CHAPTER XX.
ANOTHER MIDNIGHT CONCLAVE.
Again it was midnight. Again the chiefs of the revolution of '48assembled in conclave. The second of the Three Days had passed, but thestreets of Paris were all alive with excitement.
Every leader of the reform was there--Ledru Rollin and Flocon excitedand fiery, Louis Blanc exhausted and agitated, Albert stern andcollected, Lamartine pale and troubled, Marrast sanguine andconfident--all of them more or less disturbed but M. Dantes. As for him,the same calm smile was on his lip, the same mild light in his eye andthe same unchanging resolution upon his countenance.
"Who attended the Chamber of Deputies to-day?" asked Marrast. "Did you,Lamartine?"
"I did," was the reply, "and witnessed a somewhat stormy sitting. Atthree o'clock, as usual, old Sauzet took the chair. Our friends werethere in large numbers; the Ministerial benches were also filled.Immediately after, M. Guizot entered. He had been saluted with groans bythe 10th Legion, stationed on guard without, and with cries of 'Downwith Guizot!' Calm, undisturbed, stony in aspect, though strangelypallid, he entered and took his seat. M. Vavin, Deputy for the Seine,instantly mounted the tribune. As Deputy of Paris he had, he said, asolemn duty to fulfill. For twenty-four hours Paris had been ininsurrection. Why was this? He called on the Minister of the Interior toexplain."
"And what said Guizot?" asked Louis Blanc, eagerly.
"He said he thought the public interest did not demand, nor was itproper for the Chamber at that time, to enter into debate on thesubject. The King had called M. le Comte Mole to form a new cabinet."
"And then the left cheered?" exclaimed Flocon.
"Most emphatically," was the reply.
"And what said Guizot then?" asked Ledru Rollin.
"He calmly said that no such demonstrations could induce him to add toor withhold a single syllable of what he designed to say, or topretermit a single act he had designed to do. As long as his Ministryremained in office he should cause public order to be respected,according to his best judgment, and as he had always done. He shouldconsider himself answerable for all that might happen, and should in allthings act as conscience might dictate for the best interests of thecountry."
"A noble answer!" exclaimed M. Dantes, with enthusiasm.
Ledru Rollin and Louis Blanc assented.
"And what next?" pursued Flocon.
"After considerable confusion," continued Lamartine, "M. Odillon Barrotrose and demanded, in consequence of the situation of the cabinet, apostponement of the proposition for its impeachment, fixed forto-morrow."
"Ah! And what said the Chamber?" asked Flocon.
"The demand was so loudly reprobated that M. Barrot immediately said hemade the proposal in entire submission to the majority."
"And what said Dupin?" asked Ledru Rollin, eagerly.
"Dupin said the first thing necessary for the capital was order. Anarchymust cease. The Ministry could not at the same time occupy themselves inre-establishing order and in caring for their own safety. He demandedthe adjournment of the impeachment and of all business."
"And what did Barrot reply to that?" asked Louis Blanc.
"M. Barrot was silent; but the Minister of Foreign Affairs at once roseand said with much energy that as long as his cabinet remained entrustedwith the public interest, which would probably be for some hours, itwould cause the laws to be respected. The cabinet saw no reason for thesuspension of the labors of the Chamber. The Crown was at that momentexercising its prerogative, and it must be respected. So long as hiscabinet was on those benches, the Chamber need not suspend its labors."
"What was the vote on the question to postpone consideration of theimpeachment?" asked Flocon.
"Some of the opposition supported the motion, but the whole centreopposed it, and it was lost. The Chamber immediately rose in greatagitation, and M. Guizot disappeared."
"It seems to me that the position of M. Odillon Barrot is a somewhatpeculiar one at this moment," observed Louis Blanc. "He is neither withthe Crown nor with the people, and yet both seem to confide in him."
"As I passed his house this evening, at about eight o'clock," saidFlocon, "a large multitude were in his courtyard shouting, 'Long liveOdillon Barrot!' A deputation of the people penetrated, I understand,even to his private apartment, where he was in consultation with Thiersand Dupin. Barrot then urged them to be moderate in their triumph and toretire. M. Garnier Pages, who chanced to be there, urged them to do thesame, and they went off shouting louder than ever."
At that moment one of the reporters of "Le National" hastily entered andhanded Marrast a note.
"Whence do you come, Monsieur?" asked the editor.
"From the Tuileries, Monsieur," was the reply, and the reporter left.
The editor opened the note and read aloud:
"One o'clock--Count Mole, unable to form a cabinet, has this moment resigned, and the King has sent for M. Guizot, M. Thiers and Marshal Bugeaud.
"Half-past one o'clock--Marshal Bugeaud's commission as Commander-in-chief of the National Guard and of the troops of the Line, in place of Generals Jaqueminot and Peyronett Tyburce Sebastiani, has just been signed by M. Guizot and his colleagues, the Ministers of War and the Interior, and will appear in the 'Moniteur' of this morning. Bugeaud's plan is this: Instant attack with an overwhelming force of artillery, cavalry and infantry of the Line, (which, he asserts, he has now all ready in position in anticipation of this event, and well disposed to act,) on all the barricades. He promises to sweep away every obstruction from the streets before dawn, though at the cost of fifty thousand lives."
"Ha!" exclaimed all the conspirators, instantly springing to their feet.
"This, indeed, is resistance!" said M. Dantes. "But Bugeaud canconcentrate no more troops upon us. Every avenue to Paris will beeffectually closed before morning and even the telegraph stopped!"
"If this be true, we have not an instant to lose!" said Louis Blanc.
