The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-05-29

| sand Lives Sacrined-One-;biro OIL rarts
Destroyed.
| The Paris instruction is completely sup
pressed After week of most desperate
fighting in the streets of the capital the sue
cess of the government forces Is announced
and victory proclaimed. With the glad an
nouncement that this unholy rebellion has
been crushed by the armies Of republican
France come, the painful tidings that the gray
haired Archbishop of Paris has been massa-
cred. Archbishop Darboy, q sketch of whose
life was published in the HERALD when the
first rumors Of his assassination were received,
along with the Able Duguerry aud sixty-two
others who were held as hostages by the in
surgents, were according to the latest news
from Paris and Versailles, murdered
in cold blood IN La Roquette prison,
to which place they had been trans
ferred from the Mazas short time prior
to the entrance of the Versailles troops into
the city. The last days Of these unfortunate
prisoners must have been terrible indeed. Be-
tween fear and hope the suspense cannot have
been other than terrible. For the six long
days and nights which preceded the massacre,
during which the terrific struggle in the streets
continued, and when possibly the confagra-
tons which were devouring the capital ilumi-
mated the prison, cells wherein the hostages
were confined, alternately fearing the worst,
yet hoping for the best, the venerable Arch
bishop and those confined with him spent their
last hours. When at last the dreadful moment
arrived, and when the insurgents-those who
were left of them-found that their cause was
lost and no hope of success remained, then,
as if to consummate the dreadful work
in which they were engaged by enc
deed moro terrible than those which
had already proclaimed the rising of
the reds as the most unjustiiable, barbarous
and bloody that stains the record of Paris,
the hostages which they held were massacred
in cold blood by wretches who but few hours
later, perhaps, were summoned before the
throne Of Him to answer for the crimes they
had committed against their country and their
fellow man. OF the manner in which the
hostages suffered death we are not informed
uothing but the bare announcement that they
were massacred has, by the latest news from
France, reached US.
The last struggle of the Commune is,
therefore, marked by another dark stain
which will cause 1t to be remembered for many
years to come From the very first direct
movement on the city (now not quite seven days
ago), which must have convinced the insurgents
that the time had arrived when the final
struggle was about to take place, despair
seems to have taken possession of the leaders
in Paris, and they, believing their cause TO be
hopeless, resolved to consummate their last
hours by acts which will hand their names
down in infamy to future ages. The taking of
the ramparts and the crossing of the enceinte,
by the Versailles forces were accomplished
with comparative ease. Indeed, the works
were taken so easily that what appeared a
matter Of surprise when the news was first
received is now accounted for by subsequent
events. Behind the barbados, from the
housetops, through the windows of the build
ings aud in the open streets, the insurgents
resolved to stand the hazard Of success
or failure The early days of the
week just passed found the insurgents
driven from some of tlnir positions.
The troops of Versailles before Tuesday
had captured number of the barbados,
and the headquarters Of some Of the govern
ment generals were established within the
walls. This foothold gained was an important
one; but it had the effect of goading on the
despairing rabble, who were fighting with
desperation, to deeds darker and more blood
thirsty. 1t was on Tuesday, according to one
despatch, that Archbishop Darboy and the
other hostages were shot. It was on this day
also that fires began to. break out in different
parts Of the city. This served as an indica-
ton Of the dreadful resolve Of the insurgents
II they could not succeed then the city
should be laid in ruins. In the carry
ing out of this awful determination
women assisted. They carried from point to
point, amid the rain of shot which swept
through the streets, the innammables which
were to work out the destruction Of Paris