THE EMEUTE IN PARIS. [From the 'Times, June 26.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 340, 4 November 1848, Page 3

THE EMEUTE IN PARIS. [From the 'Times, June 26.]

- Friday, half- past 4t o'clock. - "A thunder-storm of , the most, violent kind hasTcorae to the aid of the Government iv suppressing this revolt. ,1 have-.-rarely seen more vivid lightning, and never saw more heavy rain. We >shall see if it will have the sedative effects which tradition ascribes to bad weather. ■ "It is time I should now turn to the alleged cause of this insurrection. I can only fiud it ascribed to the discontent of the ouvriers at the proposed dispersion of them by Government, , This ( ,measure has never ceased to ,l)e,regarded as fraught with fearful possibilities, nor have the Communists and other UJtra- Republicans ever ceased to prepare far, turning it to the.advantage of "their owi projects. The Sections are obviously among the insurgents. Little has been. said ■qbout Louis Napoleon. Another more significant and more sinister feature is percep.- ' tible in this insurrection, — namely,, the appearance of , the red flag on the barricades of the Faubourg St. Antoine. /' Paris is in a state of siege : General Cavaignac is the sole depository of power. The Executive Commission is np more ; all the Ministers have resigned., " Since the date of my despatch of last night cannon and musketry have not ceased^ to resound through Paris. The insurgents may be said to be everywhere, but principally in the Faubourgs Poissonniere, St. Martin,' and Si. Antoine,' on the right bank p£°the river, in ' the Island,' and in the (Quarter of StV'Jacques and St., Victor oh t.he left. " The figging that lias taken place since the date of my 'letter of yesterday evening has been on both sides of the most determined character. The insurgents, which composes, I believe, the' whole force of the Sectrans" and of the Communists, fight with a courage, a coolness, and at the same time an enthusiasm that would immortalise men in a good cause. The exaltte believed that the Republic was not proceeding in the true line, as you have been long aware, and determined on putting an end to the ' pale' government bfTNIM. Lamartine and his colleagues, and on replacing it by the Rcpubliquk Rouge. They have been notoriously Jong engaged' in preparations for establishing'the Republic of 1.792, with its guillotine ;<od other appendage's of horrible memory, 4nd but for the premature occurrence of the 16th of May a niigh't? ultimatelyhave'succeedcd; That they wiil not now succeedl Bare not assert, brit there' are accidents possible which -would -give them the victory. ■ "IBesi'des'the combatants on principle — as'"- 1' snail 1 term ' the Communists and Sections — there are 'tens of thousands of people who* were absolutely famishing, or who seek ttt have Continued to" them the stipend which they have hitherto received: f6r 'doing nothing. ' I'hese meni the ' Red ? ' Republicans have adrbitKr 1 - provoked into the revolt, and they fight with, a desperation which raises them to a level with their instigators of the drapeau rouge. " "'That there are many amongst the insurgents who fight because they suffered from, hunger, is, I fear, but too true.' J J have just now seen a most respectable gentleman, who. last night, after the firing had in a great measure ceased, traversed the Faubourg St. Victor. . He found in that quarter 500 barricaded' finished, or in construction. ■ He spoke to the men who -were worlungc.at. or guarding them, and found

them civil, but determined to the last point , ' of resolution. He asked one of them, * Why 1 j are you engaged in this dreadful occupation? The man folded his arms and looked at him for some minutes, and then said, ' Because | I starve;- I, have a wife and four' children; I j receive at the mayoralty twenty- two sous per day. That does not suffice to buy bread for us, cheap as bread is. Come with me to my home, and you shall have the proof. 