bow down
before its governors as the French. Seeing that I hung back, Eudes
proposed to go himself, and did, refusing to take a single soldier with
him. But he did not want the responsibility of handling the million of
francs the governor placed at our disposal, so I was, after all, obliged
to beard my former chief in his own den. He was very polite, and called
me 'Monsieur le delegue aux finances,' but I would have preferred his
calling me all the names in the world, for I caught sight of a very
ironical smile at the corners of his mouth when, on taking leave of him,
he said, 'You may be my successor one day, Monsieur le delegue, and I
hope you will profit by the lessons I have always endeavoured to teach
my subordinates: obedience to the powers that be.'"

Jourde was by no means a fool or a braggart; he was a very good
administrator, and exceedingly conscientious. Like most men who have had
the constant handling of important sums of money, he was absolutely
indifferent to it; and I feel certain that he did not feather his own
nest during the two months he had the chance. But he vainly endeavoured
to impress upon the others the necessity for economy. Every now and then
he tore his red hair and beard at the waste going on at the
Hotel-de-Ville, where, in the beginning, Assi was keeping open table.
Not that they were feasting, but every one who had a mind could sit
down, and, though the sum charged by the steward was moderate, two
francs for breakfast and two francs fifty centimes for dinner, the
number of self-invited guests increased day by day, and the
paymaster-general was at his wits' end to keep pace with the expenses.
The Central-Committee put a stop to this indiscriminate hospitality by
simply arresting Assi, whom I never saw.

When the Commune decreed the demolition of the Vendome column, Jourde
was still more angry and in despair. He was, first of all, opposed to
its destruction, from a patriotic and common-sense point of view:
secondly, he objected to the waste of money that destruction entailed;
he endeavoured to cut the Gordian knot by stopping the workmen's pay.
Though three or four of his fellow "delegates" were absolutely of the
same opinion, the rest sent him a polite intimation that if the
necessary funds were not disbursed voluntarily they would send for them,
and take the opportunity, at the same time, to "put him against the
wall," and make an end of him. That night, Courbet, the painter, who had