ed."

When he had done speaking, the Constituent Assembly rose, and uttered
as with a single voice, the exclamation: "Long live the Republic!"

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte descended from the tribune, went up to General
Cavaignac, and offered him his hand. The general, for a few instants,
hesitated to accept the grasp. All who had just heard the words of
Louis Bonaparte, pronounced in a tone so instinct with good faith,
blamed the general for his hesitation.

The Constitution to which Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte took oath on
December 20, 1848, "in the face of God and man," contained, among other
articles, these:--

"Article 36. The representatives of the people are inviolable.

"Article 37. They may not be arrested on a criminal charge unless
taken in the fact, or prosecuted without the permission of the
Assembly first obtained.

"Article 68. Every act by which the President of the Republic
dissolves the National Assembly, prorogues it, or impedes the
execution of its decrees, is high treason.

"By such act, of itself, the President forfeits his office, the
citizens are bound to refuse him obedience, and the executive power
passes, of absolute right, to the National Assembly. The judges of
the Supreme Court shall thereupon immediately assemble, under
penalty of forfeiture; they shall convoke the jurors in such place
as they shall appoint, to proceed to the trial of the President and
his accomplices; and they shall themselves appoint magistrates who
shall proceed to execute the functions of the ministry."

In less than three years after this memorable day, on the 2nd of
December, 1851, at daybreak, there might be read on all the street
corners in Paris, this placard:--

"In the name of the French people, the President of the Republic:

"Decrees--

"Article 1. The National Assembly is dissolved.

"Article 2. Universal suffrage is re-established. The law of the
31st of May is repealed.

"Article 3. The French people are convoked in their comitia.

"Article 4. A state of siege is decreed throughout the first
military division.

"Article 5. The Council of State is dissolved.

"Article 6. The Minister of the Interior is charged with the
execution of this decree.

"Done at the Palace of the Elysee, December 2, 1851.

"LOUIS-NAPOLEON BONAPARTE."

At the same time Paris learned that fifteen of the invi