Paris under the Commune Part 36

Vive la Liberte! Vive l'Humanite!_"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FERRe][107]

XCVI.

With three friends I stood upon the roof of a house near the new opera, watching what was pa.s.sing around. The spectacle was such, that horror paralyses every other sentiment, even that of self-preservation.

Consternation sits encircled by a blazing atmosphere of terror! The Hotel de Ville is in flames; the smoke, at times a deep red, envelops all, so that it is impossible to distinguish more than the outlines of immense walls; the wind brings, in heavy gusts, a deadly odour--of burnt flesh, perhaps--which turns the heart sick and the brain giddy. On the other side the Tuileries, the Legion d'Honneur, the Ministere de la Guerre, and the Ministere des Finances are flaming still, like five great craters of a gigantic volcano! It is the eruption of Paris! Alone, a great black ma.s.s detaches itself from the universal conflagration, it is the Tour Saint-Jacques, standing out like a malediction.

One of the three friends, who are with me on the roof of the house, was able, about an hour ago, to get near the Hotel de Ville. He related to me what follows:--

"At the moment of my arrival, the flames burst forth from all the windows of the Hotel de Ville, and the most intense terror seized upon all the inhabitants blocked up in the surrounding quarters, for a terrible rumour is spread; it is said that more than fifty thousand pounds of powder is contained in the subterranean vaults.

The incendiaries must have poured the demoniacal liquid in rivers through the great halls, down the great staircases, from the very garrets, to envelop even the Salle du Trone. The great fire throws a blood-red glare over the city, and on the quays of the Inst.i.tute.

Night is so like day that a letter may be read in the street. Is this the end of the famous capital of France? Have the infamous fiends of the committee for public safety ordered, in their cowardly death-agony, that this should be the end? Yes, it is the ruin of all that was grand, generous, radiant, and consolatory for our country that they have decided to consummate, with a chorus of h.e.l.lish laughter, in which terror and ferocity struggle with brutal degradation.

"In the midst of this horror, confused rumours are circulated. It is said that the heat will penetrate to the cellars and cause an explosion of whole quarters. Then what will become of the inhabitants, and the riches that they have acc.u.mulated? The heat is overwhelming between the Tuileries and the Hotel de Ville--that is, over the s.p.a.ce of about a mile. The two barricades of the Rue de Rivoli and of the Rue de la Coutellerie, near which are the offices of the munic.i.p.al services--the lighting of the city, the octroi, waters, sewers, etc.,--will not be taken until too late, in spite of the energy with which the army attacks them. It is feared that the flame will reach the neighbourhood of the great warehouses, so thickly do the burning flakes fall and scatter destruction. The barricades of the quays are still intact, it will be another hour yet before they are taken. The firemen are there furiously at work, but their efforts are insufficient! It would take tons of ammonia to slake the fury of the petroleum which flows like hot lava upon the place from the Hotel de Ville, and the horrible reflection reddens the waters of the Seine, so that the current of the river seems to flow with blood, which stains the stones as it dashes against the arches of the bridge!"

These scenes are being pictured to me as I gaze upon the terrible conflagration, and all that is told me I seem to see. An irresistible longing to be near seizes me. I am under the power of an invincible attraction. I lean forward, my arms outstretched; I run a great risk of falling, but what matters? The sight of these almost sublime horrors has burnt itself into my very brain!

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 107: Ferre, the friend of Raoul Bigault, and his colleague in the Commission of General Safety, like the latter, had inhabited the prisons for a considerable time for his political writings, seditious proposals, plots against the state, etc. He is a small man about five feet high, and very active. He signed with avidity the suppression of nearly all the journals of Paris, and the sentence of death of a great number of unfortunate prisoners, with the approbation of Raoul Bigault.

He willingly undertook to announce to the Archbishop of Paris that his last hour had arrived. The following order, drawn up by him, was found on the body of an insurgent:--"Set fire to the Ministry of Finance immediately, and return here.

4 Prairial, An 79.

(Signed) TH. FERRe."

See Appendix, No. 10.]

XCVII.

She walks with a rapid step, near the shadow of the wall; she is poorly dressed; her age is between forty and fifty; her forehead is bound with a red checkered handkerchief, from which hang meshes of uncombed hair.

The face is red and the eyes blurred, and she moves with her look bent down on the ground. Her right hand is in her pocket, or in the bosom of her half-unb.u.t.toned dress; in the other hand she holds one of the high, narrow tin cans in which milk is carried in Paris, but which now, in the hands of this woman, contains the dreadful petroleum liquid. As she pa.s.ses a _poste_ of regulars, she smiles and nods; when they speak to her she answers, "My good Monsieur!" If the street is deserted she stops, consults a bit of dirty paper that she holds in her hand, pauses a moment before the grated opening to a cellar, then continues her way, steadily, without haste. An hour afterwards, a house is on fire in the street she has pa.s.sed. Who is this woman? Paris calls her a _Petroleuse_.[109] One of these _petroleuses_, who was caught in the act in the Rue Truffault, discharged the six barrels of a revolver and killed two men before being pa.s.sed over to execution. Another was seen falling in a doorway of a house in the Rue de Boulogne, pierced with b.a.l.l.s--but this one was a young girl; a bottle filled with petroleum fell from her hand as she dropped. Sometimes one of these wretched women, might be seen leading by the hand a little boy or girl; and the child probably carrying a bottle of the incendiary liquid in his pocket with his top and marbles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PALACE OF THE LUXEMBOURG (GARDEN FRONT).[108]

