +they retired with a good deal of plunder. + +This is on that subject a letter forwarded by Mister van Henbeck to the +_Figaro Journal_. + +It has been spoken in different ways of the frequent searches made in +the Grand Hotel, since the occupation by the admiral Saisset and his +Staff, which had rendered the Hotel suspected by the "Commune" and the +"Comite Central." + +The last visit of these _Gentlemen_, has been marked by many strange +proceedings: + +In the night of may 15th a band of about 300 armed men, pseudo-sailors +of the "Commune" and Belgian volunteers of both sex, rushed into the +Hotel. During five hours these mad men, several of them being +intoxicated, had to make in every part of the Hotel fantastic searches, +they went breaking the doors and menacing the administrator, the clerks +and servants. + +They had no mandamus to do that, but the pretext was the arrestation of +a battalion of "Gendarmes" and the discovery of a subterranean vault +leading to Versailles. + +The search for "Gendarmes" was not long to make, but the one for the +vault was stopped only when they had found the wine cellar. The door was +knocked out: + +The great attention they paid to those investigations can be evaluated +by a consummation of 1764 francs of wine. + +That operation began at 4 a.m. and was out at 6. + +The whistles of those supposed sailors and the trumpets of the "Federes" +ordered the end of that small festival. The cellar was left a-side, and +the servants of the Hotel were obliged to bring up in the court-yard +those of the band who could not walk any more; at last, the troop went +out carrying away a good supply of provisions as wine, cigars, watches, +jewels and purses stolen in the servants' rooms, and also clocks and +about a hundred table-plates belonging to the Hotel. + +They went with empty hands, but the pockets were full. Two of the +servants were obliged to go with them, and they said they would come +back the next day to arrest many others. + +These wicked orgies having no political character, I will address myself +to the "Code penal" for a repression, and I deliver into the hands of +the "Procureur de la Republique" a complaint justified by the deposings +of all my servants, and indicating the names of the chiefs of that +curious performance. + +Be good enough, Sir, to believe me yours most respectfully: V..... + +_Administrator of the Grand Hotel_. + + +The Insurgents have evacuated all their positions between Fort Vanves +and the _enceinte_. + +The only gunboats now beneath the Viaduct at the Point du Jour are mere +wrecks, and their guns have completely disappeared. + +The Insurgents' battery on a bastion between Vaugirard and Montrouge has +been firing frequently to-day. One of its shells came as far as Bas +Meudon. + +Fort Issy has been directing its fire upon the Point du Jour. About noon +there were two conflagrations at the Point du Jour and one at Auteuil. + +The soldiers working at the parallels and the breaching batteries are +suffering from the musketry of Insurgents behind the _enceinte_. As many +as 30 of them have been killed during one night, but the sap has been +carried to within less than 400 metres of the ramparts. + +The Insurgents are raising additional barricades in the Rue de +Vaugirard, and also at Passy and Auteuil. Pontoon bridges and fascines +in great numbers are being sent forward to the military foreposts. + +The Committee of Public Safety has appointed a military Commission to +replace the existing Commission; it is composed of Arnold, Avrial, +Johannard, Tridon, and Varein. + +Henri has been appointed Chief of the Staff of the War Ministry, and +Mathieu commander of the troops posted between the Point du Jour and the +Wagram Gate. + +All mechanics over 40 years of age have been called out to work at the +city defences. They will receive 3f. 75c. as daily pay. + +Important resolutions are expected to be taken at the sitting of the +Commune to-day, and the serious division will be terminated by the +dissolution of the Central Committee, or by the absorption of the +Committee of Public Safety in the Central Committee. + +The Commune announces that the Versailles troops were repulsed in +several attacks made by them last night upon the barricades at +Chatillon, Moulin de Pierre, and Moulin Saquet. + +There was a vigorous engagement yesterday evening at the Dauphine and +Maillot Gates, and the Versailles troops were driven back with +considerable loss. + +It is rumoured that Fort Montrouge has been evacuated. + +The Commune declares that it has a reserve force of 20,000 men. + +Of M. Thiers' house little more, it is feared, than the outer walls +remain standing. + + +MAY 17th + +The "Majority of the Commune"--as the Commune is now spoken of in +consequence of the secession of 22 of its members--has resolved to form +a Central Club like that of the Jacobins, composed of delegates from +various clubs of Paris, in order to keep itself _en rapport_ with public +opinion. + +The 12th Legion has formed a battalion of women, who in addition to +their other military duties are to disarm publicly all runaways. + +The Communal Delegation of the 2d Arrondissement, considering that +slavery was considered immoral even before the American War, and that a +standing army has been suppressed by the Commune, decrees that all +houses of ill fame in their quarter shall be immediately closed, as +involving traffic in human beings. + +Peter's Restaurant was searched last night, and several arrests were +made, among them officers of the National Guard suspected of complicity +in the Tricolour Brassard Plot. The Restaurant is closed. + +The heaviest firing to-day has been against the Point du Jour. Large +pieces of Marine Artillery have been placed on the ramparts behind +Montrouge. + +A terrific explosion has just (6 o'clock) created general alarm. +Enormous volumes of smoke are visible from a great distance. The +cartridge manufactory near the Ecole Militaire has exploded. Six hundred +_employes_, chiefly women, are said to have been killed. Bullets were +launched in all directions, killing and wounding many passers by. + +The Insurgents have constructed a battery of Marine pieces, which much +embarrasses the troops and retards the breaching works. Breaches will be +opened at three points--namely, at Mortemart, opposite Auteuil, at +Bastion 65, opposite the Parc-aux-Princes in the Bois and in the +neighbourhood of Vaugirard. + +This afternoon the Insurgents fired from three batteries between the +left bank ending the viaduct at the Point du Jour and Montrouge. One of +these batteries was placed close to the Vaugirard Gate, and its fire was +directed to a point at which the Engineers were supposed to be +constructing a trench. + +There were conflagrations this evening in Auteuil, the Point du Jour, +and between the latter place and Vaugirard. The flame and smoke were +distinctly visible. We hear it was the blowing up of a powder factory in +the Rue de Wagram, Paris, or at the Trocadero. + +The Committee of Public Safety, in order to save the country from a +military dictatorship, has associated Civil Commissioners with the +various Generals of the Commune. With Dombrowski are joined Burger and +Dereuve, with La Cecilia, Johannard, and with Wrobleski, Leo Meillet. + +All passenger and goods trains leaving Paris have to stop outside the +walls for examination. Trains contravening this order will not be +permitted to proceed. + +Possessors of petroleum are to declare the amount they hold to the +authorities within 48 hours. + +Fort Montrouge is still held, and is strongly supported by the Hautes +Bruyeres. + +The Government troops have not yet occupied Vanves; they are pressing +upon Billancourt and La Marette. + +A letter of General Cluseret in the _Mot d'ordre_ advises that every +exertion should be made for the erection of barricades at the Barriere +de l'Etoile, the Place Roi de Rome, and the Place Eylau, with a second +line between the Passy Gate and the Grenelle Bridge, and a third line +from the Pont de la Concorde to the Ouen Gate. + +The Versailles and Auteuil Gates of Paris have been demolished by the +cannonade. The neighbouring bastions are subjected to a tremendous fire, +but do not reply. + +Fort Issy, which is now in the hands of the Versailles troops, is +vigorously bombarding Petit Vanves, Grenelle, and Point du Jour. + +The last is utterly untenable by the Insurgent gunners. + +A belief obtains that the Versailles Engineers are laying a mine under +the walls of Paris in the direction of the Muette Gate. The disagreement +between the Commune and the Central Committee continues. + +The Versailles troops have made good their communications from Montrouge +to Issy, and have established batteries on the glacis before Fort +Vanves. They are vigorously attacking Bicetre and Hautes Bruyeres. + +A terrible bombardment of the Maillot Gate and the Arc de Triomphe is +going on. + +The Federalists in the village of Malakoff are in danger of being cut +off from Paris, while those stationed in the villages of Petit Vanves +and Montrouge have been compelled to retire into the city. + +Ladders for scaling the ramparts have reached the Versaillist outposts +in the Bois de Boulogne. + +The Versailles troops are endeavouring to cut a way through the wood to +the Avenue of Neuilly. + +The cannonade in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe is increasing in +intensity. + + +MAY 18th. + +To-day was a day of feasting, and National Guards surrounded the +Churches of St. Augustin and La Trinite, and forced the priests to stop +Divine service, and turned out the congregations. The establishment of +the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul was also surrounded. An +inventory was made of the goods, the Sisters being themselves placed +under lock and key until to-morrow, when they will be turned out. + +Bodies are being removed from the crypt of the Church of Les Petits +Peres, near the Bank of France, for examination. Rumours are afloat that +people have been recently buried there under false names, and bones +strew the pavement on both sides of the church door. + +The Versaillais are at a distance of 200 metres from the ramparts from +the Point du Jour to Vanves. The National Guards in great numbers are +assembled under the cover of the ramparts, and an attack is hourly +expected. Shells have fallen on the bridge of Grenelle, killing several +persons. An attack was made yesterday on the Zoological Gardens of the +Bois de Boulogne, which turned out disastrously for the Federals. + +The fire from the Insurgents' batteries on the _enceinte_ has been +stronger to-day than at any time previously since the opening of the new +redoubt at Montretout. They have been throwing shells from La Muette +against the troops in the Bois de Boulogne, but mortars placed in the +Bois near the large lake have been responding vigorously, and a field +battery at Mortemart, the south-eastern extremity of the Bois, has been +protecting, by its fire, the Engineers working at the breaching battery, +and also doing some damage to the Artillery on the bastion. + +Between Passy and Auteuil the Insurgents are in considerable force +behind the _enceinte_. Their three batteries on the _enceinte_, between +the Point du Jour and Montrouge, have been firing on the military +position at Bas Meudon and Issy. There has been a return shelling from +these positions between the rival Artillery. + +Engineers are engaged in sapping from Issy in the direction of +Vaugirard. They are much exposed to the batteries of the Insurgents, but +neither yesterday nor to-day did I see a single shell fall into the +French lines where they are at work. + +The Committee of Public Safety has issued an appeal to the National +Guards calling upon them to secure the triumph of Paris, and describing +the fearful results which would ensue from the victory of the Versailles +troops. + +A later attack which was made on Neuilly yesterday was repulsed. + +This morning the Federal batteries at Montmartre are bombarding the +Chateau Becon. + +The _Journal Officiel_ of the Commune of to-day accuses the agents of +Versailles of having caused the explosion of the cartridge manufactory, +and says that a hundred persons have fallen victims to it. Four arrests +have been made in connexion with this affair. The _Verite_ demonstrates +that the explosion could not have been the result of intention, but was +solely attributable to accident. The same paper states that no shell +fell in the Champ de Mars at the time of the explosion. + +The Versailles troops are constructing trenches within 200 yards of the +Auteuil Gate, but the breach is not yet assailable. + +Fort Montrouge still holds out, but offers only a feeble resistance. + +The Communists claim to-day to have repulsed all attacks. + +The bombardment is incessant. + +The German troops are taking up imposing positions. + +The tribunals of the Commune have decided to-day as to who among the +prisoners in the hands of the Commune are to be regarded as hostages. It +is asserted that three hostages will be executed to-morrow. + + +MAY 19th. + +The firing was heavier last night than it has ever been. There were both +a cannonade and a fusillade. Everybody thought that the Versaillais had +at last made their assault. It appears that the Communists attempted a +sortie, and were repulsed with great loss. Numerous waggons filled with +wounded were taken to Versailles. Various battalions returned to Paris, +apparently much dispirited. Numerous reinforcements, however, were +brought up. + +The bullets are falling so thickly about the ramparts that the +Communists with difficulty maintain their position there. The Versailles +shell-practice has improved. The shells burst about the bastions instead +of in the town. + +The conscription is carried on with increased rigour, death being +threatened to those who refuse to serve. A Lieutenant-Colonel and a +Commandant have been sentenced, the one to 15 years' and the other to 10 +years' imprisonment for cowardice, and their battalion has been +dissolved. The Chief and Staff of the 6th Legion have been dismissed for +not disarming the refractory battalions. + +It is said the prisoners accused of firing the cartridge manufactory are +to be shot in 24 hours. + +Much fear is entertained for the fate of the hostages, whose execution +has been so strongly advocated in the Commune, in reprisal for the +alleged violation and murder of an _infirmiere_ by the Versaillais. + +Some iron cupola-shaped cases, capable of holding each 1,000lb. of +powder, were to-day taken to the barricades near the ramparts for the +purpose of blowing them up if necessary. + +It has been proposed in the Commune to abolish all titles of rank, with +the emoluments and advantages appertaining to them; also that all +children now illegitimate shall be for the future legitimate; and that, +instead of the present form of marriage, any man over 18 and woman over +16 may be allowed to go before a municipal magistrate and declare their +wish to marry. + +The only breaching battery that has as yet opened fire is that +established in the Parc aux Princes, at 400 metres distance from the +ramparts. It directs its fire against the _enceinte_ at Auteuil, where +the gates and the drawbridge have been destroyed. + +The Fort of Montrouge is almost surrounded by the troops, who advance +also by means of trenches towards the Redoubt of Hautes Bruyeres. + +Towards the South a series of attacks have been made, with the view of +driving all the Insurgents on that side from their positions outside the +_enceinte_. + +Last night, in an affair at Lagrange, the military put 110 Insurgents +_hors de combat_ and made 43 prisoners. + +All the breaching works are not yet completed. + +To-day the Insurgents have been firing from La Muette, which is on the +_enceinte_ between Passy and Auteuil, and I observed that they had added +to the number of their guns between the Point du Jour and Montrouge. +Yesterday they had three batteries between those points; to-day they +have been firing from five. + +Mont Valerien has done very little to-day, and Montretout has not been +so violent as usual, but the military batteries at Bas Meudon, Les +Moulineanx, and Issy have been very active, as have likewise been the +mortars and field guns in the Bois de Boulogne. + +Twenty-one members of the Commune no longer attend the sittings of that +body, but remain in their Arrondissements. + +Four hundred Versailles Chasseurs are said to have deserted from their +own side into Paris yesterday. + +Batteries of 30 guns have been established at the Dauphine Gate. + +The _Cri du peuple_ says the Committee have determined rather to blow up +Paris than capitulate. + +A requisition has been made of the silver candlesticks at the Church of +Notre Dame des Victoires. + +No one without a special pass is allowed to leave the city at night by +the Eastern or Northern gates. + +The Commune has ordered that all prostitutes and drunkards shall be +arrested. + +A decree of the Committee of Public Safety, published to-day, orders the +suppression of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, _Avenir National_, _Patrie_, +_Commune_, _Justice_, and five other newspapers. + +No new journals will be allowed to appear until the end of the war. + +All articles must be signed by the writer. + +Attacks on the Government will be dealt with according to martial law. + +Officers who hesitate to obey the orders of the Committee of Public +Safety will be tried for high treason by court-martial. + +The _Salut Public_ alleges that one of the chief persons implicated in +the explosion of the cartridge manufactory is Count Ladislas Zamoyski, +and that papers have been found upon him proving him to be in +communication with the Government of Versailles. + +The same paper announces that the Germans demand that an armistice +should be entered into between the Commune and the Versailles +Government, in order that a _Plebiscite_ of all France may be held to +decide upon the future form of Government. + +The Commune has seized the silver ornaments and other valuables of the +Church of the Trinity. All the other churches of Paris will shortly be +treated in a similar manner, and will then be closed. + +All arrests and requisitions are being carried out by Flourens's corps +of Avengers. + +The demolition of the Expiatory Chapel was commenced to-day. + +The gate at Point du Jour is destroyed. + +Yesterday evening two battalions of troops carried the Ory Farm and +Plichon House, near Fort Montrouge, at the point of the bayonet. The +Federalists had about 400 killed and wounded, and lost 42 prisoners, +including a Chief of Battalion. The troops also captured a flag, but +subsequently evacuated the conquered positions, as they were too much +exposed to the fire of the enemy. The loss of the Versailles troops was +small. + + * * * * * + + +THE VENDOME COLUMN. + +Foul is the bird that soils her own nest! As though they had not +suffered enough of mortification and defeat at the hands of the enemy, +the Parisians have succeeded in emptying the cup of disgrace to the +dregs by dragging down the monument of their military glory, amid hoots +and hisses, and toppling over the effigy of their greatest soldier-hero +on to a bed of mire, at the same time publicly tearing the tricoloured +national flag which has for so many years led their armies to victory. +Upon the official announcement some days back that the Vendome Column +was to be sacrificed as an insult to the principles of fraternity, +everybody laughed and thought it a good joke, never believing that the +plan would be carried out, even in spite of the ominous scaffoldings and +curtains which rose around its base. A few days later we were told that +it had been sawn through, and that a solemn Festival would be held to +commemorate this new display of liberty. We thought the party of Order +would protest; that the veterans of the Invalides would make a movement; +that the mass of the population would insist upon the abandonment of +such a piece of folly. But we forgot the state of coma into which +respectable Paris has fallen, and that those who had allowed themselves +to be ground down by a tyrannical few would scarcely bestir themselves +in defence of their public monuments. It became apparent that the column +was really doomed, and the Rue de la Paix was crowded by an expectant +multitude at about 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon; the balconies were +filled with ladies; all the windows were pasted with paper to neutralize +the expected concussion, while cake and newspaper vendors and _marchands +de coco_ plied a busy trade, and elbowed their way about among the +people down below. Three ropes had been fastened round the top of the +column