During the night of Friday, the docks of LA VILLETTE, and the warehouses of the DOUANE, the GRENIER D’ABONDANCE and the GOBELINS were all burning! So great was the glare that small print could be read as far off as Versailles, even on that side of the town towards Meudon and Ville d’Avray.
THE DOME OF THE INVALIDES.—This was placed in imminent danger. Mines were laid on all sides, but their positions were discovered, and the electric wires out which were to have communicated the spark.
THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.—When the noise of the fusillade and cannonading ceased, the Place de la Concorde was a scene of absolute desolation. On all sides lay broken pieces of candelabra, balustrades, paving-stones, asphalte, and heaps of earth. The water-nymphs and Tritons of the fountains were much mutilated, and the statue of the town of Lille—one of the eight gigantic, seated figures of the principal towns of France, which form a prominent ornament to the Place, the work of Pradier, and a likeness of one of the Orleans princesses-lay shivered on the ground.
THE ARC DE L’ETOILE.—The triumphal arch bears many scars, but none of them of much importance. On the façade looking towards Courbevoie, the great bas-relief by Etex, representing “War,” was struck by three shells; the group of “Peace” received only the fragment of one. Here and there, in the bas-relief representing the “Passage of the Bridge of Areole,” and the “Taking of Alexandra,” some traces of balls are visible. On the whole, no irremediable hum is done here. Rude’s masterpiece, “The Marseillaise,” is untouched.
THE PALACE OF INDUSTRY.—Rumour says Courbet had, among other projects, formed an idea of demolishing the Palace of Industry. The painted windows of the great nave have received no serious injury. The bas-relief of the main façade, picturing Industry and the Arts offering their products to the universal exhibitions, has several of its figures mutilated. The same has happened to the colossal group by Diebolt—France offering laurel crowns to Art and Industry.
THE TUILERIES.—Felix Pyat, in the Vengeur, proposed converting the Palace of the Tuileries into a school for the children of soldiers. He says:—“They have taken possession by the work and activity that reign there; a whole floor is filled with tools and activity, and converted into workshops for the construction of messenger balloons. King Labour is enthroned there. I recognised there among the workmen an exile of the revolutionary Commune of London. The workmen and the proscribed at the Tuileries! From the prison of London to the palace of the Tuileries. It is well!” But in the heart of the Commune the soul of the Vengeur underwent a change, and insisted on the complete destruction of the “infamous pile.”
The portion of the building overlooking the river was alone preserved. The roofing is destroyed, but the façade is but little injured, the only work of art damaged here being a pediment by M. Carrier-Belleuse, representing “Agriculture.” Fortunately the Government of the Fourth of September had sent all the most precious things to the Garde-Meuble (Stores); but how can the magnificent Gobelins tapestry, the fine ceilings, the works of Charles Lebrun, of Pierre Mignard, of Coypel, of Francisque Meillet, of Coysevox, of Girardon, and of many others, and the exquisite Salon des Roses be replaced?
The Tuileries burnt for three days, and ten days afterwards the ruins blazed forth anew near the Pavillon de Flore. Not only did the devouring fire threaten to destroy inestimable treasures, but on Monday a number of men carrying slow matches, and led by a man named Napias-Piquet, made all their preparations to set fire to several points of the museum of the Louvre, and two of the guardians were shot. This Napias-Piquet threatened to make of the whole quarter of the Louvre one great conflagration. He was taken and shot, and in his pocket was found a note of his breakfast of the preceding day, amounting to 57 francs 80 centimes.
THE LOUVRE.—The preservation of the museum was due to the strong masonry, and the thick walls of the new portion of the building, on which the raging flames could make no impression. But it ran other risks: when the troops entered the building, they planted the tricolour on the clock pavilion, which served as an object for the insurgents’ aim. It was immediately removed, however, when this was perceived. It was generally believed that the galleries of the Louvre contained all their art treasures. This was not the case; prior to the first siege the most precious of the contents had been carefully packed and conveyed to the arsenal of Brest, where they safely reposed, but many very admirable works remained.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE (Treasury).—On the 22nd of May, the official journal of the Commune published a note declaring that the certificates of stock and the stock books (grand livre) would be burnt within forty-eight hours. The Commune was annoyed at the publicity given to this note, and a violent debate took place in its council in consequence. On this occasion Paschal Grousset uttered the following:—