Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/366



and the Northern Railway Station. These decisive points were carried by the troops of Generals Ladmirault and Clinchant, who captured between 2,000 and 3,000 prisoners. General Douay has taken the Church of the Trinity, and is marching upon the Mairie in the Rue Drouot.

"Generals de Cissey and Vinoy are advancing towards the Hotel de Ville and Tuileries.

""

Although later events did not justify M. Thiers' expectations with regard to the length of the struggle, the army had every reason to be proud of its achievements throughout the day. Its arrival had saved, among many other objects of value, the Chapelle Expiatoire.

This building, erected at the Restoration to the memory of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, had been doomed to destruction by a decree of the Commune. The fulfilment of this decree, which appeared at about the same time as that ordaining the destruction of the Column Vendôme, and which was peremptory, like all the decrees of the Commune, was unaccountably postponed.

Immediately after the publication of this decree in the Journal Officiel, M. Libmann, a gentleman to whom many members of religious communities pursued by the Commune owed their safety, presented himself to M. Fontaine, Communal Director of Domains, and proposed to buy the sacred vessels, linen, and all the objects used in divine service belonging to the chapel.

The estimable delegate of the Commune fixed, after a great deal of bargaining, on the price of 5,000 francs, which M. Libmann paid from his own pocket, and for which he received the following receipt: