278 



FRANCE. 



took place in the cities of Nantes and Bor- 

 deaux, which had likewise to be put down by 

 the troops. On the 16th of June there was a 

 bloody encounter between the troops and the 

 miners of St. Etienne. On the 24th of June, 

 the Emperor, on visiting the camp of Chalons, 

 made a speech to the soldiers, in which he said 

 he was pleased to see that they had not for- 

 gotten the great cause for which they fought 

 ten years ago. The Emperor continued as fol- 

 lows: "Preserve the remembrance of the 

 battles fought by your fathers and yourselves ; 

 for our victories are the history of the progress 

 of civilization. You will thus maintain the 

 military spirit, which is the triumph of noble 

 over vulgar passions ; it is fidelity to the flag, 

 devotion to country. Continue in the same 

 course, and you will always be worthy of so 

 great a nation." 



On the 28th of June, the Legislative Body 

 met for the " verification of powers " of the 

 newly-elected deputies. The Minister of State, 

 Rouher, read the following address : 



Messieurs les Deputes : In accordance with the Con- 

 stitution, the Legislative Body is convoked within 

 the six months following the dissolution. The long- 

 est delay for your meeting is the 26th of October, but 

 it would have been impossible at that date to lay 

 before you the projects of law on the finances and 

 those concerning other affairs of state. An extraor- 

 dinary session of the Legislative Body was, there- 

 fore, thought necessary. In this situation the Govern- 

 ment of the Emperor considered it wise and politic 

 to proceed immediately to the verification 01 your 

 powers, and thus to put an end to all uncertainty as 

 to the validity of tne electoral operations in each 

 district. In the opinion of the Government the 

 present session has no other object. The renewal of 

 the Legislative Body by universal suffrage is the 

 supreme occasion for the nation to manifest its 

 thoughts, its aspir 

 study of the political results 



thoughts, its aspirations, and its requirements. The 

 *y of the political results of that manifestation 

 lid not be precipitate. During tne ordinary session 



it will submit to the high consideration of the public 

 powers the resolutions and the projects which, may 

 have appeared to it best calculated to realize the 

 wishes of the country. In the name of the Emperor 

 I declare the extraordinary session of the Legislative 

 Body open. 



To the surprise of the Government, a very 

 large portion of the Legislative Body (116 

 members), embracing a number of stanch ad- 

 herents of the dynasty, expressed a wish to 

 be made at once acquainted with the reforms 

 which the Government intended to introduce. 

 The Emperor yielded to this pressure, and, on 

 the 12th of July, the Minister of State read 

 the following imperial message announcing the 

 basis of the proposed reforms : 



Mesneurs les Deputes: On the 18th of June my 

 Government informed you that on the opening of the 

 next ordinary session it would place before tne rep- 

 resentatives of the people the resolutions and pro- 

 jects which it considered capable of answering the 

 wishes of the country. 



But the Corps Legislatif appears to be anxious to 

 know immediately the reforms decided on by my 

 Government. 



I therefore think it necessary to anticipate its as- 

 pirations. 



The Corps Legislatif must be convinced that my 

 nnn intention is to trive to its attributes tliA ovtanoinn 



compatible with, the fundamental basis of tne consti- 

 tution, and I hereby make public the determination 

 I have decided on in council. 



The Senate will be convoked as soon as possible, to 

 examine the following questions : 



1. Bight of the Corps Legislatif to make its own 

 rules and elect its own committees. 



2. Simplification of the mode of proposing and ex- 

 amining amendments. 



3. That the Government be obliged to submit to 

 Legislative approval the tariff modifications which 

 in future may be stipulated in international trea- 

 ties. 



4. Voting of tbe budget by headings, in order to 

 render the control of the Chamber more effective. 



5. Abrogation of the constitutional enactment 

 which at present disqualifies a deputy from becoming 

 a minister of the crown, and fulfilling certain other 

 public functions. 



6. Extension of tbe rigbt of interpellation. 



My Government will also examine the questions 

 which concern the attributes of the Senate. 



The more efficacious solidarity which, will establish 

 between my Government and the Chambers the 

 faculty of exercising at the same time the functions 

 of minister and deputy, the presence of all the minis- 

 ters in the Chamber, the examination in council of 

 the affairs of the state, and a loyal understanding with 

 the majority, constitute for the country all the 

 guarantees which we in our common solicitude con- 

 sider necessary. 



I have already sbown you several times how, for 

 tbe good of the public, I am disposed to give up 

 certain prerogatives which belong to me. The modi- 

 fications which I have decided on proposing are the 

 natural development of those which have successive- 

 ly been made in the institutions of the empire ; they 

 must, however, leave intact the prerogatives which 

 the people bave more explicitly confided to my care, 

 and which are the essential conditions of a power 

 which protects order and society ("Hear, near," 

 cbeers, and cries of " Vive 1'Empereur ! "). 



Done at the palace of St. Cloud, this llth day of 

 July, 1869. NAPOLEON. 



This message was followed by the dismissal 

 of Rouher as Minister of State, and the forma- 

 tion of a ministry of transition from personal 

 to parliamentary government ; * but, in order 

 to escape the threatened interpellation con- 

 cerning the reform question, the Legislative 

 Body was prorogued even before having fin- 

 ished the verification of the elections. A serious 

 sickness of the Emperor, more serious than at 

 any preceding time, which even prevented him 

 from celebrating the centenary birthday of the 

 first Napoleon in the camp of Chalons, spread 

 considerable alarm. An amnesty for political 

 offences brought back to France a number of 

 implacable enemies of the empire, and added 

 fuel to the flame. Amid this excitement 

 the Senate, in which Prince Napoleon made & 

 vigorous speech in favor of liberal changes, 

 deliberated on the reforms which had been 

 promised by the Emperor, and on the 8th of 

 September it adopted a senatus consultttm em- 

 bodying them. The senatus consultum gives 

 to the Emperor and the Corps Legislatif the 

 initiative in making laws. Cabinet ministers 

 can be members of the Senate or Corps Legis- 

 latif; the sittings of the Senate are to be pub- 

 lic; each body is to make its own internal 



ion is to give to its attributes the extension * The names of the ministers have been given above. 



