The History of a Crime - Victor Hugo
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"You are ordered to dissolve the High Court, and, in case of refusal, to
arrest MM. Beranger, Rocher, De Boissieux, Pataille, and Hello."
And, turning towards the judges, the President added,--
"Signed, Maupas."
Then, addressing himself to the Commissary, he resumed,--
"There is some mistake, these are not our names. MM. Beranger, Rocher,
and De Boissieux have served their time and are no longer judges of the
High Court; as for M. Hello, he is dead."
The High Court, in reality, was temporary and renewable; the _coup
d'etat_ overthrew the Constitution, but did not understand it. The
warrant signed "Maupas" was applicable to the preceding High Court. The
_coup d'etat_ had been misled by an old list. Such is the heedlessness of
assassins.
"Mr. Commissary of Police," continued the President, "you see that these
names are not ours."
"That does not matter to me," replied the Commissary. "Whether this
warrant does or does not apply to you, disperse, or I shall arrest all of
you."
And he added,--
"At once."
The judges were silenced; one of them picked up from the table a loose
sheet of paper, which was the judgment they had drawn up, and put the
paper in his pocket.
Then they went away.
The Commissary pointed to the door where the bayonets were, and said,--
"That way."
They went out by the lobby between two ranks of soldiers. The detachment
of Republican Guards escorted them as far as the St. Louis Gallery.
There they set them free; their heads bowed down.
It was about three o'clock.
While these events were taking place in the Library, close by, in the
former great Chamber of the Parliament, the Court of Cassation was
sitting in judgment as usual, without noticing what was happening so near
at hand. It would appear, then, that the police exhaled no odor.
Let us at once have done with this High Court.
In the evening at half-past seven the seven judges met together at the
house of one of their number, he who had taken away the decree; they
framed an official report, drew up a protest, and recognizing the
necessity of filling in the line left blank in their decree, on the
proposition of M. Quesnault, appointed as Procureur-General M. Renouard,
their colleague at the Court of Cessation. M. Renouard, who was
immediately informed, consented.
They met together for the last time on the next day, the 3d, at eleven
o'clock in the morning, an hour before the time mentioned in the judgment
which we have read above,--again in the Library of the Court of
Cassation. M. Renouard was present. An official minute was given to him,
recording his appointment, as well as certain details with which he asked
to be supplied. The judgment which had been drawn up was taken by M.
Quesnault to the Recorder's Office, and immediately entered upon the
Register of the Secret Deliberations of the Court of Cassation, the High
Court not having a Special Register, and having decided, from its
creation, to use the Register of the Court of Cassation. After the decree
they also transcribed the two documents described as follows on the
Register:--
I. An official report recording the interference of the police during the
discussion upon the preceding decree.
II. A minute of the appointment of M. Renouard to the office of
Procureur-General.
In addition seven copies of these different documents drawn up by the
hands of the judges themselves, and signed by them all, were put in a
place of safety, as also, it is said, a note-book, in which were written
five other secret decisions relating to the _coup d'etat_.
Does this page of the Register of the Court of Cassation exist at the
present time? Is it true, as has been stated, that the prefect Maupas
sent for the Register and tore out the leaf containing the decree? We
have not been able to clear up this point. The Register now is shown to
no one, and those employed at the Recorder's Office are dumb.
Such are the facts, let us summarize them. If this Court so called
"High," had been of a character to conceive such an idea as that of doing
its duty--when it had once met together the mere organization of itself
was a matter of a few minutes--it would have proceeded resolutely and
rapidly, it would have appointed as Procureur-General some energetic man
belonging to the Court of Cassation, either from the body of magistrates,
such as Freslon, or from the bar, like Martin (of Strasbourg). By virtue
of Article 68, and without waiting the initiative of the Assembly, it
would have drawn up a judgment stigmatizing the crime, it would have
launched an order of arrest against the President and his accomplices and
have ordered the removal of the person of Louis Bonaparte to jail. As for
the Procureur-General he would have issued a warrant of arrest. All this
could have been done by half-past eleven, and at that time no attempt had
been made to dissolve the High Court. These preliminary proceedings
concluded, the High Court, by going out through a nailed-up door leading
into the Salle des Pas Perdus, could have descended into the street, and
there have proclaimed its judgment to the people. At this time it would
have met with no hindrance. Finally, and this in any case, it should have
sat robed on the Judges' Bench, with all magisterial state, and when the
police agent and his soldiers appeared should have ordered the soldiers,
who perhaps would have obeyed them, to arrest the agent, and if the
soldiers had disobeyed, should have allowed themselves to be formally
dragged to prison, so that the people could see, under their own eyes,
out in the open street, the filthy hoof of the _coup d'etat_ trampling
upon the robe of Justice.
