Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/322



", May 22.

"The Porte de Saint Cloud, attacked from four sides at the same time, by the fire of Mont Valérien, the Butte-Mortemart, Les Moulineaux and the fort of Issy, has been forced by the Versailles troops, who have now spread themselves over a portion of the territory of Paris.

"That misadventure, far from depressing us, ought to be an energetic stimulant. The people that dethrones kings and destroys Bastilles—the people of '89 and '93—cannot lose in a single day the benefit arising from the emancipation of March 18th.

"To arms, then! Let Paris be covered with barricades, and from behind those defences let it shout to the assailants its war-cry, its defiance, and its promise of victory, for Paris with barricades is impregnable! Let all the streets be torn up, and the paving-stones be carried to the balconies of the houses.

"Let the city do its duty! The Commune and the Committee of Public Safety will do the same!

"Ant. Arnaud, Billioray, Eudes, Gambon,     Ranvier—Committee of Public Safety."

In the meantime, Cluseret, who had been acquitted at the sitting of the Commune and released from prison the previous day, was nominated commander of the forces at Montmartre, and the command at Belleville and La Villette was given to Dombrowski.

While these preliminaries of the great struggle were taking place, the appearance of Paris was most melancholy. Everywhere the shops were closed, the cafés and restaurants shut, and in many cases the persiennes drawn to, as though all inhabitants had departed. Later, shots having been fired at the National Guards from a house on the Boulevard Rochechouart, strict orders were given for