Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-03-22
OF course, it could not stop there

V.
OF course, it could not stop there
In 1870, the Napoleonic pigmy, driven
to madness by the brewing storm, pours
rivers of blood into the caldron. The
Empire vanishes in smoke, and ON the
18th of March, 1871, the Commune is
proclaimed.
Aye, the Commune A formidable
word Speak it, ever so low, you con-
jure up dreadful visions. Few words
there have been, thus gifted, since man
began to talk and singular to say, the
lips that trembled most in uttering them
seldom could define them.
Here is, however, plain definition of
the Commune by an ecclesiastical chro-
nicler of the Twelfth Century. "A new
and detestable word, by which this is
meant: From the levies of money which
it is the good old seigniorial custom to
impose at will upon serfs and vileins,
such gentry presume to be entirely
exempt"
This definition, must say. is amply
jus itied by the charters of cities seven
or eight centuries ago: lquote: 1.-The
men of this Commune will be free in
their persons and property. ~ n They
can get their wheat ground into -four
and their bread baked wherever they
please. st. Quentin. mo one shall
deprive of liberty free man, or a serf,
without due process of law. The men
of this Commune may marry the daugh-
ters of the vassals or serfs of any lord
whatever. ."-Ldon. All this, to be sure,
was detestable seven hlndred years ago,
when the grist mill, and the bakers
oven, and the daughters of men, and
every muscle of a mans body--not to
speak of his soul, which was the least
of him, belonged to his lordship of the
mighty sword or his saintship of the
divine cross.
Perhaps it is so no more. Perhaps
there is no lord now taxing your -four
and your bread, or claiming right to
the services of your wives and daugh-
ters. Then, perhaps, men of toll, in
recompense of your free exertions Ma
ture pours her abundance into your
granaries. Misery never sits at your
door, and your beloved are never taken
from their honest homes to do hard
work, if not worse, for the mighty on
earth. And yet, perhaps, it is very
much so still. For it seems to me, when
look closely at it, that there never was
80 much poverty as can be found in this
wealthy world of the Nineteenth Cen.
tury; and, surely, there is no greater
comfort in Icing poor to-day than there
ever was.
True, there is no baron in glittering
armor at the grist mill or the bakers
oven helping himself openly to the pro-
ducts of your labor; but in his stead l
see the factory lord and the merchant
prince and the railroad king, paying
you wages from which is deducted,
unknown to you, a much higher tax than
was ever imposed by the most avari-
cious baron. May it be that privilege, for
the abolition of which the Communes
fought SO hard, took at last disguise
under which the simple-minded multi.
tude could not recognize it? Aye, it must
be so; for, when Paris proclaimed the
Commune, Privilege everywhere, trem-
bling at the sight of its old enemy,
shouted at the top Of its well-known
voice: "Away with the detestable thing;
kill i'll"
And they killed it-for while.
vi.
You don't expect me, friends, to give
you so much even as a mere outline of
that thrilling conflict. Were l equal to
the task l should not undertake it to-
day.
have so far, in this address, consid-
cred the philosophy of events rather
than the events themselves. l have
considered ideas, tendencies, movements,
and masses; and have, therefore, given
less attention to heroic men than to
heroic times. Not that am ungrateful
to true heroes, for no one feels more
deeply than / do the grandeur of altru-
ism and the necessity of developing it
by duly honoring its impersonations.
But If can show you. for instance. the
trya uotura of tho porio ,,o,,