Chapter IX: The Government of National Defence (3)

On March 28, the Commune was proclaimed with much pomp and emblematic ceremony in which Phrygian caps were conspicuous, and a series of decrees appeared shortly in the _Journal Officiel_, which announced the abolition of conscription, but the compulsory enrolment of all able-bodied men in the National Guard; a remission of lodger's rents; the suspension of the sale of all articles deposited in pawn; and the supersession of the Government at Versailles. A vast number of persons quitted the city before the end of the month, and of those who remained, there were probably many, who, apart from their political sentiments, heartily welcomed so convenient a release from embarrassing liabilities.

* * * * *

_Lord Lyons to Lord Granville._

Versailles, March 30, 1871.

The Commune are going ahead in Paris. The great comfort the
Government and the Assembly here have, is that the similar movements
in other great towns have failed, and that thus it is plainly Paris
against all France. Their great hope appears to be that the members
of the Commune will quarrel among themselves, and that their social
measures may be so thoroughly socialist, as to rouse resistance
among the Parisians. In the meantime however the delay seems
dangerous; the working classes are said to be going over more and
more completely to the Commune, and the effect of a completely
successful revolution in Paris on the other towns may yet be
serious. Bismarck is said to have given Thiers a limited time (a
fortnight or three weeks) to set things straight, and to have
declared that, when that time is up, the Germans must step in.

As a matter of fact, the conduct of the Germans does not seem to have left anything to be desired. They allowed the numbers of the French troops, which had been fixed under the armistice at 40,000, to be indefinitely increased: they gave facilities for the return of the prisoners in Germany, and even gave the French Government to understand that the assistance of German troops might be counted upon if necessary. Tact is not generally supposed to be a marked German characteristic, but Thiers admitted to Lord Lyons that the 'offer had been made with so much tact and delicacy, that, while of course it could not be accepted, the Government had been able to pass it by, without appearing to understand it.'

In the meanwhile, in spite of much dissatisfaction, Thiers was determined not to be hurried, and both he and Jules Favre declined to believe either that there was any danger of excesses being committed at Paris, or that the Commune was gaining strength in consequence of the delay. These opinions were not in the least shared by the public at large; the general impression being that each day's delay added to the strength of the Commune, discouraged the party of order and increased the exasperation of that party against the Government and the National Assembly; it was believed too that if excesses were committed they would inspire the well-disposed citizens with terror rather than with a spirit of resistance.

Fortunately for the cause of order, the Communists soon afforded an opportunity for testing the temper of the Versailles troops. On April 2, the National Guards came into collision with the regulars at Courbevoic, were heavily worsted, and such prisoners as were taken were summarily shot. The engagement showed that the army could be depended upon, and that there need be no further fears with regard to a policy of resolute repression; nevertheless there was little sign on the part of Thiers of following up the success that had been gained, and he made the remarkable excuse that the military ignorance of the insurgents and the eccentricity of their movements rendered military operations against them correspondingly difficult. Little progress had been made towards the end of April, although righteous retribution had overtaken Thiers in the invasion of his house in the Place St. Georges, and in the violation by National Guards of the sanctity of the apartment of his mother-in-law.

* * * * *

_Lord Lyons to Lord Granville._

Versailles, April 21, 1871.

I suppose we shall get back to Paris, or to the ruins of it, some
day; and certainly the affairs of the Commune are looking more
gloomy than they did, but I must leave to Thiers the responsibility
of the perpetually renewed declaration that we shall be there in a
few days. The sooner it comes the better, for the delay is very
dangerous for Thiers himself and for the country. The great towns in
the south will hardly be kept under if Paris remains in rebellion
much longer, and Thiers will find it very difficult to hold back the
monarchical majority in the Assembly.

* * * * *

_Lord Lyons to Lord Granville._

Versailles, April 25, 1871.

I don't hear any guns, but I suppose after what Thiers said to me
last night, that the grand attack upon Fort Issy is going on. I
shall go or send to some safe point of view, as soon as I get the
Messenger off.

It was high time to begin, for the apparent weakness of the
Government is producing lamentable effects. Colonel Playfair's
reports of the spread of a very serious insurrection in Algeria are
confirmed by recent telegrams, and there is said to be rather an
alarming movement in Savoy, not with a view to reunion with Italy,
but rather to a junction with Switzerland.

