The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-03 00:00:00

full liberty. I can safely assert that there was not
one cry of " Vive Napoleon" as long as the cortege
was within my sight. It must be admitted, on the
other hand, that there was no organized mob of De•
cembrists, as has been. asserted on former occasions.
Everybody was suffered to express himself as he wished
without molestation.

(From the Morning Chronicle Correspondent.)
PARIS, TUESDAY, DEC. 2, 11 A.M.
The President of the Republic accomplished a coup
etat this morning ; the principal streets in Paris
were occupied at an early hour by strong bodies of
infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
We have since received by Extraordinary Express
the following dispatch :
PARIS, TUESDAY EVENING, FOUR O'CLOCK.
I sent you a telegraphic dispatch this morning, an-
nouncing the accomplishment by Louis Napoleon of
the long-talked of coup d'etat, and a letter in which I
gave such details as was then known. With respect
to the telegraphic dispatch, I must inform you that in
the first instance it was sent back to me by the French
authorities, and that it was only two hours afterwards
that I received notice that the telegraph had been
opened.
It will be seen that Louis Napoleon has set the
Constitution completely at defiance. Were the Con-
stiution to be acted upon in its literal sense, Louis
Napoleon would no longer be President of the Re-
public, for it will be remembered that by Article 51
he is forbidden to dissolve or prorogue the Assembly,
or to suspend in any manner the authority of the Con-
stitution and the laws; and by article 68 it is de-
clared that " the President of the Republic and his
Ministers, &c., are responsible, respectively, for all
the acts of the Government and the Administration.
Any measure by which the President of the Republic
dissolves the National Assembly, prorogues it, or
impedes the exercise of its charge, is a crime of
high treason. By this sole act the President is
degraded from his functions ; the citizens are
bound to refuse him their obedience ; the executive
power passes by right to the National Assembly ;
the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice are im-
mediately to assemble, on pain of forfeiture ; they
convoke the jurors at the place they may designate,
to proceed to the judgment of the President and his
accomplices. A law will determine the other cases
of responsibility, as well as the forms and conditions
of the prosecution."
But, whatever the Constitution may say, Louis
Napoleon has cut the Gordian knot. Ile seems to
have been more conversant with Voltaire's tragedies
than with the code of laws of the Republic, and to
have adopted Catiline's opinion when he exclaimed—
"Le devoir le plus sacre, le loi la plus cbtrie,
C'est d'oublier la loi pour sauver la patrie."
From the confused manner in which the news
reach me from different quarters, I am obliged to
give them without any reference to order.
The affair has come quite suddenly on the public,
and even upon the Ministry. M. Turgot, de Tho-
rigny, and the other Ministers, were present at the
President's reception, and General de St. Arnaud
was the very last to leave the palace. On the other
hand, M. de Morny, the new Minister of the Interior,
was at the Jockey Club a great part of the night,
and remained playing cards till two o'clock in the
morning.
The new Ministers are MM. Fould, Rouher, Magne,
and de Morny.
It was at five o'clock this morning that they took
possession of their departments. At the same hour
the troops were directed in great numbers to the
neighbourhood of the Assembly, and the other points
of Paris which they were directed to guard.
The arrest of the representatives, who were ar-
rested at their own houses, took place this morning at
six o'clock, by detachments of police, assisted by the
Republican Guards. The number of arrests amounts,
it appears, to about 67. The prisoners were carried,
not to Vincennes, as was generally supposed, but to
the Prison Mazos. The following were the names
of the persons arrested : —Generals Cavaignac, Chan-
gamier, de Lamoriciere, Bedeau, and Leflo, Colonel
Charras, MM. Thiers, Lagrange, Valentin, Panat,
Beaune, Greppo, Miot, Nadaud, &c.
M. Base has escaped.
M. de Mallac, the former secretary of M. Duchatel,
is arrested.
The following journals heve been suspended :
L' Opinion Publique, Le Messager, La Presse, La
Republique, L' Ordre, and L' Avenement. The Debats
and others have been allowed to appear, but some of
them have been subjected to the condition of making
no commente on passing events.
