FRANCE. 



319 



of the National Guards, admonished, in an 

 order of the day, the National Guards and all 

 citizens not to disturb the peace, as every 

 violation of the convention would entail incal- 

 culable evils on all France; and the official 

 journal announced that military justice would 

 h'nd out the authors of the crimes of the 

 26th, and that " the Government would pro- 

 tect its agents against the return of these 

 crimes." The demonstrations continued on 

 February 27th and 28th, without, however, 

 leading to open violence; large numbers of 

 soldiers and members of the Garde Mobile 

 took part in the procession of the masses 

 through the streets. During the occupation 

 of the city by the German troops on March 

 1st, the peace was not seriously disturbed; 

 but the fermentation on the right bank of the 

 Seine was steadily increasing. In Bordeaux 

 the members of the Left declared the con- 

 ditions of peace to be disgraceful and inadmis- 

 sible, and tried to postpone the final vote on 

 them as much as possible. But when Thiers 

 earnestly reminded the Assembly that the 

 armistice terminated on March 3d, and that it 

 could not escape the responsibility of a de- 

 cision, the treaty was ratified by a four-fifths 

 majority. The deputies of Alsace and Lor- 

 raine, among them Gambetta, resigned, and 

 informed the Assembly that they regarded a 

 treaty disposing of them without their con- 

 sent as null and void, and they considered 

 themselves entitled to demand their rights in 

 such a form and to such a degree as their con- 

 sciences would dictate. In the name of the 

 Left, Louis Blanc moved to call the ministry 

 to account, and Delecluze even moved their 

 impeachment and arrest. These extreme mo- 

 tions were rejected ; yet they prevented the 

 organization of a liberal middle party. The 

 violent scenes between the Eight and the Left 

 continued. The Left, in particular, was excited 

 against Thiers for refusing to make Paris the 

 seat of the Parliament. But their opposition 

 was fruitless ; the transfer of the Parliament 

 to Versailles was agreed upon, and on March 

 llth the last session was held at Bordeaux. 

 The Government issued a proclamation, in 

 which it declared that it "regarded it as a mat- 

 ter of honor to establish the republic, and that 

 it would protect it ; " it would be a crime to at- 

 tack the republic by means of intrigues and 

 violence, and the greatest patriotism would 

 consist in a due obedience to social discipline 

 and to law. 



In Paris the agitation of the Radical party 

 continued to be so violent that on March 12th 

 six of their organs were suppressed. General 

 Aurelle de Paladines, the commander-in-chief 

 of the National Guard, announced that he 

 would energetically suppress every thing that 

 could be injurious to the city. Nevertheless 

 the opposition organized itself more and more 

 firmly. The Comite Federal Republicain and 

 the Comite Central concluded to fuse on the 

 basis of the following statutes: "The republic 



is the only possible and rational government ; 

 the National Guard reserves to itself the ab- 

 solute right to choose its chiefs, and to re- 

 voke their commission as soon as they may 

 lose the confidence of those who chose them." 

 The organization was to consist of the As- 

 semblee Generale of Delegates, of the Cercle 

 de Bataillon, of the Conseil de Legion, and 

 the Comite Central. Placards of the Reds 

 called on the National Guard not to fight 

 against the people. An attempt made by the 

 Government, on March 16th, to take from the 

 riotous crowds the cannon which they had 

 planted on the Place des Vosges, brought mat- 

 ters to a crisis. The National Guard removed 

 the threatened cannon to Belleville, while ex- 

 cited crowds of the people traversed the streets, 

 shouting, " Vive la republique ! " Thiers again 

 issued a proclamation in which he once more 

 assured the Parisians of the devotion of the 

 Government to the republic, urgently recom- 

 mended moderation and order, and concluded 

 with the words : " If this warning should 

 remain unheeded, we shall know, if neces- 

 sary, how to enforce quiet." On March 

 18th the Government deemed it necessary to 

 have recourse to force. Montmartre was sur- 

 rounded with troops, access to the hill forbid- 

 den, cannon planted on it, and a number of 

 prisoners made. But the troops allowed the 

 people to surround the cannon, and soon 

 joined them. Other bodies of troops which 

 were summoned followed this example. On 

 the Place Pigalle a number of soldiers who 

 offered resistance were massacred by the 

 people. Generals Lecompte and Thomas, alter 

 having been abandoned by their troops, were 

 made prisoners and shot. About noon the 

 National Guard was in the undisputed posses- 

 sion of the insurgent districts, as the gendarmes, 

 being too weak, had been withdrawn. The 

 Government in new proclamations called on 

 all those "to whom the honor and the interest 

 of France are dear" to separate from the in- 

 surgents, and enjoined upon all authorities, 

 upon penalty of deposition, to receive orders 

 only from Versailles. On the other hand, the 

 Central Committee of the National Guard also 

 issued two proclamations. The former de- 

 clared that only the attempt to destroy the 

 republic had caused this rising of the people. 

 In the second, the committee claimed to be 

 commissioned by the citizens of Paris, and to 

 have performed the task by expelling the 

 Government "which betrayed us." Its mis- 

 sion having been fulfilled, it announced that 

 communal elections would soon be held, to 

 which it was ready to render an account; 

 its reward it would find in the restoration of 

 the republic. The insurgents, who had arrested 

 and maltreated General Chanzy on his arrival 

 in Paris, were completely masters of the city, 

 from which the better classes of the popula- 

 tion began to flee in large numbers. Trade 

 and commerce were at a stand-still. The red 

 flag was hoisted on the H6tel-de-Ville ; the 



