In Scotland a very large meeting was held in Edinburgh on the 9th, to protest against the grant to Maynooth College. In the course of the debates it was stated that 540 petitions, with 307,278 names, had been sent in against the grant. A resolution was [pg 413] adopted, promising to use every possible effort to “procure the passage of a bill for the entire repeal of said grant” at the next session of Parliament.
The events of the month in France have been of transcendent interest. The Constitution has been abolished, the National Assembly dissolved, martial law proclaimed, and the Republic transformed into a Monarchy, elective in name but absolute in fact.
This change was effected by violence on the morning of Tuesday, December 2d. Our Record of last month noticed the dissensions between the President and the Assembly, and the refusal of the latter to abolish the law restricting suffrage, and the failure of its attempt to obtain command over the army. A law was also pending authorizing the impeachment of the President in case he should seek a re-election in violation of the provisions of the Constitution. During the night of Monday the 1st, preparations were made by the President for destroying all authority but his own. He wrote letters to his Ministers announcing to them that he had made up his mind to resist the attempt of his enemies to sacrifice him, and that, as he did not wish them to be compromised by his acts, they had better resign. The hint of course was taken, and they sent in letters of resignation at once. The principal streets of Paris were occupied by strong bodies of troops at about 5 o'clock on Tuesday morning; and before that hour all the leading representatives and military men whom Louis Napoleon knew to be opposed to his designs, were arrested and committed to prison. Detachments of the police, accompanied by portions of the guard, visited their houses, and arrested Generals Cavaignac, Changarnier, De Lamoricière, Bedeau, and Leflo, Colonel Charras, MM. Thiers, Lagrange, Valentine, Panat, Michel (de Bourges), Beaune, Greppo, Miot, Nadaud, Roger (du Nord), and Baze. They were immediately transferred to the Chateau of Vincennes, and subsequently removed to Ham; with the exception of M. Thiers, who was taken to the prison of Mazas. General Changarnier was arrested at his own house at 4 o'clock in the morning. Several other representatives were with him at the time, and were also taken into custody. Gen. C. attempted to harangue the troops who were sent to arrest him, but they refused to listen to him. At the same time that the above arrests were made, commissaries of police were dispatched to the offices of the public journals to suspend some, and regulate the course of others. In the morning the walls of Paris were found to be placarded with a decree, in the following terms: “In the name of the French people, the President of the Republic decrees: 1. The National Assembly is dissolved. 2. Universal suffrage is re-established; the law of the 31st May is repealed. 3. The French people are convoked in their communes from the 14th to the 21st December. 4. The state of siege is decreed in the whole of the first military division. 5. The Council of State is dissolved. 6. The Minister of the Interior is charged with the execution of this decree.—Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.” At a later hour an appeal to the people was issued by the President, and posted upon the walls. It declared that he had dissolved the Assembly, which was attacking his power, and compromising the peace of France. He had faithfully observed the Constitution, but it was his duty to baffle the perfidious plans of those who were seeking to overturn the Republic. He accordingly appealed to the people. He would not consent longer to hold a power ineffective for good: if they wished him to continue in his post, they must give him the means of fulfilling his mission, which was to close the era of revolutions. He submitted to them the basis of a new Constitution, providing: 1. A responsible head named for ten years. 2. Ministers dependent on the Executive power alone. 3. A Council of State, to propose laws and discuss them. 4. A legislative body discussing and voting laws, named by universal suffrage. 5. A second assembly, formed of all the illustrious of the country. He asked them to vote for or against him on this basis. If he did not obtain a majority, he would give up power. A proclamation to the army was issued in a similar manner. He told the soldiers that he counted on them to cause to be respected the sovereignty of the nation, of which he was the legitimate representative. He reminded them of the insults that had been heaped upon them, and called upon them to vote as citizens, but as soldiers to obey. He was alone responsible: it was for them to remain immovable within the rules of discipline.
As soon as these events were generally known, a portion of the members of the Assembly, two hundred in number, assembled at the residence of M. Daru, one of the Vice Presidents of the Assembly. They there decided to go to their usual place of meeting, but they were refused admission by an armed guard. Returning to M. Daru's house, they were about commencing a session, when a message arrived from Gen. Lauriston, inviting them to the Mairie of the 10th arrondissement, and saying that he was prepared to defend them against all violence. They accordingly repaired thither, organized, and after due deliberation declared the conduct of Louis Napoleon to be illegal, and in violation of the Constitution, and decreed his deposition, in accordance with Art. 68 of that instrument. They also by a decree freed the officers of the army and navy, and all public functionaries, from their oaths of obedience to him, and convoked the High Court of Justice to judge him and his Ministers. The Court did attempt to meet during the day, but was dispersed. The decree was signed by all the members of Assembly present. After this had been done the building was found to be surrounded by troops, to whom M. Berryer announced the deposition of the President and the appointment of General Oudinot, commander-in-chief of all the troops of Paris. The announcement was coldly received, and officers and troops immediately entered the room and dispersed the Assembly. About 150 of the members were afterward arrested and committed to prison for attempting to meet in some other place; after a day's confinement they were released. Meantime, the most perfect quiet prevailed throughout Paris. No attempt at resistance was made, and the decrees were read and commented on with apparent indifference. The streets and public places were crowded with troops. Dispatches were sent to the departments and were answered by full assurances of assent.