Instead of this, what steps did the High Court take? We have just seen.
"Be off with you!"
"We are going."
We can imagine, after a very different fashion, the dialogue between
Mathieu Mole and Vidocq.
[4] This line was left blank. It was filled in later on with the name of
M. Renouard, Councillor of the Court of Cassation.
CHAPTER XII.
THE MAIRIE OF THE TENTH ARRONDISSEMENT
The Representatives, having come out from M. Daru, rejoined each other
and assembled in the street. There they consulted briefly, from group to
group. There were a large number of them. In less than an hour, by
sending notices to the houses on the left bank of the Seine alone, on
account of the extreme urgency, more than three hundred members could be
called together. But where should they meet? At Lemardelay's? The Rue
Richelieu was guarded. At the Salle Martel? It was a long way off. They
relied upon the Tenth Legion, of which General Lauriston was colonel.
They showed a preference for the Mairie of the Tenth Arrondissement.
Besides, the distance was short, and there was no need to cross any
bridges.
They formed themselves into column, and set forth.
M. Daru, as we have said, lived in the Rue de Lille, close by the
Assembly. The section of the Rue de Lille lying between his house and
the Palais Bourbon was occupied by infantry. The last detachment
barred his door, but it only barred it on the right, not on the left.
The Representatives, on quitting M. Daru, bent their steps on the side
of the Rue des Saints-Peres, and left the soldiers behind them. At
that moment the soldiers had only been instructed to prevent their
meeting in the Palace of the Assembly; they could quietly form
themselves into a column in the street, and set forth. If they had
turned to the right instead of to the left, they would have been
opposed. But there were no orders for the other alternative; they
passed through a gap in the instructions.
An hour afterwards this threw St. Arnaud into a fit of fury.
On their way fresh Representatives came up and swelled the column. As the
members of the Right lived for the most part in the Faubourg St. Germain,
the column was composed almost entirely of men belonging to the majority.
At the corner of the Quai d'Orsay they met a group of members of the
Left, who had reunited after their exit from the Palace of the Assembly,
and who were consulting together. There were the Representatives
Esquiros, Marc Dufraisse, Victor Hennequin, Colfavru, and Chamiot.
Those who were marching at the head of the column left their places, went
up to the group, and said, "Come with us."
"Where are you going?" asked Marc Dufraisse.
To the Mairie of the Tenth Arrondissement."
"What do you intend to do there?"
"To decree the deposition of Louis Bonaparte."
"And afterwards?"
"Afterwards we shall go in a body to the Palace of the Assembly; we will
force our way in spite of all resistance, and from the top of the steps
we will read out the decree of deposition to the soldiers."
"Very good, we will join you," said Mare Dufraisse.
The five members of the Left marched at some distance from the column.
Several of their friends who were mingled with the members of the Right
rejoined them; and we may here mention a fact without giving it more
importance than it possesses, namely, that the two fractions of the
Assembly represented in this unpremeditated gathering marched towards the
Mairie without being mingled together; one on each side of the street. It
chanced that the men of the majority kept on the right side of the
street, and the men of the minority on the left.
No one had a scarf of office. No outward token caused them to be
recognized. The passers-by stared at them with surprise, and did not
understand what was the meaning of this procession of silent men through
the solitary streets of the Faubourg St. Germain. One district of Paris
was as yet unaware of the _coup d'etat_.
Strategically speaking, from a defensive point of view, the Mairie of
the tenth Arrondissement was badly chosen. Situated in a narrow street
in that short section of the Rue de Grenelle-St.-Germain which lies
between the Rue des Saints-Peres and the Rue du Sepulcre, close by the
cross-roads of the Croix-Rouge, where the troops could arrive from so
many different points, the Mairie of the Tenth Arrondissement, confined,
commanded, and blockaded on every side, was a pitiful citadel for the
assailed National Representation. It is true that they no longer had the
choice of a citadel, any more than later on they had the choice of a
general.
