BOOK CHAPTER IV. THE SECOND OF DECEMBER. Ar seven o'clock in the morning M. de Persigny, chief of the staff, arrived at the Élysée to report the proceedings of the night. All was quiet in and around the palace. As yet even the palace servants knew nothing of the revolution which had been accomplished in the night. The Prince appeared at his usual hour, and in his usual calm mood, with a cigarette between his lips. He learned that his plans had been so far carried out exactly, and without noise or confusion. De Morny had just repaired to the Ministry of the Interior, and was busy at the ministerial desk, protected from interruption by 280 Chasseurs de Vincennes. General Magnan had occupied all the dangerous points with his troops. De SaintArnaud was at work at the Ministry of War. De Maupas had scattered his agents over the capital, ready to meet rioters wherever they might rise. The citizens at the corners of the streets were tranquilly reading the proclamations of the President, with lively running commentaries, generally at the expense of the defunct Assembly. A friend of Dr. Véron remarked of these appeals to the people: This is the ending of a mediocre man, or the beginning of a man of genius.' The Prince remained in his cabinet, not, as Mr. Kinglake has conveyed to his readers, in fear and dejection, but at work, and hard at work. General Fleury says: IV. Mr. Kinglake shows that he is quite ignorant of military CHAP. matters when he twits the Prince with remaining in his room, and not mixing with the throng in his antechambers. He was compelled to refuse to see crowds of importunate people. He was approached in the regular way through De Persigny, colonel of the staff, and his aides-de-camp -Fleury, Ney, Toulangeau, &c. All these hateful and calumnious inventions are odious. Not even hostile French pamphleteers have dared to cast a doubt on the courage of the Prince on the 2nd.'1 About eight o'clock the courtyard of the Élysée began to fill with a crowd of the Prince's supporters. A brilliant staff of generals gradually mustered to accompany him, when he showed himself to the people." Aides-de-camp and visitors thronged the outer rooms. Among the early arrivals was the Princess Mathilde, who remained with her cousin throughout the day. Then followed the discarded Ministers of yesterday. King Jerome and Marshal Exelmans, splendidly mounted, and in gorgeous uniforms, clattered into the palace-the latter radiant, the former serious and doubting still. He had come forth from his residence in the Invalides after a discussion with his son, who was already actively plotting among the Socialists against his cousin. By nine o'clock the palace was filled with the Prince's military and political suppor To Mr. Kinglake's ridiculous and mischievous story, to the effect that Colonel Fleury levelled a pistol at the Prince to force him forward in the midst of the coup d'état dangers, General Fleury makes this categorical reply, which we give in his own words: À cette assertion plus ou moins perfide le général Fleury oppose le démenti le plus formel. Rien, absolument rien, de pareil n'a pu être raconté par un des deux acteurs mis en cause, puisque 2 The Prince wanted to go out BOOK ters, and at half-past an imposing group of dignitaries came forth from the Prince's apartments. The staff, headed by King Jerome and Marshal Exelmans, mounted their horses to await the hero of the day. In a few moments the Prince stepped lightly out from the aides'-de-camp entrance, in general's uniform, and vaulted upon a superb charger-his grace as a horseman delighting the old generals and colonels who were looking on. 'His calm and serene countenance indicated and inspired confidence,' says M. de Beaumont-Vassy, who was a witness of the scene. 'There were four of us facing the door which had just opened on Cæsar and his fortunes— General Piat, MM. Lavallée, Konigswarter, and myself. We advanced to press respectfully the hand of the Prince, and to wish him the success his work of salvation deserved. He thanked us, and we walked together to where his horse was standing. . . . As he appeared in the saddle a loud shout of "Vive Napoléon!" arose from the soldiers, who brandished their arms in the air; and it was answered by his friends who were gathered about the principal entrance. The general movement forward, these shouts, the bold attitude of the President in the midst of his staff, the enthusiasm of the mounted escort, the handkerchiefs which fluttered from every window opposite the palace, welcoming the cortége as it gained the street, and the multitude of eager faces-made up one of the most stirring and remarkable spectacles it has been my lot to witness.' 2 The Prince rode straight to the Place de la Concorde, where the artillery was stationed, enthusiastic friends in his wake scattering copies of the proclamations over the The Prince President wore, until December 2, the uniform of a general of the National Guard; and the men of the Mountain clamoured loudly against this as 'usurpation.' 2 La Préface du Deux Décembre. Par le Vicomte de BeaumontVassy. 1853. IV. crowd. The soldiers greeted him with loud cries of CHAP. Vive Napoléon!' Vive l'Empereur!' and the excitement became intense as he turned his horse's head towards the Tuileries and entered the gardens of the palace. The workfolk on his route, delighted with the re-establishment of universal suffrage, and at the solution of a difficulty which had long kept work slack, waved their caps.2 M. de Beaumont-Vassy, who had followed in the crowd, met M. de la Rochejacquelein as he turned into the Rue Royale. He had not been able to get near the proclamations, but he read eagerly a copy which M. de Beaumont-Vassy offered him. Well,' was his observation, with a smile, the President has shown us the door. I have long foreseen this result. He has been smarter and stronger than all of us; and then he appeals to the people. It is the only remedy for the predicament. I said so for the first time long ago. Nobody would believe me. Everything, however, is happening as I predicted. For myself, I am quite at my 1 Captain Gronow was at his barber's. My eloquent friend [the barber], however, soon resumed his discourse, anathematising M. Thiers as having obliged Louis Philippe to resign, that he himself might become Prime Minister to the Duchess of Orleans, and hurling strong language against M. Émile de Girardin for abetting Prince Napoleon, the cousin of Prince Louis, in his views of succeeding to the presidentship: he had heard som cries in the street of "Vive l'Empereur!" from the military, and they had delighted him. Some of the surrounding persons, waiting to have their beards trimmed, differed from the knight of the brush; doubts were expressed of the talent of the Prince President, and there was evidently a Republican tendency springing up; but the announcement 26" He is going to take possession BOOK ease in the new situation. I have always demanded an appeal to the people. I shall wait quietly the result of the experiment; for, before all, I must be consistent with myself.' The Prince was not on his way to the palace. He passed to the Place du Carrousel, where, amid hearty demonstrations, he received the regiments of the Line that were stationed there. Along the route of his progress, on the quays and boulevards, he was received at some points in silence, at many with spontaneous shouts of welcome, but at some with marks of hostility. The bulk of the people, however, appeared to rejoice in the act which had been accomplished; and he returned to the Élysée in high spirits. His adventure had the sanction of the masses. It has been put on record even by his enemies that he was well received by the people. Captain Gronow, who witnessed what he describes, remarks:— It has been asserted that the Prince President remained in his cabinet during these eventful days, solitary and gloomy, and, like the Roman emperor at Capreæ, solely occupied in issuing his edicts for the destruction of his opponents. This story originally emanated from an author more distinguished for the brilliancy of his imagination than for the soberness of his judgment or the accuracy of his knowledge, and who was conspicuous for his malevolence and the virulence of his speeches in the Legislative Assembly. He has been followed by some who, whilst they claim to write history, have no hesitation in copying the errors and exaggerations of others; but it can be safely asserted that, far from Prince Louis Napoleon being left to himself, the Princess Mathilde remained with him the greater part of the day; King 1 Il y recueillit de nombreuses acclamations.'-Les Hommes de 1851. Par Vermorel. Paris, décembre. |