1836. CHAP. ment in his own house. Meanwhile, three other detachXXXIII. ments sent out from the fourth regiment met with the most surprising success. The first made straight to the hôtel of the prefect, opened the gates, and made him prisoner. The second went to the house of the colonel of the third regiment of artillery, took possession of the door, and forbade all ingress or egress. The third got hold of a printing-office, and immediately began throwing off the proclamation to the army and the nation.* A fourth detachment had orders to get possession of the avenues leading to the house of the general commanding the department of the Upper Rhine, which was successfully done. Everything seemed to smile upon the audacious conspirators; all the authorities had been surprised by them, and were either in custody or shut up in their houses; one entire regiment, and detachments of others, had already declared in their favour; and the inhabitants, roused from their slumbers by the loud shouts at that early hour, looked fearfully out of their houses, and when "Au Peuple Français. "On vous trahit! Vos intérêts politiques, vos intérêts commerciaux, votre honneur, votre gloire, sont vendus à l'étranger. Et par qui? Par des hommes qui ont profité de votre belle Révolution, et qui en renient tous les principes. Est-ce donc pour avoir un Gouvernement sans parole, sans honneur, sans générosité, des institutions sans force, des lois sans liberté, une paix sans prospérité et sans calme, enfin, un Présent sans Avenir, que nous avons combattu pendant quarante ans? En 1830 on imposa un Gouvernement à la France sans consulter ni le peuple des provinces ni l'armée Française: tout ce qui a été fait sans vous est illégitime. Un congrès national élu par tous les citoyens peut seul avoir le droit de choisir ce qui convient le mieux à la France. Fier de mon origine populaire, fort de quatre millions de votes qui me destinaient au Trône, je m'avance devant vous comme le Représentant de la souveraineté du Peuple. Il est temps qu'au milieu du chaos des partis une voix nationale se fasse entendre ; il est temps qu'au cri de la liberté trahie vous renversiez le joug honteux qui pèse sur notre belle France. Ne voyez-vous pas que les hommes qui règlent nos destinées sont encore les traitres de 1814 et 1815, les bourreaux du Maréchal Ney. Les ingrats! Ils ne gouvernent des barricades que pour préparer des forts detachés; méconnaissant la grande nation, ils rampent devant les puissans et insultent les faibles! Notre vieux drapeau tricolore s'indigne d'être plus longtemps entre leurs mains. Français ! Que le souvenir du grand homme qui fit tant pour la gloire et la prospérité de la France vous ranime. Confiant dans la sainteté de ma cause, je me présente à vous le testament de l'Empereur Napoléon d'une main, son épée d'Austerlitz de l'autre. Lorsqu'à Rome le peuple vit les dépouilles ensanglantées de César, il renversa ses hypocrites oppresseurs. Français, Napoléon est plus grand que César ; il XXXIII. 1836. they saw what was going on, offered up ardent prayers CHAP. for the success of the enterprise. The third regiment of artillery joined the insurgents; the entire pontoon corps followed the example. Cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" were heard on all sides. The throne of Louis Philippe hung by a thread; it required only one other regiment to declare in his favour, and the whole garrison of Stras- 1 Ann. Hist. burg would have followed the example, and Louis Na- xix. 245; poleon's march to Paris would have been as bloodless v. 133, 131; Cap. ix. and triumphant as that of his immortal predecessor from 173, 174. Cannes had been.1 L. Blanc, 79. mate fail In this extremity the star of Napoleon was for a time overcast, and the enterprise failed from excess of courage, And ultiand undue confidence in his fortune, on the part of its ure. chief. Trusting to the magic of his name, and the overpowering influence which it had already exercised upon the minds of the troops, Louis Napoleon had no sooner arrived at the barracks of the 46th regiment, to which est l'emblême de la civilisation au dix-neuvième siècle. Vive la France! Vive la liberté.-NAPOLEON. "A l'Armée. "Le moment est venu de recouvrer votre ancienne splendeur. Faits pour la gloire, vous pouvez moins que d'autres supporter plus longtemps le rôle honteux qu'on vous fait jouer. Le Gouvernement qui trahit nos intérêts civils voudrait aussi ternir notre honneur militaire. Les insensés! Croit-on que la race des héros d'Arcole, d'Austerlitz, de Wagram, soit éteinte? Voyez le lion de Waterloo encore debout sur nos frontières; voyez Hun ingen privé de ses défenses; voyez les grades de 1815 méconnus; voyez la Légion d'Honneur prodiguée aux intrigants, et refusée aux braves; voyez notre drapeau : il ne flotte nulle part où nos armes ont triomphé! Voyez, enfin, partout trahison, lâcheté, influence étrangère, et écriez-vous avec moi, Chassons les barbares du capitole ! Soldats, reprenez les aigles que nous avions dans nos grandes journées; les ennemis de la France ne peuvent en soutenir les regards: ceux qui nous gouv. ernent ont déjà fui devant elles. Délivrer la patrie de ses oppresseurs, protéger les droits du peuple, défendre la France et ses alliés contre l'invasion : voilà la route d'honneur où on vous appelle; voilà votre suprême mission. "Soldats de la République! Soldats de l'Empire! Que mon nom réveilie en vous votre ancienne ardeur. Et vous jeunes soldats qui êtes nés comme moi au bruit du canon de Wagram, soeuvenez-vous que vous êtes les enfans des soldats de la Grande Armée. Le soleil de cent victoires a éclairé notre berceau. Que nos hauts faits ou notre trépas soient dignes de notre naissance. Du haut du ciel la grande ombre de Napoléon guidera nos bras, et contente de nos efforts elle s'écriera: Ils étaient dignes de leurs pères. Vive la France! Vive la liberté! NAPOLEON."-Histoire de la Présidence du Prince Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, par LESPES, i. 24, 27. XXXIII. 