The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of a Crime, by Victor Hugo

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Title: The History of a Crime The Testimony of an Eye-Witness

Author: Victor Hugo

Release Date: December 4, 2003 [EBook #10381]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF A CRIME ***

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THE HISTORY OF A CRIME

THE TESTIMONY OF AN EYE-WITNESS

By VICTOR HUGO

Translated by T.H. JOYCE and ARTHUR LOCKER.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

THE FIRST DAY—THE AMBUSH.

    I. "Security"
   II. Paris sleeps—the Bell rings
  III. What had happened during the Night
   IV. Other Doings of the Night
    V. The Darkness of the Crime
   VI. "Placards"
  VII. No. 70, Rue Blanche
 VIII. "Violation of the Chamber"
   IX. An End worse than Death
    X. The Black Door
   XI. The High Court of Justice
  XII. The Mairie of the Tenth Arrondissement
 XIII. Louis Bonaparte's Side-face
  XIV. The D'Orsay Barracks
   XV. Mazas
  XVI. The Episode of the Boulevard St. Martin
 XVII. The Rebound of the 24th June, 1848, on the 2d December 1851
XVIII. The Representatives hunted down
  XIX. One Foot in the Tomb
   XX. The Burial of a Great Anniversary

THE SECOND DAY—THE STRUGGLE.

    I. They come to Arrest me
   II. From the Bastille to the Rue de Cotte
  III. The St. Antoine Barricade
   IV. The Workmen's Societies ask us for the Order to fight
    V. Baudin's Corpse
   VI. The Decrees of the Representatives who remained Free
  VII. The Archbishop
 VIII. Mount Valérien
   IX. The Lightning begins to flash among the People
    X. What Fleury went to do at Mazas
   XI. The End of the Second Day

THE THIRD DAY—THE MASSACRE.

    I. Those who sleep and He who does not sleep
   II. The Proceedings of the Committee
  III. Inside the Elysée
   IV. Bonaparte's Familiar Spirits
    V. A Wavering Ally
   VI. Denis Dussoubs
  VII. Items and Interviews
 VIII. The Situation
   IX. The Porte Saint Martin
    X. My Visit to the Barricades
   XI. The Barricade of the Rue Meslay
  XII. The Barricade of the Mairie of the Fifth Arrondissement
 XIII. The Barricade of the Rue Thévenot
  XIV. Ossian and Scipio
   XV. The Question presents itself
  XVI. The Massacre
 XVII. The Appointment made with the Workmen's Societies
XVIII. The Verification of Moral Laws

THE FOURTH DAY—THE VICTORY.

    I. What happened during the Night—the Rue Tiquetonne
   II. What happened during the Night—the Market Quarter
  III. What happened during the Night—the Petit Carreau
   IV. What was done during the Night—the Passage du Saumon
    V. Other Deeds of Darkness
   VI. The Consultative Committee
  VII. The Other List
 VIII. David d'Angers
   IX. Our Last Meeting
    X. Duty can have two Aspects
   XI. The Combat finished, the Ordeal begins
  XII. The Exiled
 XIII. The Military Commissions and the mixed Commissions
  XIV. A Religious Incident
   XV. How they came out of Ham
  XVI. A Retrospect
 XVII. Conduct of the Left
XVIII. A Page written at Brussels
  XIX. The Infallible Benediction

CONCLUSION—THE FALL.

CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X

THE FIRST DAY—THE AMBUSH.

CHAPTER I.

"SECURITY"

On December 1, 1851, Charras[1] shrugged his shoulder and unloaded his pistols. In truth, the belief in the possibility of a coup d'état had become humiliating. The supposition of such illegal violence on the part of M. Louis Bonaparte vanished upon serious consideration. The great question of the day was manifestly the Devincq election; it was clear that the Government was only thinking of that matter. As to a conspiracy against the Republic and against the People, how could any one premeditate such a plot? Where was the man capable of entertaining such a dream? For a tragedy there must be an actor, and here assuredly the actor was wanting. To outrage Right, to suppress the Assembly, to abolish the Constitution, to strangle the Republic, to overthrow the Nation, to sully the Flag, to dishonor the Army, to suborn the Clergy and the Magistracy, to succeed, to triumph, to govern, to administer, to exile, to banish, to transport, to ruin, to assassinate, to reign, with such complicities that the law at last resembles a foul bed of corruption. What! All these enormities were to be committed! And by whom? By a Colossus? No, by a dwarf. People laughed at the notion. They no longer said "What a crime!" but "What a farce!" For after all they reflected; heinous crimes require stature. Certain crimes are too lofty for certain hands. A man who would achieve an 18th Brumaire must have Arcola in his past and Austerlitz in his future. The art of becoming a great scoundrel is not accorded to the first comer. People said to themselves, Who is this son of Hortense? He has Strasbourg behind him instead of Arcola, and Boulogne in place of Austerlitz. He is a Frenchman, born a Dutchman, and naturalized a Swiss; he is a Bonaparte crossed with a Verhuell; he is only celebrated for the ludicrousness of his imperial attitude, and he who would pluck a feather from his eagle would risk finding a goose's quill in his hand. This Bonaparte does not pass currency in the array, he is a counterfeit image less of gold than of lead, and assuredly French soldiers will not give us the change for this false Napoleon in rebellion, in atrocities, in massacres, in outrages, in treason. If he should attempt roguery it would miscarry. Not a regiment would stir. Besides, why should he make such an attempt? Doubtless he has his suspicious side, but why suppose him an absolute villain? Such extreme outrages are beyond him; he is incapable of them physically, why judge him capable of them morally? Has he not pledged honor? Has he not said, "No one in Europe doubts my word?" Let us fear nothing. To this could be answered, Crimes are committed either on a grand or on a mean scale. In the first category there is Caesar; in the second there is Mandrin. Caesar passes the Rubicon, Mandrin bestrides the gutter. But wise men interposed, "Are we not prejudiced by offensive conjectures? This man has been exiled and unfortunate. Exile enlightens, misfortune corrects."

For his part Louis Bonaparte protested energetically. Facts abounded in his favor. Why should he not act in good faith? He had made remarkable promises. Towards the end of October, 1848, then a candidate for the