Page images
PDF
EPUB

"three chosen by the chamber of representatives, " and two by the peers, should form a provisional

66

government, and that the actual ministers "should continue their functions under this "commission." The discussion on that important point was interrupted by M. Lacoste, who informed the chamber of the rumours of plots against them, by reading a letter which he had received that morning.

The minister of war disclaimed any knowledge of such a conspiracy, and informed the representatives, that the troops which he had thought fit to march for the defence of Paris from the Somme were commanded by members of the two chambers, the generals Grenier, Sebastiani, and Valence; adding, "Whilst I command, no "Frenchman will have to fear any treason." Loud applauses showed he was believed; he is believed still. The marshal afterwards proposed," that the "chamber, by a solemn declaration, should recal "to his post every military man, under pain of being declared a traitor to his country;" which was adopted, as well as a proposal of M. Flaugergues, declaring the war national, and calling upon all Frenchmen to defend the common cause. The General Mouton Duvernet stated Lyons and Marseilles to be in a state of defence, and Marshal Suchet to be following up his successes.

66

Letters from the corps of Marshal Grouchy were read. The chamber adjourned to communicate its declarations to the peers, and to the Emperor. It resumed its sitting at four o'clock, when the president told the assembly, that he and the four vice-presidents, and the secretaries, had waited upon the Emperor with their answer to his message, and had been immediately received;. that his majesty had replied by testifying the most touching interest for the French nation, the most lively desire to see it secure its liberty, independence, and happiness; that his majesty had, above all, insisted upon the motive which had determined his abdication, and had recommended the chamber not to forget, that he had abdicated in favour of his son. These last words instantly aroused the attention of the chamber, and M. Durbach was about to state his opinion on the formation of a regency, when he was interrupted by the demand of proceeding to the choice of the commission of government. There were 511 members present at the first scrutiny. Count Carnot had 304 votes, the Duke of Otranto 293, General Grenier 204, Marshal Macdonald 137, General Lafayette 142, M. Flaugergues 46, M. Lambrechts 42. Consequently Count Carnot and the Duke of Otranto were proclaimed two of the three members of the commission.

VOL. II.

During the second scrutiny, a motion was made to make the sitting permanent; and another member begged every one to take his place, on the presumption of some immediate commotion, which, however, General Solignac declared not to exist. General Grenier was chosen third member of the commission, by 350 votes; and the sitting was adjourned until eleven the next day. The prudence of the representatives in the transactions of this day is to be admired, as much as their spirit on the first occasion that called for the national interference*. They rejected the proposition to declare themselves a national or a constituent assembly, on the ground that such a measure would be an usurpation of authority, and an annihilation of the constitution under which they were acting. They formed a commission of government to carry that constitution into effect; and to avoid all suspicion of anarchy, or of extinction of the duties of legislation, they deferred their communications with the allied armies or sovereigns, until they could be organized and executed by the commands of an executive power. They prudently put off all decision relative to the prince

By declaring themselves in permanence, they broke with the Emperor; but there was no medium between this infraction of the constitution and entire submission.

whom they should call to the throne; but, at the same time, the general applause which accom panied the denunciation pronounced by Mr.

against the pretensions of the Bourbons, evinced whom they were resolved not to accept for their king. The expression of M. La Rochefaucauld Liancourt, "he whom France shall choose for her

66

prince," called down the acclamation, "he is "chosen." But the president stopped all discussion on this head, by declaring that the chamber was not sufficiently full for deliberations of so serious a nature. The sitting in the peers was more tumultuous than usual with that body, which certainly had none of the characteristics of a popular assembly; and the decency and decorum of whose debates would have become the woolsacks of the house of lords-so much can a name and form effect!! The same seventy persons, when put together in another hall, and called deputies. instead of peers, would have been no less loud and disorderly than their fellow citizens of the other chamber. The peers met at half past one, when Count Carnot read the abdication, which, being known to many of the members, excited no discussion. The count then gave the details of the minister of war, relative to the position of Marshal Grouchy, when, to the surprise of all present, Marshal Ney rose, and said, "What

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

you have just heard is false, as false can be, (fausse de toute fausseté). Marshal Grouchy " and the Duke of Dalmatia can not collect sixty "thousand men. That number can not be brought

66

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

together on the northern frontier. Marshal

Grouchy, for his part, has been able to rally only seven or eight thousand men. The Duke of "Dalmatia has not been able to make any stand "at Rocroy. You have no other means of saving your country but by negotiation." Hearing this pointed contradiction from the marshal, the Count Latour Maubourg exclaimed, “If the de"tails are not true, I demand that the minister at "war may be arraigned for an attempt to de"ceive the peers and the representatives of the "people." Count Carnot declared that the letter was written by the hand of Marshal Davoust; and Count Flahaut attested that he had shewn it to the Emperor, who approved the account. The altercation still continued, and grew so warm between the minister Carnot and Marshal Ney, that the Count of Pontécoulant moved that a stop should be put to the scene, which ended by Ney positively asserting, that forty thousand men could not be brought together by Grouchy at any point, or by any means.

You will not wonder to hear that reports, very much to the disadvantage of the marshal, have,

« PreviousContinue »