 He was a follower of the revolutionary Louis-Auguste Blanqui and in July 1870, he was tried for being part of a plot to assassinate Louis Napoleon III, but he was acquitted because of a lack of evidence.During the Siege of Paris, he was elected to the "Comité de vigilance de Montmartre" (the Montmartre Committee of Vigilance).Paris was taken over by the revolutionary, Commune government in March 1871.