orn in Paris, in 1844,' said the ex-member of the Commune,
lighting a cigar; 'I went through a primary school, and learned
but little. I was apprenticed to a machinist. When I was twenty I
found work on the Suez Canal. I was already a member of a secret
society organized against the Empire, with Blanqui at its head.
In 1866 I came back to Paris, and persuaded all my fellow-workmen
in the establishment where I was employed to become conspirators.
We waited for a good opportunity to commence an insurrection. Some
of us wanted to begin when Pierre Bonaparte murdered Victor Noir;
but it was put off till February 7, when about three thousand of us
rushed into the streets, began raising barricades, and proclaimed
a Republic. The next day two thousand republicans were arrested.
On February 11 six police agents came to my house at a quarter
past five in the morning. I had a pistol, and when the first one
entered my room to arrest me, I shot him dead. You should have
seen how the others scampered downstairs. I am glad I killed him.
But five minutes after, I was overpowered, bound, and taken to
prison. I was condemned to twenty years in New Caledonia, with
hard labor. I was sent to Toulon, but before my embarkation the
Republic was proclaimed, and a decree of the Government set me at
liberty. I came to Paris, and was named a member of the Municipal
Council. In October, 1870, during the siege, an order was passed
for my arrest because I endeavored to deprive General Trochu of
his command. I hid myself, enlisted under a false name, and fought
the Prussians. Then I went to the South of France, and waited to
see what would happen. I was there when the Commune was proclaimed.
I arrested the prefect of Marseilles on my own responsibility, and
put myself in his place. I was prefect of Marseilles for eight
days. Early in April I made my way to Paris, was made a general,
and put in charge of Fort Issy.[l] When Fort Issy fell, I was made
commander-in-chief on the left bank of the Seine. I ordered the
Palace of the Legion of Honor to be set on fire; I defended the
barricades on the Boulevard of Magenta; and when I left them on
May 24, I found that Ferre and Deleschuze had given orders to shoot
the hostages because the troops of Thiers had shot eight of our
officers.'"

[Footnote 1: General Rossel gave his opinion of the officers in
command at Fort Issy in his letter to the Commune.]

"'Did you approve that order?'" asked the "World's" re