beneath the statue, communicating with a crazy-looking windlass +and anchor placed in the centre of the road at the entrance of the Rue +Neuve des Capucines, and a long narrow dung heap filled with sand and +branches had been spread in the square to deaden the shock of the +falling mass. Public excitement was at its height, and the strangest +surmises went from mouth to mouth as to how far the statue would be +thrown, whether balconies would fall and slates be shuffled down, and +whether the great weight would or would not crash through the vaulted +arch into the sewers under the road. Still the crowd increased in +numbers, when at about 4 o'clock a cordon of National Guards was formed, +who pushed back the people as far as the Rue des Augustins, leaving an +empty space along the Rue de la Paix, which was duly watered in true +Parisian style, and became the arena for a display of equestrian prowess +on the part of sundry officers and members of the Commune. They rattled +backwards and forwards at full gallop, and made figures of eight, and +turned and twisted in a marvellous manner, suggestive rather of a circus +than a barrack-yard; but their evolutions served to amuse the crowd, who +waited patiently until sunset, when it became evident that the affair +would be put off until the morrow. It turned out that the members of the +artistic federation who, with Courbet at their head, had decided on this +piece of Vandalism, had been playing off a little practical joke upon +the crowd, for their preparations were not complete, and workmen were +still hacking at the stonework from behind their curtain screen until +evening had settled into night. With the easy good nature of a Paris +crowd, everybody quietly went home, a few disappointed at the failure of +a promised excitement, but by far the greater number rejoicing in their +hearts at the reprieve of the bronze pillar which they had been +accustomed from childhood to regard with pride. Tuesday's _Officiel_ +positively announced the ceremony for that day at 2, and the concourse +was greater than ever. The Rue de la Paix and the space behind, up to +the steps of the New Opera, was a sea of heads, and the _elite_ of +Communal aristocracy who held passes to the Square itself were forced to +elbow their way and struggle through relays of guards long before the +prescribed hour in order to be certain of getting there at all. So far +all their arrangements were so bad as to suggest misgivings as to the +result of the attempt. Three meagre ropes were to do the deed, while two +beams, applied one on either side the column, were to give it the proper +inclination as it fell. Now, every one knows that, from some fault in +its construction, the Column has always leant a little towards the +Ministere des Cultes, and people moved restlessly about, uncertain where +to station themselves, lest the tottering mass, once set in motion, +should fall in an entirely different direction from the one intended. +The bed, too, which was to receive it seemed strangely small and +narrow, and it appeared a matter of doubt whether the bronze Emperor +might not force his way into one of the adjoining houses, and pay a +visit as little desired as it was expected. Meanwhile, a party of +workmen continued to drive wedges into the space which had been sawn, +while others gave a finishing touch to the dung heaps and cleared away +the curtains and scaffolding that had obscured their operations. At +half-past 3 the Commune arrived on horseback, attended by their Staff, +and placed themselves in front of the crowd in the Rue de la Paix--a +mounted squadron of some 200 persons; while at a given signal a number +of bands stationed at different points began to play a medley of +patriotic airs, regardless of general effect. Trumpets brayed forth +signals, and all strained their eyes into the dazzling sky, not without +having first assured themselves of a safe retreat through some friendly +doorway in case of a disaster, as the ropes were seen to tighten--"See! +It moves!" "No, 'tis the effect of a passing cloud;" and, after a +second's pause of intense anxiety one of the ropes snapped, knocking +down in its whirl several men at the windlass. And now began a murmur +and a shaking of heads, "Ah, I knew it could not succeed; they will be +obliged to blow it up with gunpowder; shame on them for the attempt!" +"Why cannot they leave it alone?" said one man to his neighbour, "it has +cost so much." "Yes, it has," replied the other; "it has cost us +millions of human lives on the plains of Germany and in the Russian +snows." The attempt had failed, and people were preparing to move away, +when news arrived that the Commune were not going to be thus baffled, +but had sent for more ropes and apparatus, and were determined to have +their way at any price. Meanwhile, the great figure looked calmly down +upon his persecutors, seemingly as secure as ever, while the bands +continued to play, and the horsemen galloped about the square. It was +half-past 4 before the two new ropes arrived, and fully 5 o'clock before +they had been hoisted to their places, not being attached to the capstan +like the others, but held, one on either side the road, by 50 sailors +each. Brute force had failed, and so they had determined to try the +effect of a series of swings. People laughed at these renewed +preparations; and could scarcely be kept close under the houses out of +immediate danger. The ropes slackened and tightened again for a final +effort, and a cry burst from the assembled multitude in the horror of a +coming danger which might be incalculable as the great giant swayed for +a few seconds and finally tottered down with an awful crash, separating +into rings in the air, upon the foul bed which had been prepared for +him: a shapeless mass of shattered metal and stone lying in uneven coils +like some mighty serpent. The wooden sentry-boxes in the square reeled +round and fell, while a cloud of filth and dust obscured the fallen +monster, and men looked awe-struck at one another like naughty children +who had broken something which they ought not to have dared to touch. +The moment of compunction was a short one, and a howling throng rushed +with one accord into the noisome cloud, fighting and quarrelling for +bits of bronze and stone, and a man near me drew back, half stifled for +an instant, saying, with disgust, "See what a stench the Empire has!" +The statue had fallen beyond the heap, and, having smashed the pavement +into splinters, lay a wreck, with one arm broken and the head severed +from the body, while women kicked and spat upon it, waving their arms +wildly, and shouting, "_Vive la Republique!_" "_Vive la Commune!_" All +the bands struck on the _Marseillaise_ in different keys, a few people +crowded on the remnants of the pedestal waving red flags and shrieking +in their excitement, and a sergeant who endeavoured to unburden himself +of an oration was speedily gagged and hustled down to make way for the +great "Bergeret _lui-meme_," who, in all the glory of a red scarf and +tassels, waved his hat and struggled to be heard above the general +hubbud of music, voices, and battering of bronze. "Citizens," he said, +"the 26th of Floreal will be memorable in our history. Thus we triumph +over military despotism, that bloody negation of the rights of man. The +First Empire placed the collar of servitude about our necks--it began +and ended in carnage--and left us a legacy of a Second Empire, which was +finally to end in the disgrace of Sedan." Much more he said, but his +voice was drowned in the continued hammering of metal, while our +attention was distracted by peremptory orders to "move on." Such an +order at such a moment was particularly exasperating, and led to many +little tussles with citizens, who refused to consider this a pleasant +opening to the era of liberty, an exasperation very considerably +increased at the different exits from the square by an uncompromising +search into the contents of pockets, and a consequent disgorging of +trophies and remembrances. A fight was going on meantime in the Rue de +la Paix between a company of Marines and the multitude of people +gathered in the street, who struggled and fought with an energy worthy +of a better cause in hopes of gaining a share in the spoils. As I +emerged from the conflict into the comparative peace and coolness of the +Boulevard, I was stopped by a procession--two battalions of National +Guards returning much shorn of numbers, from the Bois de Boulogne, +bringing with them in a furniture waggon a portion of their dead, among +whom was their colonel, whose feet projected from under the flapping +awning of the cart. + +An order of the day of Marshal Mac-Mahon has been published in which he +announces the demolition of the Vendome Column. He says:-- + +"The foreigner respected it; the Commune of Paris has overthrown it. Men +calling themselves Frenchmen have dared to destroy, under the eyes of +the Germans, who saw the deed, this witness of the victories of our +fathers against Europe in coalition. The Commune hopes thus to efface +the memory of the military virtues of which the Column was the glorious +symbol. Soldiers! if the recollections which the Column commemorated are +no longer graven upon brass, they will remain in our hearts. Inspired by +them, we know how to give France another proof of bravery, devotion, and +patriotism." + + +MAY 20th. + +M. ROCHEFORT. + +Never have I witnessed a scene of greater excitement than the entry of +Rochefort into Versailles as a prisoner to-day. He was brought in by the +St. Germain road, and was seated in a family omnibus drawn by two +horses. First came a squadron of gendarmes, then the omnibus, surrounded +by Chasseurs D'Afrique, and lastly a squadron of the same corps. In the +vehicle with Rochefort were his secretary, Mouriot, and four police +agents dressed in plain clothes. Outside the omnibus were an officer of +the gendarmerie in uniform and two or three _sergents-de-ville_ not in +uniform. Rochefort's moustache had disappeared. He had himself shaved +closely before setting out from Paris in order to disguise himself, but +there was no mistaking him. It was half-past 1 o'clock in the afternoon +when the _cortege_, arriving at the end of the Boulevard du Roi, entered +the Rue des Reservoirs. Every one ran into the street, and shouts of +execration were raised on all sides. It was no mere demonstration of a +mob. The citizens of all classes joined in it. One man ventured to cry +"Vive Rochefort!" He was kicked by several persons who happened to be +near him, and was saved from further violence only by arrest at the +hands of the _sergents-de-ville_. Along the rue des Reservoirs, the Rue +de la Pompe, the Place Hoche, the Rue de Hoche, and the Avenue St. Cloud +Rochefort was greeted with incessant shouts of "_A bas l'assassin; a +pied le brigand; a mort_!" The people wanted to have him out of the +omnibus, and it was with difficulty the cavalry prevented them from +dragging him out and inflicting summary execution. The cavalcade was +obliged to go at a slow pace, but finally he was safely lodged in gaol. +I believe that but for the precautions taken by the Government he would +have been killed before he had got near it. The demand to have an +example made of him, and the dissatisfaction at seeing him brought to +prison in a carriage, were loud and general. + +There was a tremendous fire against the bastions this morning at 5 +o'clock, and a strong fire has been maintained all day. + +The fire of the Insurgents is much weaker than it was yesterday and the +day before, except at Vaugirard, and from there to Montrouge, where +mitrailleuses and musketry were brought into requisition. + +Up to 5 o'clock this afternoon Auteuil still shelled. + +From 3 o'clock I have observed a very large number of the Versailles +troops under arms at a short distance from the Point du Jour, and a +considerable body of the Insurgents watching them from near the +Vaugirard Gate. + +At 5 o'clock the white flag was displayed at the Porte d'Auteuil. + +Orders have been given for the troops to march onward and occupy it. + +M. Thiers has issued a circular, dated noon to-day, in which he says:-- + +"Several Prefects having demanded that news should be published, the +following answer has been sent to them:--Those persons who are uneasy +are greatly mistaken. Our troops are working at the approaches, and at +the moment of writing the breaching batteries continue their fire upon +the walls. Never have we been so near the end. The members of the +Commune are busy making their escape." + +The breaching batteries are still keeping up a very heavy fire against +the _enceinte_. + +M. Thiers has sent a despatch to the Prefects announcing that the gate +of St. Cloud was forced down by the fire of the Versailles guns, and +General Douai then rushed with his men into the interior. The troops +under Generals Ladmirault and Glinchamps were at once set in motion to +follow them. + +The Versailles troops entered Paris at 4 o'clock this afternoon at two +different points--namely, by the St. Cloud Gate at Point du Jour, and by +the gate of Montrouge. + +The ramparts were abandonned by the Insurgents. + + * * * * * + + +THE CAPTURE OF PARIS. + +MAY 21st.--AND 22d. + +The great event of yesterday came upon every one by surprise. It had +been expected, but not for yesterday. + +Even the Marshal Commanding-in-Chief looked onward to at least six more +days of sapping and mounting of batteries and actual breaching before +his army would be able to make the final movement. + +A certain number of the troops were inside the _enceinte_ before any one +but themselves knew of it, and Auteuil and the Point du Jour were +shelled for nearly two hours after they had fallen into possession of +the forces of Versailles. + +One man, M. Clement, an officer of Engineers, played a prominent part +in this historical affair. Soon after midday, proceeding cautiously in +advance of a party of his men, who were lying in concealment between the +nearest parallel and the Porte de St. Cloud, he crept up to the bastion +and found it and the ramparts adjoining without a single sentinel. +Keeping near the ground, he waved a white handkerchief; it was seen by +the small party of Engineers who were lying outside the last parallel, +and also by Lieutenant Treves, of the French Navy. At first the signal +was not understood; but M. Clement continued to wave the handkerchief +violently, and beckon to those who saw him to come on immediately. It +was with difficulty 100 men could be collected in the trenches, but +about that number advanced and occupied the deserted position. In the +meantime the word was passed from post to post in their rear, and a +batallion was soon on its way after them. By half-past 3 o'clock +dispositions had been effected for occupying both Auteuil and the Point +du Jour with a sufficient force, and proceeding to the other gates both +right and left. The gates and drawbridge of Auteuil had been demolished +several days previously, but the Insurgents had substituted an enormous +barricade, which shut off the iron bridge uniting the Railway Station +with the Viaduct. + +The Division of General Vergee marched direct upon Auteuil. Scarcely had +the first column arrived there, when volleys of musketry were opened by +the Insurgents concealed in houses. A few of the troops were put _hors +de combat_ by this fire, but the artillery of the Division turned their +pieces on the ramparts against the enemy, Mitrailleuses were also +brought into requisition by the troops, and within an hour the +Insurgents had fled to a distance. + +The Division of General Douai entered by the gate of St. Cloud, which is +at the Point du Jour, and occupied the salient between the ramparts and +the viaduct. Here there was a second bastion of considerable solidity. +The soldiers entered the half-ruined barracks and casemates, and made +prisoners of a number of Insurgents whom they found concealed there. + +Immediate preparations were then made for the advance right and left, +but as the enemy was still keeping up a fire from 7-pounders and +Mitrailleuses, along the bastions between Vaugirard and Montrouge, a +regular assault of these positions by the division under General Cissey +was determined upon. I have already announced that it has been +successful. + +The Division began to march in by the Gates of Vaugirard and Montrouge. +At 2 o'clock this morning La Muette was occupied without serious +resistance. + +A Division subsequently advanced to Passy to join that which had taken +La Muette. + +Such was the suddenness with which the occupation of the Point du Jour +had been effected that, as I have stated, the firing from the military +batteries continued for a considerable time after the first of the +troops were in it. It was not till 4 o'clock that the order to cease +firing in that direction left the Head-Quarters. In the meantime, +hundreds of people stood on the Avenue and Terrace of Meudon watching +the cannonade, and believing that all the posts of the Insurgents were +still occupied by the enemy. Even the officers and men in the batteries +did not know why the order to cease firing had been sent round. + +I have just returned, after having followed in the rear of General +Vinoy's last column, going to take up positions in the neighbourhood of +the Trocadero. I have wandered all over the Point du Jour, visited +Auteuil, and have walked along by the bastions between the Gate of St. +Cloud at the Point du Jour and the Gate of Auteuil. Having watched the +other side of the Sevres Bridge, I was surprised on passing along the +Sevres road to observe that, very little damage had been done to the +houses at the end of it near the _enceinte_. One or two bore the marks +of shells, but the fact is that nearly all had escaped, and what I saw +at the _enceinte_ and within it, shows that the artillery practice of +the Versailles side had been exceedingly good throughout the +bombardment. The people on the Sevres road had kept their shops open +amid all the terrible firing. Only some two or three houses had been +closed. They stood at a dangerous angle to the batteries at Meudon. On +one of them was chalked "_fermee pour cause du bombardement._" Between +the last of the houses and the ramparts, and at a distance of not more +than 100 yards from the latter, were the newly-cut trenches which the +troops had constructed. Good gabions protected them in front, and there +was a plentiful supply of fascines lying all about. The doors of the +Porte were no longer to be seen, except in little bits on the roadway. +The drawbridge had succumbed bodily, and its place was supplied with +some planks. The posthouse was in ruins, and the stone walls on either +side between the gates and the parapet of the fortifications had been +crumbled into rubbish; the glacis from the Point du Jour to Auteuil had +been ploughed up in such a manner that not a yard of it was to be seen +without a shell hole. To say that the parapet had been riddled would not +be correct. It is smashed here and there, and at intervals everywhere, +but in no place between the two Gates I am referring to is the earthwork +inside the parapet laid bare, nor has a breach, properly so called, been +anywhere made. The doors and gate walls of both gates are smashed +through, but all along, despite serious disfigurement, the parapet is +strong still. + +To come back to the Point du Jour--that is as much a ruin as the town of +St. Cloud. From the gate to the Railway Station there is not a single +habitable house; not three have roofs, and not one has its windows and +walls intact. Every lamppost has been scattered about the road in small +pieces, and a stranger who had not heard of the bombardment might be +pardoned for supposing that the streets had been macadamized with the +fragments of shells. Strange to say, the staircase leading from the +Booking Office of the Railway Station to the line over head is +uninjured, or nearly so, and by its means I was enabled to ascend and +walk through that Viaduct which I have been looking at from a distance +as shells have been battering it for the last six weeks. It is much +knocked about, and so is the bridge underneath it, which in a series of +arches spans the river, but both will be serviceable still after some +repair. Huge stones, displaced from their settings and broken into +small pieces, lie scattered on the bridge and its approaches. From the +Viaduct I could see an immense conflagration in the neighbourhood of the +Champ de Mars, and a combat between the troops and the Insurgents was +going on. In the Place de la Concorde and the Rue de Rivoli, all down to +the Trocadero, reserves were in waiting with their chassepots stacked on +each side of the