Used as a Federal Ambulance Hospital.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LES PeTROLEURS]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PeTROLEUSES]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 108: On the Wednesday succeeding the explosion of the powder-magazine in the garden of the Luxembourg, which unroofed a portion of the palace, and destroyed the windows, and did fearful damage to the surrounding houses, all the Communeux disappeared from the neighbourhood. The following night four men returned, bringing a quant.i.ty of petroleum with them. They gave orders that the six hundred wounded men who were then lying in the Palace should be taken away immediately. They had commenced their sinister project, and were pouring the petroleum about in the cellars, when the soldiers of the Brigade Paturel were informed of it, and arrived in time to prevent its execution. The criminals were taken and shot on the spot.]

[Footnote 109: The incendiaries formed a veritable army, composed of returned convicts, the very dregs of the prisons, pale, thin lads, who looked like ghosts, and old women, that looked like horrible witches; their number amounted to eight thousand! This army had its chiefs, and each detachment was charged with the firing of a quarter. The order for the conflagration of public edifices bore the stamp of the Commune, and of the Central Committee, and the seal of the delegate at the Ministry of War. For the private houses more expeditive means were used. Small tickets, of the size of postage stamps, were found pasted upon walls of houses in different parts of Paris, with the letters B.P.B. (_bon pour bruler_), literally, good for burning. Some of the tickets were square, others oval, with a bacchante's head in the centre. They were affixed on spots designated by the chiefs. Every _petroleuse_ was to receive ten francs for each house she fired. Sept. 5,1871. Amongst the insurgents tried at Versailles, three petroleuses were condemned to death, and one to imprisonment for life, a host of others being transported or otherwise punished.]

XCVIII.

It is seven in the evening, the circulation has become almost impossible. The streets are lined with patrols, and the regiments of the Line camp upon the outer boulevards. They dine, smoke, and bivouac, and drink with the citizens on the doorsteps of their houses. In the distance is heard the storm of sounds which tells of the despairing resistance of Belleville, and along the foot of the houses are seen square white patches, showing the walled-up cellars, every hole and crevice being plastered up to prevent insertion of the diabolical liquid--walled up against _petroleurs_ and petroleuses, strings of prisoners, among whom are furious women and poor children, their hands tied behind their backs, pa.s.s along the boulevards towards Neuilly.

Night comes on, not a lamp is lighted, and the streets become deserted as by degrees the sky becomes darker. At nine o'clock the solitude is almost absolute. The sound of a musket striking the pavement is heard from time to time; a sentinel pa.s.ses here and there, and the lights in the houses grow more and more rare.

XCIX.

The hours and the days pa.s.s and resemble each other horribly. To write the history of the calamities is not yet possible. Each one sees but a corner of the picture, and the narratives that are collected are vague and contradictory; it appears certain now that the insurrection is approaching the end. It is said that the fort of Montrouge is taken; but it still hurls its sh.e.l.ls upon Paris. Several have just fallen in the quarter of the Banque. There is fighting still at the Halles, at the Luxembourg, and at the Porte Saint-Martin. Neither the cannonading nor the fusillade has ceased, and our ears have become accustomed to the continued roar. But, in spite of the barbarous heroism of the Federals, the force of their resistance is being exhausted. What has become of the chiefs?

We continue to note down the incidents as they reach us.

It is said that a.s.sy has been taken, close to the New Opera House. He was going the nightly rounds, almost alone--"Who's there!" cried a sentinel. a.s.sy, thinking the man was a Federal, replied, "You should have challenged me sooner." In an instant he was surrounded, disarmed, and carried off. However, it is a very unlikely tale; it is most improbable that a.s.sy should not know that the New Opera was in the hands of the Versaillais.

They say that Delescluze has fled, that Dombrowski has died[110] in an ambulance, and that Milliere is a prisoner at Saint-Denis. But these are merely rumours, and I am utterly ignorant as to their worth. The only thing certain is that the search is being carried on with vigour. Close by the smoking ruins of what was once the Hotel de Ville they caught Citizen Ferraigu, inspector of the barricades; he confessed to having received from the Committee of Public Safety particular orders to burn down the shop of the Bon-Diable. Had one of these committeemen been an a.s.sistant there, and did he owe his former master a grudge? Ferraigu had a bottle of petroleum in his pocket; he was shot. I am told that at the Theatre du Chatelet a court-martial has been established on the stage.

