Dumont, an energetic
man who had been ordered to command them. Still deli berating,
they evacuated the fort, after having stupidly talked of blowing
it up,--as difficult a thing for them to do as to defend it....
My predecessor was wrong to remain, as he did, three weeks in such
an absurd position. Enlightened by his example, and knowing that
the strength of a revolutionist consists only in the clearness of
his position, I have but two alternatives,--either to break the
chains which impede my actions, or to retire. I will not break
my chains, because those chains are you and your weakness. I will
not touch the sovereignty of the people.

I retire, and have the honor to beg for a cell at Mazas.

ROSSEL.

He did not obtain the cell at Mazas. He escaped from the vengeance
of his colleagues, and was supposed to be in England or Switzerland,
while in reality he had never quitted Paris. He was arrested two weeks
after the fall of the Commune, disguised as a railroad employee. He
was examined at the Luxembourg, and then taken, handcuffed, to
Versailles, where he was shot at Satory, though M. Thiers, the
president, made vain efforts to save him.

The members of the Commune, who by the first week in May were reduced
to fifty-three, met in the Hotel-de-Ville in a vast room once hung
with the portraits of sovereigns. The canvas of these pictures
had been cut out, but the empty frames still hung upon the walls;
while at one end of the chamber was a statue of the Republic dressed
in red flags, and bearing the inscription, "War to Tyrants."

Reporters were not admitted, and spectators could be brought in only
by favor of some member. The members sat upon red-velvet chairs,
each girt with his red scarf of office, trimmed with heavy bullion
fringe. The chairs were placed round a long table, on which was
stationery for the members' use, _carafes_ of water, and sugar
for _eau sucree_. It was an awe-inspiring assembly; "for the men
who talked, held a city of two millions of inhabitants in their
hands, and were free to put into practice any or all of the amazing
theories that might come into their heads. Their speeches, however,
were brief; they were not wordy, as they might have been if reporters
had been present. Most of them wore uniforms profusely decorated
with gold lace," and, says an Englishman who saw them in their
seats, "one had only to look in their faces to judge the whole
truth in connection with the Commune,--its cau