road, but there was no fighting along the Quays. +General Vinoy had established himself in his new Head-Quarters, and the +70,000 or 80,000 men already in the heart of the city are believed to be +quite sufficient to dispose of the last desperadoes of the Commune. The +sounds of battle we heard from more than one point, and yet every one +spoke of the Insurrection as in its last agonies. Men and women once +more held up their heads and snapped their fingers at Delescluze, +Dombrowski, and the Commune, but there was sad evidence all around us of +what this rebellion had done. There in the little cemetery behind the +ramparts lay the unburied and mangled remains of 32 National Guards who +had been killed at the batteries just above. The whole place was a +picture of ruin and desolation. Passing out of the Point du Jour by the +opining where the Porte de St. Cloud had stood, whole and entire, even +after the Prussian bombardment, but where there is not a vestige of it +bigger than a splinter now, I walked along the glacis in the direction +of Auteuil. I was surprised to find that, at a distance of less than an +eighth of a mile from the latter place, the military had fixed their +gabions, sapped right up the glacis, and to within four or five yards of +the fosse. The trenches had been cut across the Bois de Boulogne. +Nothing, however, like enough of the parapet and the earthwork above had +been thrown down to fill up the fosse. Indeed, no effort whatever had +been made in the way of filling up, except at either side of the two +Portes, so that an assault at any other than these points would have +been a very difficult undertaking. On the glacis I saw the dead and +decomposed body of a man not in uniform. He lay on his side, with one +hand under his head and the other raised in the air. A gentleman who +lives close by stated that the deceased, with two or three other men, +had come out to fire stray shots at the soldiers in the trenches. As he +lay there to-day I perceived that he had been pierced by several rifle +balls. The gates at Auteuil have disappeared as completely as those at +Point du Jour, and at the Railway Station behind the iron railway bridge +over the road all the habitations are, so to speak, in a heap. The +French term "_debris_" best describes what is left of Auteuil and its +surroundings. Stone, mortar, iron bridge metal, lamp posts, trees, are +smashed, pounded, and scattered. No one who visited Auteuil in happier +times would recognize even the spot on which it stood. As specimens of +successful bombardment the Point du Jour and the three barracks behind +the _enceinte_ that lie between them may be cited among the most +complete that even modern artillery has succeeded in producing. + +A great explosion, followed by a conflagration, occurred at half-past 12 +at the Staff Quarters near the Esplanade of the Invalides. + +Paris is now completely surrounded. + +It is asserted that Dombrowski is hemmed in at Ouen. + +The Insurgents have established a battery upon the terrace of the Garden +of the Tuileries, the fire of which sweeps over the Champs Elysees; but +this position has been turned by General Clinchamp, and there is reason +to hope that the resistance will not be of long duration. + +The Versailles troops have already captured from 8,000 to 10,000 +prisoners. + +Fighting has been going on all this morning, the cannonade and musketry +fire being incessant. + +There is a large fire in the neighbourhood of the St. Lazare Railway +Station, and a dense cloud of smoke hangs over the heights of +Montmartre. Not only have the Germans completely isolated Paris, but all +communication between Versailles and St. Denis is also cut off. Trains +arriving from the North no longer enter Paris, but stop at St. Denis. + +It is rumoured that the Prussians occupy Fort Vincennes. + +The strictest orders have been given to the German outposts to drive +back all Insurgents, and the advanced corps have been doubled tonight to +prevent any from breaking through the circle of investment north of +Paris. + +A wounded Insurgent General attempted to pass the Prussian outposts, but +was forced to retrace his steps. + + +MAY THE 23d. + +It may be desirable that I should add some particulars to the account I +have already given of the way in which the troops moved from the +_enceinte_ to the different positions they occupied in Paris last night. +The first column, proceeding between the railway and the Fortifications, +made its way from Auteuil to La Muette; the second, starting from +Auteuil, threw down a barricade which had been erected behind the +railway arch, and, taking the Rue Raynouard and the Rue Franklin, +proceeded by the high ground to the Trocadero. This march was not a +rapid one, because at every step precautions had to be taken against +snares that might have been laid by the Insurgents. The Artillerymen and +the Engineers entered the houses on the terraces and examined the powder +stores in the Rue Beethoven in order to ensure the column against an +explosion. The third column, setting out from the Point du Jour, marched +along the quays to the Bridge of Jena. At this point there was a +junction of the three columns, and a line of occupation from Passy to +the river side at that bridge was established. The fourth column crossed +the river at the Point du Jour, and marched along the quay of Grenelle. +Upon entering the Champs de Mars they found that the Insurgents were +encamped in considerable force there. Skirmishers were thrown out, and, +opening fire, they drove out the enemy without any serious difficulty, +although the latter had a park of artillery. The Insurgents showed fight +for some time, and a struggle was maintained on the right of the Champs +de Mars, where the temporary wooden barracks have been erected. The +Insurgents formed in a sort of hollow square at the four sides of the +portion of the ground which for some time has been covered with +artillery _caissons_, and responded to the attack upon them by a +vigorous fire, but being opposed on two sides by an overwhelming force, +they gave way, without any very great loss on either side. The tricolour +was planted on the Pavilion d'Ecole. + +From the Arc de Triomphe there was no fighting down the Champs Elysees, +but there was a struggle at the Palais de l'Industrie before the troops +obtained possession of that building. Under the orders of certain +members of the Commune, the Insurgents resisted with a musketry fire. + +Montmartre kept firing in the direction of the Trocadero throughout the +day. Its fire did not kill or wound many men, but it retarded the +advance of the troops towards the heart of the city. + +The fire which I mentioned yesterday as having been seen by me from the +Viaduct of the Point du Jour was caused by the blowing up of the riding +school of the Ecole d'Etat Major, which was filled with cartridges. + +Dombrowski has not been taken. He escaped from La Muette when the troops +entered, leaving behind him the silver service which was in the room +where he had been about to sit down to dinner. + +Assy, was taken on the Quai de Billy. + +Montmartre has been carried after a rather sharp struggle. The tricolour +now waves over the Buttes. + +For some hours I witnessed the fighting to day. I found that early this +morning all the important positions of Montmartre had been taken by the +two Corps d'Armee of Generals Douai and Ladmirault. The latter General +had occupied the station of St. Ouen and the Place of Clichy, and he had +advanced to Montmartre by an external movement, keeping for some +distance outside the ramparts. At the same time General Douai made a +direct movement from inside the city by the Parc de Monceaux. In this +manner Montmartre had been almost entirely surrounded. There was a hard +contest, but the troops succeeded in entering the Buttes. A large number +of the Insurgents were killed in the action, and about 4,000 were made +prisoners. The number of cannon and mitrailleuses taken was very +considerable, amounting to some hundreds. Belleville is still in the +hands of the Insurgents, as are also the Hotel de Ville and the +Tuileries. The Red flag was floating on them at half-past 5 o'clock. +Severe fighting was going on across the Place de la Concorde between the +Insurgents occupying the mansion of the Ministry of Marine, at the +corner of the Rue Royale, and the troops on the other side of the river +in the Palace of the Corps Legislatif. A gunboat which the Insurgents +had under the Pont Royal, close to the Tuileries, was firing constantly. +The Insurgents in the Rue de Rivoli and the garden of the Tuileries were +using mitrailleuses and rifles, and the troops along the Boulevard at +the edge of the Place des Invalides, close to the river, were attacking +them with four-pounder guns. Fort Vanves was firing on the Insurgent +positions in the neighbourhood of Montrouge and the Faubourg St. +Germain, and the Federalists were shelling Vanves from Forts Montrouge +and Bicetre. There was musketry skirmishing at various points in the +Faubourg St. Germain. The Insurgents occupy houses, from which they keep +up a rapid fire to impede the march of General Cissey's troops. Among +the prisoners taken to-day many have been recognized as old Reds who +were actively engaged in the insurrection of June, 1848. A movement has +been ordered which will result in completely shutting in the Insurgents +within a circle formed by the whole Army of Paris. The Madeleine is in +the hands of the military. Several fires have broken out in the city. +Colonel Piquemalle, Chief of the Staff of General Verge, was killed +to-day. + +The following circular despatch was yesterday forwarded to the Prefects +of the several Departments. + +"The tricolour flag waves over the Buttes-Montmartre and the Northern +Railway station. These decisive points were carried by the troops of +Generals Ladmirault and Clinchant, who captured between 2,000 and 3,000 +prisoners. General Douai has taken the Church of the Trinity, and is +marching upon the Mairie in the Rue Drouot. + +"Generals Cissey and Vinoy are advancing towards the Hotel-de-Ville and +the Tuileries. + + +MAY 24th. + +"The Generals, desiring to treat the city with lenity, withheld any +attack upon public monuments in which the insurgents had taken up +positions. This morning they carried the Place de la Concorde. The +Ministry of Finances, the Hotel of the Conseil d'Etat, the Palace of the +Legion of Honour, and the Palace of the Tuileries were burnt by the +insurgents. When the troops gained possession of the Tuileries, it was +but a mass of smouldering ashes. The Louvre will be saved. The Hotel de +Ville is in flames. I am convinced that the insurrection will be +completely conquered by this evening at the latest. No one could have +prevented the crime of these wicked wretches. They have made use of +petroleum for their incendiary purposes, and have sent petroleum bombs +against the soldiers. What remedy can be applied? The best of the +Generals of the army have shown an amount of talent and valour which has +excited the admiration of foreigners. + +I have just returned from witnessing one of the saddest sights that has +occurred in the world's history. + +I announced that the insurgents had set fire to several of the public +buildings of Paris, the Royal and historical Tuileries included. Flames +and bombshells are fast reducing the magnificent city to a huge and +shapeless ruin. Its architectural glories are rapidly passing away in +smoke and flame, such as have never been witnessed since the burning of +Moscow, and amid a roar of cannon, a screaming of mitrailleuses, a +bursting of projectiles, and a horrid rattle of musketry from different +quarters which are appalling. A more lovely day it would be impossible +to imagine, a sky of unusual brightness, blue as the clearest ever seen, +a sun of surpassing brilliancy even for Paris, scarcely a breath of wind +to ruffle the Seine. Such of the great buildings as the spreading +conflagration has not reached stand in the clearest relief as they are +seen for probably the last time; but in a dozen spots, at both sides of +the bridges, sheets of flame and awful volumes of smoke rise to the sky +and positively obscure the light of the sun. I am making these notes on +the Trocadero. Close and immediately opposite to me is the Invalides, +with its gilded dome shining brightly as ever. The wide esplanade of the +Ecole Militaire, almost immediately underneath it, is nearly covered +with armed men, cannon, and horses. Shells from the positions of General +Cissey, at Montrouge, are every minute falling close to the lofty dome +of the Pantheon. It and the fine building of Val de Grace, near it, seem +certain to be destroyed by missiles before the incendiary fire reaches +them. There is a dense smoke close to St. Sulpice, and now flame rises +amid the smoke, and the two towers of the church are illuminated as no +electric light could illuminate them. Some large building is on fire +there. Every one asks which it is; but no one can approach that Quarter +to put the matter beyond doubt. Burnt leaves of books are flying towards +us, and the prevailing opinion is that the Sorbonne and its Library are +being consumed. There are a dozen other fires between that and the +river. No one doubts that the Palais de Justice is sharing the fate of +the Tuileries and the Louvres. The Chateau of the Tuileries has all but +disappeared. The centre cupola has fallen in, and so has the roof along +the entire length of the building. Some of the lower stories yet burn, +for fire and smoke are rushing fiercely from the openings where up to +this morning there were window-frames and windows. + +The Louvre is not yet wholly gone, and perhaps the fire will not reach +all its Courts. As well as we can make out through the flame and smoke +rushing across the gardens of the Tuileries, the fire has reached the +Palais Royal. Every one is now crying out, "The Palais Royal burns!" and +we ascertain that it does. We cannot see Notre Dame or the Hotel Dieu. +It is probable that both are fast becoming ashes. Not an instant passes +without an explosion. Stones and timber and iron are flying high into +the air, and falling to the earth with horrible crashes. The very trees +are on fire. They are crackling, and their leaves and branches are like +tinder. The buildings in the Place de la Concorde reflect the flames, +and every stone in them is like bright gold. Montmartre is still outside +the circle of the flames; but the little wind that is blowing carries +the smoke up to it, and in the clear heavens it rises black as Milton's +Pandemonium. The New Opera House is as yet uninjured; but the smoke +encircles it, and it will be next to a miracle if it escapes. We see +clearly now that the Palais de Justice, the Ste. Chapelle, the +Prefecture of Police, and the Hotel de Ville are all blazing without a +possibility existing of any portion of any one of them being saved from +the general wreck and ruin. + +The military are as far as the Pont Neuf on the left bank of the river, +and just beyond the Hotel de Ville on the right. Now, at 6 o'clock, it +is all but certain that when this fire is extinguished scarcely one of +the great monuments of Paris will have escaped entire destruction. + +The barricade of the Insurgents at the end of the Rue Royale was taken +last night by a movement in which the troops made their way from house +to house, starting from the Rue Boissy d'Anglas, to the Rue Faubourg St. +Honore. The fighting in the Rue Faubourg St. Honore and the Avenue +Marigny was very severe. Six shells fell and exploded in the grounds of +the British Embassy. The two houses which formed the angles at the +corners of the Rue Royale and the Rue Faubourg St. Honore were burnt to +the ground. The Place Vendome was taken by the troops. In the Faubourg +St. Germain during the whole night an energetic combat was raging +between the Insurgents and the men of General Cissey's division. + +The Versailles batteries are firing furiously against the Quarters +which still hold out. By the aid of the telescope the horrible fact is +disclosed of numerous dead and wounded left lying about the streets +without any succour whatever. + + +MAY 25th. + +I have been over a large portion of the city to-day and I am happy to +say that, though large fires are still raging, the conflagration is not +spreading to the extent that had been apprehended. The destruction done +by the street fighting and the desolation which prevails in the +principal Boulevards and other leading thoroughfares exceed all I could +have imagined from a more distant view. + +I went to the Porte de la Muette, and, getting round to the left, +approached the Arc de Triomphe from the Avenue de L'Imperatrice. All +along I found trees, lamp-posts, and the facades of houses smashed by +shells. Turning off by the Rue de Morny, I worked my way round to the +Boulevard Haussmann. It was impossible to proceed along by the pavement, +as on either side at intervals of a few feet felled trees and thick +branches had been laid down by the insurgents to obstruct the passage of +the troops. On Monday last the Federals had occupied the houses, and +fired from the corridors. All the fronts of the houses were disfigured +by rifle balls, the corridors were broken, and the handsome stone +cornices very much battered. The beautiful columns of the Madeleine are +sadly injured, the fluted edges having been in many places shot away. +The two houses in the Rue Royale, at the corner of the Rue Faubourg St. +Honore, were blazing still, and the smoke and ashes that flew from them +were stifling the pompiers, who were working energetically there and at +other points; some of their corps were shot. It had been discovered that +they, instead of throwing water on the fires they were called upon to +extinguish, were actually pumping petroleum into the flames, and so +adding to their fury. When this was detected the guilty firemen were +surrounded by a body of cavalry, conducted into the Parc de Monceaux, +and there shot. I could count the number of people I met along the +Boulevards, so few were those who ventured to walk about. The fears of +petroleum and explosions are universal. The inhabitants had either +stopped up, or were engaged in stopping up, every chink through which +petroleum might be thrown into their houses. Their cellar lights, their +ventilators, and their gratings were being made impervious by sand, +mortar, and other materials. This precaution was taken because women +and children partisans of the Commune, have in numerous instances been +detected throwing petroleum into houses. Not a shop was entirely open, +and those that opened only doors were inferior restaurants and wine +houses. Around the railing in the Place Vendome troopers' horses were +tied. The bronze figure of the Emperor was on its back, the shattered +and prostrate Column lay about in fragments. On visiting the +neighbourhood of Montmartre, and ascending an Observatory there I found +there was a cannon and musketry fire going on in the district of +Belleville and the Buttes de Chaumont. The Insurgents had not been +dislodged, and as the troops have undergone much fatigue since Monday a +regular attack on Belleville will not be made till to-morrow morning. +General Clinchant will bring his forces against it in the rear, and +General Vinoy's soldiers will advance upon it from the Boulevards. On +coming round by the quay to the Place de la Concorde I found that all +the statues of the French cities are injured, and some very +considerably. Of several the arms and heads are off. The splendid +fountains in the centre of the Place are dreadfully smashed. The stone +balustrade is badly broken in a hundred places. The lamp posts are all +down, and this once charming spot presents a most melancholy +appearance. I found a crowd looking over the wall of the wharf beside +the bridge. I looked over and found a number of labourers digging a huge +square grave in which to bury some 25 Insurgents, who lay mangled and +dead along the wall. + +The Hotel de Ville is still smoking. So are the ashes of the Tuileries. +Happily not very much of the Louvre is destroyed, and at the Palais +Royal the fire was extinguished when only a portion of that building had +been consumed. The Prefecture of Police is consumed, but the Palais de +Justice is not, and the Sainte Chapelle has suffered but little injury. +The greatest conflagration of to-day was that at the Grenier +d'Abondance. The flames and smoke from it rose high over the city. There +were other fires, but, happily, not in the centre of the city. I could +not learn in what particular buildings they were rising, but I believe +that a frightful fire is raging at the Entrepot des Vins, on the Quai +St. Bernard. + +M. Thiers has addressed the following Circular to the Departements:-- + +"We are masters of Paris, with the exception of a very small portion, +which will be occupied this morning. The Tuileries are in ashes, the +Louvre is saved. A portion of the Ministry of Finance along the Rue de +Rivoli, the Palais d'Orsay, where the Council of State holds its +sittings, and the Court of Accounts have been burnt. Such is the +condition in which Paris is delivered to us by the wretches who +oppressed it. We have already in our hands 12,000 prisoners, and shall +certainly have from 18,000 to 20,000. The soil of Paris is strewn with +corpses of the Insurgents. The frightful spectacle will, it is hoped, +serve as a lesson to those insensate men who dared to declare themselves +partisans of the Commune. Justice will soon be satisfied. The human +conscience is indignant at the monstrous acts which France and the world +have now witnessed. The Army has behaved admirably. We are happy in the +midst of our misfortune to be able to announce that, thanks to the +wisdom of our Generals, it has suffered very small losses." + +The troops have captured the Hotel de Ville, and have occupied Fort +Montrouge. + +The military operations are being actively and energetically carried on +by the three Corps which are now in Paris. It is hoped that they will be +in possession of the whole of the capital by this evening. + +It is asserted that General Vinoy has been appointed Governor of Paris. + +The newspapers state that Delescluze, Cluseret, Felix Pyat, and Ranvier +have been made prisoners, but the news is not officially confirmed. + +Firemen have been summoned by telegraph from all the districts around +Paris. + +Fort Bicetre has been occupied by the troops. + +It is stated that Raoul Rigault was shot this morning. + +A dense cloud of smoke still hangs over Paris, which gives rise to fears +of fresh conflagrations. + +Since noon to-day a south-easterly wind has arisen, causing the +conflagration to extend in the direction of the Bastille, and +threatening the city with destruction. + +The Versailles batteries are firing vigorously upon Belleville. + +The fires are apparently slackening. The wind fortunately veered round +to the west at 5 o'clock this evening, and this change was followed by a +calm, which has since continued. The sky is still lurid from the +reflection of the flames, and the _debris_ from the burning buildings +fall at distances of 20 kilometres. + +It is said that the Mazas prison is burnt to ashes, and fears are +entertained for the safety of the Archbishop, who was incarcerated +there. + +It is reported that considerable bodies of Insurgents attempted to +escape from Paris in the direction of Aubervilliers and Romainville, +but they were driven back. + +The cannonading from the Versailles batteries at Montmartre against +Belleville and Chaumont continues. + + +MAY 26th. + +The attack on Belleville was made this morning soon after daybreak. +General Clinchant approached it from the ramparts, and General Bruat's +Division marched on it in front from the direction of the Rue de Paris. +The troops had to attack seven barricades successively. When they had +made a partial progress the Insurgents, seeing defeat inevitable, +offered to surrender on condition that their lives should be spared. +This was refused, and the struggle continued till the military +succeeded. A large number of the Insurgents were shot. Many cannon and +22 red flags were captured. + +Last night a large group of the Insurgents imprisoned in the docks of +Satory, attempted a rising. The battalion in charge fired, and a number +of the prisoners were shot dead. The portion of the Palais Royal +consumed by the fire on Wednesday is the block of buildings in which +Prince Napoleon resided. The library of the Louvre has been destroyed. +The fire was arrested at the portion of the building occupied by the +Gendarmerie. Between the Louvre and the Hotel de Ville several shops and +private houses have been reduced to ashes. The Theatre Lyrique is burnt +down. Of the Hotel de Ville nothing remains but some walls. The Hotel of +the Ministry of Finance and that of the Cour des Comptes are both +destroyed. One of the towers of the Conciergerie, the Prefecture of +Police, and a portion of the Palais de Justice are burnt. The Grenier +d'Abonbance has disappeared, after being in flames for many hours +yesterday. A shell charged with petroleum struck and set on fire the +turret of the Church of St. Eustache. This part of the building crumbled +away; but the church itself was saved. In the Rue Royale eight houses +have been entirely, and two partially, consumed by the fire which broke +out at the corners of the Rue Faubourg St. Honore. In the latter street +four houses have been consumed. The upper story of the British Embassy +has been much injured by shells. Several women have been arrested while +in the act of firing on the troops, and it is said that one _cantiniere_ +caused the death of ten soldiers by putting poison in their wine. Some +of the women whom I have seen marched from Paris as prisoners are +dressed in the uniform of National Guards. Not a few of the female +prisoners are very furious-looking. Several attempts at escape and +assassination have been made by prisoners. They are marched between a +double line of Cavalry, each of the latter holding a revolver in his +hand, with his finger on the trigger. Women found throwing petroleum +into houses have been shot on the spot. Since Monday there has been a +very large number of summary executions in the streets of Paris. At No. +27, Rue Oudinot, where Les Ambulances de la Presse have their +Head-Quarters, the bodies of 52 persons thus despatched are now +deposited. On one, which is dressed in the uniform of a National Guard, +bank notes to the amount of 150,000f. were found. + +Viard, a member of the Commune, was arrested in the Rue de l'Universite +yesterday. Gustave Courbet, an artist of celebrity, and also a member of +the Commune, has died at Satory of poison, supposed to have been +administered by himself. He expired in great agony. He it was who +promoted the idea of destroying the Column in the Place Vendome. Raoul +Rigault, Procureur de la Commune, has been shot. Napoleon Gaillard, +Director of the Barricades, was insubordinate at Satory, and was shot by +the side of the fosse there. It is reported that Cluseret, Amouroux, +and Clement, all members of the Commune, have been arrested. + +Fort d'Ivry has been evacuated by the Insurgents. They blew it up on +leaving, and the troops have taken possession of it. Six thousand +insurgents surrendered at discretion this morning at the Barriere +d'Italie. + +The affair of Belleville is not yet concluded. There is fighting still. +A great fire is raging in the direction Buttes de Chaumont. + + +MAY 27th. + +If it is difficult to realize the present condition of Paris, it is +still more difficult to describe it. We creep timidly about the streets, +haunted by the constant dread, either of being arrested as belonging to +the Commune, pressed into a _chaine_, or struck by the fragment of some +chance shell, and oppressed ever by the scenes of destruction and +desolation that surround us; the whole forming a combination which +produces a sensation more nearly allied to nightmare than to any +psychological experience with which I am familiar, but yet requiring +some new word to define it. The angry ring of the volleys of execution; +the strings of men and women hurried off to their doom; the curses of an +infuriated populace; the brutal violence of an exasperated soldiery, +are sights and sounds calculated to produce a strange and powerful +effect on the mind. Yesterday afternoon I drove over as much of the city +already in the occupation of the Versaillists as was consistent with +safety. Following the Boulevard Clichy in order to avoid the _chaines_ +in the neighbourhood of the Madeleine, I passed the scenes of terrible +fighting. The Place Clichy was a mass of barricades and shattered +houses, the _facades_ marked with bullets as if pitted with the +smallpox, the windows smashed, and the evidences of a fearful struggle +visible everywhere. It seemed as if the ground had been disputed here +house by house; but from all I can learn of the resistance, the actual +defenders of the barricades, though resolute men, were few in number. +One of the most marked characteristics of this fighting has been the +cowardice of the many as compared with the courage and resolution of the +few; some of the barricades were abandoned by their defenders by +hundreds, only ten or a dozen remaining to the last, and holding their +ground until they were all killed or wounded. Passing up the Rue +Lafayette, I reached the Head Quarters of the Fifth Corps, where, +happening to know an officer, I was present at the examination of some +prisoners who were brought in, as every soldier who thinks he has good +ground for suspicion can arrest men or women, and drag them to the +divisional tribunal. They are captured in shoals. One lame man with a +villanous countenance, who was brought in while I was there, was accused +of being a _chef de barricade_, and having been taken in the act. He was +put through a short sharp fire of cross-examination, his pockets emptied +and his clothes felt, and he was then hurried off to take his place in +the ranks of the condemned ones that are forwarded to Versailles. +Instant execution is only ordered in the more extreme cases, excepting +where the fighting is actually going on, and then the troops give very +little quarter. The bitterness of the belligerents against each other is +of a far more intense and sanguinary kind than that which ordinarily +exists between combatants. The soldiery, looking at the pedestal on the +Place Vendome and at the numerous public buildings which in some form or +other are associated with their military history, now all smoking ruins, +can scarcely contain their rage, and not unnaturally vent it with +ferocity on an enemy which deliberately planned the destruction of Paris +as the price of victory to the conquerors, and who are even yet +endeavouring to carry out their diabolical design of destroying the +houses still uninjured by secretly introducing petroleum balls and +fusees into the cellars. I saw a soldier suddenly seize a man as he was +apparently harmlessly walking along the street; his pockets were emptied +and found to contain cartridges and combustible balls of various sizes. +Another soldier and a sailor rushed to the spot; the latter drew his +revolver, and I expected would have shot the man then and there, but he +was satisfied on seeing his comrade prick him sharply with his bayonet. +The two soldiers then hurried the culprit off in front of them cuffing +him occasionally on the head, and accelerating his progress with the +points of their bayonets while they cursed him heartily. A small crowd +eagerly followed to see his fate, which they loudly hoped would be +instant execution; and, looking at the detestable nature of the contents +of his pockets and of his intentions, one could scarcely blame either +his captors or their sympathizers if they called for vengeance, and long +ere this, he has probably ceased to exist. One woman was caught with +these fire balls on two occasions, having succeeded once in escaping. As +a general rule, the hand-dog look of the prisoners is their most +striking characteristic. I passed one gang of about 50 yesterday, and +tried in vain, as I walked by their side, to catch a man's eye, or even +to see a face turned fairly up to the light of day. With heads bare, and +eyes steadily fixed on the ground, they passed between rows of people, +who howled and hooted at them, and it was not till I reached the head of +the short column that I observed a slender figure walking alone in the +costume of the National Guard, with long, fair hair floating over the +shoulders, a bright blue eye, and a handsome, bold, young face that +seemed to know neither shame nor fear. When the female spectators +detected at a glance that this seeming young National Guardsman was a +woman, their indignation found vent in strong language, for the torrent +of execration seems to flow more freely from feminine lips when the +object is a woman than if it be one of the opposite sex; but the only +response of the victim was to glare right and left with heightened +colour and flashing eyes, in marked contrast to the cowardly crew that +followed her. If the French nation were composed only of French women +what a terrible nation it would be! + +The aspect of the Boulevards is the strangest sight imaginable. I +followed them from the Porte St. Martin to the Rue de la Paix. There was +fighting at the Chateau d'Eau, and without either a pass or an ambulance +_brassard_ a nearer approach to the scene of action was undesirable; +indeed, until recently, the shells had been bursting here in every +direction, and their holes might be seen in the centre of those +pavements heretofore sacred to the _flaneurs_ of Paris. Strewn over the +streets were branches of trees; and fragments of masonry that had been +knocked from the houses, bricks and mortar, torn proclamations, shreds +of clothings half concealing bloodstains, were now the interesting and +leading features of that fashionable resort; foot passengers were few +and far between, the shops and _cafes_ hermetically sealed, excepting +where bullets had made air holes, and during my whole afternoon's +promenade I only met three other carriages besides my own. The Place de +l'Opera was a camping ground of artillery, the Place Vendome a confusion +of barricades, guarded by sentries and the Rue Royale a mass of +_debris_. Looked at from the Madeleine the desolation and ruin of that +handsome street were lamentable to behold. The Place de la Concorde was +a desert, and in the midst of it lay the statue of Lille with the head +off. The last time I had looked on that face it was covered with crape, +in mourning for the entry of the Prussians. Near the bridge were 24 +corpses of Insurgents, laid out in a row, waiting to be buried under the +neighbouring paving stones. To the right the skeleton of the Tuileries +reared its gaunt shell, the framework of the lofty wing next the Seine +still standing; but the whole of the roof of the central building was +gone, and daylight visible through all the windows right into the Place +de Carrousel. General Mac-Mahon's head-quarters were at the Affaires +Etrangeres, which were intact. After a visit there, I passed the Corps +Legislatif, also uninjured by fire, but much marked by shot and shell, +and so along the Quais the whole way to the Mint, at which point General +Vinoy had established his head-quarters. At the corner of the Rue du Bac +the destruction was something appalling. The Rue du Bac is an impassable +mound of ruins, 15 or 20 feet high, completely across the street as far +as I could see. The Legion d'Honneur, the Cour des Comptes, and Conseil +d'Etat were still smoking, but there was nothing left of them but the +blackened shells of their noble _facades_ to show how handsome they had +once been. At this point, in whichever direction one looked, the same +awful devastation met the eye--to the left the smouldering Tuileries, to +the right, the long line of ruin where the fire had swept through the +magnificent palaces on the Quai, and overhead again to-day a cloud of +smoke, more black and abundant even than yesterday, incessantly rolling +its dense volumes from behind Notre-Dame, whose two towers were happily +standing uninjured. This fire issued from the Grenier d'Abondance and +other buildings in the neighbourhood of the Jardin des Plantes. In +another direction the Arsenal was also burning. One marked result of a +high state of civilization is, that it has furnished improved facilities +for incendiarism, which seem to have been developed even more completely +than the means of counteracting them. Along the Quais under the trees, +cavalry horses were picketed, and a force was about to leave General +Vinoy's head-quarters just as I reached it, to support an attack which +was even then being made upon the Place de la Bastille, where the +Insurgents were still holding out. On the opposite side of the river +were the smoking ruins of the Theatre Chatelet and the Hotel de Ville. +Passing through the Place du Carrousel into the Rue de Rivoli, I had a +more complete view of the entire destruction which has overtaken the +Tuileries and some of the adjoining buildings. The lower end of the Rue +de Rivoli towards the Faubourg St. Antoine was densely crowded with +troops, and passage in that direction was interdicted, while at the +other end, near the Place de la Concorde, there was a _chaine_; so I +struck once more across to the Boulevards, past the Palais Royal, a +large part of which is burnt, wearied and sickened with the waste of +ruins through which I had passed, and meeting with only one incident, +when I found myself in the midst of a panic-stricken throng all running +away from a series of cracker-like explosions, which turned out to be +cartridges that from some unexplained cause had begun to go off +spontaneously under our feet. To-day the firing is more distant and less +audible. The insurgents are still holding the heights of Belleville and +Pere-Lachaise. In the Jardin des Plantes the loss of the troops was +heavy, but up to this time they have won their ground with a less loss +than could have been anticipated, and the fearful mortality of Generals +which characterized the last "_Campagne Parisienne_" has happily not +been repeated upon this occasion. So far, no General has been either +killed or wounded. + +The affair of Belleville is not yet concluded. There is fighting still. +A great fire is raging in the direction of the Buttes de Chaumont. + +Loud reports have been heard within the walls of Mazas, and it is +supposed that the hostages have been massacred. + +Courbet, Amouroux, Gambon, and Valles have been executed. + +The night is quiet. + +Shells have fallen on the Boulevard Menilmontant. Great hopes are +entertained that the rains will check the conflagration. A few shells +have fallen in the Rue de la Paix. Constant arrests or executions are +being made of women who throw incendiary matter down the cellar +gratings. Many bodies have been exhumed from under shattered houses, +some with large sums of money on them. News reaches us that troops of +the Line have occupied Menilmontant and the Cemetery of Pere-Lachaise. +The Federals had declared Pere-Lachaise to be their last stronghold, +and that they were prepared to defend it tomb by tomb. The National +Guard will be dissolved to-morrow. Upwards of 1,000 prisoners were +marched up the Boulevard this morning, escorted by mounted Hussars. +Delescluze has been taken at Villiers le Bel. General Eudes and Ranvier +have also been taken. The public buildings destroyed up to the present +time are the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the Ministry of Finance, the +Cour des Comptes, the Prefecture of Police, the Palace of the Legion of +Honour, the Caisse des Depots, Graineterie, and the Garde Meuble. The +Pantheon was saved by a rush of Marines, who cut a slow match before it +reached the powder barrels in the crypt. The Chatelet, Lyrique, and +Porte St. Martin Theatres have been burnt, also the great barracks of +the Rue des Celestins. Part of the roof of St. Eustache has fallen in. + +The fighting still continues round the Chateau d'Eau. There will be no +difficulty, however, in disarming the National Guard. Valles fought for +his life, and received a sabre cut across the face and several bullets +before he finally fell close to the Tour St. Jacques. Rows of bodies +line the quays awaiting burial where they fell. The individuals arrested +will be tried by Court-Martial at Versailles. The Court-Martial will +commence its sittings on Monday. Many women and children have been +executed around the Luxembourg, having been convicted of firing on +soldiers. Fort Bicetre is still in Federal hands, but the garrison is +said to have exhausted its ammunition. Bergeret gave the order for +burning the Tuileries. General Douai, by promptness of action, prevented +the fire spreading to the Louvre. Humour has it that Delescluze and +Pyat, disguised as beggars, were recognized in the Rue du Petit Carreau, +and shot. Thirteen women have just been executed after being publicly +disgraced in the Place Vendome. They were caught in the act of spreading +petroleum. Such papers as have appeared announce the execution of the +Archbishop of Paris and the cure of the Madeleine. + +The Column Vendome is to be rebuilt. + +With an English friend I this morning made my way along the line of +Boulevards running east of the