Marc Dufraisse turned towards the Gendarmes Mobiles, and cried out to them,—­

“Soldiers, your very presence here is an act of treason.  Leave the Hall!”

The soldiers seemed undecided.  Suddenly a second column emerged from the door on the right, and at a signal from the commander, the captain shouted,—­

“Forward!  Turn them all out!”

Then began an indescribable hand-to-hand fight between the gendarmes and the legislators.  The soldiers, with their guns in their hands, invaded the benches of the Senate.  Repellin, Chanay, Rantion, were forcibly torn from their seats.  Two gendarmes rushed upon Marc Dufraisse, two upon Gambon.  A long struggle took place on the first bench of the Right, the same place where MM.  Odilon Barrot and Abbatucci were in the habit of sitting.  Paulin Durrieu resisted violence by force, it needed three men to drag him from his bench.  Monet was thrown down upon the benches of the Commissaries.  They seized Adelsward by the throat, and thrust him outside the Hall.  Richardet, a feeble man, was thrown down and brutally treated.  Some were pricked with the points of the bayonets; nearly all had their clothes torn.

The commander shouted to the soldiers, “Rake them out.”

It was thus that sixty Representatives of the People were taken by the collar by the coup d’etat, and driven from their seats.  The manner in which the deed was executed completed the treason.  The physical performance was worthy of the moral performance.

The three last to come out were Fayolle, Teillard-Laterisse, and Paulin Durrieu.

They were allowed to pass by the great door of the Palace, and they found themselves in the Place Bourgogne.

The Place Bourgogne was occupied by the 42d Regiment of the Line, under the orders of Colonel Garderens.

Between the Palace and the statue of the Republic, which occupied the centre of the square, a piece of artillery was pointed at the Assembly opposite the great door.

By the side of the cannon some Chasseurs de Vincennes were loading their guns and biting their cartridges.

Colonel Garderens was on horseback near a group of soldiers, which attracted the attention of the Representatives Teillard-Laterisse, Fayolle, and Paulin Durrieu.

In the middle of this group three men, who had been arrested, were struggling crying, “Long live the Constitution!  Vive la Republique!”

Fayolle, Paulin Durrieu, and Teillard-Laterisse approached, and recognized in the three prisoners three members of the majority, Representatives Toupet-des-Vignes Radoubt, Lafosse, and Arbey.

Representative Arbey was warmly protesting.  As he raised his voice, Colonel Garderens cut him short with these words, which are worthy of preservation,—­

“Hold your tongue!  One word more, and I will have you thrashed with the butt-end of a musket.”

The three Representatives of the Left indignantly called on the Colonel to release their colleagues.