Chapter 272 Five features of Paris

In the two years since, we have mentioned that Paris has seen more than one uprising.Apart from the uprising areas, the appearance of Paris in times of riots is generally surprisingly calm.Paris gets used to everything very quickly; it was just a riot, and Paris has so much going on that it doesn't make a fuss about that little thing.These sprawling cities can offer a variety of performances on their own.On their own, these vast cities accommodated both civil war and a strange tranquility that could hardly be described.Whenever an uprising begins and people hear the drums for assembly or warning, the shopkeeper as a rule just says:

"There seems to be trouble again in the Rue Saint-Martin." Or: "Suburb of San Antonio." Often, he casually added: "It's in that area." Afterwards, when people heard that kind of heartbreaking sparse or dense gunshots, the boss said again: "Do you really recognize it? Yes, you really recognize it!" A little later, if the riot was nearer and stronger, he would hastily close the shop and put on his uniform hastily, that is to say, to keep his goods safe at his own risk. People shoot at each other at crossroads, on passages, in dead ends, barricades are taken, taken back, taken again; Full of streets.A few streets away, one could hear ivory balls hitting the table in a cafe.

Curious people chatted and laughed a couple of paces from these battle-torn streets, and theaters opened their doors to farce.Horse-drawn carriages shuttled back and forth, and passers-by went into the city to feast, sometimes in the area of ​​​​firefights.In 1831 the shooting stopped suddenly, allowing a newlywed couple and their relatives to cross the line of fire. During the insurrection of May 12, 1839, there was a crippled little old man in the Rue Saint-Martin who was pulling a cart loaded with bottles of some kind of drink, capped with A tricolored rag went from the barricades to the army and from the army to the barricades, supplying cup after cup of coconut juice without distinction, now to the government, now to anarchism.

There is nothing more peculiar than this, and this is the characteristic feature of the riots in Paris, which is not found in any other capital city.For this, two things must be present: the greatness of Paris and its exuberance.Must be the city of Voltaire and Napoleon. But in this armed rebellion of June 5, 1832, the great city sensed something perhaps stronger than itself.It was scared.In the farthest and most "indifferent" districts, doors, windows, and shutters are seen to be closed in broad daylight.The brave ones took up weapons, and the timid ones hid.You can no longer see the kind of pedestrians who don't care and are only busy for themselves on the street.Many streets were as deserted as it was four o'clock in the morning.Everyone babbled about some startling news, everyone spread life-and-death news about "they've mastered the National Bank" and "there were six hundred of them in Saint-Merry's alone, Trenches were dug and fortifications were built in the church", "The defense line is not strong", "Arman Galaire went to Marshal Clossel, and the marshal said: 'You must first send a regiment'", "Lafayette was sick, but he said to them: 'I am with you. I will follow you wherever there is room for a chair'", "Be ready at all times, someone will be there at night looting of lonely homes in remote corners of Paris (here we get a taste of the imagination of the police, this Anna Radcliffe mingling with the government)", "Artillery positions in the Rue Aubrey Butcher", "Robert Beau and Bijou had agreed that at midnight or at dawn at the latest, four columns would attack the center of the riot at the same time, the first from Bastille, the second from Porte Saint-Martin, the third from Greve, The fourth team came from the vegetable market area; the army may withdraw from Paris and retreat to the Mars Square; no one knows what will happen, but this time, it must be serious", "Everyone's respect for Marshal Soult Indecision is all concerned", "Why didn't he attack immediately?" "Surely he is unfathomable. The old lion seems to smell a nameless monster in the dark".

When it was evening, the theaters were closed, and the patrols, with angry faces, patrolled the streets back and forth. Pedestrians were searched and those acting suspiciously were arrested.Eight hundred arrests had been made at nine o'clock, the police prison was full, the Ministry of Justice prison was full, Raffles prison was full.Especially in the prison of the Ministry of Penitentiary, where the long tunnel known as the Rue de Paris was covered with straw, and the prisoners lying there were crowded in heaps, and the Lyonnais, Lagrange, was daring to face the prisoners. give a speech.These people lay on these stalks, and when they moved, there was a sound of heavy rain.Prisoners in other prisons sleep one on top of the other in the open main room.The air is tense everywhere, and people's hearts are floating, which is rare in Paris.

In their own homes, people are also taking defensive measures.Mothers and wives were all anxious, and they could only hear them saying, "Oh, my God! He has not come back!" Rarely, a cart was heard rolling in the distance.People stood at the gates and listened to the faint, indistinct noises of drums, shouts, and noise, and they said: "This is a procession of horses passing by." Or: "This is a carriage with ammunition boxes running." They heard bugles, drums, guns, and, above all, alarm bells at Saint-Merry.People waited for the first cannon fire.Armed men suddenly appeared on street corners, shouted, "Go home, you!" and disappeared again.Everyone hurriedly pushed the latch on the door and said, "When will the riot be over?" As the night gradually deepened, the flames of the riots in Paris seemed more and more dire and frightening.