Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/658

 622 1848. national guard took part with the populace against the The re- troops, and the soldiers, unwilling to attack them, hesi- volution tated, and the day passed by. Guizot now yielded, and of 1848. geu {. j n ki s resignation; it was, however, too late; that evening, the troops having fired on and killed some of the mob, a ghastly procession with the bodies of the slain passed through the streets. The excitement redoubled ; the troops refused to act : Louis Philippe even called on Tbiers to form a liberal ministry with Odillon-Barrot. A proclama tion was issued stating that the troops were ordered to with draw. Forthwith the regular soldiers laid down their arms, and the people with the national guards marched on the Tuileries. Louis Philippe now abdicated in favour of his grandson the count of Paris, and, assuming the name of Mr William Smith, closed an inglorious reign by an inglorious flight in a hackney cab. He reached England, and died there in peace some two years later. Writers have called the Revolution of 1848 a mere trick, and have wondered how so mean an effort could have overthrown a constitutional and organized government. The truth is that France was weary of such a rule, that Paris wanted a republic, and that in the country generally the citizen-king was unpopular. The re- In the chamber of deputies the republican party at once took public of the command, and established a provisional Government, 1 S4.Q which immediately proclaimed a republic, to be ratified by a popular vote; to be based on the sovereignty of the people ; to re-echo the old watchwords, &quot; liberty, equality, fraternity; &quot; to secure a pure and liberal administration. The presidency of the new Government was given to Dupont de 1 Eure ; Lamartine had the portfolio of foreign affairs; Cremieux, justice; Ledru-Rollin, the home-office; Arago, the admiralty; Be&quot;deau, the army; Carnot, education; Bethmont, trade; Garnier-Pages was namsd mayor of Paris ; Louis Blanc, with three others, were first named as secretaries, and soon after became actual members of the Government. The decree which established the tricolour flag, with a red rosette, indicated, as trifles often will do, the position taken up by the new administration. They would not accept the red flag of the Parisian communists, which Louis Blanc wished to take as symbol of a thorough republicanism ; they .added the red rosette to express a certain sympathy with that side ; they kept the tricolour as the flag of the old Revolution. One step and it was a great blunder they did make under the influence of Louis Blanc : they issued a decree promising to provide work for all, promising in fact to suspend the first laws of political economy on behalf of the working man. The re- Though the revolution had been a thorough Parisian public surprise at the moment, all France was ready to accept it. at once p rom everv s ide cheerful acquiescence came in ; the army Wished, approved ; the clergy were guided by the liberal archbishop of Paris, M. Afire, who three months later lost his life in the sacred attempt to stay bloodshed in the streets of the capital; politicians either were silent or joined the Louis Government ; the adventurer of Strasburg and Boulogne, Bona- who had escaped from Ham in 1846, offered his services to parte. France, and was politely sent back to England. In April the elections to the new constituent assembly took place. They returned a body of, on the whole, moderate republi cans, not favourable to the extremer views of Paris, and appointed an executive commission of five members, Lam artine, Arago, Garni er-Pages, Marie, and Ledru-Rollin. A serious outbreak was easily quelled in May ; in June, how- over, things took a more alarming turn. The reaction, which had already begun in France, was supported by the conviction of moderate men that the &quot; national workshop &quot; system, a practical socialism, was too burdensome for the finances of the state, and that the country generally would not long subsidize the Parisian artisan. A decree ordering a portion of the working men to be enrolled in the army [HISTORY. led to the terrible revolt of eastern Paris. The Government 1848-j declared the town to be in a state of siege, and entrusted The re General Cavaignac with a dictatorship. For four days the v lt oi battle of the barricades raged ; the artisans did not yield till Paris - the last barricade of the Faubourg St Antoine had been stormed. Then Cavaignac laid down his dictatorship and was named president of the council, with right of naming the ministers. The national workshops were absolutely closed on the 3d of July, and thus the republic freed itself from the dictation of Paris. After the May dis turbance* the leaders of reaction had begun to pluck up courage, and to offer themselves for the elections ; Thiers was returned for the Lower Seine, and became its political leader ; Changarnier was its military chief. Louis Bona parte was also among the elected. He veiled his ambition under popular phrases, and, as had been seen before, a Bonaparte made ready to pass into absolute power by an alliance with the people and a seeming deference to its sovereignty. &quot; My name,&quot; he said, &quot; is the symbol of order, nationality, and glory.&quot; The Assembly next pro- Then ceeded to do its work as a constitutional body, and organ- const ized the Government thus : A president of the republic, tion - elected for four years, and then not re-eligible till after four years more ; a council of state, named by the assembly for six years, and charged with the drafting of all public acts, and other honourable functions; a legislative assembly of 750 members. The date of election of a president was fixed for the 10th of December. The true republicans failed to support their man, General Cavaignac ; they also left Lamartine entirely out, in spite of his honourable ser vices. The instincts of the nation turned towards one who Loui; bore the charmed name of Bonaparte, and the prince-adven- Bona turer was elected by a vast majority of votes, nearly five l iarte millions and a half supporting him against less than one e ^ million and a half who voted for Cavaignac. Thus the dent. &quot; Napoleonic idea,&quot; strong in the country-places, prevailed over the moderate republicanism of the Assembly, and the wishes of the chief towns of France. The new president was formally proclaimed, and took oath of office on Decem ber 20, 1848. The first act of the new Government was the overthrow His :t of the republic of Rome, and the military restoration of Pius acts. IX. By this the president declared himself hostile to all the liberal movements of Europe, and won the firm gratitude and allegiance of the Catholic clergy of France. Before Louis Bonaparte had been in office a year, it was seen that he was preparing to move in the direction of absolute power. Stormy debates in the Assembly took place ; a law was passed limiting the suffrage, as it was seen that in the existing temper of the country the ignorant peasant- vote was at the mercy of adventurers. Discussion also followed as to a revision of the constitution of 1848. Afc last, on December 2, 1851, the prince-president, guided by a group of friends and brother-conspirators, ventured on his famous coup d etat, and swept away the whole The p existing fabric of the constitution. In the most law- ^ ( f less manner sixteen prominent members of the Assembly f g5 . were arrested, among them Cavaignac and Thiers; the Assembly itself was forcibly dissolved, universal suffrage re stored, and a plebiscite on the new form of government was appointed to follow at once ; the capital was placed in a state of siege ; the council of state dismissed. A new ministry was also formed of the chief members of the suc cessful conspiracy, Morny for the home-office, St Arnaud for war; Fould, finance ; Rouher, justice. A project for a Con tenure of the presidency for ten years, with ministers tuti responsible only to the president, a council of state to draft and prepare laws, a legislative body, and a conservative senate, this was the new constitution of 1852. It was clearly a reminiscence of that form of government which