Choosing between the versions reproduced above,, the one in Le Cri du Peuple sounds the most plausible. The political opinions of this newspaper were closest to Louise Michels. It is also worse (pire), because you can picture the actual throwing into the water of the members of government. But maybe more important, the Cri’s version is rhetorically better. And Louise Michel was a good speaker. Just compare the last sentences in the Cri to the silly à l’eau à l’eau of the version spoken in court.
So Louise Michel was, according to the law, properly condemned for inciting violence. It was something she expected. She committed sedition in France and stood for it. In France in 1886 there was a press that did not hesitate to report on it. The whole nation was able to read, soon after the words were spoken, what the great heroine of the Commune had in mind for the French government.
Huub Sanders
With many thanks to Claude Rétat (CNRS Lyon) and Jacqueline Rutte.