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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Hie commune of paius.

ITS ORIGIN.
Yeak by year as the 18th of March comos round it is tho custom with
Socialists to commemorate the proclamation of the Commune of Paris.
While this isas it should be, it is doubtful if tho younger generation
of Socialists in Britain aro quite conversant with the history of that
memorable and misunderstood uprising of tho Fourth Estate. Indeed,
it is possible that the older generation of Socialists have something to
learn regarding the Commune. The story of thoso stormy happenings
has rarely, if ever, been dispassionately told. The two months during
which the Commune lasted are generally regarded as a period of more-
murder and unreason, a saturnalia of bloodshed and turmoil such a^
could occur only in frenzied France. Socialist* are frequently met
with the objection: "Your principles wero tested by the Commune,
and they failed utterly then, as they would fail again were any com
munity foolish enough to put them to the trial." Even Socialists
themselves, if thoy have not studied the history of tho Commune, are
inclined to speak apologetically of the Communards or to leave the
Commune and all connected with it severely and distrustfully alone.
This state of feeling towards a perfectly natural and legitimate move
ment has largely to be attributed to tho circumstance that our idea
of the Commune has been acquired from the' bourgeois nowspaper press
and the scissors-and-paste historian. It is true that the revolutionist?
of '71 have had their own historians ;* but in this country, at any
rate, the version of the Commune which has been generally received
is the version given by its enemies rather than tho one given by its
friend*. As a Socialist, I am a friend of the Commune; but, believing
that gravo mistakes were made, I know of no reason why they should
not be admitted. To confess ourselves in the wrong is' a necessary
preliminary to putting ourselves in the right. Enough of heroism,
enough of public spiritedness were manifested in those days to relieve
us from the necessity of feeling ashamed of our revolutionary fore-
runners ; and to those who look below the surface of things, the grand
central fact — that the movement had justice and even a certain sort of
necessity behind it — makes itself abundantly clear. It has been my
privilege and very great pleasure to come into contact with mon who
took an active and important part in the insurrection : conversation
and correspondence with these has stimulated me to a closer study of
the annals of the movoment as written by both sides ; and the special
intorost which I havo taken in this first attempt of the Proletariate to
gain possession of the machinery of government must be my justification
lor writing.
1 wish you to try and go back with me to the spring of 1871. The
war has just come to an end. After seven months of severe fighting,
France lies torn and bleeding at the feet of Germany. On the 1st of
• Liasagarny, M., "History of the Commune ; " Arnould, Arthur, "Histoire
populaire et parliaraentaire de la Commune de Paris;" Vesinier, M., "History
of the Commune of Paris;" Roesel's "Posthumous Papers," trans. London, 1872.

March tho Prussian army marched through Paris to tho strains of the
hated " Wacht am Rhoin," tho populaco looking sullenly on, tho shops
boing closed, and tho papers appearing with black bordors as a sign
of mourning for tho degradation of their city and their country.
During a siego of fivo months tho Parisians had ondurod much, and
tho prosonco of tho victorious invader in thnir own gay city — "the
contro of tho arts, of scionco, and of civilization" — was lo them not
the loast of the indignities to which they hud-been subjected.
The National Guards — a voluntoor force— still remained under
arms, and from tho heights of Belleville and Montmartro their cannon
frowned upon tho boulevards traversed by tho legions of tho conqueror.
During all this time tho Assembly is sitting at Bordeaux; and the
" rurals" — that is, tho provincial mombcrs — talk of docapi talking Paris,
and removing from it the bureaux of State and tho Supreme Court.
But it was neither tho presence of the conqueror nor the insults of
the Assembly that ultimately roused the workers of Parit, aud caused
the proclamation of the Commune. While the siege lasted famine and
famine prices had ruled, industry had been dislocated, and the monts-
dt-piete (municipal pawn-offices) were filled with the household goods,
wearing apparel, and working tools of the people. To intensify the
distress many thousands of the workers had beon obliged to forsake
their callings and assist as National Guards in the defence of the city
against the Germans, receiving as pay thirty sous (fifteen pence) a day.
As soon as the siege of Paris by the Germans was at an end, the land
lords, disregarding the abject poverty of the people, began to press for
payment of arrears of rent accumulated during thejjrne_ of^ siege, and
even to distrain on their tenants. The National Guards, who, with
their Central Committee, were masters of the nity at. this time, m^ in
revolt at these proceedings, and a no-rent watchword went round the
working-class quarters of Paris. This did not exactly mean, aB has
been represented, that the National Guards had declared against pay
ment of rent for all time ; although from a Socialist point of view the
workmen who had built the houses and laid out' the streets of Paris
would have done nothing very outrageous had they declared absolutely
Against the payment of rent to men who had never handled a pick or a
shovel, a trowel or a hammer. JThe National Guards, however, were
not all Socialists then, any more than the penplo generally arn now;
and what the no-rent declaration meant with most of them was merely
that they would not paV rent situated as they then were.
These were not by any means the only grievances under which the
workers of Paris rankled. Apart from the widespread disgust at the '
manner in which the campaign with Germany had been conducted, it
was believed that during the siege of Paris the public distribution oF
jjrovjsions bad been cbaracterisedjby gross unfairness. While plenty of
the necessaries and even the luxuries of life were dealt out to the well-
to-do, the poor could only with great difficulty procure the barest supply
of cag-mag meat and the vilest bread ever baked. I have heard my
friend Leo Melliet say there was everything in that bread except flour,
and then he adds in his characteristic, paradoxical way that there might
even be flour in it which had got there by accident, so careless were they
in the preparation of it. Add to this the daily circulation of rumours that
ihe Republic is in danger from Monarchist, Imperialist, and OrleaniBt