The Federals are brought up twenty at a time, judged, and condemned, they are then marched out on to the Place, with their hands tied behind their backs. A mitrailleuse, standing a hundred yards off, mows them down like gra.s.s. It is an expeditious contrivance. In a yard, in the Rue Saint-Denis, is a stable filled with corpses; I have myself seen them there. The Porte Saint-Martin Theatre is quite destroyed, a guard is stationed near. This morning three _petroleuses_ were shot there, the bodies are still lying on the boulevards. I have just seen two insurgents walking between four soldiers; one an old man, the other almost a lad. I heard the elder one say to the younger, "All our misery comes of our having arms. In '48 we had none, so we took those of the soldiers, and then they were without. Now there is more killing and less business done." A few minutes after the little procession pa.s.sed up the Rue d'Hauteville, and I heard the reports of two rifles. Oh! what horrible days! I feel a prey to the deepest dejection--if it were but over! The town looks wretched; even where the fighting is not going on, the houses are closed and the streets deserted, except here and there: a lonely pa.s.senger hurrying along, or a wretched prisoner marching between four soldiers. It is all very dreadful! In the streets where the battle is still raging the shutters are not closed; as soon as the soldiers get into a new quarter of the town they cry out, "Shut the windows, open the shutters." The reason for this is, that the open barred outer shutters, or _persiennes_, form a capital screen through which aim maybe taken with a gun. As for me, in the midst of this horror and sadness, I feel like a madman in the night. The rumour that the hostages have been shot at Mazas gains ground.[111] I am told that the Archbishop, the Abbe Degueiry, and Chaudey have all been a.s.sa.s.sinated. It was Bigault who ordered these executions. He has since been taken, and fell, crying "Down with murderers!" This reminds one of Dumollard, the a.s.sa.s.sin, calling the jurymen "Canaille!" Milliere is said to have been shot in the Place du Pantheon. When they told him to kneel down he drew himself up to his full height, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng defiance. Strange caprice of nature, to make these scoundrels brave.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEATRE PORTE ST MARTIN.

SENSATION DRAMA OUT SENSATIONED.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CELL OF THE ARCHBISHOP IN THE PRISON OF LA ROQUETTE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COURT-YARD OF PRISON OF LA ROQUETTE, WHERE THE HOSTAGES WERE SHOT.]

In the meantime, the Commune is in its death throes. Like the dragon of fairy lore, it dies, vomiting flames. La Villette is on fire, houses are burning at Belleville and on the b.u.t.tes-Chaumont. The resistance is concentrated on one side at Pere la Chaise, and on the other at the Mont-Parna.s.se cemetery. The insurrection was mistress of the whole of Paris, and then the army came stretching its long arms from the Arc de Triomphe to Belleville, from the Champ-de-Mars to the Pantheon. Trying hard to burst these bonds, tightly surrounded, now resisting, now flying, the _emeute_ has at last retreated. It is over there now, in two cemeteries; it watches from behind tombstones; it rests the barrels of its rifles on marble crosses, and erects a battery on a sepulchre. The sh.e.l.ls of the Versaillais fall in the sacred enclosure, plough up the earth, and unbury the dead. Something round rolled along a pathway, the combatants thought it was a sh.e.l.l; it was a skull! What must these men feel who are killing and being killed in the cemetery! To die among the dead seems horrible. But they never give it a thought; the b.l.o.o.d.y thirst for destruction which possesses them allows them only to think of one thing, of killing! Some of them are gay, they are brave, these men.

That makes it only the more dreadful; these wretches are heroic! Behind the barricades there have been instances of the most splendid valour. A man at the Porte Saint-Martin, holding a red flag in his hand, was standing, heedless of danger, on a pile of stones. The b.a.l.l.s showered around him, while he leant carelessly against an empty barrel which stood behind.--"Lazy fellow," cried a comrade--"No," said he, "I am only leaning that I may not fall when I die." Such are these men; they are robbers, incendiaries, a.s.sa.s.sins, but they are fearless of death. They have only that one good quality. They smile and they die. The vivandieres allow themselves to be kissed behind the tombstones; the wounded men drink with their comrades, and throw wine on their wounds, saying, "Let us drink to the last." And yet, in an hour perhaps, the soldiers will fight their way into the cemeteries, which their b.a.l.l.s reach already, they too mad with rage; then the horrible bayonet fighting will commence, man against man among the tombs, flying over the mounds, desecrating the monuments, everything that imagination can conjure up of most profane and terrible--a battle in a cemetery!

[Ill.u.s.tration: MY NEIGHBOUR 'EN FACE'--BUSINESS CARRIED ON AS USUAL--]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MY NEIGHBOUR NEXT DOOR--WHO THINKS HIMSELF FORTUNATE.]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 110: The most reliable account of his death is given by a medical student who attended him in his last moments. "Dombrowski was pa.s.sing with several members of the Commune in the Rue Myrrha, near the Rue des Poissonniers, when he was struck by a bullet, which traversed the lower part of his body. He was carried to a neighbouring chemist's, where I bandaged the wound. Before his transportation to the Lariboisiere Hospital, he ordered the fire to cease, but the troops defending the barricade disobeyed the injunction. His sword was handed by me to a captain of the 45th of the Line. His last words were nearly identical with those which he uttered as he fell: 'I am no traitor!'"