Their arrival at the Mairie might have seemed a good omen. The great
gate which leads into a square courtyard was shut; it opened. The post
of the National Guards, composed of some twenty men, took up their arms
and rendered military honors to the Assembly. The Representatives
entered, a Deputy Mayor received them with respect on the threshold of
the Mairie. "The Palace of the Assembly is closed by the troops," said
the Representatives, "we have come to deliberate here." The Deputy Mayor
led them to the first story, and admitted them to the Great Municipal
Hall. The National Guard cried, "Long live the National Assembly!"
The Representatives having entered, the door was shut. A crowd began to
gather in the street and shouted "Long live the Assembly!" A certain
number of strangers to the Assembly entered the Mairie at the same time
as the Representatives. Overcrowding was feared, and two sentries were
placed at a little side-door, which was left open, with orders only to
allow members of the Assembly who might come afterwards to enter. M.
Howyn Tranchere stationed himself at this door, and undertook to identify
them.
On their arrival at the Mairie, the Representatives numbered somewhat
under three hundred. They exceeded this number later on. It was about
eleven o'clock in the morning. All did not go up at once into the hall
where the meeting was to take place. Several, those of the Left in
particular, remained in the courtyard, mingling with the National Guards
and citizens.
They talked of what they were going to do.
This was the first difficulty.
The Father of the meeting was M. de Keratry.
Was he going to preside?
The Representatives who were assembled in the Great Hall were in his
favor.
The Representatives remaining in the courtyard hesitated.
Marc Dufraisse went up to MM. Jules de Lasteyrie and Leon de Maleville,
who had stayed behind with the Representatives of the Left, and said to
them, "What are they thinking of upstairs? To make Keratry President? The
name of Keratry would frighten the people as thoroughly as mine would
frighten the middle classes."
A member of the Right, M. de Keranflech, came up, and intending to
support the objection, added, "And then, think of Keratry's age. It is
madness to pit a man of eighty against this hour of danger."
But Esquiros exclaimed,--
"That is a bad reason! Eighty years! They constitute a force."
"Yes; where they are well borne," said Colfavru. "Keratry bears them
badly."
"Nothing is greater," resumed Esquiros, "than great octogenarians."
"It is glorious," added Chamiot, "to be presided over by Nestor."
"No, by Gerontes,"[5] said Victor Hennequin.
These words put an end to the debate. Keratry was thrown out. MM. Leon
de Maleville and Jules de Lasteyrie, two men respected by all parties,
undertook to make the members of the Right listen to reason. It was
decided that the "bureau"[6] should preside. Five members of the "bureau"
were present; two Vice-Presidents, MM. Benoist d'Azy and Vitet, and three
Secretaries, MM. Griumult, Chapot, and Moulin. Of the two other
Vice-Presidents, one, General Bedrau, was at Mazas; the other, M. Daru,
was under guard in his own house. Of the three other Secretaries, two,
MM. Peapin and Lacaze, men of the Elysee, were absentees; the other, M.
Yvan, a member of the Left, was at the meeting of the Left, in the Rue
Blanche, which was taking place almost at the same moment.
In the meantime an usher appeared on the steps of the Mairie, and cried
out, as on the most peaceful days of the Assembly, "Representatives, to
the sitting!"
This usher, who belonged to the Assembly, and who had followed it, shared
its fortunes throughout this day, the sequestration on the Quai d'Orsay
included.
At the summons of the usher all the Representatives in the courtyard, and
amongst whom was one of the Vice-Presidents, M. Vitei, went upstairs to
the Hall, and the sitting was opened.
This sitting was the last which the Assembly held under regular
conditions. The Left, which, as we have seen, had on its side boldly
recaptured the Legislative power, and had added to it that which
circumstances required--as was the duty of Revolutionists; the Left,
without a "bureau," without an usher, and without secretaries, held
sittings in which the accurate and passionless record of shorthand was
wanting, but which live in our memories and which History will gather up.
Two shorthand writers of the Assembly, MM. Grosselet and Lagache, were
present at the sitting at the Mairie of the Tenth Arrondissement. They
have been able to record it. The censorship of the victorious _coup
d'etat_ has mutilated their report and has published through its
historians this mangled version as the true version. One lie more. That
does not matter. This shorthand recital belongs to the brief of the 2d
December, it is one of the leading documents in the trial which the
future will institute. In the notes of this book will be found this
document complete. The passages in inverted commas are those which the
censorship of M. Bonaparte has suppressed. This suppression is a proof of
their significance and importance.
