Porte Maillot was before the triumphal arch at the top of the Champs Elysées. The most formidable, however, was that on the Place d'Italie. Those at Montmartre and Belleville had their guns pointed on the interior of the city, instead of being turned to the exterior, showing that in that quarter more fear was entertained of an attack from within than from without.
The Chief of the Executive Power determined, before commencing the finishing stroke for the subjection of the insurgents, to make a final appeal to the Parisians; he caused, therefore, the following proclamation to be circulated:
"Parisians:—France, freely consulted, elected a Government
which is the only legal one—the only one which
can command obedience, if Government be not an empty
word. This Government has given to you the same
rights which are enjoyed by Lyons, Marseilles, Toulouse,
and Bordeaux. Without departing from the principle of
equality, you cannot demand greater rights than are
possessed by the other cities of the territory. It is the
government of the Commune—that is; of the minority—which
oppresses you; and, while daring to cover itself
with the infamous red flag, claims to impose its will upon
France. By its works you can judge of the régime which
it proposes to inflict upon you; it violates the rights of
property, imprisons citizens to use them as hostages, converts
your streets and public places into deserts, puts a
stop to all work in Paris, paralyzes it throughout all
France, arrests the prosperity which was about to revive,
retards the evacuation of our territory by the Germans,
and exposes you to a renewed attack from them, which
they declare they are ready to commence without mercy
if we do not contrive by ourselves to put down the
insurrection. We have ourselves listened to all the delega-
