The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-23
ROCHEFORT.
Whut Was to Have Been Done with Him
nnd How lie Was Arrested - The Barri-


have told you, and he is now in st. Pelagie
Prison.
However facle may be the conversion Of Pre-
fects Ia Saul to Projects Ia Paul, OF Orleanist
to Liberal Imperialists, and of Liberals such as
NJ. Olivier to humble servants of the empire,
they have hard task before them who expect
to make anything less gentle or less willy than
an inquisitor-general outof Father Pietri. Who
can fancy him acting otherwise than by means
of plots, subterfuges disguises, and the rest
OF the mysterious engnery by which he has
made the secret police q superstitious
terror to the crowd. The army, whose soldiers,
mute, sullen regardful, meet one at every turn,
mighty and overwhelming force welded
by the hand of one man, the despotic instrument
OF q despot, presents itself as material warn
ing and threat. The police force, in its sombre
garb, half soldier half priest, rs silent, as sui
len, and regardful as the soldier, has a greater
air of mystery, and suggests q more pervading
power. Both these powers are irresponsible to
public opinion, and perfectly regardless of it,
and between the bright uniform of the soldier,
from which the eye cannot escape and which
makes point in every Partisan prospect, and
the dark dress of the police officer who, always
present, is never seen till close at hand, a
force is brought to bear on this people that thus
far has succeeded in making them Il race of
slaves. All their wit, all their cultivation, all
their wealth, all that makes the assertion seem
ridiculous, avail nothing against the logic of
facts. Slaves they have been trained to be-
slaves they are, and slaves they must remain for
many long year to come. l declare to you
that often, in my WEAKNESS of spirit with the
watching this perpetual domination of tyranny,
poor little Concord, with its one Emerson,
seems to be worth all Paris, aud the State that
could produce Lincoln worth all France.
To come back to Rocheforts arrest. 1t was
managed in this way. 1t was believed that he
would be arrested after the adjournment of the
sitting OF the Chamber on the 1th instant. He
had been notified that the time allowed him
after the pronouncing of his sentence had ex-
pircd, and he was invited to deliver himself up
prisoner. He, in terms not quite so polite,
refused to do SO, and, going to the Chambers,
took his seat in his accustomed place.
A conference on the subject of Voltaire had
been announced for that night, by Messrs
Flourens and Rochefort, and you may well be-
lieye that there was q tremendous crowd col
lected about the Sale de In Rue de Flandres,
where the conference was to take place 1t was
a demonstrative crowd, too making no pre-
tense to conceal its sympathies and filling the
air with the MdrSeitlaise, the Hampton, cries of
rEmptre, &c., &c. Flourens arrived first,
and making his way to the hall with
difficulty, announced that Rechefort was
certainly coming, and tried to keep up their
spirits by assuring them that the Government
wouldn't dare TO arrest Deputy. Meanwhile
Rochefort reached the street in which the Hall
is situated, and dismounting from his cab was
making his way through the crowd, when few
police officers disguised as OucrierS seized him,
crying, ''Vive Rochefort," and mounting him
upon their shoulders were surrounded by a cor
don of other pretended curriers', and in this way
pushed along towards gate that barred pas
sage opening nearly opposite the Hall
lei with the Rue dc Flandres. This
passage, of which the crowd was either igno-
rant or had forgotten, had been probably fixed
upon by the police for their purpose, and the
trick was no doubt very cleverly managed AS
soon as Rochefort had been got inside the gate
it was shut and locked, and the police with their
prisoner hurried along to the other end. Here
there is another fence with gate, and the police
ordered the concierge to unlock it, which she
did with good deal of reluctance, but 'twould
be bold man or woman in Paris who would
long debate with policeman, so the gate was
opened and there stood voiture that had been
made ready, into which the captors and their
victim entered and drove rapidly off to the
prison.
Meanwhile the news quietly reached the hall
that Rochefort was taken, and created great
excitement. NJ. Flourens, whom you may
remember as the one who disputed with Roche
fort about taking the body of Victor Noir to
Paris, had now no one to dispute his right of
initiative, and he took il boldly in a way for
which ! greatly fear he will suffer severely.
the revolution begun" and discharged
it in the air. The Commissionaire of
Police declaring the meeting dissolved,
the crowd became furious, and began to maui
and hustle that supernumerary. He was in
danger of his life, when Flourens, seizing him
by the collar and presenting his pistol to his
heart, told him he was dead man If he spoke
He then exchanged his pistol for sword which
he drew from a sword-cane, and waving il about
his head, drew the whole crowd after him into
| the street. Strangely enough, there was no
| force visible either of soldiery or of police,
| there being even fewer of these last than is
ordinary, and no attempt was made even to
disturb Flourens, who, still holding the COM
missaire, marched along the street in the
midst of the mob, filling the air with shouts and
cries for vengeance. The non-appearance
of the military seemed to inspire them
with about equal hope and fear, and in spite of
| the noise and seeming fury, there was a want
of that deep emotion and feeling that filled them
on the day of Victor Noir's funeral. If Roche
fort were a different man, and If Flourens had
been different man-two deadly ''ifs, you see
the issue of that night would have also been
vastly different. 'Twould be long to tell all the
events of the night, and as they have thus far
led TO nothing, will not go into them in detail
A few feeble attempts at barricades were made
the passengers being ordered TO descend
| from two omnibuses, the vehicles banged
over on their sides, and a rude, in
effectHal barrer constructed with them, and
| the loose stones about a building going up near
| by In other places, cabs were more or less
| politely emptied of their occupants and tipped
| up in the same fashion, but when 1t came to
manning the barricades the stuff was wanting
| When the soldiers came on the ground, the
ouyriers, and am sorry to say M. Flourens
| with them, disappeared from the scene
| The truth is that for any eifectual move
ment OF this sort - If indeed any such
] mOVanant ha anu lon1ar nro I'm paria-