factions, and it is not surprising that tho inllammablo Parisians should
be in a ferment of. discontent, or that the National Guards should
refuse to lay down thoir arms.
Viewed from a.Btrictlyj^nBJafailJxmal point-of-vioro, the National
Guards acted rebelliously andundomocraticalLy-ijijefu8ingiolay_down
their arms at the request of an executive and a parliament"^lectedliT
the wholo of Franco, ljut Paris had initiated many "rovohitions^" and
f;he provinces had endorsed and ovon welcomed tho "action oTthecapital
city, as tho provinces wohld proTTably havo dono" again had tho Com
munards succeeded. Lndoed, as things are, any "revolution" can be
justified by its success, although there is surely another standard by
which to judge a movement. There worn many Socialists in. Paris in
-thosedays, both among tho popular leaders and th" rank-and-file; and
=at a time when most Socialists believed that their principles would be
roalised as the outcome of an insurrectionary movement,' the members
of the International in 1871 may ho forgiven for making an attempt
which we can now see was premature. And yet tho incidents which
follow show that tho Communo was not moroly a rising of Socialists for
-Socialistic purposes.
There were, as has beon indicated, a number of Socialists at the
hoad of tho rising ; and in the press tho Socialist, view of the crisis was
much in evidonco. But the Council of tho Communo, on the whole,
¦was no more Socialist than are tho Trades (In ion Congresses which
.pass Socialist resolutions, in fact, tho parallel" between the two
bodios is in one respect very close. Every trade unionist knows that
•the Congress is always more Socialistic than the Unions, whoso
members laugh at the mere mention of Socialism in their trado
meetings ; and just as tho Congress is mom Socialistic than tho
Unions it represents, so the Communal Council was more Socialistic
than the general body oftho workers ot 1'aris" ThlTTrades Union
'Congress doos not meet expressly for Socialistic purposes, nor was the
-Commune of Paris called into existence expressly for Socialistic-
purposes. Indeed, it is admitted even by tho enomy that there never
would have been a Commune had the Assembly been prepared to
.grant to the Parisians a Municipal Council.
For oighty years Paris had boon govornod by buroaurrats olected by
ihe Government or the Emperor of tho day. Tho head of the
municipality was the Prefect of the Soino, an official so entirely free
from democratic responsibility that ho could tax the citizens, spend
their money, and refuse, as he regularly did, to issue any balance sheet
-showing how the taxes were expended. In fact, the position of Paris
under the Empire had been infinitely worse than the position of
London under the old, corrupt Metropolitan Board of Works.
Now that Napoleon had abdicated, and that tho Republic had beem
proclaimed, tjie_ workers. _ of __Paris naturally considered the time
opportune for demanding the recognition of those civic rlghtswhich
ffieTofher municipalities "of France" en] oved eyen_at thaJLJimiL- The
National Guards, through their Central Committee, elected by the
battalions, refused to disband until the Assembly should grant a civic
•constitution to Paris. This the Assembly seemed loth to do. It
^distrusted the people, and feared the result of a municipal election.
Deputations passed to and fro between Paris and the Assembly,

which by this limo had romoved to VerBailles; but no understanding-
could be arrived at as to the eloctions. At lasUhe authorities thought
to dispose of thojemands^of the OjmtraTCommittoe by disarming ~lne-
National Guards, of af any rate by faking "frdfn^h^lTielr ; guns. "~
Now, the cannons in possession of tho National Guards had been'
procured at thoir own expense and wero their own "proplsrtyy ancTthey
were consequently justifiedlir wishing to retain possession of them.
Accordingly when, on Hie morning of the 18th of March, two rogiments
^Jyill?-?-^6!6.-51^* to_seizo^h^guns at Bellovillc an(ITd"oritmartre, .
the troops, ashamecTof their_mission, fraternised with tho citizen
soldiers of the .Rational "Guard", arid "refused to obey their officors. In
the5yents5JuclijFoTIb5fi3^^ woro shot,
a pioce of summary execution which the Central Committee afterward*
condemned. Paris wa* now unmistakeably in tho hands of tho Eed llepublirans,
as tho~Dommuiiargs^w'ore callediromtKe colour orthoir Hag. Buf "even
at this stage the members of the Central Committee, so far from seeking
to abuse their power, showed the utmost anxiety to have the elections-
proceed. On tho 26th they issued a manifesto assembling the citizens
in their comitia* for the elections. The closing paragraph of this
document is' as follows : —
Avoid those whom fortune has too greatly favoured ; for it but seldom
happens that he who possesses fortune in able to look upon the working man ai»
his brother. Seek men with sincere convictions, men of the people, resolute and
active, who are well known for their sense of justice and honesty. Give your
preference- to those who do not canvass for your suffrages. Modesty is true
merit. It is for tho electors to know their men, not for the candidates themselves
to come forward.
This is not the language usually employed by "demagogues," nor;
is the policy recommended that of noisy self-seekers.

ITS PEOGEESS.
On the 28th the Commune wasformally proclaimed in front of the-
Hotel de Ville — tno scene being, one of great enthusiasm; and the
Communal Council had no sooner been elected_that Jhe Central Com
mittee abdicatecTIts powers.
Among the first enactments of the Commune were tho enfranchise-
of lodgers, the abolition of conscription for the regular army, and the
enforcement on all capable men of the conscription to serve in the
National Guards if required. Better still, to the people who had
pledged their clothing, tools, and furniture with the monts-de-piete-
during the long distress of the siege the Communal Council returned
their belongings without repayment of the money advanced on them.
On the 00th the Commune repudiated the Government of Versailles,
at the same time declaring for a Federal Eepublic composed of self-
governing Communes. The following manifesto explaining the posi
tion of the Commune was issued at a later date : —
* The French have always had a fondness for ancient Roman titles. The-
comitia Were, in Paris, as in Rome, popular assemblies for the election of officers-
In Rome they had the additional privilege of making minor laws.

