llar and shook
him violently, holding a revolver to his head, and crying out,
"Confess that you have betrayed the Republic!" The general shrugged
his shoulders. The officer retired. The report of twenty muskets
rent the air, and General Thomas fell, face downward. They ordered
Lecomte to step over his body, and to take his place against the
wall. Another report succeeded, and the butchery was over.

By evening the National Guard had taken possession of the
Hotel-de-Ville, and the outer Boulevards were crowded by men shouting
that they had made a revolution. On this day the insurgents assumed the
name of "Federes," or Federals, denoting their project of converting
the communistic cities of France into a Federal Republic.

In vain the Government put forth proclamations calling on all good
citizens, and on the Old National Guard, to put down insurrection
and maintain order and the Republic. The Old Battalions of the
National Guard, about twenty thousand strong, had been composed
chiefly of tradesmen and gentlemen; these, as soon as the siege was
over, had for the most part left the city. Bismarck's proposition
to Jules Favre had been to leave the Old National Guard its arms,
that it might preserve order, but to take advantage of the occasion
to disarm the New Battalions. As we have seen, all were permitted
to retain their arms; but the chancellor told Jules Favre he would
live to repent having obtained the concession.

The friends of order, in spite of the Government's proclamations,
could with difficulty be roused to action. There were two parties
in Paris,--the Passives, and the Actives; and the latter party
increased in strength from day to day. Indeed, it was hard for
peaceful citizens to know under whom they were to range themselves.
The Government had left the city. One or two of its members were
still in Paris, but the rest had rushed off to Versailles, protected
by an army forty thousand strong, under General Vinoy.

A species of Government had, however, formed itself by the morning
of March 19 at the Hotel-de-Ville. It called itself the Central
Committee of the National Guard, and issued proclamations on _white_
paper (white paper being reserved in Paris for proclamations of the
Government). It called upon all citizens in their sections at once
to elect a commune. This proclamation was signed by twenty citizens,
only one of whom, M. Assy, had ever been heard of in Paris. Some
months before, he had headed a st