At the close of this letter he adds,—­

“I have at last received the dear Bible.  You should have seen how I seized and kissed it!  Now the Commune may leave me here to moulder, if it will!”

On Sunday, May 21, the Versailles army began to make its way into Paris, and the Commune, seeing its fantastic and terrible power about to pass away, tried to startle the world by its excesses.  Orders were sent at once to Mazas to send the archbishop, the priests, Senator Bonjean, suspected spies, and sergents de ville to that part of the prison of La Roquette reserved for condemned criminals.  Paul and his friend the other Seminarist were of the number.

Before the gates of La Roquette they found a fierce crowd shouting insults and curses.  Many were women and children.  “Here they come!” the mob yelled.  “Down with the priests! shoot them! kill them!” Paul preserved his composure, and looked on with a smile of serene hope upon his face.  “The scene was like that horror from which he had prayed to be saved.  His terror was gone.  His prayer had been answered.”

The prisoners on reaching La Roquette were first passed into a hall, where they found the archbishop and several priests.  The former was calm, but he was ill, and his features bore marks of acute suffering.  After an hour’s delay the prisoners were locked into separate cells, from which real malefactors had been removed to make room for them.

In the next cell to Paul was the Abbe Planchet.  By standing at the window they could hear each other’s voices.  The abbe could read Thomas a Kempis to his fellow prisoner, and they daily recited together the litany for the dying.

One of the imprisoned priests was a missionary lately returned from China; and when they met at the hours allowed for fresh air in the courtyard, Paul was eager to hear his accounts of the martyrdom and steadfastness of Chinese converts.  “M.  Paul,” said an old soldier who was one of the hostages, “seemed to look on martyrdom as a privilege, regretting only the pain it would cause his family.”

On Wednesday, May 24, the execution of the archbishop and five others took place, Paul saw them pass by his window; one of the escort shook his gun at him, and pointing it at the archbishop, gave him to understand what they were going to do.

The next day, Thursday, May 25, the order came.  “Citizens,” said the messenger who brought it, “pay attention, and answer when your names are called.  Fifteen of you are wanted.”  As each was named, he stepped out of the ranks and took his place in the death-row.  Paul Seigneret was one of them.  He seemed perfectly calm, and gently pressed the hand of his Seminary friend who was not summoned.