What does Paris demand V Khe demands the recognition and consolidation
of the Republic, and the absolute autonomy of the Commune extended to all
pi vcos in France. . . . Tim autonomy is equal for all Commuiira who are adherents
¦of the contract, the association of which ought to secure the unity of Prance
Tne inherent rights of the Commune aro to vote the Communal budget of receipts
mid expenses, and improving and alteration of taxes, the direction of local
s rviccs, the organization of tho magistracy, internal police, and education ; and
to secure the administration of the property belonging to the Commune ; the
choice by election or competition, with the responsibility and permanent right of
control and revocation, of the Communal magistrates and officials of all classes ¦
'the absolute guarantee of individual liberty and libeityof couscience, and the
•permanent intervention of the citizens in Communal affairs by the free manifesta
tion of their ideas and the free defence of their interests. Guarantees are given-
to those manifestations by the Commune, who alone arc charged with securing
tho free and just exercise ot the right of meeting and publicity. The organiza
tion of urban defence and of the National Guard, which elects its chiefs, end*
alone watches over the maintenance of order in the city, is also dc-mandei.
Paris wishes nothing more under the head of local guarantees, on :he well under
stood condition of regaining, in a grand central administration and delegation
from the Federal Communes, the realisation and practice of those principles ;
but, in favour of her autonomy, and profiting by her liberty of action, she
reserves to herself to bring about, as may seem good to her, administrative and
economic reforms which the people demand, and to create -such institutions as
may serve to develop and further education. Produce, exchange, and credit
have to universaliso power and property according to the necessities of the
¦moment, the wishes of those interested, aud the data furnished by experience.
Our enemies deceive themselves, or deceive tho country, when they accuse
Paris of desiring to impose its will and supremacy upon the rest of the nation,
and to aspire to a dictatorship which would be a veritable attempt to overthrow
the independence and sovereignty of other Communes. They deceive themselves
when they accuse Paris of seeking the destruction of French unity established by
the revolution. The unity which has been imposed upon us up to the present by
the Empire, tho Monarchy, and Parliamentary Government is nothing but
centralization, despotic, unintelligent, arbitrary, and onerous. The political
unity, as desired by Paris, is a voluntary association of all local initiatives, and
free and spontaneous co-operation of all individual energies with the common
object of the well-being, liberty, aud security of all. The Communal revolution
I initiated by the people on .the 18th_of-Mnroh inaugurated 'a~new era in politics —
experimental, positive, and scientific. It was the end of the old governmental
Ttnd clerical world, of military supremacy, of bureaucracy, and jobbing in
monopolies and privileges, to which the proletariat owed its slavery and the
country its misfortunes and disasters. The strife between Paris and Versailles is
one of those that cannot be ended by an illusory compromise ; the. issue 6hould
riot be doubtful. The victory fought for with such indomitable energy by the
Commune will remain with the idea aud with the right. We appeal to France,
which knows that Paris in arms possesses as much calm as bravery. Paris is only
in arms in consequence of her devotion to liberty ; and the glory of all in France
.ought to cause this bloody conflict to cease.
;It is for France to disarm Versailles „ by. a solemn manifestation of her
irresistible1 wiTJL— Summoned to pfdffl; by our conquests, she" should declare herself
identified with our efforts ; she should be our ally in the contest, which can only
.end by the triumph of the Communal idea, or the ruin of Paris. As for ourselves,
.citizens of Paris, we have a mission to accomplish — a modern revolution — the
greatest and most fruitful of all those which have illuminated history. It is our
.duty to fight and conquer.*
By this time the Commune had been proclaimed also at Lyons,
'Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Narbonne— a fact which testifies to the
natural and spontaneous character of the movement.
" A heavy indictment has been framed against the Communards on
the ground of wanton destruction of publio buildings and monuments.
• "Official Journal" of the Commune, April 20, 1871.

Tho burning of the Tuileries, the levelling of tho Vcndomo Column,
the pumping of petroleum on burning buildings by the fire brigade,
the exploits of tho so-called " petrolouses " — all these and many other
deeds, real and imaginary, have been used to inflame the civilised world
against the Parisians.
It is true the Palace of the Tuileries was burned by order of the-
Commune. * But while we need not approve of tho destruction of -
anything that can bo turned to a useful purpose, tho Commune was
not 'without its reasons for the destruction of the Tuileries. AT a
royal_palacq_the Tuileries was associated in the minds of the Eepub-
Ecans -with some of the most detestable features of the ancien regime.
Its halls and corridors, its gardens and statues and fountains were"
replete with associations of the Louises and Napoleons, the Dubarriea
and Pompadours, of Marie Antoinette and tho Empress Eugenie — in.
short, of all the crowd of kings and queens and courtiers and harlots-
who had robbed, tortured, and murdered the French people for cen
turies. The Eepublicans said: "While the nest is there the birds-
always come back again. Let us away with it. Let us make sure
that to this nest at least they will not come back again." And while
they destroyed the Tuileries, they were so little actuated by mere wanton
vandalism, that they took every precaution to save tho galleries of the
Louvre, that ancient and splendid museum of art treasures, which
stood closely contiguous to the Palace. Against the wall of the Louvre
standing next to the doomed building they piled sandbags, at the same
time setting fire to the Tuilleries on that side, so that tho name's might
travel away from the edifice they wished to save. Tho Tuileries was
a heavy, ugly structure, and as its site is now occupied by one of the
finest of the many fine parks and gardens of Paris, there is nothing to
regret in tho loss of the royal palace which fell at the hands of the
Commune. "With respect to the destruction of the Vend ome Column, there were
even more cogent reasons for that step than for theTrurning of the
Tuileries. This monument had been erected to commemorate the
-TijrtorkSjjruilLp*rtg_o^ of ihe_ first_Napoleon . Tho Com
munards argued that at a time when they were tryjng_ to lever their
connection with the old, bad past; when they^ffereendeavouring to
inaugurate an era in-which national jealousies, national rivalriei^and
national_ejimitiea wxjuld_jao_.lpn.ger__exi_st, it was an anacbrTmism that
iEey shuuM-have standing in_qne_of their public places a monument
symbolising and perpetuating that which^ev_BjuigMJo_ _aboliBh and
forget. Even the hostile historians admit that this jingoistic column
was in questionable taste. Manure and earth were laid down to the
depth of several feet in order to break the violence of the concussion,.
Mid chains having been fastened around it, this huge piece of masonry,
standing 155 feet high, was in a few seconds brought to the grounds
It was proposed by a member of the Commune that in the Place Yen-
dome^ column should be erected to celebrate the victories of Peace ;¦
«^tfelrrniches"o_rthe walls around the square statues of such men
• There appears to be tome dispute as to the burning of the Tuileries.
Some -writers speak of it sb having been destroyed by Versailles shellt ; but that
-is an error. Ihe account given here is founded on infoimation mpplied by a **U
ftowm Communard, and ia well supported hy other authorities.