Madeleine. A marvellous change had come +over them since yesterday; they were crowded with troops of the Line and +civilians fraternizing with them, and wandering about to look for the +traces of the recent conflict without danger of being shot from windows +or being pressed into the service of the Communists to build or fight +behind a barricade. It was our plan to make for the Hotel de Ville, and +we took the Bourse in our way. Everything was so quiet that we half +hoped the fighting in that part of Paris at any rate was over, and we +were in consequence greatly astonished to hear near us the furious +beating of the _rappel_, as regulars were all about. We thought for a +moment a hot conflict was at hand, but we had forgotten, not +unnaturally, considering how long it is since we had seen or heard of +them, the Party of Order. It was they who were rallying valiantly at the +Bourse round the new tricolour banner and a few gentlemen who wore +tricolour _brassards_ or pretty bunches of tricolour riband, and whose +general tidiness and freshness contrasted strikingly with the grimy, +business-like look of the real soldiers close by. These were streaming +into the Place des Victoires, close by, receiving cheers and +congratulations from the people about in the square or at the windows, +who seemed delighted to see them. The men were in capital spirits, and +told us they were carrying everything before them, that the Insurgents +fought often well enough so far as mere pluck went, but were everywhere +outmanoeuvred, and at nearly every barricade found themselves taken at +once in front, flank, and rear. This exactly tallied with what we had +already heard and seen. An officer told his men to keep a sharp look out +on the windows of the houses about, lest they should be surprised by a +fusillade. "No fear of that," said a _bourgeois_; "not a gun will be +fired at you in this Quarter." This looked peaceful enough, and we were +considerably astonished therefore as we went up a street a little +further on, the Rue d'Aboukir, I think, to find ourselves facing a +barricade about 150 yards off, manned, and with a flag floating over it +that looked very red. We stared hard and long, but the flag was +unmistakably red, and therefore, supposing any Regulars to advance, we +were directly between two fires. We accordingly turned into a side +street and waited patiently, as it seemed impossible that Regulars and +Reds so near each other should escape collision. The Regulars were sure +to come on; the only question was whether the Reds would run. As I +looked up another parallel street, the Rue de Clery, I think, I found +the question answered in an odd way. There, within thirty yards, were +two officers of Reds lounging leisurely about and stopping now and then +to talk to people at doors. I suppose they were told of the near +approach of the Regulars, for they turned back in the direction of their +barricade. But meantime the Regulars had advanced, and, therefore, the +enemies were at one moment within 40 paces of each other, though, being +in different streets, they were unconscious of each other's near +vicinity. Both parties seemed, as they well might, thoroughly at home, +the people, whatever might be their secret sympathies, showing a decent +appearance, at least, of impartiality to all men with arms in their +hands, and yet in a few minutes or seconds--for there was now no doubt +that they were about to fight--everybody was on the _qui vive_, getting +ready to escape if necessary. The extraordinary feature of these Paris +street fights is that many of them go on with a crowd of non-combatants, +men, women, and children, as close to them on both sides as if the whole +affair were a theatrical representation of a sensational melodramatic +kind, where a good deal of powder and blue lights would be burnt, but no +bullets or lives would be spent. In streets in which fighting actually +occurs no one of course shows except combatants, and these show as +little as possible, lying down or sheltering behind extempore +barricades and windows. The people indoors, as may be supposed, do not +keep near them, as the bullets fired down the sides of the streets under +cover of doorways or corner houses glance and ricochet about in the +wildest way. Scarcely a window escapes if the fight lasts long, but +adjoining streets running at right angles to the fighting ground are for +the moment comparatively safe, and the people crowd about the doorways +in these, the more venturesome getting close to street corners, and +every now and then cautiously craning their necks round to see, if +possible, whether shots tell. + +Perhaps the strangest thing about a Paris street fight is that up to the +very last moment one sees people running quietly along, utterly +unconscious of danger, right between two lines of fire, with loaded +mitrailleuses within a hundred yards of them. One minute before the +fight I am describing began this morning, an old lady, with a large +market basket on her arm, was leisurely walking down the Rue d'Aboukir +between the barricades and soldiers mustering quietly at the corner of +the Rue Montmartre. She was probably making way to the Halles Centrales +close by to get something for breakfast, in happy ignorance of the fact +that at that very moment soldiers were firing, as far as we could see, +right into it. I found afterwards that the Reds were then in occupation +of it, and had loop-holed the Church of St. Eustache, which they held in +great force. Shouts of warning from the crowd standing near me at the +corner of the Rue Montmartre made her at last quicken her pace, though I +doubt whether she quite understood them or knew her danger. I scarcely +know whether Paris combatants at this period are considerate enough to +wait till the ground is clear of non-combatants, or whether out of +politeness each side was waiting for the other to fire first. In any +case the regulars did not wait long. A colonel of the Staff, with cane +in one hand and in the other a map of Paris, studying, stood at the +corner of a side street, gave his men the order to commence instantly. A +soldier on each side took a step forward, and exposing himself as little +as possible fired up at the barricade. After he had fired he fell back +to reload, and another all ready took his place, so that, though there +were at first very few men--not more than 20 perhaps--firing was pretty +hot. Quick came back the response of the Reds, and whizzing went their +bullets down the street, or crashing against projecting corners of the +houses, so near one's ears that it was at first hard to keep from +dodging, despite one's convictions that only Irish guns shoot round +corners. Ricochet balls were not only not more dangerous, but probably +were less dangerous, at the corner than farther off. Some stood as near +as they could to the soldiers. It would be impossible to do this with +the Reds, as they would insist one's taking up a rifle and shooting or +being shot; but the Regulars, so far from forcing, would not even allow +an amateur to indulge in fancy shooting. But taking hurried shots round +a corner at men crouched hundreds of yards off behind well-built +barricades is too slow work to be satisfactory, and the officials came +and began to show signs of impatience. The leader, from a safe post of +observation, was able to take a cool searching view of the situation, +and ordered some of his men, whose numbers were gradually increasing as +they hurried up the street below, ducking heads and hugging walls, to +mount some of the corner houses, while others extemporized a barricade +in the street. To mount the houses was easy enough, though the door of +one had to be broken in, and presently we heard glass tumbling down as +muzzles of rifles were poked through the upper panes, and soon sharp +cracks and thick puffs of smoke leaping out showed that the men had +settled down to their work. The barricade was a more difficult matter, +as it had to be made full in front of the enemy's fire; but it was +contrived with wonderful coolness and rapidity, the civilians about +eagerly bringing stones. Two or three barrels appeared as if by magic. +By pushing the barricade cautiously across the street, by lying down +under cover of one bit as they built another, the Regulars soon had +cover enough to fire comparatively at ease straight up at the barricade, +while their comrades at the windows took it from above in flank. I was +sometimes within a few feet of them, and was much struck by their +coolness and military common sense, if I may use the expression. They +did the work before them in a quiet, business-like way, in what, during +the late war, was considered by some the best feature of Prussian +fighting, not shirking risk when it was necessary, but, on the other +hand, not needlessly exposing themselves for the sake of swagger, +especially of the officers. This morning, the officers not being wanted, +had the sense to keep quietly out of harm's way and smoke their +cigarettes like unconcerned civilians when not giving orders to their +men. The Reds, on the other hand, fought capitally, keeping up a brisk +and well-directed fire. Yet, strange to say, nobody was wounded; I mean +on our side. + + +MAY 28th. + +A week has elapsed to-day since the Versailles troops established +themselves inside the _enceinte_, and the fighting has been incessant +ever since; this is hard work enough for the assailants, who number +nearly 150,000 men; but for the soldiers--if soldiers they can be +called--of the Commune, the effort has already been almost superhuman. +Gradually diminishing in numbers, constantly finding themselves forced +upon a smaller area, and, therefore, the target of a more concentrated +fire, hemmed in upon all sides, with ammunition and provisions falling +short, exposed to a heavy rain, which has been falling incessantly for +48 hours, unable to seek repose in any spot sheltered from the shells of +the enemy, which are pouring in unremitting showers upon every corner of +their position, the situation of the Insurgents is desperate in the +extreme, and it cannot be denied that they are fighting with an energy +and a heroism worthy of a better cause. Reports are so varied and +contradictory as to the fate of their leaders that even the Generals of +the French army do not know positively who is commanding them; but if +the prisoners are to be believed, the irrepressible Cluseret has again +risen to the surface, and is the heart and soul of the defence. As the +position of the Insurgents becomes desperate, it seems to produce a +greater ferocity on both sides. The rebels neither ask nor give quarter; +they have made up their minds that death, whether as combatants or as +prisoners, is their only alternative, and men and women seem to be +lashed up to a frenzy which has converted them into a set of wild beasts +caught in a trap, and rendering their extermination a necessity. I went +yesterday to the Jardin des Plantes, as the entire left bank of the +Seine is now in the hands of the Government troops, and found M. +Decaisne, the celebrated botanical professor, still safe and sound, +after having passed through three days of unparalleled suspense. On +Wednesday the _rappel_ had been beaten by the Insurgents, and notice was +publicly given that the Pantheon was to be blown up at 2 o'clock. The +result was a general "stampede" of the inhabitants in an agony of terror +and dismay. For two or three hours women and children came pouring out +of the doomed quarter, unable to save any of their property, and not +even yet assured that they had escaped the limits of the explosion. At 5 +o'clock no explosion had occurred, and the rumour spread that the +attempt had failed for want of a sufficient quantity of powder. I told +you how the Pantheon was saved; the people went back to their houses, +only to witness severe street fighting, the result of which was to drive +the Insurgents slowly across the river, where they made a fierce stand +at a _tete du pont_ erected at the end of the bridge of Austerlitz. This +had only been carried the evening before my visit to it, and bore all +the marks of an actual battlefield. Here were eight or ten bodies strewn +behind the barricade, with groups of women and young children gathered +round inspecting them, and lifting, with a morbid curiosity, the cloths +which had been thrown over them to conceal their distorted countenances. +These men had been killed in hard fighting, men and accoutrements were +strewn thickly around, the houses were smashed and riddled with shot. +The barricade, a formidable earthwork and battery, was pounded into a +mere heap--everything betokened a bitter struggle; and, indeed, I had +already heard from a Staff officer that the Line had lost more heavily +at this point than elsewhere. Passing along the side of the canal, we +endeavoured to reach the Bastille, but were stopped by a battery which +was firing at Pere-Lachaise, and which was receiving shells in reply +from the cemetery. We therefore retraced our steps past the long gaunt +skeleton of the Prefecture of the Police, which was still smoking, and +which had contained a body of political prisoners incarcerated by the +Insurgents, but released by them in order to work at barricades. This +proved their salvation, as they were enabled to effect their escape on +the approach of the troops. It is reported, nevertheless, that some +still lie buried beneath these smouldering ruins. To the right of the +Bastille we could see a heavy volume of smoke rising apparently from a +point corresponding to the position of the prison of Mazas. We are still +in utter darkness as to the fate of the Archbishop and the clergy in +confinement with him, but the tragedy of the Dominicans leaves us little +hope. About 20 of these priests were imprisoned on Friday, the 19th, at +Fort Bicetre. On Thursday, when this had to be abandoned, they were +hurried away to the Gobelins on the promise of being set at liberty. +Instead of this they were driven to work on the barricades, then dragged +to a prison in the Avenue d'Italie. At half-past 4 in the afternoon they +were visited by a certain M. Cerisier with a company of the 101st +battalion of the National Guards, who deliberately loaded in their +presence. The outside door of the prison was then thrown open, and they +were ordered to leave it one by one. As they marched out singly they +were shot successively by order of Cerisier, with the exception of the +narrator of the occurrence, and one or two others who were either missed +or slightly wounded and escaped. Twelve bodies of these unhappy men have +already been recovered. + +There is also no doubt that M. Gustave Chaudey, one of the principal +editors of the _Siecle_, and a literary man of some eminence and high +character, who had incurred the displeasure of the Communists, has been +shot by them. On the other side the executions are wholesale. It is +estimated that upwards of 2,000 persons have been shot already on the +left bank of the Seine alone, evidently a small proportion of the total +number. Wherever women and children are to be observed leaning over the +parapet of the Seine intently regarding some object below, one may be +sure that the attraction is a group of hideously mutilated corpses of +men who have been brought down to the river side, and then with their +backs to the wall have met their doom. On the sloping roads leading down +from the _quai_ to the river may also be seen inequalities where the +road has been recently disturbed and where the freshly-turned earth +indicates burial-places. Not far from these bodies were lying several +dead horses, from which the people were cutting steaks. The inside of +the Hotel de Ville presents a curious scene, the solid masses of stone +and lime of which the rubbish is composed having fallen in in the form +of a crater, which fills up the whole central place. Under this mound +are said to be buried from 200 to 300 Insurgents who were unable to +escape at the last moment, and thus fell the victims of the +conflagration they had themselves originated. The mutilation of the +ornamental work of this magnificent specimen of architecture is simply +hideous; there is scarcely a square inch of the _facade_ untouched by +shot or shell. Anxious, if possible, to judge of the progress of the +attack which was being made on the Insurgent position at Pere-Lachaise, +I reached the Place Chateau d'Eau, which had been taken the day before +from the Insurgents. I found it, however, impossible to go beyond the +angle of the Wall near the Ambigu. Here a small crowd was collected +which was dispersed by a shot just as I approached, and the place itself +was a solitary desert, for it was swept from the heights of Belleville +down the Faubourg du Temple. Passing along the Boulevard Magenta, we +obtained from the point where the Rue du Faubourg St. Denis traverses +the Rue Lafayette, a view of an Insurgent barricade, on which a red flag +was still flying, and which was turned by the troops while we were +there. We were looking down the long, straight line of street totally +deserted, and in the far distance watching the barricade, beyond which +rose the occasional puffs of smoke from a musketry fire, when we +suddenly saw the red trousers scampering across in twos and threes, and +then in larger numbers, and knew that the barricade had been taken, and +that it was safe to come out of our cover and walk on the opposite side +of the street. All this time the whistling and bursting of the shell +overhead was as incessant and loud as I have ever heard on the field of +battle. We were directly in the line of fire between Montmartre and Pere +la Chaise, although completely protected from it, as everything passed +overhead. But the terrific rushing through the air of the projectiles, +and the cracking and bursting at each end when they reached their +destination, made a music which it requires a Parisian education +thoroughly to appreciate. Heavy volumes of smoke rose from the besieged +quarter, and the destruction of life and property upon the doomed area +which the Insurgents have chosen as their final stronghold must be +something appalling. Near the angle of the street at which we stood lay +the dead body of a man, covered with a cloth, who had been shot not many +hours before in an adjoining Court. It was evident from the looks and +tone of the inhabitants of this neighbourhood that their sympathies were +strongly with the Communists. They muttered gloomily and savagely to +each other, scarcely daring to raise their suspicious glances from the +ground, for they knew not which of their neighbours might not have +denounced them, and that the day of danger was by no means past. +Probably two-thirds of the men now gathered at their shopdoors had +fought actively for the Commune. At the Prevote of the 5th corps I had +an interesting instance of the effect of denunciations. While there some +men who had been intrusted with the arrest of General Henry returned +from their expedition. General Henry, it will be remembered, was one of +the earliest leaders of the movement, and I went down to see where he +had openly established himself as Commander-in-Chief of the National +Guard in the Vaugirard quarter. About the 16th of March, or two days +before the Revolution several attempts were made to arrest him but the +task was so dangerous that they all failed. Throughout the movement this +man has exhibited daring and intelligence, and his capture is much +desired. In consequence of the information received his haunt was +visited, and the result I saw in the shape of a blue Prussian overcoat +stained with blood and perforated with a bullet-hole, a tunic still +more bloody and torn, a very jaunty braided jacket quite clean and new, +a Prussian undress cap, and a very handsome sword. The proprietor had +evidently been wounded, and had succeeded in evading his captors, if +still alive, by some secret contrivance, which, however, the honour of +the denouncer was pledged to discover; it was evident that he had +provided himself with a Prussian uniform, in the hope of passing through +the German lines, and the blood on his coat would seem to indicate that +he had made the attempt and failed. From this barrack, just prior to my +visit, had been removed several wounded children, most of them under +eight years old. One of the most horrible features of the war in a +thickly-peopled city is to be found in the sufferings which it entails +upon the innocent who are thus early familiarized with scenes of blood +and violence, and who too often, unfortunately, are themselves the +victims of them. The _gamins_ of Paris love to dabble in petroleum and +play with lucifer matches, and revel in destruction and conflagration. +More