'After you shall have seen my family I will return" to this barricade. lam hungry, but I will 1 not eat. I shall fall /fighting. (Je mejerai tuer.y The gentleman accompanied him to his home; which was wretched in the extreme, and found the wife and children of the poor man without food. He gave them money, but he could not dissuade the husband and father from returning to the barricade. " To give you a notion of the audacity cf the insurgents, I shall here mention one fact that occurred, I may say, under my eyes.' At half-past eight o'clock this morning, a man en blouse, mounted on an excellent horse, arrived at a smart trot on the Boulevard dcs Italiens, nearly opposite the Opera Comique. He there encountered a body of the National Guards of the 2d Legion, who desired him to stopi They approached to seize the reins of his horse, when, raising his blouse, he produced .a brace of pistols, arid fired upon them right and "left. He then put spurs to his horse, and went at full gallop towards the Madeleine. On arriving at the Hottl dcs Affaires Etrangeres of unfortunate memory, he found that his flight towards the Madeleine was impossible. He turned down the Rue Neuve dcs Capucins, and eudeavoured to pass through the Place Vendome. He was there stopped by a mass of National Guards, made prisoner, and — I am told— shot ; but this 1 cannot vouch for. " Having spoken of^the 1 insurgents, I may now say ot the National Guards that they have conducted themselves manfully. The}' are generally speaking, as much broken down in spirit by the prevailing suspension of trade as are the working classes. They have political opinions, some of them adverse to the existing order of things, but they haye a strong desire to establish and maintain order while they protect their homes and all that remains of their property, which every man believes to be'unequivocally menaced by the present insurrection, I was among the ranks of one legion (the second) yesterday,. and never saw men more obviously determined to conduct themselves creditably. It was about twelve o'clock, ' Where are you going ?' asked a fiiend of a field officer of the legion. 'We are going to attack the barricade of the s Porte • St. Denis,' said he, 'Do all your men know* the service in which they are to be engaged ?' ' Every man of them, and you see how quiet and unpretending they are.' And to the truth of this I bear testimony. They marched, and were from that hour until late at night engaged in fighting at the Porte St. Denis, the Porte St. Martin, and above all. in the Faubourgs St. Martin and Poissonniere. "In the Place La Fayette, close to the 1 terminus of the Northern Railroad, there occurred yesterday and this day a succession of conflicts, or rather a continued conflict of the most murderous kind, each party evincing the most unshrinking courage. : ' ' " The conduct of the legions has been similarly admirable, and everywhere they have maintained a resolute resistance. They have,been admirably supported by the troops of the line, and by the Gardes Mobiles. Of : some of the latter there are rumours in circulation unfavourable to their fidelity, but I have this from' no authentic source. I saw one of them carried up the Faubourg St. Honore this morning with a ball in his thigh, and- about the .same spot just now saw a fine, young man of most distinguished appearance, a National Guard, .conveyed with much care in the same direction,, to the, Hospital Beaujon. "The Boulevards and all the principal streets are swept clean of passengers. • Men en blouse in considerable numbers had continued to arrive in town since 5 o'clock this , morning, and have no doubt swelled the ranks cf the insurgents, but there appears to be at stop 'to the further arrival of such visitors for one sees \er,y few of them now. Paris 'looks — in the quarters in which there is no fighting— like a city must appear when ravished withthe plague. There are very few passengers, and those few with the < most tristc expression on their countenances. The Boulevards and principal streets are here and there dotted with' parties of National- Guards, r The corners of all the streets are 'guarded by bodies of the same force; In .the neighbourhood of the Place de la Concorde there are' Cuirassiers who perform that duty. In the Place itself' there is <an army. . , . „.■■,; / . LV.At.this (3o'clock) there, is, perhaps,. less firing than, during some/hours;

