Part 26 (1/2)
”I have heard that an a.s.sault was made on the armory of our friends, the Leparge Brothers, for weapons; is it so?”
”There was an a.s.sault at about ten o'clock; but the windows were too strong to be carried. There has been fighting in the Rue de Pet.i.t Carrel, and the neighborhood of the Place Royale, I learn. Achmet Pacha, son of Mehemet Ali, is fighting for us with the most wonderful intrepidity. A chef de bataillon of the 34th was slain by a shot from a window, and some offices of the Octroi have been burned. Three men were killed at the Batignolles, and their bodies were accompanied by an immense throng to the Morgue.”
”Have you heard that the 5th Regiment, as in 1830, has joined the people, and that, on their way to the Prefecture of Police to liberate some of the people who had been arrested, they stopped at the office of 'La Reforme,' and were eloquently addressed by our friend, Louis Blanc?”
”What did he say to them?”
”He told them the fight was not yet over; that there must still be a banquet; and that this time there must be no mistake--the workmen must have the freedom they won!”
”Vive Louis Blanc!” cried Albert, and, in a higher state of excitement than he had ever before been known to exhibit, he hurried off.
”I am for the Tuileries,” said Ledru Rollin, as they parted.
”And I for the Palais Royal,” said Albert.
”We meet to-night at the office of 'Le National?'”
”Without fail, at midnight!”
It was on the square at the south end of the Palais Royal that most blood was spilled between the people and the troops. The Chateau d'Eau was furiously a.s.sailed and obstinately defended--a.s.sailed by the people and defended by six thousand picked troops. The people triumphed! Of the troops, at least a thousand perished, and the remnant fled.
At three o'clock M. Rambuteau, Prefect of the Seine, waited on the King and informed him that the National Guard demanded reform, and the Munic.i.p.al Guard a change of Ministry.
The King in dismay convened the Ministry.
”Can the Ministry maintain itself?” asked Louis Philippe.
”That question brings its own answer to your Majesty,” replied Guizot.
”If you doubt the stability of your Ministry, who can trust them?”
”I have thought of the Count Mole,” observed the King.
”He is an able man, sire,” replied Guizot; ”and his political connections with M. Barrot and M. Thiers may aid him to form a Ministry.
But, sire, not an instant is to be lost. Your faithful Ministers will do all they can, but a Ministerial crisis cannot be delayed; and, if your Majesty will permit the suggestion, the emergency demands that to Marshal Bugeaud be given the command of Paris.”
”You will proceed to the Chamber to announce that M. Mole is entrusted with the formation of a new cabinet,” said the King.
And the council closed.
At four, an officer of the staff pa.s.sed along the boulevards, announcing the fall of the Ministry.
Instantly, with the speed of the telegraph, the intelligence flew to the obscurest parts of Paris. Its effect was, at first, most cheering.
Barricades were deserted and arms thrown down; faces brightened, hands, almost stained with each other's blood, were clasped; troops and people, unwillingly fighting, embraced; all was triumph, joy and congratulation.
”All now is over--all is right at last!” was the exclamation of one man of the people to another.
”Guizot has fallen, but the King has sent for Count Mole,” replied a third, with a dissatisfied air.
”No matter,” cried the first speaker, ”the system is overturned! What care we who is Minister?”