regime. I therefore beg you to come to an understanding with your colleagues for the purpose of laying before me the draught of a Senatus Consultum to fix invariably the fundamental disposition contained in the plebiscitum of 1852, divide the legislative power between the two Chambers, and restore to the nation that part of the constituent faculty which it had delegated to other hands.

"Believe me, &c.,

"NAPOLEON."

The Senatus Consultum was prepared, and submitted to the Senate on the 28th. By the new Constitution, as therein defined, that body was to be deprived of many of its peculiar prerogatives. It was still to possess the right of initiating measures; but bills for the taxation of the country were first to be voted by the Corps Législatif. The number of Senators, not including those who held their seats by right, was to be limited to twenty per annum. The Constitution was only to be modified by the people, at the initiation of the Sovereign. A schedule of thirty-six articles was appended to the Senatus Consultum, treating definitely of the various branches of the Legislation.

Scarcely had this project been digested by the public mind, when a much more startling measure was brought forward. The revised Constitution was to be submitted to a plebiscitum, or vote of the people at large. Universal suffrage was to be invoked as it had been at the first institution of the empire, in 1852. "From whence came the suggestion for this doubtful and dangerous measure ?" men asked; and no hesitation was felt in ascribing it to the Emperor himself. Ollivier was but his instrument-his mouthpiece. The Emperor had desired the Senatus Consultum in the first instance; and when the Senate, though it gave its sanction as required, seemed scrupulous and distrustful in the emphasis of the guarantee afforded to the imperial reforms, then, taking advantage of a special clause empowering the Chief of the State to submit any political issue to the popular suffrage at his option, the author of these reforms boldly appealed to the plebiscitum. He had gauged the growing demand for constitutional change, he saw the inability of the Ollivier Cabinet on the present footing of things to resist it, he trusted in the manipulation of the multitude by imperial agencies, and he knew that in any case he was likely to be supported by the rural masses, and that the popular sound of an appeal to universal suffrage was calculated to nullify the party cry of the democrats. All this came into the Emperor's previsions. Ollivier, still fancying himself the master of the situation, followed the lead, without, as it would seem, exactly knowing whither.

A budget of interpellations in the Corps Législatif followed on the promulgation of the Senatus Consultum and during the ensuing week political meetings of different sections of the Chamber were held to discuss the situation. Councils of Ministers also were held at the Tuileries, the Emperor presiding. On the 4th of April,

M. Ollivier announced that he accepted the discussion in the Corps Législatif. M. Grévy spoke on the Opposition side. He said that he and his friends would have preferred to have the discussion fixed for a later day, but as the Ministry wished for an immediate debate he would briefly show why he considered that the new Senatus Consultum made concessions in words rather than in reality. He considered that the constituent power ought to be restored to the nation; but that was not the present proposition. A plebiscitum, on the contrary, was simply a means of confiscating the national sovereignty. The Senate was not only useless, but it was, moreover, a source of embarrassment. The only course to pursue, in his opinion, was to hand over the constituent power to the Legislative Body until such time as France should arrive at the only really logical form of government-i. e., the democratic.

M. Ollivier, in reply, recapitulated all the liberal concessions that had been made. The plebiscitum, he said, would give important strength to the Government in moments of crisis. He was not himself anxious for an appeal to the people, but in the present case he thought that such appeal could not be avoided. When, therefore, the Senate had decided on the proposed changes, they would be submitted to the vote of the people.

M. Picard, M. Martel, the Marquis d'Andelarre, and M. Jules Favre also spoke; and, after a division, the discussion was adjourned to the following day.