The question most asked this morning after Louis
Napoleon's proclamation became known was, " But
what will the Assembly do ?" That body has not
allowed its answer to be long waited for. As early as
eight o'olock some representatives assembled at the
residence of M. Odilon Barrot, but it was immedi-
esely after decided to go to M. Dam's, one of the
Vice-Presidents of the Assembly. Towards eleven
o'clock nearly two hundred representatives were
assembled. They decided that they ought to
proceed to the Legislative Palace, and for-
mally claim their right to hold their sitting.
They then proceeded to the Palace, and advanced in
a body towards the usual gates of entrance. They
were there refused admittance, the officer of the troops
on guard at the gate informing them that the Legis-
lative Assembly no longer existed, having been dis-
solved by a decree of the President of the Republic.
Some of the representatives expressed themselves
warmly, it is said, at such language, and even at-
tempted to force their way in, in doing which one of
them, M. de Larcy, was, I understand, wounded with
a bayonet.
The representatives, after formally summoning the
officers in guard of the entrance to afford them ad-
mission, left the place, and on the invitation of M.
Daru, one of the Vice-Presidents, proceeded to his
apartment to deliberate. They were on the point of
commencing, when a message arrived from General
Lauriston, Colonel of the 10th Legion, declaring that
he placed the Marie of the 10th arrondissement at
their disposal, and that the 10th Legion was prepared
to defend them from all violence.
Thither the members of the Legislative Assembly
repaired, and taking possession of one of the great
rooms of the Mairie, proceeded to deliberate, M. Daru
being in the chair. After a deliberation conducted in
due form, and at which the short-hand writers of the
]tloniteur were present, the conduct of Louis Napo.
leon Bonaparte was declared to be illegal, and con-
trary in every respect to the Constitution. In conse-
quence they affirmed him to have forfeited all claim to
the high dignity of President of the Republic, and
passed a decree pronouncing his ckcheance, in confor-
mity with Art. 68 of the Constitution.
Another decree frees the officers of the army and
navy and the public functionaries from their oath of
obedience to Louis Napoleon.
The High Court of Justice is convoked to judge
the President and his Ministers. This decree was
signed by all the Members present, with M. Daru's
name at the head. Amongst the other names are
those of 0. Barrot, de Broglie, Mole, Dufaure,
Passy, de Tocqueville, Gustave de Beaumont,
Quentin Bsuchart, Dufour, de Tracy, Coquerel,
Mortimer Ternaux, de Kerdrel, and Piscatory.
Some Mountaineers were present at the sitting,
and amongst others, Grevy, Ferdinand de Lasteyrie,
Didier, Colfavru, &c.
So far matters appeared to go smoothly enough
with the Assembly. But after they had passed their
various decrees matters changed their aspect. A
body of the Chasseurs of Vincennes surrounded the
building. They had scarcely taken up their position,
when M. Berryer appeared at one of the windows
of the Marie, wearing his representative scarf, and
declared aloud to the crowd which stood outside
looking at the soldiers taking up their places,
that the Legislative Assembly, being in sufficient
numbers to deliberate, had pronounced the dicheance
of the President of the Republic, and appointed Ge-
neral Oudinot Commander-in-Chief of all the troops
of Paris. Just as he said this, M. Thatnisier, another
representative appeared behind M. Berryer, and raised
the cry of " Vive la Republique. This cry was most
coldly received by the crowd. " What is Berryer,"
said one, " but the servant of Henri V. ?" " And
what is Oudinot," said another of the persons standing
near, " but the man who went to Rome ?" Almost
immediately after an officer of the Chasseurs of Vin-
cennes knocked at the door where the Assembly was
sitting with closed doors, and insisted on gaining
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The officer replied that he had no instructions to
that effect, and that his orders were simply to clear
the room. ,
MM. Odilon Barrot, Mole, and De Broglie then
°iowithdrew. M. Daru was following them, when the
officer declared that he was his prisouer.
An employe of the first Mairie arrived, to place
the hotel of the Marie at the disposal of the re-