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The other Representatives who had remained at the barricade made their
last preparations for resistance. The combatants maintained an intrepid
bearing. The Naval Lieutenant Cournet towered above them all with his
tall stature. Baudin, still standing on the overturned omnibus, leaned
half over the barricade.
On seeing the Representatives approach, the soldiers and their officers
were for the moment bewildered. Meanwhile the captain signed to the
Representatives to stop.
They stopped, and Schoelcher said in an impressive voice,--
"Soldiers! we are the Representatives of the Sovereign People, we are
your Representatives, we are the Elect of Universal Suffrage. In the
name of the Constitution, in the name of Universal Suffrage, in the name
of the Republic, we, who are the National Assembly, we, who are the Law,
order you to join us, we summon you to obey. We ourselves are your
leaders. The Army belongs to the People, and the Representatives of the
People are the Chiefs of the Army. Soldiers! Louis Bonaparte violates
the Constitution, we have outlawed him. Obey us."
The officer who was in command, a captain named Petit, did not allow him
to finish.
"
Gentlemen," he said, "I have my orders. I belong to the People. I am a
Republican as you are, but I am only an instrument."
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