Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/432

 was not to be thought of; the Prussians were there, barring the passage to the people they had taken such pleasure in seeing at work.

The Communists were caged; nothing remained but to sell their lives as dearly as possible, and to fight to the last. "Better death than Cayenne" was on every tongue; all felt that no mercy could be accorded to such as they, and nerved themselves with the energy of despair.

On Thursday, the 25th of May, at seven in the morning, the following despatch was sent by M. Thiers to the different Prefects

"We are masters of Paris, with the exception of a small portion, which will probably be occupied this morning. The Tuileries is in ashes; the Louvre is saved. The portion of the Ministry of Finance which fronts on the Rue de Rivoli has been destroyed. The palace of the Quai d'Orsay, in which the Conseil-d'Etat and the Cour des Comptes held their sittings, has also been burned. This is the state in which Paris is delivered to us by the wretches who oppressed and dishonored it. They have left in our hands 12,000 prisoners, and we shall probably have at the end from 18,000 to 20,000. The soil of Paris is strewed with their dead bodies. This horrible spectacle will serve, it is to be hoped, as a lesson to the insurgents who dared to declare themselves partisans of the Commune. Justice, however, will soon satisfy the human conscience, outraged by the monstrous acts of which France and the world have been the witness.

"The army has been admirable. We are happy to be able to announce in the midst of our misfortunes that, owing to the wisdom of our generals, the loss among the troops is very slight."

At nine o'clock fifty-five minutes, General de Cissey sent the following despatch from the Luxembourg: