That it was my opinion that the hundred and fifty Representatives of the Left should put on their scarves of office, should march in procession through the streets and the boulevards as far as the Madeleine, and crying “Vive la Republique!  Vive la Constitution!” should appear before the troops, and alone, calm and unarmed, should summon Might to obey Right.  If the soldiers yielded, they should go to the Assembly and make an end of Louis Bonaparte.  If the soldiers fired upon their legislators, they should disperse throughout Paris, cry “To Arms,” and resort to barricades.  Resistance should be begun constitutionally, and if that failed, should be continued revolutionarily.  There was no time to be lost.

“High treason,” said I, “should be seized red-handed, is a great mistake to suffer such an outrage to be accepted by the hours as they elapse.  Each minute which passes is an accomplice, and endorses the crime.  Beware of that calamity called an ‘Accomplished fact.’  To arms!”

Many warmly supported this advice, among others Edgar Quinet, Pelletier, and Doutre.

Michel de Bourges seriously objected.  My instinct was to begin at once, his advice was to wait and see.  According to him there was danger in hastening the catastrophe.  The coup d’etat was organized, and the People were not.  They had been taken unawares.  We must not indulge in illusion.  The masses could not stir yet.  Perfect calm reigned in the faubourgs; Surprise existed, yes; Anger, no.  The people of Paris, although so intelligent, did not understand.

Michel added, “We are not in 1830.  Charles X., in turning out the 221, exposed himself to this blow, the re-election of the 221.  We are not in the same situation.  The 221 were popular.  The present Assembly is not:  a Chamber which has been insultingly dissolved is always sure to conquer, if the People support it.  Thus the People rose in 1830.  To-day they wait.  They are dupes until they shall be victims.”  Michel de Bourges concluded, “The People must be given time to understand, to grow angry, to rise.  As for us, Representative, we should be rash to precipitate the situation.  If we were to march immediately straight upon the troops, we should only be shot to no purpose, and the glorious insurrection for Right would thus be beforehand deprived of its natural leaders—­the Representatives of the People.  We should decapitate the popular army.  Temporary delay, on the contrary, would be beneficial.  Too much zeal must be guarded against, self-restraint is necessary, to give way would be to lose the battle before having begun it.  Thus, for example, we must not attend the meeting announced by the Right for noon, all those who went there would be arrested.  We must remain free, we must remain in readiness, we must remain calm, and must act waiting the advent of the People.  Four days of this agitation without fighting would weary the army.”  Michel, however, advised a beginning, but simply by placarding Article 68 of the Constitution.  But where should a printer be found?