Shorthand reproduces everything except life. Stenography is an ear. It
hears and sees not. It is therefore necessary to fill in here the
inevitable blanks of the shorthand account.
In order to obtain a complete idea of this sitting of the Tenth
Arrondissement, we must picture the great Hall of the Mairie, a sort of
parallelogram, lighted on the right by four or five windows overlooking
the courtyard; on the left, along the wall, furnished with several rows
of benches which had been hastily brought thither, on which were piled up
the three hundred Representatives, assembled together by chance. No one
was sitting down, those in front were standing, those behind were mounted
on the benches. Here and there were a few small tables. In the centre
people walked to and fro. At the bottom, at the end opposite the door,
was a long table furnished with benches, which occupied the whole width
of the wall, behind which sat the "bureau." "Sitting" is merely the
conventional term. The "bureau" did not "sit;" like the rest of the
Assembly it was on its feet. The secretaries, M.M. Chapot, Moulin, and
Grimault wrote standing. At certain moments the two Vice-Presidents
mounted on the benches so as to be better seen from all points of the
room. The table was covered by an old green tablecloth, stained with ink,
three or four inkstands had been brought in, and a quire of paper was
scattered about. There the decrees were written as soon as they were
drawn up. They multiplied the copies, some Representatives became
secretaries on the spur of the moment, and helped the official
secretaries.
This great hall was on a level with the landing. It was situated, as we
have said, on the first floor; it was reached by a very narrow staircase.
We must recollect that nearly the whole of the members present were
members of the Right.
The first moment was a serious one. Berryer came out to advantage.
Berryer, like all those extemporizers without style, will only be
remembered as a name, and a much disputed name, Berryer having been
rather a special pleader than an orator who believed what he said. On
that day Berryer was to the point, logical and earnest. They began by
this cry, "What shall we do?" "Draw up a declaration," said M. de
Falloux. "A protest," said M. de Flavigny. "A decree," said Berryer.
In truth a declaration was empty air, a protest was noise, a decree was
action. They cried out, "What decree?" "Deposition," said Berryer.
Deposition was the extreme limit of the energy of the Right. Beyond
deposition, there was outlawry; deposition was practicable for the Right,
outlawry was only possible for the Left. In fact it was the Left who
outlawed Louis Bonaparte. They did it at their first meeting in the Rue
Blanche. We shall see this later on. At deposition, Legality came to an
end; at outlawry, the Revolution began. The recurrence of Revolutions are
the logical consequences of _coups d'etat_. The deposition having been
voted, a man who later on turned traitor, Quentin Bauchart, exclaimed,
"Let us all sign it." All signed it. Odilon Barrot came in and signed it.
Antony Thouret came in and signed it. Suddenly M. Piscatory announced
that the Mayor was refusing to allow Representatives who had arrived to
enter the Hall. "Order him to do so by decree," said Berryer. And the
decree was voted. Thanks to this decree, MM. Favreau and Monet entered;
they came from the Legislative Palace; they related the cowardice of
Dupin. M. Dahirel, one of the leaders of the Right, was exasperated, and
said, "We have received bayonet thrusts." Voices were raised, "Let us
summon the Tenth Legion. Let the call to arms be beaten. Lauriston
hesitates. Let us order him to protect the Assembly." "Let us order him
by decree," said Berryer. This decree was drawn up, which, however, did
not prevent Lauriston from refusing. Another decree, again proposed by
Berryer, pronounced any one who had outraged the Parliamentary
inviolability to be a traitor, and ordered the immediate release of those
Representatives who had been wrongfully made prisoners. All this was
voted at once without debate, in a sort of great unanimous confusion, and
in the midst of a storm of fierce conversations. From time to time
Berryer imposed silence. Then the angry outcries broke forth again. "The
_coup d'etat_ will not dare to come here." "We are masters here." "We are
at home." "It would be impossible to attack us here." "These wretches
will not dare to do so." If the uproar had been less violent, the
Representatives might have heard through the open windows close at hand,
the sound of soldiers loading their guns.
A regiment of Chasseurs of Vincennes had just entered silently into the
garden of the Mairie, and, while waiting for orders, were loading their
guns.
Little by little the sitting, at first disorderly and tumultuous, had
assumed an ordinary aspect. The uproar had relapsed into a murmur. The
voice of the usher, crying "Silence, gentlemen," had succeeded in
overcoming the hubbub. Every moment fresh Representatives came in, and
hastened to sign the decree of deposition at the "bureau." As there was
a great crowd round the "bureau" waiting to sign, a dozen loose sheets
of paper to which the Representatives affixed their signatures were
circulated in the great Hall and the two adjoining rooms.