daring than their elders, they stick with their mothers to +barricades after the father of the family has deemed it prudent to +retire, and numerous are the stories of their heroism and courage. +Unfortunately, their propensities for arson render them liable to be +shot, and it is sad to see how many children are often comprised in a +band of prisoners. I went underground to the cells in which the +prisoners were confined at the Prevote, and wandered along narrow, +subterranean passages, where the noisome exhalations were almost +stifling, into dark cells, where the eye got at last sufficiently +accustomed to the light to distinguish the relics left by the prisoners: +here a pair of stays of which some female prisoner had divested herself, +there a red cockade, all kinds of articles of clothing steeped in slime +of indescribable foulness; and cowering at one end of the corridor a +dozen prisoners waiting to know their fate. They were more respectable +than usual, and not apparently of a very sanguinary type. They were all +men. To-day no less than a hundred women were marched down the streets +in one gang. The papers are so full of false reports that it is scarcely +safe to give news which has not been verified. Thus, unless I had seen +the Genius of Liberty on the top of the column in the Place de la +Bastille, and visited the Jardin des Plantes, I might have reported the +accounts, of which the papers are full, of the destruction of the figure +on the Column and of the animals and rare plants in the gardens, which +you will be happy to hear are all in a state of perfect health and +preservation. I am afraid, however, it is only too true that half the +Gobelins are destroyed, and that 67 of the "Freres de la Doctrine +Chretienne" have been shot by their fellow-Christians of the Commune. A +friend of mine saw Madame Milliere in a prisoners' gang, and we have +authentic intelligence to-day that her husband, one of the most +pestilent of the apostles of Fraternity and wholesale slaughter, has +been executed. + +The streets are full of the National Guards of Order, carrying their +rifles to the different depots to be given up, for the disarmament of +the entire National Guard has been determined on, and it is to be hoped +that this most useless body in time of foreign invasion and most +dangerous one in moments of internal trouble will be extinguished and +abolished for ever throughout all the towns of France. Meantime the +Boulevards and streets from which the fighting has receded are slowly +waking into life, the tricolor waves from the windows in token of +loyalty and sympathy with the Government, and at least two cafes are +open on the Boulevards, but as yet only here and there the shutters of a +shop are lowered. + +The roar of the batteries from Montmartre is still continuous, but it is +hardly possible that the Insurgents can continue the struggle for 24 +hours longer. + +Fighting was going on at Belleville about an hour ago, but still there +is every reason the believe that the insurrection is virtually over. A +great number of prisoners, escorted by cavalry, have just been marched +down the Boulevards. They were said to be 5,000, but this is probably an +exaggeration. They came from the Buttes Chaumont, where many of them +have been kept two days and a half without food. A more villainous +collection of faces I never beheld. There were many women, among them +some in men's clothes, some as _cantinieres_ or _ambulancieres_, and +very young boys and old men. Nearly 1,500 were Regular soldiers, or at +least wore their uniform. Their coats were turned inside out, as a mark +of disgrace. As they passed through the crowd lining each side of the +Boulevards they were met with cries of "_A mort, crapule, +fusillez-les!_" Four women in the Amazon uniform and the Regulars +excited special indignation. One prisoner, near the New Opera, refused +to march, and was twice stabbed with bayonets. He was then tied to a +horse's tail, and afterwards placed on the horse, but he threw himself +off, and again refused to march. He was put into a cart and carried off +to the nearest place of execution to be shot. Another prisoner, who +also refused to march, was dragged by the hands and hair of the head +along the road. The crowd called out to the soldiers to shoot him, and +declared that but for the presence of the soldiers they would themselves +execute summary justice on him. The troops, headed by the Marquis de +Galifet, were loudly cheered as they passed. + +I went early this morning to Pere-Lachaise. Shells were still falling so +thickly near the Boulevard du Temple that no one was allowed to pass. I +had to go a very roundabout way to get to the Place Bastille, as at +numerous barricades everybody who passed was compelled to assist in +pulling them down. The barricades were of astonishing strength. Behind +the barricade on the Boulevard Mazas lay three bodies of National +Guards--apparently shot in its defence. A little lower down on the +Boulevard Voltaire lay seven men dead, as if they had there made their +last desperate stand. There were some old gray-headed men among them. We +were told that their bodies were left there for recognition, and women +occasionally came up and claimed them. The Regulars had also suffered +severely there, but their dead had been immediately removed. Further on, +the stone barricades had been protected by a second line of large sacks +stuffed with rags and papers, and piled upon each other. At the corner +of Rue Roquette lay over 70 corpses of men, executed for being found +with arms in their hands. They lay piled over each other, and the +pavement and gutters streamed with blood. The crowd were not allowed to +approach them. We entered Pere-Lachaise and found it full of troops, +chiefly of the Marine Brigade. There is no truth in the stories that the +cemetery was defended tomb by tomb. There had been no bayonet or even +fusillade fighting there, but the shells had shattered many of the +tombs, here and there laying bare the coffins below. The position was so +strong that the Marines could account for its abandonment only by the +fact that the Insurgents were utterly disorganized for want of leaders. +The shelling, however, had been sufficiently vigorous to compel the +troops to retire after they took it last night, and to return for +reinforcements. They retook the position early this morning. The +Insurgents had abandoned a battery of seven guns which commanded the +whole position. We could see from it that sharp fighting was still going +on at Belleville, probably the last stronghold. As we passed the prison +of La Roquette, we heard about ninety rifle-shots and then a +mitrailleuse, and were told by the troops that prisoners were being +executed. We had great difficulty in passing through the Faubourg St. +Antoine, and were stopped by at least five _cordons_ of sentries. They +told us that the Insurgents were _en fuite_, that the Quartier was +_suspect_, and that, therefore, nobody was allowed to pass. When we got +through, many people asked us to put their letters into the post for +them, as they were close prisoners. The streets were filled with arms +and equipments. + +Only a few houses in Belleville still hold out. The Insurgents are +surrendering by thousands. The insurrection is considered over. + +Most of those who founded the Comite du Salut Public have been taken. +The Insurgents are being shot by hundreds. In the Faubourg St. Antoine +great numbers of men and women were found carrying petroleum, and at +once shot. + +The _Moniteur_ says that Felix Pyat and Paschal Grousset left Paris +yesterday in a balloon, which passed over Niort towards the sea. + + +MAY 29th. + +By Saturday evening the various Corps of the Versailles troops, steadily +converging on the Insurgents from the North, South, and West, had forced +them into their last strongholds of Pere-Lachaise, and at the Buttes +Chaumont, in Belleville; and M. THIERS on Saturday announced that the +final attack would be made on Sunday morning. But the troops waited no +longer to finish their terrible work. On Saturday Pere-Lachaise was +taken by General VINOY; in the evening the Buttes Chaumont were carried +by General LADMIRAULT. The two corps united, and the remaining +Insurgents were forced into narrow space at the edge of the _enceinte_, +where they are hemmed in between the Versailles troops and the +Prussians, and must surrender or be killed. They have also been driven +out of all the Forts except Vincennes, and those who hold that Fort have +asked the Bavarian troops outside to permit their escape. At five +o'clock yesterday all fighting had ceased. + +"The Revolution is crushed;" but at what a cost, and amid what horrors! +"Peace," says M. THIERS, "is about to be restored, but it will not +succeed in relieving all honest and patriotic hearts of the profound +sorrow with which they are afflicted." We know not, indeed, how or when +such relief is to come; for ruin has been wrought and crimes have been +perpetrated which will leave on Paris and on Frenchmen an ineffaceable +brand. After the first appalling news of the great conflagrations, a +faint hope had arisen that the ultimate result might prove less +disastrous than had been apprehended, and it is true that a few of the +noble buildings which were thought doomed have escaped. But the almost +universal wreck would of itself almost obliterate for the moment the +sense of relief, and the material ruin now constitutes the least horror +in the scene. It is sufficiently distressing to picture every Quarter of +the great Capital, which but the other day was the beauty of the world, +scarred by conflagrations, torn by shells, pitted with musketry, and +stained with blood. It is terrible to think that in a city "like Paris" +fire and sword, and instruments of destruction still more hellish, have +swept from West to East, and from South to North; that most of its noble +palaces are but gaunt and blackened walls, and its finest streets laid +in heaps of as utter ruin as the mounds of Nineveh. The mind is +overwhelmed by the mere physical spectacle of this whirlwind of blazing +destruction suddenly bursting over a noble city so near us, which we +knew so well, and the inhabitants of which were but yesterday our +neighbours and our friends. But even this is overpowered by the awful +human ruin which it expresses and reflects. On both sides alike we hear +of incredible acts of assassination and slaughter. The Insurgents have +fulfilled, so far as they were able, their threats against the lives of +their hostages as mercilessly as their other menaces. The Archbishop of +PARIS, the Cure of the Madeleine, President BONJEAN, with priests, +gendarmes, soldiers, and other victims to the number of 64, have been +shot, and 168 others were only saved by the arrival of the troops. This +massacre of distinguished and inoffensive men is one of those crimes +which never die, and which blacken for ever the memory of their authors. +But in the spirit of murder and hatred it displays the Communists seem +not very much worse than their antagonists. It sounds like trifling for +M. THIERS to be denouncing the Insurgents for having shot a captive +officer "without respect for the laws of war." The laws of war! They are +mild and Christian compared with the inhuman laws of revenge under which +the Versailles troops have been shooting, bayoneting, ripping up +prisoners, women and children, during the last six days. We have not a +word to say for the black ruffians who, it is clear, deliberately +planned the utter destruction of Paris, the burning of its inhabitants, +and the obliteration of its treasures; but if soldiers will convert +themselves into fiends in attacking fiends, is it any wonder if they +redouble the fiendishness of the struggle? Fury has inflamed fury, and +hate has embittered hate, until all the wild passions of the human heart +have been fused into one vast and indistinguishable conflagration. + +So far as we can recollect there has been nothing like it in history. +The siege of Jerusalem may afford some parallel, but Roman soldiers +never so utterly lost their self-control as the Versailles troops appear +to have done. We are beggared for words to describe the scene, and +exclaim that it is hell upon earth. It is nothing less. There are all +the physical and all the moral accessories. Fire and brimstone, storm +and tempest, torture, insult, hatred, despair, all forms of malice, +murder, and destruction, have been raging in Paris during the last few +days. Women forgetting their sex and their gentleness to commit +assassination, to poison soldiers, to burn and to slay; little children +converted into demons of destruction, and dropping petroleum into the +areas of houses; soldiers in turn forgetting all distinctions of sex and +age, and shooting down prisoners like vermin, now by scores and now by +hundreds,--all combine to enact on civilized ground, and within the +sight and hearing of their fellow-men, scenes which find a parallel only +in the infernal regions imagined by prophets and poets. This is what +human nature is capable of; for Frenchmen are men, and we shudder for +our race. But, at all events, what hope is to be seen for France in +this seething abyss? This tragedy is the end of eighty years of +revolutions, of an eighty years' struggle after Liberty and Fraternity, +eighty years of attempts again and again renewed to rebuild French +Society on a new and harmonious basis. The end is a fiercer hatred, +deeper divisions, wilder passions, and more eternal distrust. Will these +six days of savage devastation tend to heal the existing breach between +the lower and the middle classes of France? Will the mutual slaughter of +soldiers and citizens tend towards that essential condition of a happy +State; mutual confidence between the Army and the People? Will the blood +of another butchered Archbishop sow the seeds of peace between the +Priests and their Socialist foes? That which we seem at present to see +in this outbreak of hell is the permanent creation of yawning abysses +between classes, institutions, memories, and men. Paris may, perhaps, be +rebuilt; but what is to wipe out the blood with which every street of +Paris is now stained, and when will women cease to hand down to their +children the envenomed hatreds of May, 1871? Where, above all, are the +signs of that combined generosity, firmness and foresight in statesmen +or soldiers which alone could lay the first stone of reconciliation? The +prospect is too black for France and for Europe for us to dare look +forward. We have no heart at present to balance the faults and crimes of +the two sides, or to assign the relative blame. We only see the worst +outburst ever yet displayed of human passions; we see it at the close of +fifteen centuries of Christian civilization; we see it in one of the +most gifted races of the world, and we know not where to look for hope +or consolation. + + +MAY 30th. + +Paris is perfectly tranquil. Shops are opening. The streets are crowded +with people examining the amount of damage done. Prisoners in groups of +a hundred are being marched under escort down the Boulevards. Fighting +ceased about 3 yesterday afternoon. A few shots were fired from the +windows at Belleville, where frightful scenes are said to have been +enacted. The more desperate characters, felons and escaped _forcats_ of +the worst description, turned at the last moment on their own comrades +because they refused to continue the fight. Some women murdered with +knives two young men for the same reason. In consequence of the firing +from the windows, an immense number of executions occurred. The park of +the Buttes Chaumont was strewn with corpses. The soldiers were so +furious that the officers found it necessary to warn strangers of the +danger of incurring suspicion. A few of the inhabitants of Belleville +were declaring openly to passers by that the affair was not yet over, +and that terrible reprisals would be wreaked upon the soldiers. These +boasts have not yet been fulfilled, but general apprehensions are, +nevertheless, entertained that those of the insurgents who have escaped +justice will try to inaugurate a secret system of arson and +assassination. Constant discoveries of petroleum are still being made. +The danger is increased by the fact that women, who, on account of their +sex, are more likely lo escape notice, are really the most desperate. +Great precautions are taken at night. The streets are full of sentries +and all circulation is strictly forbidden. Any one who ventures out +without the password runs the risk of being locked up all night. There +are diversities of opinion relative to the Archbishop's fate even now. +Some people affirm that he has escaped; but the evidence is in favour of +his having been murdered at La Roquette. + +Fears are entertained of an epidemic consequent upon the hurried burial +of so many dead under the pavement of the streets. + + +MAY 31st AND JUNE 1st. + +The search for Insurgents from house to house is still going on +vigorously. It is still very hard either to leave or even to enter +Paris, Gourde, the Communist Minister of Finance, has been found. It is +said by Insurgents that Cluseret ought to be among the last batch of +prisoners taken at Fort Vincennes. This being their last place of refuge +it is expected that many other ringleaders will be discovered. + +The Communist commander of that Fort sent to the Bavarian General a list +of his officers and men, requesting for the former passes into +Switzerland, for the latter passes into France. After various +negotiations, the affair was left in the hands of General Vinoy, and it +was agreed that all the garrison of Vincennes, having never fired a +shot, should be detained prisoners only temporarily; but that all +fugitives who had taken refuge there should be surrendered +unconditionally. The garrison eagerly consented to the terms, and at +once put their chiefs in prison. Orders were found on many of them, +signed Ulysse Parent, for the burning of the Hotel de Ville, the Bourse, +and other places. + +The Luxembourg is to replace temporarily the Hotel de Ville, and the +Staff has already moved there. Everything is going on quietly enough in +most parts of Paris, but in the Belleville Quarter life is still unsafe. +Not only shots are fired from windows, but occasionally Insurgents fire +off revolvers upon officers at a few yards' distance. Many fear that, +notwithstanding the large numbers of the Insurgents caught, and the +terrible example made, enough have escaped to give further trouble, if +not by open resistance, at least by arson and secret assassination. The +severities, moreover, exercised by the military authorities have +produced a pretty strong feeling of reaction against them, and in some +of even the least revolutionary Quarters the troops are scarcely +popular, certainly not so popular as when they entered Paris. The +Insurgents find many sympathizers to hide them, and assist their escape +from Paris. + +The policy of England with reference to those who have escaped is +watched with great anxiety. + +Active measures are being taken to cleanse the streets and rid them of +the dead bodies, some of which had been buried where they fell under the +barricades, with a foot or two of soil over them. Passers-by are pressed +into the service as burying parties, and the English Embassy has +received complaints from Englishmen of having been seized for this +purpose. The smell of corpses in some places is offensively strong, and +it is feared this hot weather following upon the heavy rain may breed a +pestilence. + +Traffic in the streets at night is getting easier, though the _cafes_ +have to be closed at 11. The unpopularity of the troops is no doubt, in +part due to the deeply-rooted Parisian dislike of military rule and the +abolition of the National Guard--a measure which, however necessary, +under no circumstances is likely to be welcome. + +The firemen of Havre who came to Paris to aid in extinguishing the +recent conflagrations have returned home to-day. + +One of the most important of the "hostages" who suffered death at the +hands of the Commune--the most important person of their lay victims--M. +Bonjean, was President of the Court of Cassation, and it was only the +fact of his holding a high position, and being respected by all persons +whose respect was worth having, that can have rendered him odious. He +was a very old man, as old at least as the Abbe Deguerry. It was chiefly +as a Judge and not as a politician that his name was known to the world, +yet, all that was known of him as a politician was in his favour. +Indeed, he enjoyed the rare distinction of being, perhaps, the one +Liberal member of an Assembly so bigoted and so subservient as was the +Senate under the Empire. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he remained +firm at his post during the siege and during the far more perilous +period of the conflict between M. Thiers and the Comite Central. His +arrest was, so to speak, an accident, as he happened to be paying, or +expected to pay, a visit, by appointment, to the house of his friend, +the Procureur-general, when the police of the Communists were taking +possession of the house of the latter officer. He bore his imprisonment, +old as he was, with patience and resignation, remarking that for the +last 40 years he had been self-condemned to upwards of 12 hours' hard +labour a day over his books and papers, and that he could work as well +at these in a prison cell as in a palace. + +JUNE 2d, AND 3rd. + +Two days ago I was so fortunate as to meet Mons. Petit, the Secretary of +the late Archbishop, who had only escaped from the prison in which he +had been confined with the unfortunate Prelate the day before. M. Petit +did not himself see M. Darboy executed, though he saw the procession +pass and heard the firing. Out of 16 priests and 38 gendarmes confined +in the prison, 26 were shot, and the fate of the remainder had been +decided upon when an attempt to escape made by the criminal prisoners, +who were the original occupants of the gaol, succeeded, and with the +help of one of the gaolers the whole body made an attack upon the +Insurgent guard, who, in fact, did not wait for it, but abandoned their +post as soon as they perceived that all their prisoners were at liberty. +The priests succeeded in changing their clerical costume, but not in +sufficiently disguising themselves, for M. Petit saw four of his +companions shot at the first barricade they reached; he therefore fled +back to his prison, and, finding a common prison shirt, he reduced his +costume to that garments and took refuge in a bed in the hospital ward. +The prison was not again guarded, but those who casually passed through +it supposed him to be a sick prisoner not worth notice; and here he +remained until Sunday evening, when his suspense was put an end to by +the arrival of the soldiery. In the Chapelle Ardente of the Madeleine +lies the body of the _cure_ of that church, who was shot by the side of +the Archbishop, and a stream of persons, mostly women, with saddened, +awe-struck faces passed through it all yesterday afternoon. The body of +the Archbishop has been recovered, and is at the Palace. + +I have now explored Paris in every direction to judge with some degree +of accuracy of the extent of the damage done, but I will spare you any +detailed account of those scenes of havoc and ruin, that I have partly +described already which differ in their character according to the agent +of destruction, and which consist of ruins caused by shells and ruins +caused by fire. Houses which have been destroyed by shells present a far +more ghastly appearance than those which have been burnt, and the aspect +of the street at Point du Jour is calculated to strike the imagination +of those who are now entering Paris for the first time from Versailles +by that gate. The same may be said of the houses on both sides of the +Avenue de la Grande Armee, and in the neighbourhood of the Porte +Maillot; but nothing that I have seen equals the Auteuil Railway +Station, where the building, the line, and the railway bridge have all +been crumpled up together, as if some giant hand had squeezed them into +a shapeless mass. The iron bridge still spans the road, but with rails +and girders so contorted and covered with _debris_ that we were afraid +to drive under it for fear the slight concussion caused by a carriage +passing beneath might bring the tottering mass down on our heads. A +little beyond, a sentry is placed to prevent people passing beneath a +house which is on the verge of crumbling to the ground. It is a lofty, +handsome building, elegantly furnished, and quite new, which has been +completely cut in two, and the furniture of each successive story is +thus exposed. One room on the fourth floor was apparently a boudoir, for +the rich crimson-covered furniture stands trembling at the edge of the +"_parquet_," and a heavy armchair threatens with the least jar to come +down with a crash into the middle of the road. It was reserved for +French artillery to complete the work which the German artillery began. +I drove round this same road some days after the first siege, and, +compared to their present condition, these suburbs might then have been +considered well preserved and habitable. Looking at the long _enceinte_ +of fortifications with its battered breaches and crumbling embrasures, +one is puzzled whether M. Thiers deserves more credit for the skill with +which he put it up or for that with which he has knocked it down. + +Anxious to see to what condition the conquerors have reduced the +Insurgent stronghold at Belleville, I have returned from penetrating its +disagreeable recesses. As usual, even in peaceful times, the lower part +of the Faubourg du Temple was densely crowded with an agitated, +restless throng, composed principally of women. Most of the shops were +shut, probably because their owners were either shot or in prison. Those +who lounged in their doorways looked surly and suspicious; nor is this +much to be wondered at, for during the last two days every domicile has +been searched in this Quarter from attic to cellar, and every street +swarms with denouncers and soldiers. As we approached Menilmontant the +crowd became thinner, and the soldiers more numerous, until they almost +lined the street on either side. Here and there were piles of broken +arms and heaps of National Guard coats and trousers. The road was +literary strewn with caps, which had been torn from the heads of +prisoners and flung in the mud. Old women were rummaging in the heaps +for something worth taking away which was not of a military character, +as their operations were closely watched by the soldiery, who were by no +means of an amiable type. Here were no signs of fraternization or +amicable intercourse. At one place at least a dozen omnibuses were +collected and crammed with arms and military stores, a magazine of which +I saw in the process of being emptied. Three thousand Orsini bombs were +also found. I have specimens of two kinds in my possession; one is +circular, flat, and hollow, about six inches in diameter and an inch and +a half thick, and fitted all round its edge with little hammers, which +play upon a glass case inside filled with nitro-glycerine. Whichever way +the bomb falls it is sure to strike one of these hammers, which explodes +the nitro-glycerine. The other is a zinc ball, rather smaller than a +cricket ball, filled with powder and covered with nipples, upon which +are percussion caps. It cannot fall without striking a cap and +exploding. It is natural that the discovery of such objects should +exasperate the soldiery, for whom they were intended, and who cannot yet +walk with any feeling of security along streets filled with a population +who employ such diabolical engines of destruction. Hitherto, in most of +the instances in which they have been used, the culprit has been a +woman; more reckless and vindictive than the men, they have, in many +instances, literally courted death, forcing their fate by acts of +violence when escape was evidently impossible. Near the top of the steep +hill which leads to the Mairie of Menilmontant were several _cordons_ of +sentries, through which we had some difficulty in passing, owing to a +commotion which had scarcely yet subsided, and which showed how +combustible were the materials of which the population here is +composed. There had been an altercation between a sergeant of the Line +and a citizen, in which the latter had offered some violence and had +been shot on the spot; his body was still palpitating on the pavement as +I came suddenly and unexpectedly upon it, and we were warned, by an +angry cry of "_au large_" from a sentry, that it would be a very simple +matter in the then temper of the soldiery to meet the same fate. It is +easy to imagine the scowling looks and stifled curses of the men and +women glaring from doorways and windows at the execution of a friend +before their eyes, and we began to feel that we were objects of equal +suspicion and dislike on either side. At every step we were challenged, +and the fact that we had a military pass made it clear to the +Bellevilleites that we were their enemies. We had now reached the crown +of the hill--the very heart of Belleville, and the last stronghold of +the Insurgents. It was crowded with soldiery: an hour in Belleville +under existing circumstances is enough to satisfy the morbid appetite +for excitement which may tempt people to go there. Notwithstanding the +crowds on the Boulevards, many of the shops are still shut, in +consequence of the absence of their owners from Paris. The difficulties +of entering and leaving the city are still so great that many days must +elapse before the ordinary population can return. Meantime, the want of +gas makes the streets as they were in the darkest moments of the siege, +and the gloom after dark, combined with the dangers of arrest, does not +tempt people to remain abroad much later than 10 o'clock. + +Yesterday, out of one of the houses from which a shot had been fired, an +innocent Englishman, who, being elderly and deaf, knew nothing of what +had happened, came downstairs unsuspectingly on to the pavement into the +middle of the crowd, and had a very narrow escape for his life. Some +ingenious self-constituted detective called out "That's the man," and +the crowd, having long waited in vain for somebody, were only too glad +to have a victim thus extemporized to their hands, and if a few of the +cooler and more humane bystanders had not interfered, the Englishman +might have been murdered in cold blood and in broad daylight. As it was, +he got off with no more serious injury than torn clothes and a mauling +which may keep him to his bed for a fortnight. + +What, to those who have witnessed the recent transformation scenes in +the great Parisian melodrama, is newest and strangest is the crowd of +well-dressed holyday-making loungers streaming so thickly over the +broad pavement that it is no easy matter to get through them, and +occupying every available chair outside the adjoining _cafe_. Where in +the world do they all come from? Many of them have stories of their +recent experiences to tell which, well arranged, might make the fortune +of a theatrical manager--stories so sensational that one would feel +bound to refuse them credence if they were not in perfect harmony with +the sensational scenes of which every third man's personal experience +has supplied him with a specimen. One man has been close prisoner in a +cellar two days and nights while fighting has been going on all around +him and over his head. Another has had to fly amid bullets from the +suffocating smoke of burning buildings, his ears still ringing with the +cries of poor wretches who could not muster up their courage for the +rush, and who risked a lingering death under the fallen ruins. + +Numerous corpses have been dug out of cellars over which had fallen +masses of burning houses, and many probably still remain, at which it is +impossible to get. In the Rue Royale and its immediate neighbourhood +last night the air was tainted with the unmistakable smell of putrefying +bodies, which, it was supposed, were lying under the huge masses of +smouldering woodwork and masonry still heaped upon them. The fire, +though the engines have been at work at it six days and nights, has not +yet been completely extinguished, and last night I and a friend, +although he had his wife to protect him, were compelled to take our turn +at the pumps. We in vain pleaded that we would not leave the lady alone. +The head of the pressgang who had kidnapped us would be delighted to +take care of her while we worked, and as soon as it appeared that we +were only to work a short time--not to be kept on indefinitely into the +small hours of the night--we were not sorry to lend a helping hand. A +fresh batch of captives, condemned to hard labour, shortly came up and +replaced us. One of our objections to being kept long at work was that +it was getting late, and that after dark it is no very easy or safe +matter to go about the streets. + + +JUNE 4th AND 5th. + +Large crowds took advantage of the free permission accorded yesterday to +pass through the gates of Paris, and to-day the streets are filled to +overflowing with sightseers examining the ruins and other traces of the +siege. Many foreigners have already arrived, some for pleasure, some to +recommence business operations. + +Arrests are still numerous of men and women, many of the arrested +apparently belonging to the respectable classes. + +It has been proposed to set on foot throughout Europe a subscription to +restore the public buildings destroyed in Paris. + +It is hoped that in two days the telegraphs will again be open to the +public. The post is already working well, thanks to the exertions of M. +Rampont. + +All impediments in the way of entering and leaving Paris have been +removed, as I said; persons are only required to show their passports +when demanded by the police. + +The military authorities have entertained favourably the requests of +theatrical managers for permission to re-open the theatres, but the +re-opening of the _cafes chantants_ has not yet been authorized. + +Aubry, agent of the International Society and treasurer of the Commune, +was arrested yesterday. + +It is said that, until further orders, no one is to be allowed to pass +the gates of Paris after 9 p.m. Patrols of cavalry traverse Paris and +the environs all night. + +The _Figaro_ calculates the number of insurgents still at large in Paris +who have escaped military justice at 50,000 men. These persons will, it +thinks, always constitute a source of danger, and will only await a +favourable opportunity for exciting disturbances. + + +JUNE 6th. + +A gang of prisoners passing down the Boulevard is a never ending source +of interest, and with some reason, for the prisoners now are not the +scum of Belleville and La Villette, swept at haphazard out of their +lanes and alleys, but the more prominent men, who have been lying hid +ever since, and are being discovered or denounced singly, so that there +are seldom more than two or three in a batch, and these are generally +persons of note. I saw two parties yesterday, one containing three men +and two women, all of quite a different type from the ragged hangdog +squads that used to be driven past between lines of cavalry. These were +well-dressed, gentlemanlike men and modest, respectable-looking women +who seemed by no means either afraid or ashamed of the position in which +they found themselves. On another occasion I observed two men, also of +the _bourgeoisie_ class, both of them very superior to usual prisoners. +One of them had his hands tied firmly behind his back. They both boldly +looked the crowd that followed them in the face; but the arrest which +caused the greatest interest was that of M. Paschal Grousset, who was +caught hidden and disguised as a woman at 39 Rue Condorcet, and who was +honoured with a conveyance and a cavalry escort to protect him from the +crowd. M. Pyat still succeeds in evading the authorities, and there is +even some doubt whether the numerous persons who went to see the body of +M. Deslescluze when it was exposed in the church of St. Elizabeth, and +who declared that they recognized it, were not the victims of a +delusion, and whether that gentleman may not still turn up like Sir +Roger Tichborne to discomfit the minds of his old friends, who now seem +uncertain whether they know him or not. + +Monday being the first day when the gates of Paris, as well as the +railway stations, were open to the public, there was an influx and +efflux on a large scale, the people who swarmed in were people from a +distance who had taken refuge in the country, and were returning with +their baggage to their homes. Those who swarmed out were for the most +part sightseers whom events have kept close prisoners in Paris for the +last two months, and who are now flocking to the outside of the +_enceinte_ to visit their former haunts of pleasure in the immediate +vicinity, which are now desolate wastes, and to compare the condition of +the suburbs as damaged by the Germans with their present condition as +destroyed by themselves. An examination for arms and weapons to be +extended to every room in Paris is now being made, and the military +authorities continue their active _perquisitions_ for men and documents +with tolerable success. Upon two successive occasions, however, shots +have been fired within the last few days from a window in a house in the +Place Beauveau upon officers, fortunately without injury, but the +would-be murderer has not been found. + + +JUNE 7th. + +Ten thousand incendiary bombs have been discovered in the catacombs. As +23,000 were manufactured by the Commune according to documents found on +prisoners, and of these not many were used, a large number are believed +to be still somewhere concealed. + +Nearly all the missing pieces of the Colonne Vendome have been +recovered. It is thought the Column can be exactly restored. + +A strange proposal is made to preserve untouched the ruins of the Hotel +de Ville. It is seriously discussed, and finds many advocates. + +On the extradition question the more moderate journals suggest that +Government should content itself with demanding the surrender of those +Insurgents against whom it can make out some case of ordinary +non-political crime. + +Crowds still flock from all parts into Paris. + +Perfect tranquility prevails, though numerous arrests continue to be +made. + +It is believed that the prisoners will be classified in three +categories, the first consisting of persons against whom only minor +charges are preferred, the second of those charged with offences which +entail transportation, the third of criminals of the worst class, some +of them being accused of offences which may be punished by death. + +The funeral of the Archbishop of Paris and the other distinguished +hostages assassinated by the Commune is expected to be a very imposing +ceremony. A Commission of 50 Deputies will officially represent the +Assembly on the occasion, but a very much larger number of Deputies will +attend. The chief of the Executive power and the other members of the +Government will be present at Notre-Dame, where the funeral service +will be celebrated to morrow morning at 11 o'clock. + +The body of the Archbishop will be removed from the Archiepiscopal +Palace, in the Rue de Grenelle, at 10 o'clock. It will be carried on a +bed of state by seven Deacons. The seven Suffragan Bishops of the +Archdiocese of Paris will act as pall bearers. + +Monseigneur Darboy will be interred in the tomb of the Archbishops of +Paris in the vaults of the Cathedral See. + +The Abbe Duguerry will be burried in the vaults of the Madeleine, and +the other hostages in the Cemetery of Pere-Lachaise. + +The cause of the delay in opening the courts-martial at Versailles to +try the Communist prisoners is that a supplementary act of indictment +has been rendered necessary by the discovery of important documents on +several of the recently-arrested members of the Commune. + + +JUNE 8th AND 9th. + +The inhabitants of the second Arrondissement have been warned that +everybody who does not give up his firearms may be tried before a court +martial. + +An Anglo-Indian ex-officer is said to be gravely compromised in the +Insurrection, but the number of British subjects engaged in it appears +to have been ludicrously exaggerated:--not 20 have had cases made out +against them. + +The number of Communists belonging to the International and similar +societies is estimated at 120,000. Arrests are still numerous. One of +the men who shot the Archbishop, and for whom the police had long looked +in vain, was yesterday arrested at his funeral. + +The _Journal officiel_ publishes a circular note of M. Jules Favre, +dated the 6th inst., in reference to the causes of the Parisian +Insurrection. The principal of these is the collecting together of +300,000 workmen who were brought to Paris by the works executed under +the Empire, and who were led away by Jacobin agitators, and who were +vanquished on the 31st of October. + +After that came the action of the International Society composed of +working men, the doctrines and dangers of which are explained in the +circular. + + +JUNE 10th. + +It is calculated that 70,000 travellers entered Paris between Saturday +and Tuesday by the Northern line alone. Many had to travel in luggage +vans. Paris, notwithstanding, does not appear full. Most of the +visitors make a very short stay. The dull condition of trade is loudly +complained of. + +The idea of burning the corpses which have not been properly buried has +been abandoned; it is proposed to exhume all those buried in the Parc +des Monceaux, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and other temporary burial +places, and to transfer them to a new cemetery beyond Fort Vanves. + +One hundred and fifty pretended firemen were executed yesterday at +Versailles. + +The Commander of the 9th Army Corps of Paris has issued a notice, +stating that the surrender of arms has been slow, and the last delay has +expired. The military authorities will, therefore, treat the offenders +with severity. Active searches have been made in the Rue St. Honore +to-day. + +The Courts-martial at Versailles will try the prisoners exclusively for +offences against the common law, and will not consider them as political +offenders. + + +JUNE 11th. + +The close inspection which has been made of the sewers in Paris has +already led to the discovery of large quantities of weapons and +ammunition, and also of many ex-Federalist combatants, who, despairing +of escape from the regular troops, sought refuge in the subterranean +passages with whatever provisions they could secure. The greater part of +these miserable creatures are in a most deplorable condition from hunger +and the poisonous atmosphere of their hiding places. On Friday, at the +angle of the Rue Vavin and the outer Boulevard, the scavengers found +five bodies in the sewer, one that of an officer, and all mutilated by +rats. The bodies were brought out by means of ropes, and after search +for papers and documents, were interred in the Mont Parnasse Cemetery. + + +JUNE 12th. + +On Wednesday the Commissary of Police for the Quartier Saint Victor +received information that the ex-General of the Commune, Rossel, was in +concealment at the Hotel Montebello, upon the Boulevard St. Germain. The +Commissary proceeded to the hotel, and upon searching the place found in +a room on the third floor a person dressed in the uniform of the Eastern +Railway service. Upon being questioned this person stated that his name +was Tirobois, that he was an engineer living at Metz, but had been +summoned to Paris by the railway managers on account of the pressure of +traffic on the line. 