THE LAST SESSION OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.
The usual hour for the opening of the Chamber of Deputies was three
o'clock; but the startling events of the last two days, and especially
of the last two hours, demanded that it should be convened earlier.
At one o'clock the President of the Chamber, Sauzet, took the chair. On
the left bank of the Seine all the approaches were open, save the
bridges of the Place de la Concorde, where strong detachments of cavalry
were posted on guard.
Within the Chamber all was solemnity. About three hundred members were
present. The opposition seemed joyous and confident, though anxious. The
conservative party was troubled. The Ministerial benches were deserted.
At half-past one the President turned round in his chair, and kept his
eye fixed upon a side door, as if expecting some one to enter. Suddenly
a bustle was heard in that direction, and the Duchess of Orleans, in
deep mourning, attended by her two sons and followed by the Dukes of
Montpensier and Nemours, entered. The latter was received with marked
expressions of dislike. The Count of Paris, garbed in complete black,
was conducted through the crowd to the space in front of the President's
chair; the Duchess followed and seated herself in a fauteuil upon the
same spot. On each side of her was one of her sons, and behind her stood
her brothers, the Dukes of Nemours and Montpensier. This position was
subsequently changed for one more distant, but otherwise remained
throughout relatively the same.
Being seated, the Duchess rose and bowed repeatedly to the assembly. At
the same moment an immense multitude of National Guards and the people
rushed in through the passages, and despite the shouts of the officers,
"You cannot enter!" the space beneath the tribune was instantly and
densely thronged. At the same time the public tribunes were invaded by a
second body of the people.
For some minutes the greatest uproar prevailed. At length it
comparatively ceased, and, in a moment of quiet, M. Dupin, who had
accompanied the Duchess of Orleans to the Chamber, ascended the tribune.
The stillness was instantly as great as had been the previous agitation.
"The King has abdicated," said M. Dupin. "The Count of Paris is
nominated as his successor and the Duchess of Orleans as Regent."
"It is too late!" shouted a man from the gallery of the people.
"The Count of Paris is proclaimed King by the Chamber and the Duchess of
Orleans Regent!' exclaimed the President.
"No--no--no!" was the almost unanimous shout that now rose in the
Chamber.
"I demand," cried M. Lamartine, "that the Royal family withdraw!"
The question was put, and the Duchess and her sons, after great
hesitation, were drawn away to a side door, at the further end of the
hall. At the same moment a new crowd of the people rushed in and took
seats beside the opposition members, by whom they were welcomed.
"I demand to speak!" cried M. Marie. "By the law of 1842, the Duke of
Nemours is Regent. How can the King abrogate that law? I demand a
provisional government!"
"A provisional government!" cried M. Cremieux. "We made a mistake in
'30. Let there be no mistake in '48!"
"A provisional government," said the Abbe Genoude, a Legitimist; "but
it must be the will of the people!"
M. Odillon Barrot, who had been long expected, now entered and
immediately mounted the tribune.
"The crown of July rests on the head of a woman and a child!" cried the
great lawyer.
The Duchess of Orleans instantly rose, as if about to speak, but, at the
urgent solicitation of those around her, resumed her seat.
"I call on the country to rally around this woman and this child," cried
M. Barrot, "the two-fold representative of the principles of July, '30!"
The voice of the speaker was drowned in shouts of dissent and of "Vive
la Reforme!"
"I dissent from the opinion of M. Odillon Barrot!" cried the Marquis de
la Rochejacquelin. "If he is right, the people are nothing!"
"Order--order!" cried the President, putting on his hat, but he was at
once induced to remove it.
At this moment another vast crowd burst into the Chamber, garbed in a
style so heterogeneous as to be grotesque--some with blouses--some with
dragoon helmets on their heads, some with weapons and many with flags.
"Down--down--down with the Throne!" was the terrible cry of this
infuriated mass.
"I demand that the sitting be suspended!" cried M. de Mornay.
"There can be no session at such a moment," said the President, putting
on his hat.
"Off--off--off with your hat, President!" cried the populace; and
several of their muskets were at once pointed at the President. The hat
was removed.
The scene was chaos!
"Beware!" shouted M. Chevalier, editor of the Historical Library.
"Beware how you make the Count of Paris King! A provisional government
we must first have!"
"What right have you to speak?" shouted a man. "You are not a deputy!"
"In the name of the people, silence!" roared a terrific voice that
drowned every other.
It was the voice of Ledru Rollin.
Many of the deputies now withdrew, and their places were filled by the
people. The Duchess of Orleans sat calmly amid the uproar, and the Duke
of Nemours with equal calmness stood behind her chair.
"The throne has been tumbled from the windows of the Tuileries and is
now burning in the Place de la Bastille!" cried M. Dumoulin, who
commanded the Hotel de Ville in July of '30, displaying the tri-color
flag.
"No more Bourbons! Down with the Bourbons! Down with the traitors! A
provisional government!" shouted the people.
"Aye, a Republic!" cried M. Chevalier.
