3-039-033 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

M. Flourens released from prison by the insurgents in Paris, 1871. Franco-Prussian War. 'The insurgents...assembled on the Saturday evening, and thronged to the prison of Mazas, where M. Gustave Flourens, a leader of the Ultra-Democratic faction, had been confined since the former attempt, early in November, to upset the Government at the Hotel de Ville. Five or six hundred men, armed with chassepots, among whom were many of the mutinous battalion of National Guards that M. Flourens had commanded, arrived at the prison about midnight, and sent in three delegates to speak with M. Bayet, the superintendent of the prison. They demanded the instant release of M. Flourens, threatening to force the gates. M. Bayet, instead of calling for the aid of a company of soldiers, which was stationed in the prison, went out to parley with the mob, who were presently suffered to rush in and make their way to M. Flourens's cell. He was speedily liberated, with five of his political friends, and the Engraving shows him coming out, amidst the cheers of the men gathered in front of the porter's lodge. His costume is a long great coat, high boots, and cap with several stripes. The insurgents conducted him in triumph, with two drums beating'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.