I do not trouble you with any of the programmes for the attack on
Paris which are in everybody's mouth here. The favourite notion is
that, with or without getting their half milliard, the Germans are
to give up the forts, or all of them except St. Denis, to the
French; who are then either to attack Paris on the north, or to
complete the investment of it. Military big-wigs say that Thiers has
not men enough to carry out such a plan. Financial authorities say
that he has no chance of obtaining the money till he is already
master of Paris; and Jules Favre says positively that Paris will not
be bombarded or blockaded. The value to be given to this affirmation
of Jules Favre cannot go beyond there being no _present_ intentions
to make a regular general bombardment or to reduce the place by
famine. I urge him and Thiers to give warning in time to enable
foreigners to withdraw, but I doubt the foreigners getting any
warning beyond that which Malet has given already, and I doubt the
English being persuaded to go; but I shall do all I can about it.

The bombardment, in spite of Jules Favre's assurance, took place shortly, and did infinitely more harm than that of the Germans. Amongst other buildings which suffered was the Embassy, but until the closing days of the struggle in May, those members of the staff who had been left there, appear to have suffered no inconvenience; and the relations of Malet with the self-constituted officials of the Commune were perfectly amicable, as far as can be judged. Malet, whose management of a trying situation was marked by much good sense and tact, found no difficulty in getting on with Paschal Grousset, the Délègué aux Affaires Etrangères (also described by his adversaries as _Etranger aux Affaires_), and his relations with this important personage were no doubt greatly facilitated by a brother who acted as private secretary: 'a very pleasant little fellow, willing to put his brother's signature to anything.' Paschal Grousset had good reason to congratulate himself subsequently upon the pains which he had taken to ensure the safety of foreigners in Paris and for the friendly disposition which he had shown. When the Versailles troops obtained possession of the city, he was captured and would in all probability have been shot in company with other Communist leaders if unofficial representations in his favour had not been made by Lord Lyons. He was transported, but subsequently returned to Paris under an amnesty, and, years after, was the cause of a comic incident at the house of a lady formerly connected with the British Embassy. This lady, hearing a terrific uproar in her anteroom, came out to see what was the matter and found Paschal Grousset engaged in a violent altercation with her _maître d'hôtel_. It turned out that the latter, who was an ex-gendarme, had been in charge of Paschal Grousset when the latter was seized by the Versailles Government, and that he now strongly resented his former prisoner appearing in the character of an ordinary visitor.

One of the most abominable acts of the Commune had been the seizure of the Archbishop of Paris, together with a number of priests, and the holding of them as hostages for the good treatment of Communist prisoners. No secret was made of the fact that under certain circumstances they would be shot, and efforts were set on foot by various parties--the American Minister, the British Government, and the German authorities--to prevent so horrible a catastrophe. The intervention of the American Minister, Mr. Washburne, only caused irritation. 'They are very angry here with Mr. Washburne,' wrote Lord Lyons on April 28, 'for interfering about the Archbishop, and they are still more displeased with him for being so much in Paris. In fact, although he has a room here he is much more in Paris than at Versailles. Thiers observed to me last night that my American colleague had a _conduite très singulière_. They would not stand this in a European representative, but they allow a great latitude to the American, partly because he and his Government have nothing to say to European politics, and partly because they cannot well help it.' An attempt made by direction of Lord Granville met with no better success, for the Versailles Government firmly refused to make the exchange of the revolutionary leader Blanqui, asked for by the Commune, and would only go so far as to promise in private, that the latter's life should be spared under certain circumstances.

* * * * *

_Lord Lyons to Lord Granville._

Versailles, May 16, 1871.

The poor Archbishop has been constantly in my thoughts, both before
I received your letter of the 13th and since. The state of the case
is simply this. The Commune will not release him on any other terms
than the release of Blanqui; and the Government positively refuses
to give up Blanqui. Every one agrees that intervention with the
Commune is worse than useless; in fact does harm. You will see from
my Confidential Despatch of to-day, that I have gone as far as
possible with Thiers on the subject, but without success. I cannot
hope that I have done any good, but I have certainly done no harm.
Thiers spoke to me freely and confidentially, but absolutely refused
(or rather said positively that it was impossible) to give up
Blanqui. I perhaps went rather far in speaking to M. Thiers even in
the way I did, but I think it will be a comfort to remember that we
did all that could be done.

