round your chiefs, for it is the only means of escaping ruin and the domination of the foreigner."
"Ernest Picard,
"Minister of the Interior.
"D'aurelle,
General Commanding-in-Chief of the National Guards of the Seine."
Events of great importance were occurring in other
parts of the city, away from the principal scene of disturbance.
As early as nine o'clock A. M., groups were
formed in the square before the Hotel de Ville, discussing
the events of the morning. The words "treason" and
"coup d'etat" being frequently heard. At about half past
eleven a battalion of the line and one of the National
Guard, headed by their drums and carrying their muskets
upside down, arrived to protest against the attack at
Montmartre. Cries of "Vive la ligne!" "Vive la Republique!"
were heard on all sides, when suddenly a shot
was fired by an individual in plain clothes. The mob
rushed on the aggressor, who was at once seized; some persons
were for throwing him into the river, but moderate
counsels prevailed and he was removed in custody. Another
well-dressed person, about sixty, took advantage of
a moment of silence to raise the cry of "Vive l'Empereur!"
"A bas la Republique!" In an instant he was knocked
down and maltreated by the mob, his clothes being torn
to shreds. The Office of Public Assistance and the Octroi
were occupied by regiments of the line, whilst artillery
and cavalry were massed in the Place of the Hotel de
Ville. But when calm became re-established General Vinoy
ordered them to be sent to other points. Later in the
afternoon another deputation, of about 200 officers of the
National Guard, line, and franc-tireurs, and accompanying
several individuals, wounded in the Rue Legendre, came
to protest against the "surprise" and "treason" of Montmartre.