'+/¦

as Socrates, Bruno, Galileo Harvey, Newton, and other pioneers
ol peaceful progress, should be placedr, This proposal, however, was
never carried out. The demolition of the VendSme Column was decreed
about the middle of April (though it did not take place till the i 6th of
May), and by this time the members of the Communo had found much
to do besides the work of legislation and internal administration.
Iney had to defend their city; (|or the Parliament at Versailles had
despatched an army against it. y
But before passing on to such brief account as I shall give of the
events of the siege, a word may bo permitted regarding the other charge
1 have referred to— framoly, that relating to the petroleuses.- On this
head 1 merely quotelhe opinion of tho regular Paris correspondent of
the Daily News, whose interest naturally would not lie in making out a
case for the Communards. In a communication published in that
journal on the 10th of February, 1872, the writer said:—
No conclusive case has all this while ever been made out agairst a single
petroleuse. ,A Versaillese court martial, presided over by a notoriously reddens
^president, who has been superseded, did indeed sentence three women to death
without any evidence fit to hang a cat upon ; but the sentence has been com
muted. Ferre, who died at Satory by the side of llossal, did, I believe, take an
active part in the execution of the hostages ; aud the evidence on this point has
been materially added to since his trial. But the evidence of his having written
the famous despatch " Faitct flamber ftnancci" (set fire to the Treasury) was of
the most suspicious Character, and rested upon » paper produced by the police,
without any explanation of where it came from, it was proved that "a" fire at
the Treasury was caused by Versaillese shells, and the allegation that the firemen,
while professing to . throw . water on the flames, threw petroleum from their
engines, was too ridiculous and too contrary to established facts to be relied
upon by the courfo I have attended all the most important courts-martial at
( Versailles, and have never yet seen a clear case of arson established against any
prisoner. The vilest women who could be hunted out in all Paris were
brought forward and charged with the crime of throwing petroleum on
buildings and setting fire to them. Those women were photographed,
petroleum-can in hand, and the police circulated the photographs with
the distinct intention of inflaming the public mind against the Com
mune, bo as to excuse in some measure the enormities perpetrated by
the forces of law and order.
^On the 3ifit_felix Pyat recommended an advance upon Versailles,
where M. Thiers and his Executive were marshalling an army to send
against Paris. The Communal leaders did not approve of opening up
hostilities, and so did not follow Pyat's advice. Indeed, there seems
to have been on both sides considerable reluctance to enter upon actual
civil war. But the inevitable could not long be delayed. Onjbe 1st
of April Lan encounter took place between the army of the_Cornmune
and the. Versailles troops at Oourbevoie — the Communards being
defeated and driven back on the outlying forts. Two days later a
similar reverse was experienced at N eiiill^^FIoureris and L>uval. two
oTthe three Communal generals in the field, being killed during or
alter the engagement. It appears that thus early in the day the
Communards had lost or had^jbjradonedjthe^ fortresses of Issy and
Mont Valerien, which were immediately occupied by Government
troops. This had taken place without the Communards being made
aware of it until, passing within range on the day of the engagement

at Nouilly, the forts opened a deadly fire upon them, doing frightful
havoc. The Communal troops appear to have been vory badly officered in
jgenerai ; though men like Dombrowski, Clusoret, and Eossel "Had
seen service in different parts of the world. It very soon became
apparent that the defeat of the volunteer army of the Commune was
but a matter of time. The correspondents of English papers who had
been through the late war declared that the fighting between the-
opposing forces was more deadly and desperate than anything they
had witnessed in the campaign with the Germans. In spite of the
want of training and discipline on the side of the citizen soldiers, every
inch of the way to Paris was hotly and determinedly contested. It
was said by eye witnesses that if the soldiers of the French line had
fought the Germans with the same savage determination they displayed
against their own countrymen, the franco-Prussian war might have
had a greatly different result.
,Tho utmost severity was shown to all prisoners taken by the
Versaillese, many of them being shot down without trial on the field
of battle after all resistance had ceased with them. The officers of
the Commune, driven to desperation by tho reports received of the
massacre of prisoners by the enemy, at last gave notice to Marshal
Macmahon, the commander-in-chief, S.hat hostages would be taken
from among the well-to-do classes of Paris (who opposed the Communo),/
and for every Communal prisoner who was shot two of their hostages
would suffer a like penalty. Among the hostages seized by tho soldiers '
of the Commune were : the Archbishop of Paris, the President of
the Court of Cassation (that is, the highest Court in Prance— the
Court having tho power to casser, "to break," the decisions of the
inferior Courts), with a number of bankers, lawyers, and wealthy
merchants. These gentlemen were, on their own testimony, treated
very well in the matter of food, though it has been used against the
Communards that they gave them only the ordinary prison accommo-
dation.v The alleged taunting and jeering of Monseigneur Darboy,
tbe Archbishop, by the Guards, was, if true, in the worst possible
taste; though to say the least, points of taste must take rather a
subordinate place in times of civil war. The arrest of these personages,
and the threat of reprisals which had been sent to Marshal Macmahon,
stopped for a time the wholesale massacre of Communal prisoners.
1 As has been stated, the volunteer soldiers had rather the worst of
it at the outset. As the campaign advanced, however, they stood
their ground with wonderful firmness, were steady under fire, and m
skirmishing were quick to seize upon any natural advantages which
the ground offered them. In attack they had all the dash of the
regular French troops, and some of the forts, such as Jssy_and Parte
^Maillot, were taken by the regulars and retaken by the Communards
again and again within the same day. JDombmwsku.a Pole, who had
seen service under Garibaldi, and in an insurrection of the Poles
against Eussia, was the Hfe and soul of the defence, especially towards
the end. Jtossel, the strategist of the Commune, left Pans after the
fbsTlew weeks' of fightiFgrand several other changes in the stall
of officers took place, although the entire campaign began and ended
•inside of two months. Indeed, it seems tolerably clear that the

