Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/371

 Mayor of Paris, after the 4th of September, to whom M. Chaudey was adjoint:

",—After the admirable remarks we have just heard, I will restrict myself to addressing a few words to the friend.

"In times of revolution, every one does his duty according to his courage and his faith. Fortune decides the event, often fatal to the men most worthy. Chaudey, of this you are the proof—you, whose tragic end honors your great heart.

"When I called you to the Hotel de Ville as my adjoint, you did not hesitate, although the horizon was already dark, and you saw that the perils were growing greater; but you were both patriot and republican, and no danger caused you to stop.

"The task which fell to your share at the Hotel de Ville was principally that of humanity. Yours, the subsistence of the poor, the ambulances, and all services of charity and fraternal zeal.

"Of all the heads which our discords could menace, yours, it would seem, should have been most protected by the remembrance of so many services, of so much affectionate devotedness.

"And yet you have succumbed—victim of an atrocious vengeance—which erred in striking you. Who can be a better witness than I, who was present at your side from the very beginning of the discussion which took place between you and a representative of the insurrection about to break forth. You had certainly the right to reply to the shots from the Place by shots from the Hotel de Ville; but—I declare it on my honor—the just repression came from other than your orders. History will attest it, as she will also tell of your family virtues, your sincerity, and your constancy in friendship; she will not