At the sitting on the Tuesday M. de Choiseul and Count de Kératry demanded to interpellate the Government in case it should persist in the plebiscitum. They required, first, that it should submit the measure to the consideration of the representatives of the country; and secondly, that they should insert in it a declaration that the Senators were to be chosen by the electors. The adjourned debate on the interpellation concerning the constituent powers was then resumed. Baron Jerome David strongly supported the plebiscitum, and declared it to be the only means of replacing every thing in its proper position, and clearing the ground from Parliamentary intrigues; he had rallied frankly to Constitutional Government, but he was always ready to pay a fitting tribute to the results of personal power which had given to France eighteen years of repose, order, and security. M. Pelletan here interposed, "Of shame and of crime!" Great tumult followed, and on his refusing to withdraw the offensive terms, he was formally called to order. M. Gambetta afterwards spoke, and was replied to by M. Ollivier; and after some observations from M. Jules Simon, the discussion closed. M. Guyor de Montpayroux declared that the whole incident was a piece of juggling; and on the Marquis de Talhouet objecting to such language, an altercation ensued. Finally, the objectionable term was withdrawn. Several orders of the day were presented, but M. Ollivier declared that the Cabinet would only accept the following:-" The Legislative Body, after having heard the declarations of the Ministry, and confiding in its devotedness to the Im

perial and Parliamentary Government, passes to the order of the day." This declaration was signed by Duke d'Albuféra and others of the Right Centre, and by M. Brame and other Deputies of the Left Centre. On a division the numbers were :-for, 227; against, 43. In consequence the Legislative Body adopted the order of the day, so disposing of M. Grévy's interpellation.

The retirement at this juncture of the two members of the Cabinet on whom the Liberal party placed most reliance, MM. Buffet and Daru, did not tend to strengthen public confidence in the newly initiated policy. Jules Favre accused the existing Ministers of being the complaisant servants of personal power; and when told by the Minister of Public Instruction that the extreme opposition party were in reality the worst enemies of freedom, replied that he and his allies were faithful to the principles of 1789 and to the national will.

On Thursday evening (14th) the Deputies of the Left held a meeting at the residence of M. Crémieux to decide how the Radical party ought to vote on the plebiscitum. The discussion between the Irreconcileables and the less violent Oppositionists was so vehement that M. Glais Bizoin had to interpose with an appeal to concord. It was eventually decided, on the motion of M. Gambetta, to draw up a manifesto, to be signed by delegates of the people as well as by the Opposition Deputies, setting forth that the new Constitution did not realize the wishes of the nation; that it left personal Government intact; and that the right of the Sovereign to appeal to a plebiscitum was nothing but the perpetual menace of a coup d'état. Fourteen Deputies and eight journalists signed the manifesto. The Corps Législatif adjourned its sittings till after the vote by the plebiscitum should have been given, the day originally chosen for that proceeding, the 1st of May, being altered for the 8th.

As the appointed day drew on, all parties busied themselves, either to further or to retard the issue so much desired by the Emperor. Committees were formed, and the agents both of Imperial and of Republican propaganda were every where on the alert. The Emperor himself addressed the following proclamation to the nation at large:

"The Constitution of 1852, drawn up by virtue of the power you entrusted to me, and ratified by the eight millions of votes which re-established the Empire, has given to France eighteen years of calm and prosperity not unattended with glory. This Constitution has secured order, and has at the same time left a way open for every improvement; and, indeed, the more security has been consolidated, the larger has been the share accorded to liberty. But successive changes have altered the bases of the plebiscitum, which could not be modified without a fresh appeal to the nation. It became, therefore, indispensable that the new Constitutional fact should be approved by the people, as were formerly the Constitutions of the Republic, and of the Empire. In those two epochs the belief was, as is my own belief at the present time, that every

thing done without you is illegitimate. The Constitution of France, Imperial and Democratic, when confined to a limited number of fundamental regulations which cannot be changed without your assent, will have the advantage of rendering definitive the progress that has been accomplished, and of shielding the principle of Government from political fluctuations.

"Time, too often lost in fruitless and passionate controversies, may henceforth be more advantageously employed in seeking the means of increasing the moral and material wellbeing of the greatest number.

