Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs)Leighton, John
History
Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs)
Leighton, John
Paris (France) -- History -- Commune, 1871
A green soil and a red sky—In a black coffin is a half-naked woman,
with a Phrygian cap on her head, endeavouring to push up the lid with
all her might. Jules Favre, lean, small, head enormous, under lip thick
and protruding, hair wildly flying like a willow in a storm, wearing a
dress coat, and holding a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other,
with his knee pressed upon the coffin-lid, is trying to nail it down,
in spite of the very natural protestations of the half-naked woman. In
the distance, and running towards them, is Monsieur Thiers, with a
great broad face and spectacles, also armed with a hammer. Below is
written: “If one were to listen to these accursed Republics, they would
never die.” Signed, Faustin. Same author—Same woman. But this time she
lies in a bed hung with red flags for curtains. Her shoulders a little
too bare, perhaps, for a Republic, but she must be made attractive to
her good friends the Federals. At the head of the bed a portrait of
Rochefort; Rochefort is the favoured one of this lady, it seems. Were I
he, I should persuade her to dress a little more decently. Three black
men, in brigands’ hats, their limbs dragging, and their faces
distorted, approach the bed, singing like the robbers in Fra Diavolo:
“Ad.... vance ... ad ... vance ... with ... pru ... dence ...!” The
first, Monsieur Thiers, carries a heavy club and a dark lantern; Jules
Favre, the second, brandishes a knife, and the third, carries nothing,
but wears a peacock’s feather in his hat, and.... I have never seen
Monsieur Picard, but they tell me that it is he.
The young Republic again, with shoulders bare and the style of face of
a _petite dame_ of the Rue Bossuet. She comes to beg Monsieur Thiers,
cobbler and cookshop-keeper, who “finds places for pretenders out of
employ, and changes their old boots for new at the most reasonable
prices,” to have her shoes mended. “Wait a bit! wait a bit!” says the
cobbler to himself, “I’ll manage ’em so as to put an end to her
walking.”
Here is a green monkey perched on the extreme height of a microscopic
tribune. At the end of his tail he wears a crown; on his head is a
Phrygian cap. It is Monsieur Thiers of course. “Gentlemen,” says he, “I
assure you that I am republican, and that I adore the vile multitude.”
But underneath is written: “We’ll pluck the Gallic cock!” The author of
this is also Monsieur Faustin. I have here a special reproach to add to
what I have already said of these objectionable stupidities. I do not
like the manner in which the author takes off Monsieur Thiers; he quite
forgets the old and well-known resemblance of the chief of the
executive power to Monsieur Prud’homme, or what is the same thing, to
Prud’homme’s inventor, Henri Monnier. One day Gil Perez the actor, met
Henri Monnier on the Boulevard Montmartre. “Well, old fellow!” cried
he, “are you back? When are you and I going to get at our practical
jokes again?” Henri Monnier looked profoundly astonished; it was
Monsieur Thiers!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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