9
¦generals of the Commune had a rather awkward timo of it with the
amiable, impracticable, and dividod members of the Communal Council.
On the departure of JRossel, the post of Delegate at War (or War
Minister) fell upon Delescluze, one of the most striking figures in the
•-struggle. His days and nights were spent in sleepless activity ; and
with his gift of oratory, his years, his dignity of manner, and his
revolutionary zeal, he exercised, as we learn from all quarters, a
powerful influence over his colleagues in tho Council.
WJule__the. hostilities. are Jbeing thus savagely conducted around i
Paris, the city itself is in a state of unexampled tranquillity. A news- i
paper correspondent, writing from Paris about the middle of April, '
says : "In such a state of society it might be expected that individuals
would take advantage of public disturbance and the dislocation of
authority, to pursue their own private ends, robbing and killing at
their pleasure. But here, on the contrary, tho people are so well behaved
> (putting their political passions out of account) th.it I never frit more
secure than I do now. What dangers threaten us are the dangers
arising from political passion and not those which come__of_private .
hate_or cupidity. And as times go the people are wonderfully civil. !
X have "brushed up against the wild, unkempt National Guards of
Belleville again and again. I have always found them, and all the
¦ officials of the Commune, exceedingly good-humoured and genial. :
.Under the old order of things I should expect from a sentinel a rough 1
answer, or from a doorkeeper a listless, lazy, unwilling look. Now
the sentinel 'citizens' me and I 'citizen' him; but our little'
colloquy goes on in the easiest terms." The theory put forward by the
vXI/ommunards to account for the absenco of crime in tho city was that
the thieves and prostitutos having all gone to Versailles, where the
victims of the one and the patrons of the othor were now to bo found,
"thoro were few or no criminals in the city to cause disorder.
'- pnJhoJ^tli_ofA,pril-the-property<)f--tho Church .was communised by
proclamation. The proceedings of the Parisians about_thisjtimejgera.
hot veryefignified or judicial. AU the priests in the district of Mont-
martre were put under arrest, a proceeding which was about as un
democratic as the suppression of the journals which criticised the Com
mune. In his paper the Mot d' Ordre, Eochefort published an article
in which he said that he not only did not disavow the support he had
.given to the ransacking of the churches, but if he knew of any other
treasure belonging to the clergy, he would indicate it to the Commune.
" Our eternal belief," he went on, " is that Jesus having been born in
a stable, the only treasure that Notre Dame ought to possess is a
bundle of straw. As for the goods of the Church, we do not hesitate to '-
declare them national property for the single reason that they proceed
from the generosity of those to whom the Church has promised Paradise^
and the (promise of imaginary returns made to obtain any property is?
J qualified as swindling by every code. . . . 'Tout purse or hell! such
Lis, in the present day, the only programme of the Catholic clergy; and
-as the French nation no longer believes in hell, it is natural that m case
of need it should take back the purse." The spirit of such a statement
is not exactly what a Socialist would wish to see even in dealing with
the Church of Rome ; but that Church has done much to bring upon
herself the reverses she has sustained in France again and again m

10

i mios of revolt. In the choir of the cathedral at Manchester the
monkish architect has placed a piece of grotesque carving representing
a monkey administering the last sacrament to a dying man, while
other monkeys are engaged in purloining his valuables. The monkish
architect ought to havo known how far this was a fair allegory. It
certainly would apply to the Church in France; and it is difficult to get
up any indignation at the spectacle of the monkeys being subjected to
monkey-tricks at the hands of the Communards, even if one does dis
approve of the precise manner of the expropriation.

ITS FALL.
By the beginning of May the lino of attack was drawing closer and
closer around Paris. The_~dofoat of tho Commune was now only a
question of a very short timo. A great b'trat.-'gist has paid that a
gnrrisoifwhieh" does not attack is bound sooner or latir to bo reduced.
When one consi'dorsThe determined resistance that had been made at
tho first line of defence, it causos somo surprise to loarn that tho second
line of defence was unexpectedly abandoned. It was chargod against
Dombrowski that he betrayed the cause of tho Commune, but,
considering that he afterwards died fighting at the barricades within
the city, there does not seem to be much foundation for the charge.
On the morning of the 21st of May tho Parliamentary troops, much to
ffioiFTfiirprise, found the trenches and bastions at the Porto de St.
Cloud abandoned, and the way into the city by that gate perfectly
open and undefended. At three o'clock in the afternoon the Vorsaillese
army entered Paris ; and, as showing the unconquerable gaiety of the
Parisians, it may be mentioned that while the troops were filing into
the city a concert on behalf of the widows and orphans of men who
had fallen in the service of the Commune was being held in one of the
public parks. (Shortly before this a truce of twelve hours had one day
been declared between the combatants. The Parisians, true to their
character, came out by rail from the city in large numbers to see the
position of the forces, tho amount of damage done, and to exchange
civilities with their friends in both camps). For a week after theentry
of the VcrsailIeso(the street fighting rontinued^drmidable barricades
having beon thrown up in ltli~direct ions ; and_over 30,000 persons
I were shot and bayoneted_by the army of Taw arid" order ^before M.
Thiers could_armounciLi!tie^ur^pre8sion_of_th^e^ommune.
— Towards the end a most regrejtabhrjstep was taken by a party of
the * insurgents, wh"67 'when they realised that the CommuBe was
doomed,, dragged forth the ATcTJbish]^p7P^iBjicrth"e other hostages
and shofahem dead on Ihe "spotJ^The Communal Council as a body
was really nbT responsible! or thisbutchery of helpless non-combatants.
By this tune the IC^munghad "ceased To sit, the delegates having gone
off to their'respective distriotsto fake their (share in the street fighting.
'-,' Tb^r^Rsacre-in the "streets by the regular "troops was_p_roceeding with
intense ferocity ; and the guards who, dragged out and murdered the
bngflgfls wore goaded to madness by the slaughter of their fellow-
crHzens jnd the coDSciousnesB of their own impending doom.
— Oh the S8th the veteran Deksclyjte, when he saw that all hope of -
saving the Commniie was at an end, with the deliberate purpose of