"I speak to all of you who, since December 10th, 1848, have surmounted every obstacle in order to place me at your head; to you who, for twenty-three years, have incessantly added to my greatness by your votes, supported me by your co-operation, and rewarded me by your affection. Give me another proof of your confidence. By balloting affirmatively you will conjure down the threats of revolution; you will seat order and liberty on a solid basis; and you will render easier for the future the transmission of the crown to my son.

"Eighteen years ago you were almost unanimous in conferring the most extensive powers on me. Be now, too, as numerous in giving your adhesion to the transformation of the Imperial regime. "A great nation cannot attain to its complete development without leaning for support upon institutions which are a guarantee both for stability and progress.

"To the request which I address to you to ratify the Liberal reforms that have been realized during the last ten years, answer 'Yes.'

"As to myself, faithful to my origin, I shall imbue myself with your thoughts, fortify myself in your will, and trusting to Providence, I shall not cease to labour without intermission for the prosperity and greatness of France.

"NAPOLEON."

Just at this time a new chapter of "the unforeseen" came in to bewilder the public mind. It was said that a plot had been discovered against the Emperor's life. The circumstances were stated to be these:-The French police had warning from London that a man named Beaury, a deserter from the French army, had left for Paris. As it was known that this man was in constant communication with Gustave Flourens, the Belleville agitator, who had made himself so conspicuous on the occasion of the Rochefort riots, it was now believed or asserted that he must have something to do with a treasonable conspiracy, of which the police had already discovered traces. On the intelligence from London the Prefect of Police instituted an immediate search for Beaury. He was arrested, and discovered to be in possession of several compromising documents, among them a letter from Flourens. Beaury, who was a youth of not more than twenty-three years of age, confessed his

intention of shooting the Emperor at the first favourable opportunity. On the afternoon of the following day the police attempted to seize a party of men whom they had been watching for some time past, but owing to assistance given by the people in the neighbourhood, all but one managed to escape. Their lodgings were immediately searched, and at the house where one of them, named Roussel, lived, there was found a box containing twenty-one bombs, together with nails, tubes, and wire handles, and a receipt for making picrate of potassium, contained inside a bust of Garibaldi. An English revolver, precisely similar to that found on Beaury, was also discovered. Roussel himself was sought for in vain, but the maker of the bombs came forward, and related that a man giving the name of Renard had ordered them, saying they were wanted for a new kind of velocipede which he had invented.

A few days after these events a letter was published from M. Ollivier to the Emperor, together with a long report from the ProcureurGeneral, M. Grandperret, on the plot of whose existence Government believed itself to have discovered indications some months previously, indications which the recent arrests had apparently confirmed. An imperial decree was immediately issued, convoking the High Court of Justice to try the conspirators.

On Sunday the 8th, the day appointed for the voting by universal suffrage, Paris was crowded with troops. A large body of artillerymen with several pieces of cannon were stationed in the courtyard of the Luxembourg, and a regiment took up its sleeping quarters inside the palace.

The voting passed off quietly in the metropolis. It had been anticipated that the majority would have been adverse to the Emperor's appeal, and it was so; but that majority amounted to 30,000 only, which was a less proportion than the last elections to the Corps Législatif had seemed to render probable.

The Government met with an adverse vote also from almost all the great cities. Lyons, Nantes, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Brest, Cherbourg, Toulon, Angers, Rouen, and several besides, recorded a majority of noes; and the general result of the town voting was considered highly satisfactory by the ardent Revolutionists. It was noticed, however, as an odd circumstance, that while the free-trade towns opposed the Empire, the manufacturing towns of the north, which complained of its commercial policy, voted in its favour. Rouen indeed was an exception; but at Rouen the suffrages were almost exactly balanced, and Imperialism only carried the day by one vote. On the other hand the rural population showed themselves Napoleonists almost to a man. The army also of course swelled the affirmative vote; but here the Emperor met with an amount of opposition which though expressed in a minority inconsiderable in comparison with the majority, still for the first time. shook his trust in that body of his subjects on whom he had most entirely relied for the conservation of his Empire. The army recorded over 50,000 votes against him.