I understand that the Archbishop does not suffer any positive
hardship or privation beyond being kept a close prisoner, but I fear
his health is giving way in some degree under the pressure of
anxiety and confinement.

Perhaps the most painful feature in the whole matter has been the
conduct of the Vicar General, the Abbé Lagarde, who was sent to
Versailles on parole to negociate the release of the Archbishop.
Notwithstanding the entreaties of the Archbishop himself, and the
exhortations of everyone here, he declined to redeem his promise and
has thereby materially injured the Archbishop's position, and given
force to the Communist pretext that no trust can be put in priests.
I am afraid he is still out of Paris.

Jules Favre was also approached on the subject, but nothing could be got out of him, and the only chance of success seemed to depend upon a peremptory demand of the Germans for his release, the Commune being completely at their mercy. This action the German authorities found themselves unable to take, and in spite of the frequently expressed opinions of Thiers and others that the lives of the hostages were in no real danger, they were all massacred in cold blood during the final days of the street fighting.

By the middle of May, most people were of opinion that there was nothing to prevent the troops entering Paris whenever they pleased, and that the sooner they did so, the less resistance they would encounter. Thiers, however, still refused to run any risks, and it was not until nearly the close of the month that the insurrection was completely suppressed, amidst scenes almost unprecedented in modern times.

* * * * *

_Lord Lyons to Lord Granville._

Versailles, May 26, 1871.

The state of Paris is heart-breaking. The night I spent there (24th)
was calculated to give one an idea of the infernal regions. Fires in
all directions, the air oppressive with smoke and unpleasant odours,
the incessant roar of cannon and musketry and all kinds of strange
sounds. For the 48 hours before my arrival, the members of the
Embassy and all in the house were in imminent danger; a fire raging
in the next street but one, shells falling on the roof which might
set fire to the house at any moment, and shot flying so fast on both
sides that escape in case of fire would have been hardly possible.
It is a great satisfaction to me that every one in the house behaved
well. Of the members of the Embassy I was quite sure, and all the
men servants appeared to have shown pluck and alacrity in rushing to
the places where the shells fell, in order to extinguish the fire in
case of need. Malet has a first-rate head, and directed everything
with his usual coolness and self-possession.

One bit of a shell is said to have fallen in the garden yesterday
morning, but it certainly did no mischief, and there was no
appearance of danger while I was there. I cannot, however, feel
quite comfortable so long as the insurgents hold the Buttes de
Chaumont. They must, I should hope, be on the point of being driven
out at the moment I write. Little or no intelligence of what was
going on in the town could be obtained. The least inconvenience on
leaving one's own house was to be seized upon to form a chain to
hand buckets. Sentries stopped our progress in almost every
direction: arrests were frequent and summary executions the order of
the day. I hope it will really all be over by to-night. Sad as it
all is, I felt a satisfaction in finding myself in the old house
again, and am impatient to return to it for good. I hope to do so
directly I can without cutting myself off from uninterrupted
communication with you.

The fate of the hostages is what makes me the most anxious now. All
the accounts we do receive are hopeful, but we have no positive
assurance of their being safe. The Nuncio came back from his
expedition to the Crown Prince of Saxony much pleased with himself
for having undertaken it, and very grateful to me for having
suggested it. He was referred by the Crown Prince to General
Fabrice, who told him, that by order of Prince Bismarck, he was
doing all that could be done to save the Archbishop. He even hinted
that he had tried offers of money.

Thiers is trying the patience of the Assembly by keeping in office
Jules Favre, Picard and Jules Simon, who were members of the
Government of National Defence and of the violent Republican
opposition under the Empire. The contempt and disgust of the
Parisians of every shade of opinion for the Government of National
Defence appears unbounded. They consider it to have been a
Government which had neither courage nor capacity, and was equally
inefficient in defending the city against the enemy, and maintaining
order and authority inside. By the country at large, and still more,
by the monarchical representatives in the Assembly, the members of
that Government, by their conduct before and after the 4th September
are held to have been the cause of all the present horrors.