Cremieux, Ledru Rollin and Lamartine were at the same time in the
tribune.
"In the name of the people, silence!" again roared the awful voice of
Ledru Rollin.
"A provisional government!" shouted one of the people.
"You shall have a provisional government!" exclaimed M. Maguin.
"In the name of the people--in the name of the people of Paris in arms,"
again began Ledru Rollin, "I protest against this King and this Regency.
The constitution of '9 demands the will of the people to fix a Regency.
Yet the law of '42 makes the Duke of Nemours Regent, and now it is the
Duchess of Orleans. I protest against it all! I demand a provisional
government!"
"Question--question!" shouted M. Berryer. "A provisional government!"
"In 1815," continued Ledru Rollin, "Napoleon abdicated in favor of the
King of Rome. The King of Rome was refused. In 1830, Charles X.
abdicated in favor of his grandson. The grandson was rejected. In 1848,
Louis Philippe abdicates in favor of his grandson--the Count of Paris!"
"Question--question!" again vociferated M. Berryer. "We all know those
histories!"
"In the name of the people," continued Ledru Rollin, "I demand a
provisional government, named by the people--not by the Chamber--but by
the people!"
Tremendous shouts followed, and M. Lamartine, who had stood beside
Rollin in the tribune, now took his place amid renewed shouts.
After an eloquent speech on the same side as his friend, he concluded by
demanding a provisional government, with an appeal to "the people--the
entire people--all who by the title of man have rights as men."
While Lamartine was yet speaking, a violent knocking was heard at the
door of the Chamber, which was forcibly burst open and a vast crowd
rushed in.
"Down with the Chamber! Down with the Deputies!" shouted the populace,
and muskets were instantly leveled at Lamartine, and, also, at the Royal
party.
"It is Lamartine! it is Lamartine!" was the cry of terror that rose from
his friends.
The muskets were lowered.
The Duchess and her party were at once withdrawn from the Chamber by a
side door, and having first retired to the Hotel des Invalides, next
fled to the Rhine; the Duke of Nemours fled to Boulogne and thence to
England.
"Silence--silence--silence!" shouted the President, violently ringing
his bell. But the uproar only increased. "I pronounce this session
closed!" cried the President, and putting on his hat he instantly left
the chair.
Here ends the Chamber of Deputies.
A large number of the members withdrew with the President, but the
opposition remained, and with them the people and the National Guards.
After the noise incident to this departure had subsided, the venerable
M. Dupont de l'Eure, a gray-headed old man of eighty, was, by unanimous
acclamation, placed in the President's chair. Lamartine still remained
in the tribune, and repeatedly strove to make his voice heard, but in
vain.
"In the name of the people, silence, and let Lamartine speak!" at length
was heard in the thunder tones of Ledru Rollin, rising above all other
sounds.
Silence for a moment being obtained, Lamartine exclaimed:
"Citizens!--a provisional government is declared! The names of the
members will now be announced by the President!"
Lamartine then descended from the tribune; applause and uproar
succeeded.
"The names of the members nominated for a provisional government I will
now read to you," said the aged President, rising and displaying a
paper.
The following names were then read, and were repeated as they came one
after the other from the speaker's mouth by the reporters in loud tones:
Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Arago, Dupont de l'Eure, Marie, Georges
Lafayette; all were received with general approbation.
"The members of the Provisional Government must be conducted by the
people to the Hotel de Ville and installed!" cried a voice from the
crowd.
"Let us adjourn to the Hotel de Ville, Lamartine at the head!" said M.
Bocage.
Immediately Lamartine, accompanied by a large number of citizens,
withdrew. But a great multitude still remained upon the benches and in
the semi-circle of the Chamber.
"Citizens!" cried Ledru Rollin, "in nominating a provisional government
you perform a solemn act--an act which cannot be performed in a furious
manner. Let me once more repeat to you the names you have chosen, and as
they are repeated, you will say 'yes' or 'no,' precisely as they please
you; I call on the reporters of the public press to note the names and
the manner in which they are now received, that France may know what is
here done."
The names of Dupont de l'Eure, Arago, Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Cremieux,
Garnier Pages and Marie were then read out, and all, except the last
two--which were received with a few negatives--were confirmed by
unanimous acclamation. The names were then engrossed in capitals on a
sheet of paper and borne around the Chamber on the bayonet of a National
Guard that all might read for themselves.
"I have one more word to say," cried Ledru Rollin. "The Provisional
Government has immense duties to perform. We must now close this
meeting, that the Government may be able to restore order--stanch the
flow of blood, and secure to the people their rights."
"To the Hotel de Ville!--to the Hotel de Ville!" responded the people in
a tremendous shout. "Vive la Republique!--to the Hotel de Ville!"
Headed by Ledru Rollin the excited multitude withdrew, and at four
o'clock all was as silent in the Chamber of Deputies as if not a voice
had resounded or a footstep had echoed within its walls for centuries.
In the distance, however, could be heard the repeated shout:
"Vive la Republique!--to the Hotel de Ville!"