THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
In the Hotel de Ville, closely closeted, sat the Provisional Government
of France. Over that stern old citadel, over the dismantled Palace of
the Tuileries, from the tall summit of the Column of Vendome, over the
Hotel des Invalides and in the Place de la Bastille is seen a blood-red
banner, streaming out like a meteor on the keen north-western blast.
Eighty thousand armed men invest the Hotel de Ville, and wave on wave,
wave on wave, the living and stormy tide eddies and welters and dashes
around that dark old pile. All its avenues are held; its courts are
thronged; ordnance frowns from its black portals and against its gates;
drums roll--banners stream--bayonets glitter; and from those tens of
thousands of hoarse and stormy voices goes up but one shout of menace
and command:
"Vive la Republique! Vive la Republique! No kings! No Bourbons!
Down--down forever with the kings!"
And upward to that dark old pile of despotism, as to the temple of
Liberty herself, are turned those tens of thousands of swarthy faces,
dark with the smoke of battle, yet livid with excitement and
exhaustion--and as they realize that within those walls the question of
their fate and that of their country is then being settled--that from
that night's counsels in that vast and ancient edifice are to flow peace
and prosperity, and freedom and plenty, or else all the untold terrors
of anarchy, civil war, bloodshed, violence and strife--what wonder that
the sitting of the council seemed endless and their own impatience
became intolerable--that all imaginable doubts and fears and absurd
apprehensions took possession of their inflamed imaginations?--that at
one time the rumor should fly, and win credence as it flew, that the
Provisional Government were consulting with the friends of Henry V.--or
again, that they were considering the question of a Regency--and that
under such influences they should roar and yell, and thunder for
admission at the gates, and burden the air with their shouts?
"No Bourbons! No kings! No Regency! Death--death to all kings! La
Republique! La Republique! La Republique!"
At times, in terrific concert, would the thousands of uplifted throats
roar forth the chorus of that startling canticle of '92:
"Vive la republique! Vive la republique!
Debout, peuple Francais! debout, peuple heroique!
Debout, peuple Francais! Vive la republique!"
Then the song would change and the mournful notes of the "Death Hymn of
the Girondins,"--"Mourir Pour la Patrie"--would swell in wild yet solemn
cadence on the wintry blast:
DEATH HYMN OF THE GIRONDINS.
By the voice of the signal cannon,
France calls her sons their aid to lend;
"Let us go," the soldier cries, "to battle!
'Tis our mother we defend!"
To die on Freedom's Altar--to die on Freedom's Altar!
'Tis the noblest of fates; who to meet it would falter!
We who fall afar from the battle,
Lone and unknown obscurely die,
But give at least our parting blessings
Unto France and Freedom high.
To die on Freedom's Altar--to die on Freedom's Altar!
'Tis the noblest of fates; who to meet it would falter!
And thus all that terrible night, even until the morning's dawn,
thronged those men of the barricades around the Hotel de Ville, and all
the night, even until the morning's dawn, calmly continued those men of
the Provisional Government of the French Republic, amid menace and
mandate, uproar and confusion, in their noble, yet arduous work. At
midnight a proclamation of the Provisional Government was read by
torchlight to the excited masses by Louis Blanc, from the steps of the
Hotel de Ville, declaring for a government of the people by itself, with
liberty, equality and fraternity for its principles, while order was
devised and maintained by the people--which served somewhat to allay
their apprehensions and distrust. This proclamation appeared in all the
morning journals, and was placarded all over the city the next day.
That day was Friday, the 25th of February. But still the Provisional
Government remained in session, and still the armed masses of the
barricades, in congregated thousands, rolled in tumultuous billows
around the Hotel de Ville. At length the populace, exasperated by
impatience, hunger and sleeplessness, with brandished bayonets rushed
into the very chamber of council, with furious cries, and with threats
which were well nigh accomplished. Again and again, at the entreaty of
his colleagues, did the brave, the eloquent, the wise Lamartine present
himself upon the steps of the Hotel de Ville to assuage and quiet the
rising tempest. Again and again, throughout that fearful day, did he
come forth, single-handed, to wrestle with violence, turbulence, anarchy
and strife; and again and again, beneath the magic of his eloquent
tongue, the storm lulled, the tempest ceased. Again and again,
throughout all that fearful day, were the acts of that noble Government
matured and sent forth. Proclamation followed proclamation, and no
branch of society seemed forgotten.
