That was the Constitution of 1848, which on, the 2d of December, 1851,
was not overthrown by one head, but tumbled down at the touch of a mere
hat; though, true enough, that hat was a three-cornered Napoleon hat.
While the bourgeois' republicans were engaged in the Assembly with the
work of splicing this Constitution, of discussing and voting, Cavaignac,
on the outside, maintained the state of siege of Paris. The state of
siege of Paris was the midwife of the constitutional assembly, during
its republican pains of travail. When the Constitution is later on swept
off the earth by the bayonet, it should not be forgotten that it was
by the bayonet, likewise--and the bayonet turned against the people, at
that--that it had to be protected in its mother's womb, and that by the
bayonet it had to be planted on earth. The ancestors of these "honest
republicans" had caused their symbol, the tricolor, to make the tour of
Europe. These, in their turn also made a discovery, which all of itself,
found its way over the whole continent, but, with ever renewed love,
came back to France, until, by this time, if had acquired the right
of citizenship in one-half of her Departments--the state of siege.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51