but I kitow not yet to what cause to ascribe I thfe comparative cessation. I understand that the points principally contested are still the' Place Lafayette, the Faubourg Poissonniere, the Cite (the Isle St. Louis, &c;,)» the Rue- and Faubourg St. Jacques, (inoluding the Pays Latin, the Places de l'Ecole de Medicine and of the Pantheon). At an early hour this forenoon the insurgents occupied the Church of St. Jacques. They j were, I was told, summoned by General Cavaignac to surrender, but refused. I shall give you an hoar for consideration,' said the General, with his usual cold tone and manner. 'At the end of that time the church shall be stormed.' I know not what has been the result, further than that the hour had long elapsed when my informant left, and the insurgents were still in the possession of the church. "A similar speech is said to have been addressed by him to the insurgents in that focus of the insurrection — the Cite. 'I give you till 4 o'clock,' the General is reported to have said. 'If you still resist I will bombard the quarter.' —*• 'In fact, howitzers and mortars have arrived from Vincennes for the purpose. ; "If reinforcements for the insurgents have ceased to arrive, such is not the case with respect to the authorities, I met at- seven j o'clock yesterday evening a regiment of in- , fantry (2500 men), who had just marched ! in from the country. During the night j others are said to have arrived. Last night and this morning, the generate and the ra/jpel were beaten in all the towns in the vicinity of Paris, and this day National Guards from all quarters have been pour.ng in. Among them are those of Rouen and Amiens. The latter brought with them some pieces of cannon, which I have just been told had been captured by the insurgents. "It is not amiss to observe that about one o'clock to-day deputations of the National Assembly visited the points at which the conflicts were in progress to exhort the troops and National Guards to continued exertion and to thank them for their conduct. In some instances they were accompanied by students of the Polytechnic .and other military schools. "4 o'clock. " If it were difficult to approach the fighting quarters this morning, it is now impossible. There is not a single man out of uniform to be seen on the whole line of the Boulevards. All who present themselves to pass. to their dwellings are stopped by the National Guards, and in suspicious cases searched, as it has been ascertained that ammunition has been passed to the insurgents by persons apparently unconnected with them. Several women have been arrested, whose pockets were filled with cartridges. "The wound of M. Thayer, has, I regret to say, proved mortal. He died this morning. ' M. Bixio has been killed ; M. Cave, the celebrated engineer, is said to have fallen ; the wounds of General Bedeau and of M. Clement Thomas are but slight ; General Lamoriciere whose conduct in these two days has been most exemplary, is said to have been killed, but it is not generally believed. Half- past 4 o'clock. " There is increased enthusiasm observable among the National Guards. " The following proclamation was posted in Paris on Friday afternoon :—: — " FRENCH REPUBLIC. 4 ' The National Assembly and Commission of the Executive Government. " The President of the National Assembly and the Commission of the Executive Government decree, that General Cavaignac, Minister of War, is' invested with the command in chief of the armed force in Paris — the National Guards, the Garde Mobile, and the armed Republican Guard. " Unity of command, "Obedience. • " Force will be with the law, " The President of the National Assembly, i Sexart. j " The members of the Commission of the Executive Government, — " Abago, " Marie, "Gamier Pages. " Lamartine, "Ledru Rollin/' " M. Lamartine, on horseback, followed by M. Duclerc. and * numerous staff, returned to the National assembly at half-past 8 o'clock on Friday afternoon. He was' accompanied by a considerable multitude of operatives, who cried, ' The Democratic and social Republic for ever.' "At 9 o'clock a regiment of Cuirassiers and the National Guard Boulogne entered .Paris together by the Barrier de l'Etoile. \ "A portion of th» rails of the not them 'railroad' between. Paris and St. Denis were removed by the' people on Friday to prevent' the arrival of troops from Pontoitt* and Amitns.