Notwithstanding all this, Thiers seems to rule the Assembly
completely, however much the members may grumble in private. His
troubles with them will begin when Paris is at last subdued.

I went to Favre with the offer of the firemen directly the telegram
was decyphered. He took it up to Thiers who immediately accepted it.

The Commune, which terminated in an orgy of blood, flame, and insensate fury, had lasted for rather more than two months. Amongst those who originated the movement were some who honestly believed that they were merely advocating municipal freedom, and others who thought that the existence of the Republic was threatened by a reactionary Assembly; but the control eventually fell into the hands of revolutionaries whose aim it was to destroy the foundations of society. It showed human nature at its worst, and the ferocity of the reprisals on the part of the Government created almost as much repulsion as the outrages which had provoked them. Now, however, with the restoration of order, a new era was about to dawn; the ceaseless disasters which had overwhelmed the country since the end of July, 1870, had come to an end, and within an almost incredibly short period, France recovered that place amongst the great nations of the world, which seemed at one time to have been irretrievably lost.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] Representative at Tours of the French Foreign Office.

[24] 'Memoirs of Sir Robert Morier.'

[25] Minister at Madrid; subsequently Ambassador at Constantinople.

[26] Col. the Honble. Percy Fielding.

[27] Now Sir Frank Lascelles, G.C.B.

[28] Now Lord de Saumarez.

END OF VOL. I.

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LORD LYONS.

A Record of British Diplomacy.

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The late Lord Lyons was not only the most prominent but the most trusted English diplomatist of his day, and so great was the confidence felt in his ability that he was paid the unique compliment of being offered the post of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

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AUTHOR OF "A GROUP OF SCOTTISH WOMEN," "THE MOTHER OF PARLIAMENTS," ETC.

_With Portraits. Demy 8vo._ =10s. 6d. net.=

It is perhaps unlikely that any two individuals will agree as to the proper definition of the term "A Splendid Failure"--a phrase of which the origin would appear to be obscure. It may, however, be roughly stated that the "Splendid Failures" of the past divide themselves naturally into three classes: those whom their contemporaries invested with a fictitious or exaggerated splendour which posterity is quite unable to comprehend or appreciate; those whom the modern world regards with admiration--but who signally failed in impressing the men of their own generation; and those who, gifted with genius and inspired with lofty ideals, never justified the world's high opinion of their talents or fulfilled the promise of their early days. In this volume of biographical essays, the author of "A Group of Scottish Women" and other popular works has dealt with a selection of "splendid failures" of whose personal history the public knows but little, though well acquainted with their names. Wolfe Tone, "the first of the Fenians"; Benjamin Haydon, the "Cockney Raphael"; Toussaint L'Ouverture, the "Napoleon of San Domingo"; William Betty, the "Infant Roscius"; and "Champagne" Townshend, the politician of Pitt's day, may be included under this category. The reader cannot fail to be interested in that account which the author gives of the ill-fated Archduke Maximilian's attempt to found a Mexican monarchy; in his careful review of the work and character of Hartley Coleridge; and in his biographical study of George Smythe, that friend of Disraeli whom the statesman-novelist took as his model for the hero of "Coningsby." This book, which should appeal strongly to all readers of literary essays, is illustrated with eight excellent portraits.

THE CORINTHIAN YACHTSMAN'S HANDBOOK.

By FRANCIS B. COOKE.

_With 20 Folding Plates of Designs for Yachts, and numerous black and white Illustrations. Demy 8vo._ =10s. 6d. net.=

This new handbook covers the sport of yachting in all its branches. The writer, who has had many years' experience of cruising and racing in yachts and boats of all types, has treated the subject in a thoroughly practical manner. The book is divided into six parts.

In Part I., which deals with the selection of a yacht, the various types and rigs suitable for Corinthian yachting are discussed. The designing and building of new craft are also dealt with at some length, and designs and descriptions of a number of up-to-date small cruisers are given.

In Part II. some hints are given as to where to station the yacht. All available headquarters within easy reach of London are described, and the advantages and disadvantages of each pointed out.