Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/108



General; he could with a gesture, with a single word, have stirred up to rebellion Sicily, Naples, and Central Italy; all this he could have done, but he scorned the action; he surrendered himself and his voluuteers after having received, without returning it, the fire of the royal troops.

"One month later, Garibaldi, wounded, lay upon his bed in the prison of Fort Varignano. We ran to shake him by the hand; he gave us a lengthy account of this unfortunate epoch, and, with sparkling eye and beating heart, he terminated his narrative with these words: 'I have yielded; civil war never! never!' Garibaldi will never come; your works to him are horrible.

"Not only will he never come, but we defy you to draw from him a single line—a single word—which will not be a disavowal of your acts, a reprobation of your indulgences."

The different Communist journals which were started in Paris for the support of the insurrection, demanded the immediate dissolution of the National Assembly. The Vengeur, on the ground that it was incomplete, in consequence of the resignation of the deputies of Paris—that it no longer represented the country, and, therefore, its pretensions to enact laws and govern France was usurpation and high treason. The Cri du Peuple recommended the "rurals" of Versailles to go and die in their cow-houses. The Nouvelle République considered that the accession of the Commune would revive confidence; and expressed the opinion that a "timid capital" would reappear if the "rurals" of the Assembly would permit it; but as they were not disposed to do so, these "fugitives must be run to earth" in the indispensable interest of labor and commerce. The Mont-Aventin, in its turn, urged the Chamber to "depart," under penalty of being "thrown out of the window;" however, it consented to allow the "peasants of Versailles" a week to pack up