The following is the way in which the fires were prepared:—In some
instances a number of men, acting as _avant-courriers_, went first,
telling the inhabitants that the Quarter was about to be delivered to
the flames, and urging them to fly for their lives; in other oases, the
unfortunate people were told that the whole city would be burnt, and
that they might as well meet death where they were as run to seek it
elsewhere. In some places—in the Rue de Vaugirard, for instance—it is
asserted that sentinels were placed in the streets and ordered to fire
upon everyone who attempted to escape. One incendiary, who was arrested
in the Rue de Poitiers, declared that he received ten francs for each
house which he set on fire. Another system consisted in throwing
through the cellar doors or traps tin cans or bottles filled with
petroleum, phosphorus, nitro-glycerine, or other combustibles, with a
long sulphur match attached to the neck of the vessel, the match being
lighted at the moment of throwing the explosives into the cellar.
Finally, the batteries at Belleville and the cemetery of Père la Chaise
sent destruction into many quarters by means of petroleum shells.
Eudes, a general of the Commune, sent the following order to one of his
officers:—
“Fire on the Bourse, the Bank, the Post Office, the Place des
Victoires, the Place Vendôme, the Garden of the Tuileries, the Babylone
Barracks; leave the Hôtel de Ville to Commandant Pindy and the Delegate
of War, and the Committee of Public Safety and of the Commune will
assemble at the _mairie_ of the eleventh Arrondissement, where you are
established; there we will organize the defence of the popular quarters
of the city. We will send you cannon and ammunitions from the Parc
Basfroi. We will hold out to the last, happen what may.
“(Signed) E. EUDES.”
The insurgents had collected a considerable quantity of powder in the
Pantheon, and when the Versailles troops obtained possession of the
building the officer in command at once searched for the slow match,
and cut it off when it had not more than a yard to burn!
Instructions were given to the firemen not to extinguish the fires, but
to retire to the Champ de Mars with the pumps and other apparatus.
Whenever a man attempted to do anything to arrest the conflagration he
was fired at. The firemen, who had arrived from all parts, even from
Belgium, and honest citizens who joined them, worked to extinguish the
fires amid showers of bullets. At the Treasury the labours of these men
were four times interrupted by the violent cannonading of the
insurgents.
The fire broke out at the TUILERIES on Tuesday evening. When the
battalions at the Arc de Triomphe and at the Corps Législatif had
silenced the guns ranged before the Palace, the insurgents set fire to
it, and threw out men _en tirailleur_ to prevent anyone from
approaching to subdue the flames.
At the same moment an attempt was made to set fire to the MINISTRY OF
MARINE, in obedience to an order given to Commandant Brunel, which was
thus worded:—“In a quarter of an hour the Tuileries will be in flames;
as soon as our wounded are removed, you will cause the explosion of the
Ministry.” It was Admiral Pothuau, the minister himself, who, at the
head of a handful of sailors, set the incendiaries to flight, Brunel
along with them. They also arrived in time to prevent any damage being
done to the BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE.
The struggle was terrific during the night; the insurgents, who had
sought refuge in the Ministry of Finance, after the taking of the
barricade in the Rue Saint-Florentin, increased the fury of the flames
by firing from the windows, and discharging jets of petroleum at the
soldiers.
On Wednesday morning the battle had become fearful. Towards ten o’clock
columns of smoke rose above Paris, forming a thick cloud, which the
sun’s rays could not penetrate. Then, simultaneously, all the fires
burst forth: at the CONSEIL D’ETAT, at the LEGION OF HONOUR, at the
CAISSE DES DÉPÔTS ET CONSIGNATIONS. at the HÔTEL DE VILLE, at the
PALAIS ROYAL, at the MINISTRY OF FINANCE, at the PREFECTURE DE POLICE,
at the PALAIS DE JUSTICE, at the THÉÂTRE LYRIQUE, in the Rue du Bac,
the Rue de Lille, the Rue de la Croix-Rouge, Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs,
in a great number of houses in the Faubourgs Saint-Germain and
Saint-Honoré, in the Rue Royale, and in the Rue Boissy d’Anglas. Not
many hours later, flames were seen to arise from the Avenue Victoria,
Boulevard Sébastopol, Rue Saint-Martin, at the Château d’Eau, in the
Rue Saint-Antoine, and the Rue de Rivoli.
During the night of Friday, the docks of LA VILLETTE, and the
warehouses of the DOUANE, the GRENIER D’ABONDANCE and the GOBELINS were
all burning! So great was the glare that small print could be read as
far off as Versailles, even on that side of the town towards Meudon and
Ville d’Avray.
