Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1852-01-28
SECRET HISTORY OF LOUIS NAPOLE-
ON'S COUP D'ETAT

SECRET HISTORY OF LOUIS NAPOLE-
ON'S COUP D'ETAT.
We give the following interesting nara
tive Of the connection and successful execu.
'Ion OF the coup d'etat of December I'd
by which Louis Napoleon surprised France
and the world. lis source is M. Granier de
Cassagnac's piquant "Complete and Au.
,hentic Account Of the Events of December
1851" The creates. marvel about The mat
ter is that such extensive and complicated
arrangements could be KEEP, so completely
secret for fifteen or sixteen days.
In the middle Of N November, the President
yet remained master of his actions; in q
few months it would have been too late for
him and for everybody else. He resolved
10 ''save the country" Three men were
the confidsn,s Of his ides-Gen. de ST. Ar
maud, Minister of War; NJ. de Mornv, a re-
preventative Of the people M. de Maupas,
Project Of Police. Louis Napoleon exposed
10 them the designs which he had formed
and asked for their concurrence. They all
three promised il to him-M. de Morny for
all the responsibility to encounter as Minis.
ter Of the Interior; Nj. de ST. Arnaud, for the
military operations NJ de Maupas for the
action Of the police.
During more than fifteen days these three
men planned with the President all the de-
tails of this immense act, an &C, which is
not eqnalled by the 18Th Brumaire, either in
difficulty, ability or greatness. The most
minute things were foreseen, concerted,
detailed, prepared, with such marvellous Sc
crecy, that the friends most to be depended
upon, The agents the mos. necessary, had
not suspicion of what was to be done be-
fore the final moment for action arrived.
The simnlaneousness of all the measures
adopted 10 be taken, was evidently the first
condition Of success. The principal Of these
measures were four in number; the arrest
Of guilty or dangerous persons, the publ
cation oflhe official proclamations, the &C.
cBpaton of the palace Of the National AS
sembly, end the distribution Of troops upon
ell the points judged necessary. The hour
OF quarter past six in the morning was fixed
upon for the Simultaneous execution of all
these measures. II was necessary that the
plan should no. be divulged by anybody,
OF become known piecemeal, bu, that i,
should burst forth al once in its entirety,
and be al the same moment successful. A,
quarer-past six the arrests were effected :;
al half-pas, six the troops were at their posts;
at seven the decree for the dissolution and
the proclamation were spread over the walls
Of Paris.
At hsiGpast six Nj. de Morny took pos
session Of the Ministry of the Interior, &C.
companied by $50 Of the Chasseurs de Vim
cennes, and RENTED 10 M. de Thorignv
letter, in which the Presiden, thanked him
for his services, and informed him of the
steps which he had taken.
M. de Belsele, the Presidents orderly
officer, was instructed to superin,end the
printing Of the proclamations, and the COM
posilo,s had been kept at the national print
ing office for a special service. A. eleven
O'Clock the director Of the printing office
was sent for, and at midnight the establish
ment was surrounded by gendarmes SEN
tries were Immediately placed a. every door
snd window, and then, and not Till then did
NJ. Bevele produce the documents which had
been confded to him, the printing of which
he superintendent himself, and remained until
tneir impression was completed, and then
carried shem to the prefecture of police.
The persons of whom the police were to
render themselves masters were oftwo kinds
the representatives more or less mixed up
with the absolute conspiracy, the chiefs of
secret societies and The commanders of bar
zicsdes, always ready to execute the orders
of the factions. Both had been for fort
night under the surveillance Of invisible a.
gents Of the police, and not one Of those a.
gents suspected the real object Of his mis-
sion, having all received orders for magma
~ purposes. The whole number of persons
10 be arrested was 70, Of HON Is were re-
and so chiefs of secret socie-
ties and of barbados. The 800 sergens de
vile and the bri gaJes Of surety had been
kept at the Prefecture Of Police on the Is,
Of December, until l l o'clock at night, un-
der the pre,ext of the presence in Paris of
the refugees in London. A. half-pas. three
in the morning of the I'd, the officers OF
peace and 40 commissaries of police were
convoked at their houses. At haf-pas, four
all had arrived, and were placed in small
groups in different apartments, for the pur-
pose Of 90. exciting suspicion.
Al FIVE o'clock, all the commissaries went
down separately into the Office of the Pre-
feet, end received from him communca-
ton of the simple and entire truth, with the
necessary indications and orders. The men
had been selected with special care for the
duty to be con6ded 10 them, and all wen,
away full Of zeal and ardor, resolved 10 &C.
compish their duty at any price. None
failed in his promise. A great number of
carriages, prepared in advance, were station
ed in groups on the quays in the neighbour
hood Of the Prefecture of Police, so as no,
TO excite suspicion. The arrests had been
so arranged between the Project Of Police
and The Minister of War that they should
precede, by quarter Of an hour, the arrival
of the ,roops on the places Indicated. Tho