11
meeting death, sprang upon the barricado behind which ho had been
fighting. Aged, and suffering from a "mortal malady," ho no longer
carod to live. His sorone face and bared head and breast wore for a
moment seon above the smoke ; but it was only for a moment. He
fell pierced with five bullets, for he had mounted the barricade at a
point directly opposite a street along which ran a perfect river of shot
and flame. Shortly boforo his doath ho had told his colleagues at the
Hotel de Villo that tho causo of tho Communo was uttorly lost, and
that the time had como for them to show that,(hnving urged on others ¦
to fight and die, they were ready to do the same thomnolvcs. "For
me, he said, "I feel that my last struggle against Monarchy and
Imperialism has come to an end. I shall die myself, I know ; but I
feel convinced that for every drop shed of mine and the Commune's
blood, <£ve men will one day spring forward to avenge us, and to
establish in a few years that which, owing to our backward education,
we have failod to establish now." , /•,>< .>¦¦"' ¦¦"'<'
The thirst of the well-to-do classes for the blood of the Communards
was insatiable. The latter were tried and shot in batches. The
victims were buried by the score in shallow pits, and so littlo caro was
taken to even properly despatch the prisoners that in some cases legs
and arms would be seen protruding out of tho earth after burial, being
caBt up in the final death throes, (fhoso who were spared from the
executioners wore sent out in hundreds to Now Caledonia, many of
"them dying on the passage in consequence of the treatment they
received, others meeting their end from the privations endured in the
penal settlement, where no proper provision was made for their
reception and maintenance. The butchery of the prisoners was only
stopped when the country was threatened with a plague resulting from
the number of dead bodies lying imperfectly buried. Thus the
Government which would not stay its hand from humanity was at last
induced to stay its hand from fear.
Many of the insurgents escaped into Belgium, Switzerland, and
elsewhere. A number came' "to Britain. Victor Hugo, then residing
within Belgian territory, got into trouble for entertaining some of the
fugitives. He wrote at the time : " The Belgian Government charges
me with harbouring Communards. Yes, I do Belgium that honour.
All who participated in the rising were proscribed French territory,
until in 1878 an amnesty was declared, so that Communards may now
^freely return to France and to Paris; ,.,.., t ^
Such, in outline necessarily bald and brief, is the story of the
Commune of Paris. At the time it was not without its defenders^
England. Frederic Harrison, Professor Beesly, and John Stuart Mill
protested against the atrocities perpetrated by the Government troops
"~-ft protest in which great demonstrations of the London workmen
united; and while the Commune still reigned Mr Harrison, m the
pages of the Fortnightly Review, explained and defended the policy
of the Commune. But quite the most vigorous defence of the Commune
came from a Frenchman of some social standing, whose letter to a
Mend was published anonymously in the Baily^w, The writer jm
described as an eminent member of the scientific world, who had been
elected to the National Assembly, but who resigned immediately after
Sving nis vote against the Trtaty of Peace with Germany. In the

12

opinion of that writer the civil war was tho work of tho Assembly.
iho conflict, hejioliovod, might havo boon averted had tho Chamber
laotimtely proclaimed tho Eopublic, instead of accepting it provisionally,
and at the same time hampering it with innumerable conditions ; had
tho seat of tho Assembly boon removod to Paris; had tho municipal
"? V? °u i .capital ^een recognised); and had a law been passed
^ykT^b^raing with the_ quostion of rents; should have thrown on
the provinces that had escaped the invaders some part of the burden
borne by Paris during the long sioge. """ Instead of This,"" continued
the writer ,'' y the Assembly jet slip no opportunity of manifesting its
hatred of Paris ana ot the KepubEc.~ It prevented Garibaldi from
speaking ; (if howled down VicTorJHugp ;'| it proclaimed by the mouths
of those whom it allowed to speak Jihat -its-intention was to decapitalize
Paris ; and whenjn the committee rooms it was replied to these over
bearing orators: 'You wish, then, _f or civil war.y_L.they answered:
'If civirwM'ai;ifce3--if_Paris_ro.b_clsTrr;we will crush her.' . That was
not enough: Paris was wise and gave no sign. But it was necessary
to bring about, as~in J une," TS:18, "ahTnsufr ection," in order to have an
excuse for smothering tho Eepublic. It was uocessary, moreover, that
the signal for this insurrection should not bo the proclamation of a
monarchy, for such a step would havo roused evory city in France.
What, then, did the Executive do ? It named Vinoy governor of
Paris — Vinoy, the mitrailleur of the 2nd Docember ; it named (Valentin
Prefect of Police, and d'Aurelles de Paladines commander-in-chief of
the National Guard ; and, as a crowning insult, it endeavoured to'
(disarm the National Guard under pretence of recognising them. The
Parisians, accordingly, in the view of this writer, were fully justified
in rising against the Assembly. His sympathies were not wholly with
the Commune ;_bnt, he felt that if the Commune succumbed the
EepvTblic_wa5jQat^_and__thatihe -restoration ofa" monarchy. ih~ France,
where the monarchical feeling had disappeared, would be the death of
the country.. This forecast was not fulfilled. The Commune did suc
cumb and the Eepublic was notlosfT but it would be difficult to say
whatcourse events might have taken had the _ insurrection not broken
-out.