On Wednesday morning was published a list of one hundred and twenty persons appointed by the President as a Consultative Commission, selected because Louis Napoleon “wished to surround himself with men who enjoy, by a just title, the esteem and confidence of the country.” Of these over eighty refused to serve. During the same morning, indications of discontent began to be apparent. At about 10 o'clock, M. Baudin, one of the representatives of the people, made his appearance on horseback, in official dress and with a drawn sword, in the Rue St. Antoine. He was followed by several others, and strove to arouse the people to resistance. Considerable groups collected, and a fragile barricade was erected. Troops soon came up from opposite directions [pg 414] and hemmed them in. The groups were soon dispersed, and M. Baudin, and two other representatives were killed on the spot. Great numbers of troops continued to arrive, and the whole section was speedily occupied by them. On Thursday morning, appearances of insurrection began to be serious. Barricades were erected in several streets. At 12 o'clock the Boulevards were swept by troops, artillery was brought up, and wherever groups of people were seen they were fired upon. It is now known that police officers encouraged the building of barricades in order to give the troops a chance to attack the people. Buildings were battered with cannon, and scores of respectable people were killed at their windows. Throughout the day the troops behaved in the most brutal manner, bayoneting, shooting, and riding over every body within reach. Great numbers of innocent persons were killed in this manner. It would be impossible to give within our limits a tithe of the interesting incidents of the day, illustrating the spirit that prevailed. It is pretty clearly ascertained that the object of the government was to strike terror into all classes, and that for this purpose the troops had been instructed to show no quarter, but to kill every body that threatened resistance. Many of the soldiers were also intoxicated. 'Order' was in this manner completely restored by evening. But over two thousand people were killed.
From the departments, meantime, came news of resistance. In the frontier districts of the southeast particularly—the whole valley of the Rhone, in fact the whole region from Joigny to Lyons, including several departments, the rural population rose in great strength against the usurpation. There was very hard fighting in the Nievre, in the Herault, and in the frontier districts of the Sardinian and Swiss Alps: and in many places the contest was distinguished by sad atrocities. In the course of two or three days, however, all resistance was quelled.
Preparations were made for the election. The army voted first, and of course its vote was nearly unanimous in favor of Louis Napoleon. The popular election was to take place on Saturday and Sunday, the 20th and 21st of December. The simple question submitted was, whether Louis Napoleon should remain at the head of the state ten years, or not. No other candidate was allowed to be named. Louis Napoleon directed the Pantheon to be restored to its original use as a church, and thereby, as well as by other measures, secured the support of the Catholics. Count Montalembert published a long letter, urging all Catholics throughout France to vote in his favor. The election was conducted quietly—the government discouraging as much as possible the printing and distributing of negative votes. The returns have been received from 68 out of the 86 departments, and these give, in round numbers, 5,400,000 yes, and 600,000 no. His majority will probably be nearly 7,000,000, which is more than he obtained in 1848.
The London papers state that a correspondence had passed between the governments of England and France upon the subject of Louis Napoleon's usurpation, in which the former urged a full and explicit declaration of the President's intentions, and views, as necessary to satisfy the English people in regard to what had already taken place. The replies are said to have been evasive and unsatisfactory. It is stated, also, that Louis Napoleon had directed a circular letter to be prepared, addressed to the various governments of Europe, assuring them of his pacific disposition, and saying that the step he had taken was necessary for the protection of France against the enemies of order.
Marshal Soult died on the 20th of December at his chateau of Soult-berg. He was born March 29,1769—the same year with Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington, Cuvier, Chateaubriand, and Walter Scott, and was 82 years old at the time of his death. He entered the army in 1785, and was subsequently attached to the staff of Gen. Lefebvre. He took part in all the campaigns of Germany until 1799, when he followed Massena into Switzerland and thence to Genoa, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. Set at liberty after the battle of Marengo, he returned to France and became one of the four colonels of the guard of the Consuls. When the empire was proclaimed in 1804 he was made Marshal of France. He subsequently commanded the army in Spain, and in 1813 was made Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard. When Napoleon first landed from Elba he issued a proclamation against him, but soon after became one of his warmest adherents. He was afterward the firm supporter of Louis Philippe, as Minister of War and President of the Council, from which he retired in 1847 to private life. He was the last representative of the imperial era of France.
From Austria the only news is of new arrests and new restrictions. A number of persons in Hungary, including the mother and the sisters of Kossuth, had been arrested merely on suspicion at Pesth: and a subsequent account announces the death of his mother. The prisoners were removed to Vienna. The military governor of Vienna has forbidden the papers hereafter to publish the names of any persons that may be arrested, or to mention the fact of their arrest, on the ground that it “interferes with judicial proceedings.” The government, it is said, has notified the English government, that measures will be taken to prevent Englishmen from traveling in Austria, if Austrian refugees continue to be received and fêted in England.—The financial embarrassments of the government still continue.—It is stated that Prince Schwarzenberg has avowed the intention of the Austrian government to sustain Louis Napoleon in the course he has taken—not that his legitimate right to the position he holds is conceded, but because he is acting on the side of order.