1836. CHAP. he next bent his steps, than he entered the courtyard attended only by a very few of his followers. Here, however, a very different reception awaited them. Some shouted "Vive l'Empereur!" and threw up their caps in a transport of enthusiasm; but the majority maintained a sullen silence, and the officers all remained true to their oath. A cry got up that the Prince was not the real nephew of the Emperor, but a nephew of Colonel Vaudrey, who had been dressed up to personate him; and a lieutenant named Pleignier rushed out of the ranks to arrest him. A pistol-shot would probably then have decided the struggle, and placed the Prince on the throne of France. But it was not discharged, and the enterprise proved abortive. Pleignier was seized by the few artillerymen who had accompanied the Prince into the barrack-yard, and he had the generosity to order his release. The former no sooner recovered his freedom than he returned to the charge, and some of his company ran forward to support him. A scuffle ensued, in which the artillerymen, few in number, were overpowered by the troops of the line, and both the Prince and Colonel Vaudrey were made prisoners, and shut up in separate apartments in the barracks. The arrest of the chiefs, as is usual in such cases, proved fatal to the enterprise. The other troops which had revolted, deprived of their leaders, and without orders, knew not what to do or whom to obey; distrust soon succeeded to uncertainty; and when the news spread that the Prince and Colonel Vaudrey had been arrested, they became desperate, and, 1 Ann. Hist. dispersing, every one sought to conceal his defection by regaining his quarters as speedily as possible. By 134, 135; nine o'clock all was over: an empire had been all but lost and won during a scuffle in a barrack-yard of Strasburg. 1 xix. 245, 246; L. Blanc, v. Cap. ix. 177, 179. When the telegraph first announced this audacious enterprise, the Government at Paris were thrown into the most mortal apprehension, which was hardly removed by XXXIII. 1836. 80. the Govern Louis Na the intelligence which soon after arrived of its speedy CHAP. suppression. The defection of so large a portion of the troops, and the magical sway which the name of Napoleon evidently exercised over them, revealed the brink of the Humane precipice on which they stood. Their conduct towards conduct of the chief of the conspiracy, however, was humane and ment to judicious in the highest degree. He expected nothing poleon. but death. Before engaging in the enterprise, he had intrusted to a tried friend two letters to his mother,one sealed with red wax, announcing his triumphant success; the other with black, bidding her an eternal adieu. The latter had already been sent, in conformity with his instructions; but the mournful herald proved fallacious—another destiny awaited the young aspirant for the throne. Arrived at Paris, where he expected the fate of the Duke d'Enghien, he found that the Bourbons, if inferior to his uncle in capacity, were his superiors in generosity. After an examination of two hours before the chief of the police in Paris, he was informed that his punishment was restricted to banishment to the United States of America for ten years, whither he was to be conducted on board one of the government vessels. The Prince conducted himself with dignity in these trying circumstances, expressing his gratitude to the King for his clemency, but preferring no petition but for his companions in misfortune. He soon after embarked for the place of his destination; but his career was not destined to be terminated in the New World, and ere long he 193; Aun. returned to Europe, to visit his dying mother-the scene 246, 247. of his ambition, his perils, and his ultimate greatness.1 1 Vie de L. Napoleon,i. 31, 32; L. Blanc, v. Hist. xix. 81. acquittal of burg con The course of events soon demonstrated that the Government had acted not less wisely than humanely Trial and in adopting this course towards this formidable compe- the Strastitor, and that any attempt to bring him to trial would have produced such a convulsion as would, in all probability, have overturned the throne. On the 6th January 1837, the principal parties, other than the Prince spirators. Jan. 6. XXXIII. 1837. CHAP. himself, concerned in the Strasburg revolt, were brought to trial before the ordinary court of assizes of Strasburg, and the proceeding excited the utmost interest in every part of France. Among the accused were both civilians and military persons. In the former category were found MM. de Persigny, Lombard, and Gros; in the latter, Colonel Vaudrey, Lieutenants Laity and Querelles, -in all seven. The former were condemned for nonappearance, but the latter were all in custody; and, as if the Government specially desired to give the whole proceeding a theatrical air, there was brought to trial along with them a young and handsome actress, Mademoiselle Gordon, who had entered into the conspiracy with all the enthusiasm of her sex and profession. The evidence against the military was perfectly clear, for they had been seized in open rebellion against their sovereign; and that against their fascinating female accomplice was not less decisive, for she had been taken in the very act of burning a number of letters which compromised herself not less than others. So strong, however, was the popular feeling on the subject in Alsace, that from the first it was evident that a conviction was impossible. The trial speedily became, as all political trials do in France and Ireland, not a judicial investigation into guilt or innocence, but a civil tournament or wager of battle between the chiefs of contending parties, who exchange deadly thrusts at each other, with a scaffold or civic ovation hanging on the issue. After several days' suspense, during which the interest and enthusiasm of the people went on hourly increasing, they were all acquitted, in the face of the clearest evidence, amidst universal applause. Lamartine afterwards said with truth, in the Chamber of Deputies, that the issue of this trial was a lasting dis195, 197; grace to the administration of justice in France; and, 184; Ann. with many others in that country and Ireland, as well as some in the Highlands of Scotland, suggests the doubt whether trial by jury is suited for the ardent tempera 1 L. Blanc, Cap. ix. 181, Hist. xix. 247, 249. |