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The Assembly, not being able to go out,
ordered the windows to be opened, and caused the decrees to be read to
the people and the troops in the street below, especially that decree
which, in pursuance of the sixty-eighth article of the constitution,
declared the deposition and impeachment of Louis Napoleon.
Soon, however, the soldiers reappeared at the door, preceded this time
by two _commissaires de police_. These men entered the room and, amid
the unbroken silence and total immobility of the Assembly, summoned the
Representatives to disperse. The President ordered them to retire
themselves. One of the _commissaires_ was agitated and faltered; the
other broke out in invectives. The President said to him: "Sir, we are
here the lawful authority and sole representatives of law and of right.
We know that we cannot oppose to you material force, but we will leave
this chamber only under constraint. We will not disperse. Seize us and
convey us to prison."
"All, all!" exclaimed the members of the Assembly.


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