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
The procession proceeds along the boulevards; it started from the
Beaujon hospital, and is going to the Père Lachaise: as it passes all
heads are bared. One man alone up at a window remains covered; the
crowd hiss him. Shame on him who will not bow before those who died for
a cause, whether it may be a worthy one or not! On looking on those
corpses, do not remember the evil they caused when they were alive.
They are dead now, and have become sacred. But remember, oh! remember,
that it is to the crimes of a few that are due the deaths of so many,
and let us help to hasten the hour when the criminals, whoever they be,
and to whatever party they belong; will feel the weight of the
inexorable Nemesis of human destiny.
XXXVI.
We are to have no more letters! As in the time of the siege, if you
desire to obtain news of your mother or your wife, you have no other
alternative than to consult a somnambulist or a fortune-teller. This is
not at all a complicated operation; of course you possess a ribbon or a
look of hair, something appertaining to the absent person. This
suffices to keep you informed, hour by hour, of what she says, does,
and thinks. Perhaps you would prefer the ordinary course of things, and
that you would rather receive a letter than consult a charlatan. But if
so, I would advise you not to say so. They would accuse you of being,
what you are doubtless, a reactionist, and you might get into trouble.
Yesterday a young man was walking in the Champs Elysées, a Guard
National stalked up to him and asked him for a light for his cigar.—“I
am really very sorry,” said he, “but my cigar has gone out.”—“Oh! your
cigar is out, is it? Oh! so you blush to render a service to a patriot!
Reactionist that you are!” Thereupon a torrent of invectives was poured
on the poor young man, who was quickly surrounded by a crowd of eager
faces: One charming young person exclaimed, “Why, he is a disguised
sergent-de-ville!”—“Yes, yes; he is a gendarme!” is echoed on all
sides.—“I think he looks like Ernest Picard,” says one.—“Throw him into
the Seine,” says another.—“To the Seine, to the Seine, the spy!” and
the unfortunate victim is pushed, jostled, and hurried off. A dense
crowd of National Guards, women, and children had by this time
collected, all crying out at the top of their voices, and without any
idea of what was the matter, “Shoot him! throw him the water! hang
him!” Superstitious individuals leaned towards hanging for the sake of
the cords. As to the original cause of the commotion, no one seemed to
remember anything about it. I overheard one man say,—“It appears that
they arrested him just as he was setting fire to the ambulance at the
Palais de l’Industrie!” As to what became of the young man I do not
know; I trust he was neither hanged, shot, nor drowned. At any rate,
let it be a lesson to others not to get embroiled in dangerous
adventures of that kind; and whatever your anxiety may be concerning
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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