Page:Chansons, par Jean-Baptiste Clément.djvu/338

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Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!

London, 1872.

Editor: Mr. Bassereau, 240 Saint-Martin Street, Paris.


Many of those whom fortune had not caused to perish under the officials that ordered the massacres surrounded with pears and cheese, were, like the citizens of Germany, Brissac, Humbert and many others, sent to prison.

Future generations will have trouble believing this!

Proven republicans, honest men, hard workers who struggled for the sake of the Republic, for the cause of rights and justice, were joined with highwaymen and con men.

These titles which honour them should point especially to the fierceness of the noble builders of the fortifications at Thiers and elsewhere.

Many died there, wearing the cap of a convict, following the poor treatment which they endured and, additionally, anger and despair.

For these, the prison will have been their Pantheon!

Some of them have returned to us and have bravely taken up again their posts of combat in order to deliver all the voluntary prisoners who drag their ball and chain from factory to factory, and from plant to plant.