16May1871, The Place Vendome Column Pulled Down

LONDON, May 16th, 1871.
—The last exploit of the "Commune" has been to condemn the poor beautiful Place Vendome column as an insult to international feeling ! and one of these days it was pulled down with a crash. A strange making clean of the outside of the cup and of the platter, when the inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. The nations would not be much aggrieved by the monument to French triumphs if the French themselves were not an outrage to Europe. And yet there is a fine feeling in the thing which only makes one the more angry at its childishness.