“ On the Wednesday I saw many public buildings in flames, including the Tuileries Palace. Some said the garden had been set ablaze by the Communards to stop the advance of the government troops, and indeed there were mad Jacobins, les petroleuses, who went around with a bucket of kerosene to start fires; others swore they had been caused by government howitzers; yet others blamed old Bonapartists who were taking advantage of the situation to destroy compromising archives. At first I thought that was what I would have done if I had been in Lagrange’s position, but then it occurred to me that a good secret service agent hides information but never destroys it, since it may come in handy one day against someone.
— Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery (via themirroredarchive)