THE DOME OF THE INVALIDES.—This was placed in imminent danger. Mines
were laid on all sides, but their positions were discovered, and the
electric wires out which were to have communicated the spark.
THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.—When the noise of the fusillade and
cannonading ceased, the Place de la Concorde was a scene of absolute
desolation. On all sides lay broken pieces of candelabra, balustrades,
paving-stones, asphalte, and heaps of earth. The water-nymphs and
Tritons of the fountains were much mutilated, and the statue of the
town of Lille—one of the eight gigantic, seated figures of the
principal towns of France, which form a prominent ornament to the
Place, the work of Pradier, and a likeness of one of the Orleans
princesses-lay shivered on the ground.
THE ARC DE L’ETOILE.—The triumphal arch bears many scars, but none of
them of much importance. On the façade looking towards Courbevoie, the
great bas-relief by Etex, representing “War,” was struck by three
shells; the group of “Peace” received only the fragment of one. Here
and there, in the bas-relief representing the “Passage of the Bridge of
Areole,” and the “Taking of Alexandra,” some traces of balls are
visible. On the whole, no irremediable hum is done here. Rude’s
masterpiece, “The Marseillaise,” is untouched.
THE PALACE OF INDUSTRY.—Rumour says Courbet had, among other projects,
formed an idea of demolishing the Palace of Industry. The painted
windows of the great nave have received no serious injury. The
bas-relief of the main façade, picturing Industry and the Arts offering
their products to the universal exhibitions, has several of its figures
mutilated. The same has happened to the colossal group by
Diebolt—France offering laurel crowns to Art and Industry.
THE TUILERIES.—Felix Pyat, in the _Vengeur_, proposed converting the
Palace of the Tuileries into a school for the children of soldiers. He
says:—“They have taken possession by the work and activity that reign
there; a whole floor is filled with tools and activity, and converted
into workshops for the construction of messenger balloons. King Labour
is enthroned there. I recognised there among the workmen an exile of
the revolutionary Commune of London. The workmen and the proscribed at
the Tuileries! From the prison of London to the palace of the
Tuileries. It is well!” But in the heart of the Commune the soul of the
_Vengeur_ underwent a change, and insisted on the complete destruction
of the “infamous pile.”
The portion of the building overlooking the river was alone preserved.
The roofing is destroyed, but the façade is but little injured, the
only work of art damaged here being a pediment by M. Carrier-Belleuse,
representing “Agriculture.” Fortunately the Government of the Fourth of
September had sent all the most precious things to the Garde-Meuble
(Stores); but how can the magnificent Gobelins tapestry, the fine
ceilings, the works of Charles Lebrun, of Pierre Mignard, of Coypel, of
Francisque Meillet, of Coysevox, of Girardon, and of many others, and
the exquisite Salon des Roses be replaced?
The Tuileries burnt for three days, and ten days afterwards the ruins
blazed forth anew near the Pavillon de Flore. Not only did the
devouring fire threaten to destroy inestimable treasures, but on Monday
a number of men carrying slow matches, and led by a man named
Napias-Piquet, made all their preparations to set fire to several
points of the museum of the Louvre, and two of the guardians were shot.
This Napias-Piquet threatened to make of the whole quarter of the
Louvre one great conflagration. He was taken and shot, and in his
pocket was found a note of his breakfast of the preceding day,
amounting to 57 francs 80 centimes.
THE LOUVRE.—The preservation of the museum was due to the strong
masonry, and the thick walls of the new portion of the building, on
which the raging flames could make no impression. But it ran other
risks: when the troops entered the building, they planted the tricolour
on the clock pavilion, which served as an object for the insurgents’
aim. It was immediately removed, however, when this was perceived. It
was generally believed that the galleries of the Louvre contained all
their art treasures. This was not the case; prior to the first siege
the most precious of the contents had been carefully packed and
conveyed to the arsenal of Brest, where they safely reposed, but many
very admirable works remained.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE (Treasury).—On the 22nd of May, the official
journal of the Commune published a note declaring that the certificates
of stock and the stock books (_grand livre_) would be burnt within
forty-eight hours. The Commune was annoyed at the publicity given to
this note, and a violent debate took place in its council in
consequence. On this occasion Paschal Grousset uttered the following:—
“I blame those who inserted the note in question, but I demand that
measures may be taken for the destruction of all such documents
belonging to those at Versailles, the day that they shall enter Paris.”
