Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/429

 *ace of the Légion d'Honneur, and the Caisse des Depôts et Consignations, were also in flames.

This terrible spectacle, less frightful during the day, gave to the nights of the 23d and 24th an aspect of which the horror cannot be described, but such as can never be effaced from the memory of all who witnessed it.

As early as Monday morning the Palace of Justice had been covered with petroleum by order of Raoul Rigault. In order that this infernal work should not be deranged, a battalion of Federals was placed on guard around the Palace, and two men were sent by the Commissary of Police to Wurtz (Rigault's substitute) with the following recommendation:

"

bons bougres à poil.
 * —Prenez ces deux citoyens qui sont deux

""

These men accomplished their task conscientiously, and the building was set on fire.

The Prefecture of Police had been taken possession of on the 18th of March by Raoul Rigault, who had immediately installed himself as Prefect. The employés left him and his band masters of the establishment, and took their departure for Versailles. They were easily replaced, however, by Rigault, who recruited among his friends and acquaintances a collection of individuals who had never before been guilty of holding a situation.

The new employés of the Prefecture passed their time most delightfully, drinking innumerable jugs of beer, and smoking endless pipes. The chest of the administration paid for all these libations, and finally two of these individuals, Riel and Leballeur, were imprisoned for drawing too liberally upon it.

On Tuesday, the 23d, Th. Ferré, who was Prefect at