"I had a hint of this," began M. Dantes.
"Stay--stay, Messieurs!" cried Marrast, as the whole company was rushingto the door. "Here is another and later dispatch."
"Two o'clock--Marshal Bugeaud has gone to complete his arrangements for instant attack. M. Thiers has arrived, and, with Odillon Barrot, Duvergier de Hauranne and de Remusat, has formed a cabinet. General Lamoriciere supersedes Marshal Bugeaud--the latter is recalled and forbidden to fire on the people. He protests with violence, and sheathes his sword in despair."
"To be sure he does, the old cut-throat!" cried Ledru Rollin. "The ideaof being let loose with his mastiffs on the people of Paris, like sheeppent up in a fold, was to him a source of rapturous anticipation, andhis rage at the disappointment is proportional!"
"Messieurs!" cried M. Dantes, "this last step of the Government was allthat we required to insure our success. Thiers and Barrot mistake ifthey think there is sufficient magic in their names to quell arevolution. In fact, neither of them are trusted by the people. It istoo late! Yesterday this might have been done; but now the demand is notreform, but a republic--not 'down with the Ministry,' but 'down with thedynasty!'"
The conspirators looked at each other and then at M. Dantes in amazementand doubt. It was apparent they were as yet unprepared for language soplain.
"M. Dantes is right!" cried Flocon. "To-morrow night when we meet weshall all admit it!"
It was now nearly three o'clock, and the Republicans repaired to theirhomes for a few hours' sleep before the exciting scenes anticipated forthe morrow.
As Louis Blanc and M. Albert passed up the Rue Lepelletier, and cameopposite the Hotel of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which, but a fewhours before, had been the scene of so much confusion and bloodshed,they paused and looked around. The pavement was still dark and wet withthe gore of the slaughtered citizens, but the whole street was desertedand silent. Here and there a solitary light might be detected in theattic windows of the immense h
otel; but no other sign of life or humanoccupation was to be perceived. True, there was an ominous sound ofrising barricades in the Boulevard beyond--the crash of trees, the clickof steel on stone, the lumbering of wheels--and, at intervals, a distantshout. But this excepted, all was as quiet in Paris as if the old cityhad never known of insurrection.
"This spot will be noted in the future history of France," said LouisBlanc. "Do you know the exact facts of the case, M. Albert? There are somany rumors that we can with difficulty get near the truth."
"I was not present when the 14th delivered their fire," was the reply,"but I learned from M. de Courtais, who hastened to the spot, that thecolonel of the regiment, now in prison, asserts that, at the moment ofthe arrival of the crowd, a ball from a musket which accidentally wentoff, broke the leg of his horse, and he, thinking this the signal for anattack, at once gave orders to fire. Another story is that one of ouryoung blouses blew out an officer's brains with a pistol."
"Many of the troops must have fired in the air," said Louis Blanc,looking around him, "for there were two hundred of them in line, Iunderstand, and their discharge was delivered across the whole breadthof the Boulevard swarming with people."
"It was unfortunate for M. Guizot," rejoined M. Albert, with a sardonicsmile, "that his hotel should have witnessed such a scene."
"But fortunate for the cause, nevertheless," replied Louis Blanc. "Thislast movement is called the movement of the journalists, I understand."
"If suspicions are always as correct," said M. Albert, "there will befewer false ones, I fancy."
Louis Blanc made no reply, and the friends walked on up the Boulevard,reconnoitering every spot.
At the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre they were stopped by a barricade,which was rapidly rising under the united and vigorous exertions ofseveral hundred men. Steadily, sternly and silently, all that night theytoiled, and when the barricade was completed the tri-color flag wasplanted on its summit, and a citizen-soldier stood beside its staff todefend it. On the other side of the Boulevard, in the Rue Montmartre,rose another barricade entirely finished.
"These men are resolved," said Louis Blanc.
"Desperate, rather," replied Albert. "They have counted the cost andprepared to go on with the attempt they have begun at all hazards. It isbetter to fight than starve, they think."
"But do you observe how few of them are armed?" asked Louis Blanc.
"We have provided for that deficiency. You will see arms enough for allto-morrow," replied Albert. "Barricades first, arms afterwards!"
And, indeed, while he was yet speaking, a tumbrel loaded with arms ofevery description drove silently up, and each man supplied himself witha weapon that suited his fancy. In some instances the taste exhibitedwas ludicrous in the extreme; there were swords without scabbards andbayonets without guns--a towering helmet on the head of one man, andbroad white leather cross-belts on the shoulders of another--daggers andknives, sabres and pikes mingled in grotesque confusion. But eachindividual was armed with something, and, to crown all, a small piece ofordnance, borne on the shoulders of four stout men, who staggeredbeneath its weight, was now brought up and placed in battery.
"From such men what may we not hope!" exclaimed Louis Blanc. "But it isnear morning; let us proceed."
"I stop here," quietly said Albert.
"What! Pass the night here?" exclaimed his companion.
"The night is nearly passed now," replied Albert, with a smile. "I willsleep a few hours with my men of the barricades, and be ready to helpthem defend their work in the morning."
"You are devoted to the cause, Albert," said Louis Blanc, warmlygrasping his hand.
"Oh! no more than yourself," was the reply. "We are all devoted to it,but each in his own way. You are an author, I am a workman. It is alight thing for me to pass a night with only the sky for a canopy. Itis a light thing for you to pass a night in your study. A change ofpositions would possibly kill us both!"
The friends grasped each other warmly by the hand and parted, the authorgoing to his study and the workman to his barricade.