[Illustration: Court of the Louvre, from Place Du Carrousel]
The Library is completely destroyed. More than 90,000 volumes are
burnt. Rare editions, Elzevirs, precious MSS., coins, and unique
collections, priceless treasures, are irrevocably lost.
The building forms one of the most striking ruins in Paris. Citizen
Lucas, appointed by Ferré to set the Ministry on fire, did his task
well. The conflagration, which lasted several days, began in the night
of the 23rd of May. Not only was every part soaked with petroleum, but
shells had also been placed about the building, and burst successively
as the fire extended. Scarcely anything remains of the huge pile but
the offices of the Administration of Forest Lands, which are almost
intact. A considerable number of valuable documents were saved, but the
quantity was very small in comparison with the immense collection
accumulated since the beginning of the century. Four times was the work
of salvage interrupted by the insurgents. Not a single book in the
library has escaped; and this library contained almost the whole of the
enormous correspondence of Colbert, the minister, forming no less than
two thousand volumes.
[Illustration: Palais Royal.]
The PALAIS ROYAL.—The palace itself alone is destroyed; the galleries
of the THÉÂTRE FRANÇAIS are preserved. The _Constitutionnel_ published
the following account of the conflagration;—
“It was at three o’clock that this fearful fire burst forth. A
shopkeeper of the PALAIS ROYAL, M. Emile Le Saché, came forward in all
haste to offer his services. A Communist captain, or lieutenant,
threatened to fire on him if he did not retire on the instant; he added
that the whole quarter was going to be blown up and burned. In the
teeth of this threat, however, two fire-engines were brought to the
Place, and were worked by the people of the neighbourhood. It was four
o’clock. No water in the Cour des Fontaines. But some was procured by a
line of people being placed along the passage leading from the Cour
d’Honneur, who passed full buckets of water from hand to hand.
“A ladder was placed against the wall for the purpose of reaching
the terrace of the Rue de Valois. The insurgents proved so true to
their word that the people were forced to renounce the attempt at
saving the entire pavilion. Fire and smoke burst forth from three
windows just above the terrace. In the midst of the balls showered
from the barricade at the corner of the Rue de Rivoli, they
succeeded in extinguishing the fire on that side. At five o’clock
M. O. Sauve, captain in the commercial service, with a handful of
brave workmen, got a fire engine into the Cour d’Honneur, and thus
saved a great quantity of pictures, precious marbles, furniture,
hangings, etc. Here another line of people was formed for the
carrying of buckets, but unfortunately water ran short: the pipes
had been cut, the wretches had planned that the destruction should
be complete. At seven o’clock M. Bessignet, jun., hastened there
with four Paris firemen, but already the Pavilion, where the flames
were first apparent, was entirely consumed.
“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 façade 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 Hôtel du Louvre. M. Le Sache mounts on the roofs, with the
principal engineer, to conduct this movement. They are compelled to
hide out of the way of the shower of balls 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.”
[Illustration: Hôtel de Ville.]
THE HOTEL DE VILLE.—The Hôtel 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 Trône_, 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,
Hédouin, and Bellel; in the _Salon des Arcades_, in the _Salon
Napoléon_, in the _Galerie des Fêtes_, 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
Hôtel de Ville is to be regretted, but as the cradle of the municipal
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.
[Illustration: Foreign Office.]
THE PREFECTURE OF POLICE was set fire to by the Communal delegate Ferré
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 Cassation and the Cour d’Assises are entirely
destroyed. The conflagration was stopped, when it reached the Cour
d’Appel and the Tribunal de Première Instance.
PALACE OF THE QUAI D’ORSAY.—This vast building, in which the Conseil
d’État 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 documents 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 Marseilles 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 façade 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 principal powers. The apartments in front have
been greatly damaged, and especially the _salon_ of the ambassadors,
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 GRÂCE, the ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF AND
DUMB, the MINT, the façade of the annex of the ÉCOLE-DES-BEAUX-ARTS,
have been riddled with balls. 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 _employés_, who had before been armed and incorporated
into a battalion.
[Illustration: 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 shell having carried the arm and its support entirely
away. The other bas-relief of Holland vanquished and in tears, has been
struck by balls, 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 massacred 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
BIBLIOTHÈQUE MAZARINE were all preserved through the strenuous
endeavours of MM. Alfred Maury, Haureau, and Charles Asselineau, 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 RÉUNIS (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.