Suddenly a few musket shots were fired at the head of the column. The troops returned the fire so regularly that it seemed at first a feu-de-joie. The column advanced, still firing, and to the utter consternation of the spectators, the shots were directed at the windows and balconies, shivering the panes of glass, smashing the mirrors, rending the curtains, and rattling against the walls. This continued for a quarter of an hour, the inhabitants endeavouring to save themselves by lying prostrate on the floor and flying to the back apartments. There is no doubt that this fusilade was the result of a panic among the troops, who apprehended an attack from the windows. Many persons were shot down in the streets, some endeavouring to escape into the houses. Next day pools of blood were to be seen round the trees along the boulevard. Fortunately the massacre did not last long. When the barricade of St. Denis had been carried, the insurrection was at an end; but while it did last, it was fearful. Many women and children were victims.

In order to save the conspirators from the effects of the universal horror which these atrocities were calculated to excite, it was necessary to set forth in a public manner the reasons for the usurpation of power by Napoleon. St. Arnaud did not hesitate to say all that was thought needful. There was only one ground on which a shadow of excuse could be offered for the deeds that had been done—that was, that it was necessary to save society from Red Republicanism, and this was the topic of his order of the day. But to give the full appearance of truth to this lying proclamation to the army, it was necessary that the police should play their part. Therefore De Maupas sent forth a circular to the commissaries of police, stating that arms, ammunition, and incendiary writings were concealed to a large extent in lodging-house, cafés, and private dwellings. The National Guard was disbanded on the 7th, as another precautionary measure. There was one order of men, however, which could neither be disbanded nor sent off in prison vans, but which, if conciliated, could be made powerful auxiliaries of despotism; while, if alienated and exasperated, they would be its most dangerous enemies—the Roman Catholic clergy. Therefore Louis Napoleon hastened to announce the restoration of the Panthéon to its original use as the Church of St. Geneviève.

The next step was a proclamation to the French people, stating that he had saved society, that it was madness to oppose the united and patriotic army, and that the intelligent people of Paris were all on his side. Then followed the vote by universal suffrage, which was put in this way:—"For Louis Napoleon and the new Constitution, Yes or No." This was putting before the nation this alternative—a strong Government or anarchy. The result of the voting was, for Louis Napoleon, 7,481,231; against him, 640,737. Thus armed, the President met his consultative commission on the last day of the year, and told them that he understood all the grandeur of his new mission, that he had an upright heart, that he looked for the co-operation of all right-minded men.

On the public mind in England, as the facts were made known through correspondence, the effect produced was a general feeling of alarm. But it had political consequences of a serious nature, for it caused the fall of the Russell Administration. That weak-kneed body had not benefited much by its temporary popularity in the year of the Great Exhibition. The Budget of 1851 contained a most unpopular proposal for the substitution for the window tax of a duty of 1s. in the pound on houses, and 9d. on shops, which had to be considerably reduced, and Mr. Hume, with the assistance of the Conservatives, carried against the Government the limitation of the income-tax to a year. Further, Lord Naas, afterwards Earl of Mayo, placed them in a minority on a resolution connected with the spirit duties. The Cabinet naturally became divided and dispirited, and not the least source of its disunion was the boldness and insubordination of Lord Palmerston. We have already mentioned his rash despatch to Sir Henry Bulwer, which led to that Minister's dismissal from Madrid. This communication was written both without the knowledge and against the express orders of the Prime Minister. The Queen naturally resented this independent action, and Lord Palmerston speedily found himself at variance with the Prince Consort, who was in favour of a German Customs Union, whereas the Foreign Minister resented its formation as injurious to Free Trade. During the revolution of 1848 Palmerston acted with more than his usual contempt for control, and remonstrances from the Queen were frequent and strongly worded. They culminated in a memorandum, which ran as follows follows:—

THE OPENING BY QUEEN VICTORIA OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION IN HYDE PARK, LONDON, 1ST MAY, 1851.

FROM THE PAINTING BY H. C. SELOUS IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON.

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"The Queen requires, first, that Lord Palmerston will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the Queen may know as distinctly to what she has given her royal sanction; secondly, having once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the Minister. Such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that Minister. She expects to be kept informed of what passes between him and the foreign Ministers before important decisions are taken based upon that intercourse; to receive the foreign despatches in good time; and to have the drafts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to make herself acquainted with their contents before they must be sent off. The Queen thinks it best that Lord John Russell should show this letter to Lord Palmerston."