Meanwhile Charamaule said to me, "You are recognized."
In fact, near the Château d'Eau the crowd surrounded me. Some young men cried out, "Vive Victor Hugo!" One of them asked me, "Citizen Victor Hugo, what ought we to do?"
I answered, "Tear down the seditious placards of the coup d'état, and cry 'Vive la Constitution!'"
"And suppose they fire on us?" said a young workman.
"You will hasten to arms."
"Bravo!" shouted the crowd.
I added, "Louis Bonaparte is a rebel, he has steeped himself to-day in every crime. We, Representatives of the People, declare him an outlaw, but there is no need for our declaration, since he is an outlaw by the mere fact of his treason. Citizens, you have two hands; take in one your Right, and in the other your gun and fall upon Bonaparte."
"Bravo! Bravo!" again shouted the people.
A tradesman who was shutting up his shop said to me, "Don't speak so loud, if they heard you talking like that, they would shoot you."
"Well, then," I replied, "you would parade my body, and my death would be a boon if the justice of God could result from it."