ITS MEANING.
And now a few words as to the meaning of the Commune to us
to-day.
r The revolt was open to the objection that may be urged against
Imost insurrections. It was an attempt to impose the will of a minority
Ion a large majority of the people. The Socialists in the Commune
ihust have realised at times that the people of France were not pre
pared for even the small instalments of Socialism which they sought
•to introduce. They knew that the " rurals," representing the large
majority of the people of France, were monarchists in politics, indivi
dualists in economics, and Catholics in theology. They made the
j mistake of supposing that the troops of the line would fraternise with
I their soldiers, and that the Communal reyolt would become in time a
[national rebellion. Now, the Versaillese troops were as far as possible

1,1
from sympathising with the Socialism of tho Communo. Even while-
serving a Eepublic and drawing its pay, some of tho regiments of the
line charged tho Communards with tho cry of "Long live the king," and
the barbarity with which aU the regular troops acted in the suppression.
of the revolt was enough to show that there was small Socialistic
feeling amongst thorn. The revolutionists may have thought to impose)
their policy upon France by a mere coup-de-main, as Abraham Lincoln
freed the slaves of America by a proclamation not worth the parch-
ment it was written upon, as the lawyers now declare. But Lincoln
know that ho had a strong body of public opinion behind him, whereas
the Communards must have known that tho Assembly, with all its
distrust of the Eepublic and of Paris, really represented the prepon
derance of French opinion. So far as there was anything deliberate
about the Communo at all, it was _an_jj,ttampt to carry with a rush!
a policy which coidd only find favour with- tho "people gradually,-
as the result pJL&QMd. propaganda and successful experiment ini
details. „/
The Commune shows the radical difference there is between a"
, revolt and a revolution. A revolt may overturn a dynasty, burn
chateaux, abolish chattel slavery, or emancipate serfs, but a revolution
requires construction as well as destruction, and social construction
must necessarily be a slow and carefully-tended growth. Eevolutions-
take years, perhaps ages, to accomplish, and the occasional eruptions
of men with arms in their hands aro only incidents, sometimes quite
minor ones, in the progress of the world's revolutions. J
Those who discuss the evolution of society tell us, rightly enough,
that in the course of the world's progress communities passed from
chattel slavery into serfdom, and that from serfdom they went on to
political freedom, associated with economic slavery ; yet, while describing
how painful and gradual the development through these various stages
' has been, certain historians of the social evolution still appear to enter
tain the ideafihat we can, all in one day or in one year, be turned over from
rthe state of individualism and monopoly straight away into the cities
TtgE the Commune and the glorious time to be. Some Socialists talk of
slavery and serfdom " buckling down " about tho ears of tho dominant
class, and the inference drawn is that individualism will buckle down
suddenly also. Now, neither slavory nor serfdom buckled down.
Slavery was indeed abolished in America by summary edict ; but in
some parts of the world it continues yet. Even in civilised France
serfdom was not abolished till the Eevolution of 1 789, while in Eussia
it lasted till the sixties of the present century. In England the feudal
system and serfdom began to break up on the cessation of the Wars
¦ , of the Eoses in 1485 — that is, something over 400 years ago; but
; Newcastle colliers were, up to the middle of last century, sold along-
with the mines in which they worked, and up to the middle of last-
century the clan system and vassalage still subsisted in Scotland ; so
that if serfdom took 300 years to get itself abolished, it can hardly be
said to have "buckled down." If individualism take as long to
\ 'buckle down" as slavery and serfdom did, the trade of brigandage
'is safe for many and many ageneration. I do not believe i^ will — it
is the hope of my life that it will not-^-but I want men and women
who are Socialists to be serious in their Socialism ; to imagine as few

11

vain things as posstblo ; to mako up thoir minds that tho Eovolution
will como in its own way and in its own good ti.no; and to bestow
their energy ,n tho right direction. ..Tho work of mating an end of
slavery by tho building up of Colloctivo control and Socialistic
administration is one requiring infinite patience, pei-sovorance, tact,
aim, above all things, knowledge. / — !="
It was easyjor Abraham Lincoln to declarejtho slaves free : it was
not so ena^to order the institutions of America so that tho emancipated
blacks could avail thomselvos of their froodom to gain the livolihood of
free mon and womon. As a matter of fact, thoy continued to work for
their former masters in many cases for a smaller share of the neces
saries of life than they enjoyed as Blaves, while as wage slaves they
had not tho security of employment and a living that they had as
chattel Blaves. dtwas equally easy for Alexander II. to emancipate the
Eussian serfs ; but they aro as much tied to the noil as over they were,
.while as free men to-day they are raising rye and oats to be shipped
from the Black Sea and Baltic ports at starvation prices, their own
food consisting of coarse rye meal and auroch grass mixed up with
water into a kind of mash. It.ia..easy- to .abolish, to destroy ; at least
" lhe_formal abplition.of a certain disability is easy enough. But as the
_great Comte said, "nothing is destroyed until it is replaced"; and we
cannot destroy Individualism until we have reared our Socialistic
( superstructure, or at least a large part of it, side by side with Indi-
' vidualism. We must beat it gradually out of the field; for it cannot
i be destroyed in a day. Whether we like or not, we must reconcile
ourselves sooner or later to the idea that Socialism is not a fixed state
, that will be established some day once and for all. Like the theo
logian's Kingdom of God, it is a growing and a becoming. The
! process of growth, of transformation, is already long begun ; and if
this were adequately realised we should be saved from much of the
sort of criticism of current attempts at Collectivism which we have
become accustomed to see lately. The constant sneering at "gas and
water Socialism"; the unmeasured attacks on the policy of the Pro
gressives in the London County Council, who, to my mind, are doing
their best in very difficult circumstances ; the frequent talk of using
force, as if the workers were anxious that the necessity and the oppor
tunity for using force should arise* — all this and much more shows
that the catastrophic idea of Socialism dies hard in some quarters.
The gas and water Socialism is, in the domain of accomplished realities,
the best sort of Socialism we have got as yet ; and if our municipalities
would only do as well for all branches of the public service aa they
have done with the gas and water we should be one great stride on tho
road to Socialism.
If the people know what they want they can begin to have it now
I without fighting. The idea in the head is worth everything : the
bullet in the rifle is worth nothing or less than nothing. When in a
* Even our French comrades do not seem to he tired of " barricades " yet.
The brilliant and now famous speech on " Collectivism " delivered in the French
Chamber some months ago by Jules Guesde, is, in my opinion, marred by the
assurance given to the Right and Centre that " we shall he quite at your service,
elsewhere upon the day when it shall suit your convenience to force as, by your
axwamnlated provocations, into the necessity of taking revolutionary actioa."