The first to sign the decree of deposition was M. Dufaure, the last was
M. Betting de Lancastel. Of the two Presidents, one, M. Benoist d'Azy,
was addressing the Assembly; the other, M. Vitet, pale, but calm and
resolute, distributed instructions and orders. M. Benoist d'Azy
maintained a decorous countenance, but a certain hesitation in his
speech revealed an inner agitation. Divisions, even in the Right, had not
disappeared at this critical moment. A Legitimist member was overheard
saying in a low voice, while speaking of one of the Vice-Presidents,
"This great Vitet looks like a whited sepulchre." Vitet was an Orleanist.
Given this adventurer with whom they had to deal, this Louis Bonaparte,
capable of everything, the hour and the man being wrapt in mystery, some
Legitimist personages of a candid mind were seriously but comically
frightened. The Marquis of ----, who acted the fly on the coach-wheel
to the Right, went hither and thither, harangued, shouted, declaimed,
remonstrated, proclaimed, and trembled. Another, M. A---- N----,
perspiring, red-faced, out of breath, rushed about distractedly. "Where
is the guard? How many men are there? Who commands them? The officer!
send me the officer! Long live the Republic! National Guard, stand firm!
Long live the Republic!" All the Right shouted this cry. "You wish then
to kill it," said Esquiros. Some of them were dejected; Bourbousson
maintained the silence of a vanquished placeman. Another, the Viscount of
----, a relative of the Duke of Escars, was so alarmed that every moment
he adjourned to a corner of the courtyard. In the crowd which filled the
courtyard there was a _gamin_ of Paris, a child of Athens, who has since
become am elegant and charming poet, Albert Glatigny. Albert Glatigny
cried out to this frightened Viscount, "Hulloa there! Do you think that
_coups d'etat_ are extinguished in the way Gulliver put out the fire?"
Oh, Laughter, how gloomy you are when attended with Tragedy!
The Orleanists were quieter, and maintained a more becoming attitude.
This arose from the fact that they ran greater danger.
Pascal Duprat replaced at the top of the decrees the words, "Republique
Francaise," which had been forgotten.
From time to time men who were not speaking on the subject of the moment
mentioned this strange word, "Dupin," open which there ensued shouts of
derision and bursts of laughter. "Utter the name of that coward no more,"
cried Antony Thouret.
There were motions and counter-motions; it was a continual uproar
interrupted by deep and solemn silences. Alarmist phrases circulated from
group to group. "We are in a blind alley." "We are caught here as in a
rat trap;" and then on each motion voices were raised: "That is it!" "It
is right!" "It is settled!" They agreed in a low voice upon a rendezvous
at No. 19, Rue de la Chaussee-d'Antin, in case they should be expelled
from the Mairie. M. Bixio carried off the decree of deposition to get it
printed. Esquiros, Marc Dufraisse, Pascal Duprat, Rigal, Lherbette,
Chamiot, Latrade, Colfavru, Antony Thouret, threw in here and there
energetic words of advice. M. Dufaure, resolute and indignant, protested
with authority. M. Odilon Barrot, motionless in a corner, maintained the
silence of stupefied silliness.
MM. Passy and de Tocqueville, in the midst of the groups, described that
when they were Ministers they had always entertained an uneasy suspicion
of a _coup d'etat_, and that they clearly perceived this fixed idea in
the brain of Louis Bonaparte. M. de Tocqueville added, "I said to myself
every night, 'I lie down to sleep a Minister; what if I should awake a
prisoner?'" Some of those men who were termed "men of order," muttered
while signing the degree of deposition, "Beware of the Red Republic!" and
seemed to entertain an equal fear of failure and of success. M. de
Vatimesnil pressed the hands of the men of the Left, and thanked them for
their presence. "You make us popular," said he. And Antony Thouret
answered him, "I know neither Right nor Left to-day; I only see the
Assembly."
The younger of the two shorthand writers handed their written sheets
to the Representatives who had spoken, and, asked them to revise them at
once, saying, "We shall not have the time to read them over." Some
Representatives went down into the street, and showed the people copies
of the decree of deposition, signed by the members of the "bureau." One
of the populace took one of these copies, and cried out, "Citizens! the
ink is still quite wet! Long live the Republic!"