The names of the members of the Provisional Government were again
published. Caussidiere and Sobrier were confirmed in the police
department, and Etienne Arago in that of the post-office. Merchants of
provisions were recommended to supply all who were in need; and the
people were recommended to still retain their arms. The Chamber of
Deputies was dissolved, the Peers were forbidden to meet, and the
convocation of a National Assembly was promised. To all laborers labor
was guaranteed and compensation for labor. At noon the garrison of the
fort of Vincennes was announced to have acknowledged the Republic, just
as the people were about to march upon it. To insure order and
tranquillity, the Municipal Guard was disbanded, and the National Guard
entrusted with the protection of Paris under M. Courtais, the
commandant, who was ordered immediately to recruit twenty-four
battalions for active service. All articles pledged at the
Mont-de-Piete, from February 4th, not exceeding in value ten francs,
were ordered to be returned, and the Tuileries was decreed the future
asylum of invalid workmen. An attack on the machinery of some of the
printing offices was checked by a proclamation.
General Bedeau was appointed Minister of War, General Cavaignac Governor
of Algeria, and Admiral Baudin to the command of the Toulon fleet. On
the part of the army Marshal Bugeaud and on the part of the clergy the
venerable Archbishop of Paris gave in their adhesion to the Republic,
while the entire press, Bourgeoisie and the Provinces hesitated not an
instant. Indeed, from all quarters came in adhesions to the Republic.
The Bonapartes were among the first. Barrot and Thiers also came, but
too late to save themselves from contempt. Mr. Rush, the American
Minister, the first of foreign ambassadors acknowledged the Republic.
The son of Mehemet Ali was next. The Papal Nuncio succeeded, together
with the Ministers of the Argentine Republic and Uruguay. Next came the
ambassador of England; but those of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Holland
awaited instructions from home--little dreaming of the news they were
about to receive! The city of Rouen sent three hundred of its citizens
as a deputation, with abundant supplies of arms, by the morning cars of
the railway.
At about noon, the Pont Louis Philippe was destroyed by fire. Henceforth
it is to be "Le Pont de la Reforme." And so with all other names. Royal
is to give place to Republique, and "Liberte, Egalite et Fraternite" is
to be again inscribed on all public monuments.
The children of citizens killed in the Revolution were declared adopted
by the country. The civil, judicial and administrative functionaries of
the Royal Government were announced released from their oaths of office,
the colonels of the twelve legions of National Guards were dismissed,
and all political prisoners set free. Every citizen was declared an
elector, and absolute freedom of thought, the liberty of the press, and
the right of political and industrial associations secured to all were
proclaimed.
A warrant for the arrest of the late Ministers was issued by the new
Procureur-General, M. Portalis, based on an act of accusation presented
to the Court of Appeals. But all of them had fled. Guizot is said to
have escaped from the Foreign Office in a servant's livery. When the
people broke into his hotel, they found only his daughter, and retired.
The other members of the Ministry are said to have leaped from a low
window of the Tuileries, and to have escaped at the moment of the King's
abdication. M. de Cormenin was appointed Conseilleur d'Etat and M.
Achille Marrast Procureur-General to the Court of Appeals in Paris, in
place of the refugees.
Such were some of the acts of the seven men constituting the Provisional
Government of the French Republic, during their first extraordinary
session of sixty-four hours--from the hour of four o'clock in the
afternoon of Thursday after the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies
to the hour of four o'clock in the morning of Sunday, the 27th of
February, when the people of Paris consented to retire to their homes.
But during all of this period, night and day without intermission, every
moment was the Hotel de Ville surrounded by tumultuous masses infuriated
by suspicion, apprehension and distrust. For two whole days and two
whole nights armed men incessantly inundated the square, the courts and
halls of the Hotel de Ville. They insisted on giving to the Republic the
character, the attitude and the emblems of the first Revolution--they
insisted on a Republic violent, sweeping, dictatorial and terrorist, in
language, in gesture and in color, in place of that determined on,
moderate, pacific, legal, unanimous and constitutional. At the peril of
their lives the Provisional Government resisted this demand. Twenty
times during those sixty-four hours was Lamartine taken up, dragged,
carried to the doors and windows or to the head of the grand staircase,
into the courts and the square, to hurl down with his eloquence those
emblems of terrorism, with which it was attempted to dishonor the
Republic. But the vast and infuriated mass refused to listen, and
drowned his voice in clamor and vociferation. At length, when well-nigh
exhausted in defence of the emblem of a moderate Republic, he exclaimed:
"The red flag has been nowhere except around the Champ-de-Mars, trailed
in the blood of the people, while the tri-color has been around the
world with our navy, our glory and our liberties!"
