Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/599

 Unification of Germany and Italy 561 The provisional government of the French republic decrees that all articles pledged at the pawn shops since the first of February, consisting of linen, garments, or clothes, etc., upon which the loan does not exceed ten francs, shall be given back to those who pledged them. The minister of finance is ordered to meet the payments incidental to the execution of the present edict. The provisional government of the republic decrees the immediate establishment of national workshops. The min- ister of public works is charged with the execution of the present decree. The formal proclamation of the second French repub- lic is very characteristic of the momentary situation. In the name of the French people : Citizens : royalty, under whatever form, is abolished ; no more legitimism, no more Bonapartism, no regency. The provisional government has taken all the measures necessary to render impossible the return of the former dynasty or the advent of a new dynasty. The republic is proclaimed. The people are united. All the forts which surround the capital are ours. The brave garrison of Vincennes is a garrison of brothers. Let us retain that old republican flag whose three colors made with our fathers the circuit of the globe. Let us show that this symbol of equality, of liberty, and of fraternity is at the same time the symbol of order — of order the more real, the more durable, since justice is its foundation and the whole people its instrument. The people have already realized that the provisioning of Paris requires a freer circulation in the streets, and those who have erected the barricades have already in several places made openings large enough for the passage of wagons and carts. Let this example be imitated everywhere. Let Paris reassume its accustomed appearance and trade its activity and confidence. . . . Return of pawned articles. Establish- ment of national workshops (February 26). 468. The second French republic is proclaimed (February 26, 1848).