Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/296

 the following order of the day in regard to the Vendôme Column:

":—The Vendôme Column has just fallen; the foreigner had respected it. Persons who call themselves Frenchmen have dared to throw down before the eyes of the Germans, who are watching us, that testimony of the victories of our fathers over combined Europe.

"Did they hope, the miserable authors of the outrage on the nation's glory, to efface the memory of the military virtues of which that monument was the glorious symbol?

"Soldiers! if the recollections which the Column brought to mind are no longer engraven on bronze, they will nevertheless remain living in your hearts; and taking our inspiration from them, we shall know how to give to France a fresh pledge of bravery, devotedness, and patriotism.

", "Duke de Magenta."

M. Thiers was exceedingly moved when he heard of the fall of the Column, and exclaimed in the Assembly, "Now I am ashamed of being a Frenchman!" but his cry of grief was soon drowned in a concert of patriotic outcries; and on the 22d of May the National Assembly, by a unanimous vote, decreed the following law:

"The Column of Place Vendôme shall be rebuilt at the expense of the State, and surmounted by a statue of France."

The following day, and as if to punish Paris for its crime, a horrible explosion was heard about six o'clock in the evening, which struck terror and dismay into the hearts of the inhabitants. Several hundreds of women and children were victims to this terrible calamity.