" Along with the Paris papers of yesterday we have received the following letter from our correspondent: — " Sunday, June 25, 6 o'clock a.m. "As it was reported early last night that there were symptoms perceptible of the intention of the insurgents to relinquish the~con-* flict in which they had l beeh for two days env. gaged, a momentary sensation of relief was experienced ; but the satisfaction that would have been fell was sadly modified by the aspect at every moment of wounded National Guards led or carried along the. Boulevards. At 10 ' o'clock it became, rather generally known that the insurgents had entertained no notion whatever of retiring from the contest. They were fatigued, and, like the National Guards, and troops, availed themselves of a lull in the tempest to seek a little repose. This intelligence dissipated the hope that had begun to be entertained, and being accompanied by a rumour, or an apprehension, that the insurgents would attempt to execute their' threat of burning Paris, prepared us for an agitated night. Even had that menace been wanting, however, the constant passing ofpatrolcs, "expresses, and bodies of troops and National Guards throughout the night, and their challenges and replies, would have rendered sleep impossible. "After I had 4 closed my despatch y ester-, . day evening I met and conversed with several National Guards coming from the barricades. 1 learned that the people still held out in all the principal points of this (the northern) portion of the metropolis. Their great positions were, one at the top of the Faubourg Poissonniere and at the Barriere Rochechoucut. At most of the other intervening barriers between those and the barriers dv Trone, they had rh'rcwu up formidable barricades which they manned to overflow. The description given me of the barricade at the summit of the Faubourg Poissonniere, and the manner in which it had been maintained throughout the day, suggested painful sensations if not fearful forebodings. Not only was the barricade construe ed in the strongest possible way, but it was enfiladed and covered by crowds of insurgents in the houses in its vicinity. From these they kept up a deadly fire on the National Guards and troops who attacked 'he barricade, and who were necessarily exposed to the fire of their adversaries. The barricade itself was defended with a courage and zsang froid that bore no imprint of hesitation or wavering. "7 o'clock. " At half-past 5 o'clock this morning, the drummers of the National Guard of all Paris began beating the gtniiale, thus removing all doubt that the contest would be renewed. la fact, it had already commenced by attempts to reconstruct the barricades of the Porte and Faubourg St. Denis, but they were defeated, and the men who had commenced forming them were' quickly dispersed by the armed force. " Since six o'clock they have been fighting at many poiuts, but especially in the Place Bandoyer, at the rear of the Hotel de Ville. The noise of musketry and cannon is occasionally distinctly heard. " The question may suggest itself ' Why do you not ascertain the facts V The answer is, that I attempted just now to pass from the Boulevard Montmartre into the Rue Vivienne and was refused permission. At the moment when I was remonstrating, M. Emile de Girardin came up, and was in the same manner denied permission to pass, but on exhibiting his card and declaring his quality of Redac* teur mi chef de la Presse, he was suffered to proceed in the direction of his own bureau. "9 o'clock. " The fighting is still going ou. I know not how it is with respect to the insurgents, but there have arrived 40.000 more troops of the line and National Guards from the provinces during the night. At this moment two regiments of infantry of the line are pass* ing along the Boulevards, just arrived, they *re covered with mud, and are loudly cheered by the National Guards, to whom they reply with enthusiasm. Their appearance will have a vast effect on the National Guards ■ whose spirits were possibly beginning to be affected by the incidents of the last two days. - " You will have no other letter from me till to-morrow. The Commissary of Police has just given notice that every door must be closed at 12 o'clock, and that no person whatever will be suffered to appear in the streets after that hour. General Cavaignac is determined, in fact, on a last and great effort to quell the insurrection. It will be a fearful struggles All the troops within twenty-fire leagues of Paris are ordered to march on the capital. The utmost enthusiasm is said to pervade the National of the departments, so that every moment will bring reinforcements to the army and National Guards of Paris. , . " The notice to keep withia doers is significant. It is as much as to say that every man out of uniform seen will be treated as aa 'enemy, and the most terrible mean* taken for extinguishing the insurrection. ,- jgej ua .

"T» is im^rtssiMe to-ft>'nn an idpa of the nnmb'T of k>!led and worm \ei\ on both sides. Itii.TJonr *ays between sflOO anrl 10.000. " You are aware ihat ihe re'l flig l)<»s been by the insurrrenrs. The- war cry of the jNation >1 Guards snd troops has been '.Vivelaßepybligne/'' That of the insurgents, • Vive la RepubUque Democratigue el Sociale!' The name.of^Louis Nupoleon has not been pronounced since yesterday. A few cries of ' Vive Barbes !' have been heard, but they were not general."