Paris under the Commune Part 43

"On the arrival of the firemen they used every effort to prevent the fire communicating itself to the apartments of the Princess Clothilde; it had already reached the facade on the side of the Place. Here, too, all the fittings and ornaments of the chapel were saved.

"At last, at seven o'clock, the soldiers of the line arrive. 'Long live the line!' is shouted on all sides. 'Long live France!' Signals are made with the ambulance flags. Help is come at last!

"Those present now regard their position with more coolness, and use every effort to combat the fire, pumping from the roofs and upper storeys of the neighbouring houses. The fire continues, however, increasing and spreading on the theatre side. Here is the greatest danger. If the theatre catch light, all the quarter will most probably be destroyed. They then determine to avail themselves of the water appliances of the theatre to stay the progress of the flames. This is.

rendered more difficult and dangerous by the continuous firing from the Communists installed in the upper story of the Hotel du Louvre. M. Le Sache mounts on the roofs, with the princ.i.p.al engineer, to conduct this movement. They are compelled to hide out of the way of the shower of b.a.l.l.s coming from the Communists.

"At ten o'clock the companies from the quarter of the Banque, the 12th battalion of National Guards, arrive. The Federals are put to flight.

Thereupon thirty _sapeurs-pompiers_ of Paris came at full speed and succeed in mastering the remaining fire. An hour sooner and all could have been saved."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hotel de Ville.]

THE HOTEL DE VILLE.--The Hotel de Ville was set on fire by order of the Committee of Public Safety at the moment when the entry of the troops caused them to fly to the Ecole des Chartes, which was thus saved, and whence they fled to the Mairie of Belleville. Five battalions of National Guards--the 57th, 156th, 178th, 184th, and the 187th--remained to prevent any attempt being made to extinguish the fire. Petroleum had been poured about the _Salle du Trone_, and the _Salle du Zodiaque_, which were decorated by Jean Goujon and Cogniet; in the _Galerie de Pierre_, in which were paintings by Lecomte, Baudin, Desgoffes, Hedouin, and Bellel; in the _Salon des Arcades_, in the _Salon Napoleon_, in the _Galerie des Fetes_, and in the _Salon de la Paix_, which contained works of Schopin, Picot, Vanchelet, Jadin, Girard, Ingres, Delacroix, Landelle, Riesener, Lehmann, Gosse, Benouville and Cabanel. It is not only as a fine specimen of architecture that the Hotel de Ville is to be regretted, but as the cradle of the munic.i.p.al and revolutionary history of Paris, as well as for the vast collection of archives of the city, duplicates of which were at the same moment a prey to the flames at the Palais de Justice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOREIGN OFFICE.]

THE PREFECTURE OF POLICE was set fire to by the Communal delegate Ferre and a band of drunken National Guards.

THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE, thanks to the prompt arrival of the soldiers, has been partially spared. The damage done, however, is very great. In the SALLE DES PAS-PERDUS several of the grand arches that support the roof have fallen in, and many of the columns are lying in ruins on the pavement. The Cour de Ca.s.sation and the Cour d'a.s.sises are entirely destroyed. The conflagration was stopped, when it reached the Cour d'Appel and the Tribunal de Premiere Instance.

PALACE OF THE QUAI D'ORSAY.--This vast building, in which the Conseil d'etat and the Cour des Comptes held their sittings, has suffered seriously, though the walls are not destroyed; but what is irreparable is the loss of the many precious doc.u.ments belonging to the financial and legislative history of France. The most famous artists of our time have contributed to the decoration of the interior. Jeanron painted the twelve allegorical subjects for the vaulted ceiling of the _Salle des Pas-Perdus_; Isabey, the Port of Ma.r.s.eilles in the Committee-room. The Death of President de Renty, in the _Salle du Contentieux_, was by Paul Delaroche; the fine portrait of Napoleon I., as legislator, in the great Council Chamber, by Flandrin; and in another apartment the portrait of Justinien by Delacroix. These, and many other treasures, are lost; for the work of destruction was complete.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--The facade has been seriously injured. It was fired upon from the terrace of the Tuileries, and from a gunboat lying under cover of the Pont-Royal. The Doric and Ionic columns are partly broken, as well as the fifteen medallions in white marble, which bore the arms of the princ.i.p.al powers. The apartments in front have been greatly damaged, and especially the _salon_ of the amba.s.sadors, where the Congress of Paris was held in 1856.

THE PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR.--This is a specimen of French architecture, unique of its kind. Happily, drawings and plans have been preserved, and the members of the Legion of Honour have offered a subscription for its re-instatement.

THE GOBELINS.--The public gallery, the school of tapestry, and the painters' studios have been destroyed. The incendiaries would have burned all, works, frames and materials, if the people of the quarter, with the Gobelins weavers, had not defended them at the peril of their lives. An irreparable loss is that of a valuable collection of tapestry dating from the time of Louis XIV.

The military hospital of the VAL DE GRaCE, the ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB, the MINT, the facade of the annex of the eCOLE-DES-BEAUX-ARTS, have been riddled with b.a.l.l.s. At the LUXEMBOURG the magnificent camellia-house and conservatories exist no longer, and the graceful Medici fountain has been injured.

THE BANK had most fortunately been placed in charge of the delegate Beslay, who, during the whole time he was there, made every effort to prevent the pillage of the valuables. He was ably seconded by all the officials and _employes_, who had before been armed and incorporated into a battalion.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PALACE OF THE LEGION D'HONNEUR.]

POST OFFICE.--The Communal delegate, Theiz, prevented the incendiaries from setting fire to this important establishment. THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF THE PORTE-ST-DENIS.--The bas-relief containing an emblematical figure of the Rhine resting on a rudder has been mutilated, a sh.e.l.l having carried the arm and its support entirely away. The other bas-relief of Holland vanquished and in tears, has been struck by b.a.l.l.s, as have also the figures of Fame in the tympans of the arcades.

THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF THE PORTE-ST-MARTIN.--The sculptures, which represent the taking of Limbourg and the defeat of the Germans, have suffered considerably. They are the works of Le Hongre and the elder Legros.

A tragic incident marked the burning of the THEATRE OF THE PORTE ST.

MARTIN (see sketch). After laving ma.s.sacred the proprietor and people of the _restaurant_ Ronceray, the Federals set fire to the house and the theatre which is adjoining. At eight o'clock in the evening, on beholding the first flames arise, the inhabitants of the quarter united in endeavouring to extinguish the fire, notwithstanding that the projectiles fell thickly in the Boulevard Saint-Martin and in the Rue de Bondy. The Federals from behind their barricades at the corner of the Rue Bouchardon, fired upon everyone who attempted to enter the theatre.

The ARCHIVES (Record Office), the IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE, and the BIBLIOTHeQUE MAZARINE were all preserved through the strenuous endeavours of MM. Alfred Maury, Haureau, and Charles a.s.selineau, who had all managed to keep their places in spite of the Commune.

At the DOCKS OF LA VILLETTE, and at the warehouses of the DOUANE, the destruction of property has been enormous. Many millions' worth of goods were consumed there.

In the great buildings belonging to the MAGASINS ReUNIS (Cooperative Stores) an ambulance had been established, and this was in the utmost danger during two days. It was only owing to the wonderful energy of M.

Jahyer that the fire was mastered while the poor wounded men were transported to a place of safety.

THE CHURCHES.

NOTRE-DAME.--In the interior of Notre-Dame the insurgents set fire to three huge piles of chairs and wood-work. Fortunately the fact was discovered before much mischief had happened.

THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE.--This incomparable gem of Gothic art, by some marvellous good fortune was neither touched by fire nor sh.e.l.ls. It will still be an object for the pilgrimages of the erudite and the curious.

THE MADELEINE.--The b.a.l.l.s have somewhat damaged the double colonnade of the peristyle, but the sculptured pediment by Lemaire is all but untouched.

THE TRINITe.--The facade has been seriously injured. The Federals, from their barricades at the entrance of the Chaussee-d'Antin, bombarded it for several hours. The painted windows by Ondinot had been removed before the siege--like those of the ancient Cathedral of St. Denis, and the Chapel of St. Ferdinand, by Ingres, they repose in safety.

Of all the churches of Paris ST. EUSTACHE has suffered the most. At one time the fire had reached the roof, but it was fortunately discovered in time.

The paintings at NOTRE-DAME-DE-LORETTE, at SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS, and at SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PReS have been spared.

It is curious that the churches suffered so little, whilst several theatres were burned, including the Porte St. Martin, Theatre du Chatelet, Lyrique, Dela.s.s.e.m.e.nts Comiques, etc.

The windows of the church of SAINT-JACQUES-DU-HAUT-PAS are destroyed.

It has been estimated that the value of the houses and other property destroyed in Paris amounts to twenty millions sterling. In addition to this, it is said that twelve millions' worth of works of art, furniture, &c., have disappeared, and that more than two and a half millions' worth of merchandise was burnt, making a total of nearly thirty-five millions.

It has been said that the value of the window-gla.s.s alone destroyed during the reign of the Commune approaches a million sterling. The demand for gla.s.s was at one time so great that the supply was quite insufficient, and at the present moment the price is 20 per cent. higher than usual.

XV.

The following order of the day of General de Ladmirault, commanding the first army corps of Versailles, sums up the princ.i.p.al episodes of this eight days battle:--

"Officers and soldiers of the First Corps d'Armee,--

The defences of the lines of Neuilly, Courbevoie, Becon and Asnieres served you by way of apprenticeship. Your energy and courage were formed amid the greatest works and perils. Every one in his grade has given an example of the most complete abnegation and devotion. Artillery, engineers, troops of the line, cavalry, volunteers of the Seine-et-Oise, you rivalled each other in zeal and ardour. Thus prepared, on the 22nd of the month you attacked the insurgents, whose guilty designs and criminal undertakings you knew and despised. You devoted yourselves n.o.bly to save from destruction the monuments of our old national glory, as well as the property of the citizens menaced by savage rage.

On the 23rd of the month, the formidable position of the b.u.t.tes Montmartre could no longer resist your efforts, in spite of all the forces with which they were covered.

This task was confided to the first and second division and the volunteers of the Seine and Seine-et-Oise, and the heads of the various columns arrived simultaneously at the summit of the position.

On the 24th, the third division, which alone had been charged with the task of driving the insurgents out of Neuilly, Levallois-Perret, and Saint-Ouen, joined the other divisions, and took possession of the terminus of the Eastern Railway, while the first division seized that of the Northern line by force of arms.

On the 26th, the third division occupied the _rotonde_--circular place --of La Villette.

On the 27th, the first and second division, with the volunteers of the Seine-et-Oise, by means of a combined movement, took the b.u.t.tes Chaumont and the heights of Belleville by a.s.sault, the artillery having by its able firing prepared the way for the occupation.

Finally, on the 28th, the defences of Belleville yielded, and the first corps achieved brilliantly the task which had been confided to them.

During the days of the struggle and fighting you rendered the greatest service to civilization, and have acquired a claim to the grat.i.tude of the country. Accept then all the praise which is due to you.

Paris, 29th May, 1871.

The General commanding the First Corps d'Armee,

(Signed) "LADMIRAULT."