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remembered June, 1848--there were some poor people who had suffered
greatly--Cavaignac had done much evil--women clung to the men's blouses
to prevent them from going to the barricades--nevertheless, with all
this, when seeing men like ourselves at their head, they would perhaps
fight, but this hindered them, they did not know for what." He concluded
by saying, "The upper part of the Faubourg is doing nothing, the lower
end will do better. Round about here they will fight. The Rue de la
Roquette is good, the Rue de Charonne is good; but on the side of Père la
Chaise they ask, 'What good will that do us?' They only recognize the
forty sous of their day's work. They will not bestir themselves; do not
reckon upon the masons." He added, with a smile, "Here we do not say
'cold as a stone,' but 'cold as a mason'"--and he resumed, "As for me, if
I am alive, it is to you that I owe my life. Dispose of me. I will lay
down my life, and will do what you wish."
While he was speaking I saw the white curtain of the glazed partition
behind him move a little. His young wife, uneasy, was peeping through at
us.
"
Ah! my God," said I to him, "what we want is not the life of one man but
the efforts of all."
He was silent. I continued,--
"
Listen to me, Auguste, you who are good and intelligent. So, then, the
Faubourgs of Paris--which are heroes even when they err--the Faubourgs
of Paris, for a misunderstanding, for a question of salary wrongly
construed, for a bad definition of socialism, rose in June, 1848, against
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