Part 13 (2/2)

The Father of the meeting was M. de Keratry.

Was he going to preside?

The Representatives who were a.s.sembled in the Great Hall were in his favor.

The Representatives remaining in the courtyard hesitated.

Marc Dufraisse went up to MM. Jules de Lasteyrie and Leon de Maleville, who had stayed behind with the Representatives of the Left, and said to them, ”What are they thinking of upstairs? To make Keratry President? The name of Keratry would frighten the people as thoroughly as mine would frighten the middle cla.s.ses.”

A member of the Right, M. de Keranflech, came up, and intending to support the objection, added, ”And then, think of Keratry's age. It is madness to pit a man of eighty against this hour of danger.”

But Esquiros exclaimed,--

”That is a bad reason! Eighty years! They const.i.tute a force.”

”Yes; where they are well borne,” said Colfavru. ”Keratry bears them badly.”

”Nothing is greater,” resumed Esquiros, ”than great octogenarians.”

”It is glorious,” added Chamiot, ”to be presided over by Nestor.”

”No, by Gerontes,”[5] said Victor Hennequin.

These words put an end to the debate. Keratry was thrown out. MM. Leon de Maleville and Jules de Lasteyrie, two men respected by all parties, undertook to make the members of the Right listen to reason. It was decided that the ”bureau”[6] should preside. Five members of the ”bureau”

were present; two Vice-Presidents, MM. Benoist d'Azy and Vitet, and three Secretaries, MM. Griumult, Chapot, and Moulin. Of the two other Vice-Presidents, one, General Bedrau, was at Mazas; the other, M. Daru, was under guard in his own house. Of the three other Secretaries, two, MM. Peapin and Lacaze, men of the Elysee, were absentees; the other, M.

Yvan, a member of the Left, was at the meeting of the Left, in the Rue Blanche, which was taking place almost at the same moment.

In the meantime an usher appeared on the steps of the Mairie, and cried out, as on the most peaceful days of the a.s.sembly, ”Representatives, to the sitting!”

This usher, who belonged to the a.s.sembly, and who had followed it, shared its fortunes throughout this day, the sequestration on the Quai d'Orsay included.

At the summons of the usher all the Representatives in the courtyard, and amongst whom was one of the Vice-Presidents, M. Vitei, went upstairs to the Hall, and the sitting was opened.

This sitting was the last which the a.s.sembly held under regular conditions. The Left, which, as we have seen, had on its side boldly recaptured the Legislative power, and had added to it that which circ.u.mstances required--as was the duty of Revolutionists; the Left, without a ”bureau,” without an usher, and without secretaries, held sittings in which the accurate and pa.s.sionless record of shorthand was wanting, but which live in our memories and which History will gather up.

Two shorthand writers of the a.s.sembly, MM. Grosselet and Lagache, were present at the sitting at the Mairie of the Tenth Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt. They have been able to record it. The censors.h.i.+p of the victorious _coup d'etat_ has mutilated their report and has published through its historians this mangled version as the true version. One lie more. That does not matter. This shorthand recital belongs to the brief of the 2d December, it is one of the leading doc.u.ments in the trial which the future will inst.i.tute. In the notes of this book will be found this doc.u.ment complete. The pa.s.sages in inverted commas are those which the censors.h.i.+p of M. Bonaparte has suppressed. This suppression is a proof of their significance and importance.

Shorthand reproduces everything except life. Stenography is an ear. It hears and sees not. It is therefore necessary to fill in here the inevitable blanks of the shorthand account.

In order to obtain a complete idea of this sitting of the Tenth Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt, we must picture the great Hall of the Mairie, a sort of parallelogram, lighted on the right by four or five windows overlooking the courtyard; on the left, along the wall, furnished with several rows of benches which had been hastily brought thither, on which were piled up the three hundred Representatives, a.s.sembled together by chance. No one was sitting down, those in front were standing, those behind were mounted on the benches. Here and there were a few small tables. In the centre people walked to and fro. At the bottom, at the end opposite the door, was a long table furnished with benches, which occupied the whole width of the wall, behind which sat the ”bureau.” ”Sitting” is merely the conventional term. The ”bureau” did not ”sit;” like the rest of the a.s.sembly it was on its feet. The secretaries, M.M. Chapot, Moulin, and Grimault wrote standing. At certain moments the two Vice-Presidents mounted on the benches so as to be better seen from all points of the room. The table was covered by an old green tablecloth, stained with ink, three or four inkstands had been brought in, and a quire of paper was scattered about. There the decrees were written as soon as they were drawn up. They multiplied the copies, some Representatives became secretaries on the spur of the moment, and helped the official secretaries.

This great hall was on a level with the landing. It was situated, as we have said, on the first floor; it was reached by a very narrow staircase.

We must recollect that nearly the whole of the members present were members of the Right.

The first moment was a serious one. Berryer came out to advantage.

Berryer, like all those extemporizers without style, will only be remembered as a name, and a much disputed name, Berryer having been rather a special pleader than an orator who believed what he said. On that day Berryer was to the point, logical and earnest. They began by this cry, ”What shall we do?” ”Draw up a declaration,” said M. de Falloux. ”A protest,” said M. de Flavigny. ”A decree,” said Berryer.

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