a shot is fired, then one or two more, and then the soldiers, having received no orders, deliver a volley. The crowd takes to flight with cries of fear and horror, and — a strange sign of the condition of affairs- the soldiers, in spite of their officers, also take to flight, and a troop of dragoons, which was behind them, makes off in the direction of the Madeleine, leaving the street vacant, except for some fifty persons dead and wounded in pools of blood. By degrees soldiers and people return, and the lieutenant-colonel sends a messenger expressing the deep regret of the troops for this 'terrible mistake.' The people of course would not listen, but seizing a passing wagon they place sixteen corpses upon it, and with workmen mounted upon the sides and holding torches it is paraded through the streets of the city till two in the morning, with cries of Vengeance! They are murdering the people!' And the people respond, descending into the streets in a cold rain, building barricades, breaking into armorers' shops and preparing for the next day's battle.

About midnight the king was officially informed that Molé could not succeed in forming a ministry, and he was obliged to send for Thiers. But it was not till halfpast two in the morning that the latter reached the Tuileries, and then time was spent in discussing whom the king would accept as ministers, and whether the Chamber should be dissolved. At four o'clock, the king having finally yielded, Thiers departed on his mission of forming a government. Meantime, about an hour before Thiers arrived, Marshal Bugeaud had responded to a summons from the king to take command of the army. He was an old African soldier of vigor and experience, but with a reputation for severity, and unpopular in the city. He at once set about military occupation of the city upon the plan of Marshal Gérard. One column ad

vanced successfully through the barricades, reaching the Hôtel de Ville at five o'clock in the morning, with slight loss. Another column in its advance encountered a barricade in the Rue St. Denis. This would easily have been forced, but some National Guards and citizens approached General Bédeau, announced the appointment of a new ministry under Thiers and Barrot, declared that order would soon be restored, and begged him to await further orders. The general, an excellent officer though of a temporizing character, consented to wait while one. of the citizens could carry out the proposal of procuring instructions from Marshal Bugeaud. It is significant of the state of confusion and uncertainty in all minds, that even the marshal allowed himself to be persuaded by this volunteer citizen, and sent orders to General Bédeau to suspend the attack and to withdraw his column to the Tuileries. The general, in despair, saw that an orderly retreat was impossible. The way was blocked with barricades, the soldiers were obliged to break ranks, the people mingled and fraternized with them, even taking the cartridges from the boxes at their sides and rifling the caissons of a battery of artillery which occupied the way. Much the same thing happened with the other columns which were withdrawn.

About eight o'clock in the morning Thiers, having fulfilled his mission, returned to the Tuileries with Odilon Barrot and other men, of whom he wished to compose the Cabinet. The king accepted the details, and it was agreed that Barrot and some others should go into the streets to calm the people, Thiers being held back by Marshal Bugeaud, who had received a warning that it was dangerous for the former to appear among the crowd. Action was too late, however, as the city was now in the possession of the populace.

It seems to be clear that the uprising had no common

purpose and no chief. Each band acted separately according to the fancy of those who composed it. The political leaders, as much surprised as anybody at the course of events, did not direct it. One of the future members of the provisional government, M. Marie,passing by the office of the National about ten o'clock, found great excitement, but vague and undefined. No plan,' he said, 'was put forward, no resolution adopted. The suddenness of the movement took everybody by surprise.' An hour later he met the editor-in-chief of the Reforme-M. Flocon-at the foot of the grand staircase of the Chamber of Deputies, chatting quietly with one of his friends. He had,' says M. Marie, 'neither the air nor the attitude of a man who is carrying out in his mind a work of revolution.' And M. Marie adds: That which is certain for me is that the revolution led the people of Paris and was not led by them, at least up to eleven o'clock.'

Without superior direction, however, the crowd, by a sort of instinct, marched upon three points—the Tuileries, the Chamber of Deputies, and the Hôtel de Ville. One part, swarming over the palace, compelled the king, who had previously abdicated, to take to flight with his family, ultimately reaching England.

About noon the deputies had assembled in considerable numbers at the Palais Bourbon. The members of the old majority had felt themselves conquered with the fall of Guizot. The test showed how little solidity and resistance there was in this conservatism based almost wholly upon material interests. There was seen hardly a trace of those convictions and that fidelity which strengthen themselves against ill fortune, ready for every devotion and every sacrifice. Every moment brought new tidings of disaster to diminish courage first the abdication and then the flight of the

king.1 M. Thureau-Dangin here adds a remark which reaches to the profoundest depths of popular government: "Besides, an assembly can only act upon condi tion of being led, and none of those whom the Chamber was accustomed to follow were present. The members of the former Cabinet had been obliged to provide for their safety, and as for the new ministry, nobody knew where they were or even who they were.' We shall have by and by to examine the conduct of assemblies which have never been led at all.

A little before one o'clock Thiers makes his appearance, and the deputies crowd around him, but he only increases the panic. He confirms the report of the departure of the king, knows nothing of the Duchess of Orleans, fears it is too late to save the regency, declares that the troops will not prevent the people from passing, and that the Chamber will soon be invaded. Then, waying his hat in an attitude of despair, and crying, "The tide is rising, rising, rising," he takes his leave, retires by a long circuit, so as to avoid encountering the people, to his house in the Place St. George, and is no more seen.

About one o'clock the president, M. Sauzet, decides to open the session in advance of the regular hour. But there were no ministers present. Barrot, who seemed as little disposed as Thiers to appear in the Chamber, remained at the Ministry of the Interior under the domination of the radicals, who had acquired control of him in the campaign of the banquets. But if the government

1 Troubled visions seeking in what direction fortune lies so as to follow it: apprehensions of adhering to a lost cause: prudence wishing to provide for all contingencies: treacheries watching one another: habits contracted in the incessant shocks of our civil struggles of confounding success with right, egotism with wisdom, knavery with skill; these are the elements which made up towards the end of the reign of Louis Philippe public opinion legally constituted in the Chamber of Deputies. - DANIEL STERN (Comtesse d'Agoult), "History of the Revolution of 1848," Vol. I., p. 270.

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did not appear, its place was supplied by the advocates of the Republic sent from the National. Up to noon the staff of that paper had only talked of the abdication of the king. Emboldened by the weakness of executive power, they decided that the monarchy must come to an end and be replaced by a republic, made up a list of a provisional government, and sent two delegates to announce to the Assembly this "decree of the people," the people being the coterie of a newspaper with three thousand subscribers.

At half-past one the Duchess of Orleans appeared in the Chamber with her two sons, followed by several officers and National Guards. The Assembly greets her almost unanimously with cries in favor of her son and herself as regent. Meantime the delegates from the National arrived, and the crowd of the populace began gradually to fill the hall. It is curious to note that General Ruhlières, a vigorous veteran of the imperial wars, and General Bédeau, one of the best of the Africans, with several thousand soldiers at their orders, were unable to guard against the invasion of some hundreds of insurgents the legislative enclosure which the Duke de Nemours had charged them to protect, and in which they knew that the Duchess of Orleans was playing the last card of the monarchy. The fact was that after it had been made to give way before the insurrection. through orders to avoid all collision, the army no longer existed.

The struggle was short. une and, after an opening

Lamartine ascended the tribwhich seemed to favor the

1 When the delegates from the Hôtel de Ville passed the Place de la Concorde, General Bédeau commanded a body of troops in good order. He besought the delegates to procure some orders for him, as he did not know what to do. Some deputies came to ask him to protect the Chamber. He said he could not act without an order from the presiding officer. DANIEL STERN, op. cit., p. 275.