Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/63



Admiral Saisset appointed Commander-in-Chief of the National Guards—The Law and Order Party endeavor to overcome the insurrection—Concessions obtained by Admiral Saisset from the National Assembly—His proclamation—The insurrectionists still unsatisfied—The elections postponed by decree until March 26th—Declaration of the press—It calls forth a threat from the Central Committee—Procession of the Order Party—Passage through the Place Vendome—Citizen Tony-Mollin appointed Mayor of the 6th Arrondissement—M. Leroy takes possession of the Mairie—Is ejected by citizen Lullier—Warehouses broken into by the mob—Chassepots sold for ten francs—Deputation sent to Valerien—Second procession of the Order Party—Endeavor made to disperse the crowd—Shots fired—Frightful massacre—Ambulances collect the dead—Differences of opinion with regard to which party fired the first shot—Account given by the official journal—General Bergeret's view of the question—Requisitions—Executions at Montmartre—Deputation of Mayors to the Assembly demanding a compromise concerning the day of the elections—Hostile attitude of the Assembly—Address of M. Arnaud—Tribune assigned to the Mayors—Their entrance—Their observations resented by the Right—Violent agitation—The meeting dissolved—Evening sitting—Resolutions presented by the Mayors for approval—Several Mayors on their return to Paris make an arrangement with the Central Committee—The citizens exhorted to vote—Discrepancy in the statement of the Mayors and that of the Central Committee—The resolutions of the Mayors rejected in the Assembly by a large majority—Decrees in the official journal—Insurrectional movement in Lyons—In Marseilles—Toulouse—St. Etienne—Fusion of the Mayors and Central Committee—Version of the Committee—That of the Mayors—Proclamation of the Deputies of Paris—Resignation of Admiral Saisset—Proclamation of the Central Committee.

There were now published daily two official journals, one emanating from the Hotel de Ville in Paris, the other published in Versailles by order of the National Assembly. The last-named, after publishing an announcement that Admiral Saisset had been named Commander-in-Chief of the National Guards of the Seine, a leader who, the government thought, would rally the men of order, published the following declaration: