He continued, "Well, then, come to my house. There is perhaps only one house in Paris where you would be in safety. That is mine. They will not come to look for you there. Come, day or night, at what hour you please, I will await you, and I will open the door to you myself. I live at No.
5, Rue d"Alger."
I thanked him. It was a n.o.ble and cordial offer. I was touched by it. I did not make use of it, but I have not forgotten it.
They cried out anew, "Read the decree! Sit down! sit down!"
There was a round table before the fire place; a lamp, pens, blotting-books, and paper were brought there; the members of the Committee sat down at this table, the Representatives took their places around them on sofas, on arm-chairs, and on all the chairs which could be found in the adjoining rooms. Some looked about for Napoleon Bonaparte. He had withdrawn.
A member requested that in the first place the meeting should declare itself to be the National a.s.sembly, and const.i.tute itself by immediately appointing a President and Secretaries. I remarked that there was no need to declare ourselves the a.s.sembly, that we were the a.s.sembly by right as well as in fact, and the whole a.s.sembly, our absent colleagues being detained by force; that the National a.s.sembly, although mutilated by the _coup d"etat_, ought to preserve its ent.i.ty and remain const.i.tuted afterwards in the same manner as before; that to appoint another President and another staff of Secretaries would be to give Louis Bonaparte an advantage over us, and to acknowledge in some manner the Dissolution; that we ought to do nothing of the sort; that our decrees should be published, not with the signature of a President, whoever he might be, but with the signature of all the members of the Left who had not been arrested, that they would thus carry with them full authority over the People, and full effect. They relinquished the idea of appointing a President. Noel Parfait proposed that our decrees and our resolutions should be drawn up, not with the formula: "The National a.s.sembly decrees," etc.; but with the formula: "The Representatives of the People remaining at liberty decree," etc. In this manner we should preserve all the authority attached to the office of the Representatives of the People without a.s.sociating the arrested Representatives with the responsibility of our actions. This formula had the additional advantage of separating us from the Right. The people knew that the only Representatives remaining free were the members of the Left. They adopted Noel Parfait"s advice.
I read aloud the decree of deposition. It was couched in these words:--
"DECLARATION.
"The Representatives of the people remaining at liberty, by virtue of Article 68 of the Const.i.tution, which runs as follows:--
""Article 68.--Every measure by which the President of the Republic dissolves the a.s.sembly, prorogues it, or obstructs the exercise of its authority, is a crime of High Treason.
""By this action alone the President is deposed from his office; the citizens are bound to refuse him obedience; the executive power pa.s.ses by right to the National a.s.sembly; the judges of the High Court of Justice should meet together immediately under penalty of treason, and convoke the juries in a place which they shall appoint to proceed to the judgment of the President and his accomplices."
"Decree:--
"ARTICLE I.--Louis Bonaparte is deposed from his office of President of the Republic.
"ARTICLE II.--All citizens and public officials are bound to refuse him obedience under penalty of complicity.
"ARTICLE III.--The judgment drawn up on December 2d by the High Court of Justice, and which declares Louis Bonaparte attainted with the Crime of High Treason, shall be published and executed. Consequently the civil and military authorities are summoned under penalty of Treason to lend their active a.s.sistance to the execution of the said judgment.
"Given at Paris, in permanent session, December 3d, 1851."
The decree having been read, and voted unanimously, we signed it, and the Representatives crowded round the table to add their signatures to ours. Sain remarked that this signing took time, that in addition we numbered barely more than sixty, a large number of the members of the Left being at work in the streets in insurrection. He asked if the Committee, who had full powers from the whole of the Left, had any objection to attach to the decree the names of all the Republican Representatives remaining at liberty, the absent as well as those present. We answered that the decree signed by all would a.s.suredly better answer its purpose. Besides, it was the counsel which I had already given. Bancel had in his pocket on old number of the _Moniteur_ containing the result of a division.
They cut out a list of the names of the members of the Left, the names of those who were arrested were erased, and the list was added to the decree.[11]
The name of Emile de Girardin upon this list caught my eye. He was still present.
"Do you sign this decree?" I asked him.
"Unhesitatingly."
"In that case will you consent to print it?"
"Immediately."
He continued,--
"Having no longer any presses, as I have told you, I can only print it as a handbill, and with the brush. It takes a long time, but by eight o"clock this evening you shall have five hundred copies."
"And," continued I, "you persist in refusing to print the appeal to arms?"
"I do persist."
A second copy was made of the decree, which Emile de Girardin took away with him. The deliberation was resumed. At each moment Representatives came in and brought items of news: Amiens in insurrection--Rheims and Rouen in motion, and marching on Paris--General Canrobert resisting the _coup d"etat_--General Castellane hesitating--the Minister of the United States demanding his pa.s.sports. We placed little faith in these rumors, and facts proved that we were right.
Meanwhile Jules Favre had drawn up the following decree, which he proposed, and which was immediately adopted:--
"DECREE.
"FRENCH REPUBLIC.
"Liberty,--Equality,--Fraternity.
"The undersigned Representatives remaining at liberty, a.s.sembled in Permanent Session,--
"Considering the arrest of the majority of our colleagues, and the urgency of the moment:
"Considering that for the accomplishment of his crime Louis Bonaparte has not contented himself with multiplying the most formidable means of destruction against the lives and property of the citizens of Paris, that he has trampled under foot every law, that he has annihilated all the guarantees of civilized nations:
"Considering that these criminal madnesses only serve to augment the violent denunciation of every conscience and to hasten the hour of national vengeance, but that it is important to proclaim the Right:
"Decree:
"ARTICLE I.--The State of Siege is raised in all Departments where it has been established, the ordinary laws resume their authority.
"ARTICLE II.--It is enjoined upon all military leaders under penalty of Treason immediately to lay down the extraordinary powers which have been conferred upon them.
"ARTICLE III.--Officials and agents of the public force are charged under penalty of treason to put this present decree into execution.
"Given in Permanent Session, 3d December, 1851."
Madier de Montjau and De Flotte entered. They came from outside. They had been in all the districts where the conflict was proceeding, they had seen with their own eyes the hesitation of a part of the population in the presence of these words, "The Law of the 31st May is abolished, Universal Suffrage is re-established." The placards of Louis Bonaparte were manifestly working mischief. It was necessary to oppose effort to effort, and to neglect nothing which could open the eyes of the people.
I dictated the following Proclamation:-
"PROCLAMATION.
"People! you are being deceived.
"Louis Bonaparte says that he has re-established you in your rights, and that he restores to you Universal Suffrage.
"Louis Bonaparte has lied.
"Read his placards. He grants you--what infamous mockery!--the right of conferring on him, on him _alone_, the Const.i.tuent power; that is to say, the Supreme power, which belongs to you. He grants you the right to appoint him Dictator _for ten years_. In other words, he grants you the right of abdicating and of crowning him. A right which even you do not possess, O People! for one generation cannot dispose of the sovereignty of the generation which shall follow it.
"Yes, he grants to you, Sovereign, the right of giving yourself a master, and that master himself.
"Hypocrisy and treason!
"People! we unmask the hypocrite. It is for you to punish the traitor!