Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/492



"Our soldiers carried, at four o'clock, the last positions occupied by the insurgents.

"To-day the struggle is finished; order, labor, and security will now revive.

", Duc de Magenta, "Marshal of France, Commander-in-Chief."

On the same day the Marshal addressed to the troops the following order of the day, thanking them for the efforts which they had made with so much courage during this difficult contest:

":—Your courage and devotion have triumphed over all obstacles. After a siege of two months, after a battle of eight days in the streets, Paris is at last delivered. In tearing the city from the hands of the wretches who had projected burning it to ashes, you have preserved it from complete ruin; you have given it back to France.

":—The entire country applauds the success of your patriotic efforts; and the National Assembly, by which it is represented, has accorded you the recompense most worthy of you.

"It has been declared by a unanimous vote that the armies of sea and land have merited well of the country."

As early as the 22d of May—in fact, at the news of the entrance of the troops into Paris—the Assembly had unanimously given this noble testimony of gratitude and encouragement to the soldiers. By a just and delicate sentiment, they had associated the Chief of the Executive Power in the thanks which they addressed to the army in the name of France. M. Thiers and the army had equally merited well of the country. Thanks to their patient and resolute zeal, Paris and France were restored to each