midnight
To die on Freedom 's Altar -- to die on Freedom 's Altar ! 'T is the noblest of fates ; who to meet it would falter ! And thus all that terrible night , even until the morning 's dawn , thronged those men of the barricades around the Hôtel de Ville , and all the night , even until the morning 's dawn , calmly continued those men of the Provisional Government of the French Republic , amid menace and mandate , uproar and confusion , in their noble , yet arduous work . At midnight a proclamation of the Provisional Government was read by torchlight to the excited masses by Louis Blanc , from the steps of the Hôtel de Ville , declaring for a government of the people by itself , with liberty , equality and fraternity for its principles , while order was devised and maintained by the people -- which served somewhat to allay their apprehensions and distrust . This proclamation appeared in all the morning journals , and was placarded all over the city the next day . That day was Friday , the 25th of February . But still the Provisional Government remained in session , and still the armed masses of the barricades , in congregated thousands , rolled in tumultuous billows around the Hôtel de Ville .