'Are you sure of that?' asked the Commissary. +'Parbleu.' 'Well, in the name of the law I arrest you. You are Rossel.' +'I? not at all.' The prisoner was taken to the Prefecture de Police +established at the Barracks of the Cite, and thence in a boat to the +Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the head-quarters of the municipal +police are established. During the whole of the journey thither, being +closely pressed with questions by the Commissary, the pretended Tirobois +continued his denials. Upon being further interrogated at the Ministry +of Foreign Affairs, he replied, 'I have told you all I know about +myself. Do not ask me any more.' Tirobois was then conveyed to the +Ministry of War, where he was confronted with a number of persons who +were detained in custody. Some of these declared that he was Rossel, but +others, the majority, denied that he was the Communist ex-General. About +10 o'clock at night the prisoner was formally questioned as to his +history. When the customary question, 'What is the name of your mother?' +was put, he became confused, turned red, and, suddenly springing up, +exclaimed, 'Why carry on this pretence any longer. Of what good is this +acting and these lies. Yes, I am Colonel Rossel.' After this avowal the +prisoner was removed under escort to the depot of the Prefecture. Upon +being searched there was found 225f. in notes, a political article, and +a longitudinal section of the different public monuments in Paris. The +next day he was taken to Versailles and lodged at the Grandes Ecuries. +His real description is Louis Nathaniel Rossel, born at St. Brieuc +(Cotes du Nord), September 9, 1844, of Louis and of Sarah Campbell. The +_Figaro_ states that the artist Courbet was captured at the house of one +of his friends, a pianoforte maker in the Rue St. Gilles. He was +concealed behind a bedstead, and, upon being threatened with a revolver, +gave himself up without attempting resistance. + +The destruction at the Gobelins has not been so extensive as had been +apprehended. Only a small portion of the buildings has been burnt, and +work has already been resumed in the parts which have been spared. Even +in those rooms which have been destroyed not all the works of art have +been lost, and especially the "Dead Christ" after Philippes de +Champagne, and the portrait of Louis XIV, after Rigault, have been +saved. The collection of ancient patterns has also been preserved. + + +JUNE 13th + +Some disquieting rumours about the condition of La Villette have caused +the troops quartered there to be strongly reinforced; nevertheless, +perfect tranquility so far prevails. + +Business is greatly improving, orders for _articles de Paris_ coming in +pretty freely, and the fine weather bringing increasing crowds of +visitors. + +Some further important arrests have been made, including Urbain, alleged +to have been the principal instigator of the massacre of the hostages. + + +JUNE 14th. + +Paris is rapidly resuming its old appearance. The Cafes and Concerts in +the Champs Elysees recommence to-morrow, and various theatres are +re-opening. + + +JUNE 15th. + +People, in France, are discussing the causes of the late insurrection, +and measuring the consideration to which the Insurgents, whether as +rebels or refugees, are justly entitled. That the tendency of opinion +should be strongly against the Communists is natural, for the +justification of their revolt appears difficult, while their last acts +have excited universal abhorrence. It is, indeed, perfectly true that +they had no grievance against the Government which they defied, for +though, perhaps, the National Assembly might not have voted for a +Republic, no Republic which could have been voted by any Assembly of +Frenchmen would have satisfied the Insurgents of Paris. The political +leanings of the Assembly may be put out of the question in searching for +the origin of the Civil War. That war was hatched in the brooding minds +of Parisian workmen, intent on one single object, and it became +practicable when the Revolution of September last put arms in their +hands and the capitulation of February left them there still. + +The one fixed idea of the workmen of Paris was that work entitled them +to something more than wages. They had so long and so intently +contemplated the relations between labour and capital that they knew +nothing of any other elements of human society, or of any other classes +beyond employers and employed. They saw that a hundred workmen got their +five francs a day each, and that the single person who hired them got +his thousands a year. We are not aware that, as a rule, they were +ill-paid or overworked, or in any way oppressed. We should infer rather +that they were in the receipt of good wages, that they possessed +education as well as skill, and that they had leisure enough and to +spare for discussion and thought. The misfortune was that they thought +of one subject only, until at last their conceptions grew actually +monstrous. It was not all at once that they reached the doctrines +recently declared. There is a wide difference between the ideas of 1871 +and those of 1848. At the latter period the labourer was held simply to +be worthy of his hire, and nothing was proposed beyond such an +organization of labour as would insure a constant supply of work for all +who wanted it, at wages determined rather by considerate adjustment than +unrestricted competition. But the men of the Commune had advanced far +ahead of such old Tories of Socialism and Democracy as LEDRU ROLLIN and +LOUIS BLANC. Still occupied with the one single prospect of their daily +life, and regarding the relations between capital and labour as the +be-all and end-all of existence, they had reached the conclusion that +all capital should be transferred bodily to themselves; that they alone +ought to constitute society, that all other classes should be +dispossessed as worthless, and all established institutions abolished as +effete. They began their demolition with the nation itself. They would +have no nation, no France, no French Government. They renounced not +only all Kings and Emperors, but all Presidents, all Conventions, and +all Parliaments, the latter especially. In the place of such authorities +they proposed to substitute Committees of working men, and to cut up the +country into such areas as Trade Unions might conveniently govern. For +their own particular Union they thought Paris might serve well enough, +and so they stipulated for their own sovereignty within these limits +under the title of the Commune. On those terms--every other species of +authority and power being excluded--they believed they could put into +practice their one idea of turning their own little world upside down +and making the working class everything and other classes nothing. As +they never looked beyond their own workshops, they considered that none +but working people had ever done any duties or suffered any wrongs, and +that no others, therefore, were entitled to any rights. The one object +of their hatred, envy, and antagonism was capital, and they resolved to +take capital into their own hands. For the future they would lead easy +lives, and be the lords instead of the slaves of their old and detested +enemy. + +In those pretensions and those desires originated the Revolution just +suppressed. The war thus undertaken was a Civil War, conducted without +the least respect to any laws of war at all. The flight of the +Government left the entire Capital not only with all its resources, but +with all its treasures and all its inhabitants, in the hands of the +insurgents. With these advantages they preferred their demands. They +asked for the Capital of France to be delivered over to them as an +estate or province within which they might proscribe the worship of GOD, +appropriate every form of capital, and depose all authority and all +ranks in favour of their own. Failing this, and in the event of their +being defeated in the actual war, they asked for amnesty and liberty to +depart. At first they reckoned on victory, for the Assembly appeared +disorganized and its armies wavering; the support of other great towns +was anticipated, and the outlaws of every country in Europe--the +veterans of the universal Revolution--had carried their swords to the +service of its latest and ripest expression--the Parisian Commune. +Moreover, they had tremendous means of extortion in their hands. They +held possession of all that was precious and admirable in the Capital of +France, and they declared that, if they were neither allowed to prevail +nor permitted to escape, they would spare nothing in their vengeance. In +preparation for the worst they stored combustibles in the noblest +edifices of the city, and then, laying their hands on some of the most +eminent and venerated of its inhabitants, they penned them in a body for +the contingency of prospective slaughter. They had no more personal +animosity against Monseigneur DARBOY than against any statue in the +Tuileries or the Louvre. Animate and inanimate objects were marked for +destruction on precisely the same grounds--the necessity of putting +stress upon the enemy; and the threat was actually executed because its +execution might improve the effect of terrorism another day. Of laws or +of rules of war these men took not the slightest account. The military +leaders of the insurrection had been trained in combats where every +imaginable expedient had been held lawful, and the Committee of the +International thought no price too high for the realization of their +fixed idea. Soldiers and workmen alike were prepared for any extremity +of outrage either in pursuit of victory or prosecution of revenge. + +Such was the cause and such the conduct of this two months' war; but a +war, nevertheless, it was, waged by a political insurrection on behalf +of a political object. It is very true that the Insurgents aimed at no +form of polity known to the world, and that it would have been +impossible to content them by any measure of civil freedom or political +rights. Their chief and most peremptory demand was, not for any rights +of their own, but for the suppression of the rights of others. They +denounced the extension of the suffrage to the rural population, and, as +they were in a very small minority themselves, they protested against +the right of any majority to outvote them, though they were preparing +all the while to impose their own will on a constituency of ten times +their number. + +Such are my summary reflections concerning that gigantic insurrection. + +Now, my Dear, that I have brought my daily correspondence to an end, +happy shall I be, if such as may happen to read my small volume can find +the perusal of it as interesting as you told it was to you. + +I don't expect to stay much longer abroad: I shall soon return to +England but quite heart-rent at what my eyes have witnessed, and +notwithstanding my admiration for the noble qualities of the french +nation, more than once, I fear, I shall not be able to refrain +exclaiming: _Poor France!_ + + +THE END. + + + + +HISTORICAL INFORMATIONS ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS BURNT + + +The Palais Royal, built on the site of Cardinal Richelieu's Palace, +faces the Louvre, and adjoins the Place des Victoires. Given by Louis +XIV, to his brother the Duke of Orleans, it passed from him to the +Regent Duke. Here, but not in the existing edifice, the Regent and his +daughter held their incredible orgies; here lived his grandson Egalite, +who rebuilt the palace after a fire, and relieved his embarrassments by +erecting the ranges of shops. The Palais Royal Gardens were the nursery +of the First Revolution; they were the favourite resort of Camille +Desmoulins and the other mob orators not yet sitting in Convention; and +in them was unfurled, on the 13th of July, 1789, that tricolour flag +which was to prove even a deadlier symbol than the red and white roses +plucked once for England's woe in our own Temple-gardens. At the Palais +Royal Egalite hatched the plots which ended in his execution, when it +was disposed of by lottery, to be bought back, repaired, and beautified +by the Orleans family after the Restoration, and inhabited by them till +the second death of the Monarchy, in 1830, removed them to the +Tuileries. In 1848 the palace was plundered and the interior destroyed +by the mob, who at the same time burnt Louis Philippe's fine library. +The Palais was turned into a barrack, but when the new Republic +developed into an Empire, it naturally changed back again into a palace. +The Emperor made it over to his uncle Jerome, who left it to Prince +Napoleon, by whom it was fitted up in sumptuous style. The great +staircase and its balustrades and the Galerie des Fetes were fine in art +and in general effect, but nothing that may have been destroyed can be +half so great a loss as the Library which went in 1848, or as the Hotel +de Ville, a magnificent structure, dating in part from 1628. The +additions of 1842 to this municipal palace cost 640,000_l_., and some of +the saloons were the most gorgeous in Paris, perhaps in the world. Here +in the days gone by, the Prefect of the Seine was wont to entertain his +7,000 guests in the great gallery, with its gilt Corinthian columns and +3,000 wax lights, the whole suite of rooms measuring more than 1,000 +yards in length. In and about the building were some 500 statues of +French celebrities, from Charlemagne to Louis XIV, in a full-bottomed +wig. Painting, gilding, carving, glass, and velvet here had done their +utmost, and as a specimen of magnificence in the modern French taste +the furniture and decorations of the Hotel de Ville were unrivalled. The +building, however, was far from depending altogether on its sumptuous +upholstery. Not only was the architecture worthy of all praise and the +art of much of the decoration as intrinsic as its gold, but here had +been enacted many famous and infamous scenes in the history of Paris. +Here the first Commune held its bloody sittings; here Robespierre took +refuge with his partisans, and was found by the soldiers with his broken +jaw; the "Citizen King" was presented here to the people by Lafayette +from a central window; here the soldiers were quartered in 1848; and +here in 1871 was the stronghold of the last Commune, less bloody in its +life but more desperate in its death than the first. + +The Palais de Justice is a vast pile, which includes the Sainte +Chapelle, numerous courts of law, and the Prison of the Conciergerie. +Anciently the site of palaces inhabited by the Kings down to Francis I., +afterwards the meeting place of the Parliaments of Paris, it has been +repaired and rebuilt since 1831 at a cost of nearly 1,000,000_l_. The +courts of law open from the vast but inelegant Salle des Pas Perdus, +which answers to our Westminster-hall. One of these courts was the +Chamber of the Tribunal Revolutionnaire, and communicated by a small +door with the Conciergerie Prison. In the precincts of the Palais +stands, or stood, the Sainte Chapelle, an exquisite specimen on a small +scale of the best style of Gothic architecture. The Chapelle was +finished in 1248, having been built by Pierre de Montereau to enshrine +the thorns of our Lord's crown and the wood of the Cross, relics bought +for an immense sum from the Emperor Baldwin by St. Louis, and carried +through the streets of Paris by the King barefoot. In 1791 the Sainte +Chapelle became a club, then a corn store, then a record office; Louis +Philippe commenced its restoration, and up to the fall of the Empire +about 2,000,000f. had been spent upon it. It is in two stories, +corresponding with the floors of the ancient palace; the lower chapel, +or crypt, was intended for the servants, the upper, on a level with the +Royal apartments, for the Royal family. The glass is exquisite, and the +statues of the twelve Apostles date from the 13th century, and are +admirable specimens of the art of their age. A small square hole to the +south of the nave communicates with a room in which Louis XI was wont to +sit and hear mass without fear of assassination. + +GRAND-HOTEL + +_12, Boulevard des Capucines, 12._ + + * * * * * + +REOPENING + +=After entire restoration.= + + * * * * * + +The new direction of the Grand-Hotel has greatly reduced the prices. + +The price for service will be no more charged to travellers. + +=700 rooms and drawing-rooms= + +very comfortably furnished, from +5 francs a day, service included. + + * * * * * + +=TABLE D'HOTE= + +BREAKFASTS--at 4 francs, wine included, + every day from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m. + +DINNERS--at 6 francs, wine included, + every day at 6 p.m. precisely. + + * * * * * + +MEALS BY THE CARD. + + * * * * * + +SPECIAL SERVICE AT MED PRICE. + +Including the lodging, fuel, light, service and food, with choice to +take the meals in the apartments, in the restaurant, or at the table +d'hote: + +1st class--30 frs. 24 sh. 6 d. +2d d deg. --25 " 20 " 5 " +3d d deg. --20 " 16 " 4 " + +OPPOSITE THE NEW OPERA GRANDE BRASSERIE.--GRAND BREWERY + +ENGLISH ALES,--DUTCH BEER + +COFFEE-HOUSE.--EATING-HOUSE + +_Breakfasts at 2 Fr. 50 (2 shil.).--Dinners at 4 Fr. 50 and a la carte +(bill of fare)_ + +31, BOULEVARD HAUSSMAN =The most comfortable in Paris= + + * * * * * + +CABOURG-DIVES + +GRAND HOTEL DE LA PLAGE + +Establishment for bathing situated in the most luxuriant and salubrious +country in Normandy + +SPLENDID CASINO.--ROOMS FOR THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES + + * * * * * + +=DIEPPE= + +HOTEL ROYAL ON THE PLAGE + +THE MOST COMFORTABLE + +Kept by Mme LAFOSSE + + * * * * * + +=CAEN= + +HOTEL DE LA VICTOIRE + +NEAR THE CATHEDRAL + +_Kept by Mr BEUZELIN_ + + * * * * * + +WINE AND SPIRITS + +J. CHAIGNEAU AND CO + +_31 and 33, rue Doidy_ + +=BORDEAUX= + +Appointed to supply H.M. the king of sweden and norway + + * * * * * + +CAEN. TYP. F. LE BLAC-HARDEL. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Insurrection in Paris, by An Englishman: Davy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INSURRECTION IN PARIS *** + +***** This file should be named 19912.txt or 19912.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/9/1/19912/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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