Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/191

 "Eh! là-bas! mon clairon, s'il vous plait!" ("Hollo, down there!—my bugle, if you please!")

He had saved the lives of nearly his whole company, and was now disappearing along the roofs like lightning.

The Commune held a secret sitting on the 27th, and the meeting was said to be a most stormy one. The actual situation was under discussion. Several members affirmed that the position was no longer tenable, and that the last elections had superabundantly proved the small amount of confidence inspired by the Commune. Other members manifested a desire to abandon the rude task which they had undertaken, whilst not a few spoke of the disastrous condition of the municipal strong-box, and of the financial embarrassments about to rise.

A meeting of the Freemasons was also held in the Châtelet theatre, and a resolution voted declaring that, as the Government of Versailles had refused to accord the Communal liberties of Paris, the brotherhood would employ every means in its power to obtain them.

The Temps, a newspaper appearing at St. Germain, published an excellent series of remarks on the severity of the London journals with respect to the Government of Versailles and the conduct pursued against the Commune. It also explains why so much delay had been absolutely necessary for the success of M. Thiers' plan.

"We were curious," says the writer, "to see how the English journals would judge the Paris insurrection. We have just read them, and that sentiment has been quickly changed into one of disgust. It would be difficult to show more ignorance of facts, more incapacity to comprehend a situation, and, at the same time, more presumption and malevolence of judgment. We could conceive that foreigners should feel embarrassed in presence of a crisis of which the causes have no analogy with the state of any