Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/466

 On Friday, 26th, the noise of the battle, which approached the quarter of La Roquette, and the news which reached them from without, gave the prisoners a little hope, although all had resolutely offered the sacrifice of their lives, and prepared themselves for death in a Christian manner, the laity being sustained and encouraged by the clergy.

On account of the bad weather, the daily recreation had been taken in the hall on which the cells opened, and had been extended in the afternoon far beyond the usual hour. It was about five o'clock, when, in the midst of the recreation, one of the keepers appeared, a list in hand, and the sinister call began. Fifteen prisoners, among whom were ten members of the clergy and five of the laity, were called, ranged in order, counted, and led off just as they were found, many of them bareheaded. They were led out of the prison, and probably taken to Père-Lachaise, or behind some barricades, where they were shot. Not one has reappeared.

Among the victims were the Père Olivaint, superior of the Jesuits of the Rue de Sèvres, and former pupil of the Ecole Normale. At La Roquette he met one of his school companions, a hostage like himself, whom he had not seen for thirty-four years.

Another prisoner was a young seminarist of Saint-Sulpice, about twenty years of age, named Seigneret, son of the inspector of the Academy of the Jura. His truly angelic face, and his extreme youth, had moved all his companions of captivity, and no one believed that he could be executed. His only crime was having demanded a passport at the Prefecture of Police in order to return to his family. Immediately arrested by the insurgents, he was first thrown into the Conciergerie, transferred to Mazas, and then to La Roquette, where he fell a victim to the common fate.