The furious and hitherto obdurate and bloodthirsty populace became
softened--tears were shed, arms were lowered--flags were thrown away,
and peaceably they departed to their homes. Never--never was there a
more glorious triumph of eloquence--of patriotism!
It was on the morning of Sunday, the 27th day of February, that the
Provisional Government deemed it prudent and proper for them to bring to
a close their initiative labors, and once more, for the last time,
Lamartine descended the steps of the great staircase of the Hotel de
Ville, and, presenting himself in front of the edifice surrounded by his
colleagues, announced to the vast assembly the result of their
protracted toil:
Royalty abolished--
A Republic proclaimed--
The people restored to their political rights--
National workshops opened--
The army and National Guard reorganized--
The abolition of death for political offences.
With louder and more prolonged acclamations than any other decree was
this last received. And, instantly, in accordance with this
proclamation, the director of criminal affairs, on the order of M.
Cremieux, Minister of Justice, dispatched on the wings of the wind, all
over France, the warrant to suspend all capital executions which were to
have taken place, in virtue of Royal decrees, until the will of the
National Assembly, at once to be convened, should be promulgated on the
subject of the penalty of death. The effects of this decree, as it sped
on the lightning's wings, like a saving angel, all over France, may be
imagined perhaps, but portrayal is impossible! Who can imagine even the
joy, the rapture it brought to many a dungeon-prisoner, who was counting
the hours that yet remained to him of life and preceded his awful doom,
or to those who sorrowed over his untimely--perchance his unjust fate!
Leaning on the arm of Louis Blanc, the youngest member of the
Government, the venerable Dupont de l'Eure, the eldest, accompanied by
the other members, now appeared on the balcony of the room formerly
called the Chamber of the Throne, but now the Chamber of the Republic!
Lamartine then advanced a step before his colleagues, and in a brief and
eloquent address proclaimed to that immense throng the existence of the
Republic.
The announcement was received with, acclamations of joy, and shouts of
"Vive le Gouvernement!"--"Vive Lamartine!"--"Vive Louis Blanc!" mingled
with those of "Vive la Republique!" loudly rose.
From the Hotel de Ville, the Provisional Government proceeded in a body,
despite the rain which fell in torrents, accompanied by the people, to
the Place de la Bastille, there officially to inaugurate the Republic,
agreeably to announcement.
At the appointed hour, the Place de la Bastille was thronged. The
National Guard, consisting of two battalions from each of the twelve
legions of Paris, together with the Thirteenth Legion of cavalry and two
battalions of the Banlieu, were drawn up from the Church of the
Madeleine to the Column of July. And, there, at the base of that column
erected in commemoration of the Revolution which had made Louis Philippe
King of the French, his downfall was commemorated, and on the ruins of
the throne then established was now inaugurated a Republic!
During the ceremony of the inauguration, the "Marseillaise" was sung by
the National Guard and the people, and, at its conclusion, about the
hour of three, the troops filed off before the Column of July to the
thrilling strains of the "Marseillaise" and the "Mourir Pour la Patrie"
of the Girondins. The members of the Provisional Government, preceded by
a detachment of the National Guard and accompanied by the pupils of the
Polytechnic School and the Military School of St. Cyr, then descended
the boulevards, followed by the whole of the military and civic array,
who chanted the national songs. The effect was stupendous. Hour after
hour the immense procession moved on like a huge serpent through the
streets of Paris; and, at length, when its head was at the Hotel de
Ville, its extremity had hardly left the Column of July.
It was night, on Sunday, the 27th of February, when the members of the
Provisional Government, for the first time during four days, returned to
their homes. But their work was accomplished. A Republic was gained,
proclaimed and inaugurated!