Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/287

 *hood might be overthrown by the shock, that balconies would fall, slates tumble from the roofs, or that the rushing mass would crash through the vaulted arch into the sewers beneath the road. At four in the afternoon a cordon of National Guards pushed back the crowd as far as the Rue Neuve St. Augustin, leaving an empty space along the Rue de la Paix. This was watered in true Parisian style, and all prepared themselves for the great event. Movements were distinguishable on the small balcony running round the top of the column; two men were busily engaged in tying something to the hand of the great Emperor. Impossible to understand their occupation, when a breath of wind unfurled the tricolor, many murmurs were to be heard in the crowd; people, whose hatred of the author of Sedan had extended backwards to his great ancestor, were yet loth to see their glorious flag brought low. The intended insult of the Commune was the most overwhelming tribute to the great man's memory; a thrill of joy shot through many hearts at his association with the flag. A prayer rose to heaven, "O God, let their fall be as great and as complete," and the prayer was answered in God's own time.

As the windlass was about to be turned, and when the moments of the column seemed numbered, a gust of wind overthrew the flag. Unwilling to be foiled in its malicious design, the Commune, owing to the lateness of the hour, and the time required to re-erect the flag, postponed the ceremony to the following day.

On Tuesday morning the Officiel announced the ceremony for that day at two, and the concourse was greater than ever. The arrangements were all so bad that hopes were entertained that this second attempt would also prove a failure. The ropes attached to the column were very slender, while two beams, one on either side, were to give it the proper inclination as it fell. The col