15
democratically governed country peoplo takejip arms in civil war it is
lli*Ui -I-~ mga 5lt"0I*-inal-i;hn7.i(?---aPt Jcnow-what thojrjv^~5i_elBe
thnt_they do not understand how to set about gotting it. The attempt
to secure~Sdcialism by force in a country under majority rule would
indicate that we distrusted our power to get it by reason, argumont,
and numerical strength ; and when it is a minority which resorts to ,
force, its attempt bocomos an attempt at despotism. A revolt is a
letting loose of the powers of unreason and violonco, and" 'low things
are truer than that those who tako to the sword_usually_perisli_by tho
8 word. IF was so with' Wat Tyler in England," tho Anabaptists in
¦Germany, and Masaniollo in Naples (though those had no choice but
rebel) ; it was so with the Marquis of Montrose in Scotland, with
Eobespiorre, Mirabeau, Danton, and Marat in tho First French
Eovolution; and it was so with the Communards. 1 Revolutionists of
the catastrophic sort seldom succood any bettor than did the men of
'71. The English revolt of 1 G2o-88 was successful only in rivetting
upon the people of England the ouo-man despotism of Cromwell ; and
in his latter days oven he, all powerful as ho was, went armed beneath
his clothes in constant dread of tho assassin. He and his co-
revolutionists lived to make England a republic, but it was a republic
of bigots and hypocrites, and it was no wonder that shortly after his
-death all England went mad with joy over the return of tho profligate
Charles the Second. /And so greatly was Cromwell beloved by the
pec- pie, that his body Ws taken from the grave and hanged in chairis.
~~In France again, from the delirious freedom of the first great revolu
tion, the fickle mob, which knew not what it wanted, went wild with
jingoistic enthusiasm over the Firat__Na_poleon, making him more
a king, granting him greater powers than had been held by the
Bourbons against whom they revolted but a few years before. So it
will be always till the people know what they want, and, knowing,
have the patience to work and to wait for the realization of their ideal,
and the clearness of perception to recognise the Ideal as by degrees it
•ahapes itself into the Actual. This_ is the lesson I deduoe from the
history of the. Commune of Paris, and it is a lesson, not of despair, but
¦of hope. A lesson enjoining not headlong zeal and fighting ardour,
but intelligent, temperate, and tactful propaganda, combined with
steady, careful, systematic electioneering. The only reason why we
have not Socialism in Britain is because we have not a majority or
¦even a large minority of Socialists. Tho way to got Socialism is,
therefore, to make Socialists. Without a majority of the people
-trained to a knowledge of, or at least sympathy with, Socialism, revolt
would be nseloss. With such a majority, revolt would be needless.
But the revolt of '71 means something more to us than this. And
here I am glad to pass from criticism to commendation, from blame'.to
praise. The Commune Vas the firef assertion of the "right "of the
municipality to administer within" its own boundsall that a munid-
pjlitycajri_manage better than a National ParliamouTcanT Itjsalled
attention to the need for that -decentralization of tho functions of
Government wWch^wiU-iijLfoundjb^olutely necessary with thejneroase
In the spEereof colleotive control. It was an assertion of the sovereignty
of the civic parliament within its owrTTerritory. ICailwaya, jnines,
igvers7"oanal8, postal and telegraphic arrangements, t^junatjonjjiefenci.,

1G
the ^administration of justice in the supromo courts frno_of local
i^ilUl^lMlse are ^.rropor_objo"cta of national control and national
administration. TJut the actual business of production " and distribu-
*,2?':wi' 'Vh,> m«»f important functions of society, must be left in
tlujJmndsoT fho Oommunos. And bocausejhe Communo of Paris first
asserfedTlIo solf-suffieioncy of tho ..Communo as the natural and work
able aggregate of population, subject to Federal control for national
purposes, it is valuablo _as_ representing a political rather than an
economjcidoaj -l^.TooqueymoJms^^llsiudi-'^ ia jn the romm..™
that the force of a free people resides."
but the uommune of Paris stands for something more than cold,
abstract principles either in politics or economics. It was in the
Commune that we saw manifested as never before tho strong compelling
force of a secular altruism. Without hope of heaven and without fear
of hell, men lived ancLdiedior the idea of a. hjotborboojl nf aoijL^verllrnr.-
and_self -respecting men and women . For this idea Dombrowski f ought5,
, cool and collected to the end.jreading, talking, eaiihg^and giving orders
while shot and BheTrflew^rounoThim on every hand, and his life was in
momentary danger. To this idea Delescluze devotodlhis. iife,_and- for
it wore a bold and dignified front through long nights of vigil and days
ofjpain. And this consecration to the ideal was not confined to the
generals and leaders. T.t nerved and strengthened tho^ranE^ahd,,
fiie as well. A sergeant of the Guards was asked as he stood
at his barricade whehall around "were retreating'; Whyirg-stsyed' there
to await certain death. And his "answer was that he did it "pour
\e solidarile de la genre humaiti" — " for ~the" solidarity of the whole
humarx-jace." While, therefore, we grieve over the atheistical intolerance and
brutality of the men who spoke of sending the Archbishop to his
Paradise, and the murderous lust of those who finally shot the
defenceless old man, let us remember the heroism of the defence, the
sufferings of the prisoners, the oppression that had caused the
uprising, and the unselfish devotion to an ideal which we now seek to
realise by the more excellent way of peaceful propaganda. No great
cause can afford to forget its martyrs ; and we have reason to remember
and be thankful for ours. Just because they greatly hoped and
gloriously erred and fought and died in those early spring days, so
many years ago it is the easier for us to be brave in the altered condi
tions wherein our work has now to be done. Where they were strong
we can be stronger for the example they set ; for the capabilities of.
human daring and enduring are made up of all suffering and tradition.
of heroism that went before. Chastened by their failure as if it had
been our own, yet devoid of the combatant's rancour of defeat, we may
learn to be wise where they were wilful, to be patient and unflagging;
in our efforts whether in partial success or in temporary failure.
' Named and nameless all live in us ; one and all they lead us yet ;
Every pain to count for nothing, every sorrow to forget.
¦ - Hearken how they cry, O happy, happy ye that ye ¦wereJ^wrrTr.r7psp~«.
In the sad, slow night's departing, in the rising of th<^*ii!Jf'lvfc"S/p,
Fair' the crown the cause hath for you, well to die of weJJ^R li24 1 <*39
Through the battle, through the tangle, peace to gain or peace to give.