Paris; and that, in order to save the country, the Chamber should take all the powers into its own hands. He then proposed a decree providing for an Executive Committee of fifteen deputies, who should be invested with the full power of government to repel foreign invasion. This proposition was received with yells of denunciation by the Right, who denounced it as revolutionary and unconstitutional, and the President so decided.
After M. Favre had concluded, Granier de Cassagnac, a member of the Extreme Right, rushed to the tribune, and his first words were to denounce the proposition of Favre as the commencement of revolution. He proceeded in a strain of bitter denunciation, amid the shouts, vociferations, and the gestures of almost the entire Left. He accused them of hiding behind their privileges to destroy the government of the Emperor, who was in the face of the enemy. Here there came interruptions, calls to order, and threats. Thirty members of the Left rose to their feet, yelling at Cassagnac
Garnier-Pagès.
and shaking their fists toward him, and he returned the compliment by shaking his fist at them. All this time the members of the Right were applauding Cassagnac, who finally wound up with the terrible threat that if he were a minister he would send the members of the Left to a military tribunal before night. This was followed by one of the most terrific explosions ever witnessed in a legislative body. All the deputies of the Left jumped to their feet and raised their voices in most indignant protest. And then rose up the deputies of the Right to drown the cries of the Left with their own vociferations. Jules Simon, who was then simply a deputy from Paris, and who has since occupied so many high positions in France, rushed into the area in front of the tribune, gesticulating with vehemence and saying that if they dared to send them to a council of war they were ready to go; and if they wanted to shoot them they would find them ready. That added to the tumult. Nearly all the members were on their feet. The voice of Simon was heard above the din: "If you want violence, you shall have it." At that moment, Estancelin, under great excitement, cried out, "The Minister of Foreign Affairs laughs!" And that absurd ejaculation caused many others to laugh.
Jules Ferry, also a member of the Corps Législatif at that time, and since Prime Minister under President Grévy, was heard in the uproar to say that it was not proper "for a minister who was attempting to negotiate peace to" and here his voice was lost in the tumult. Nearly the entire Left then started from their seats and rushed to the area in front of the tribune and up to the seat of the ministers; Estancelin, Ferry, and old Garnier-Pagès in front. Estancelin and Ferry were young men and advanced republicans. Garnier-Pagès was an old-time republican, at that time nearly seventy years of age, and had for a long time been a prominent man in France–a republican always, but considered somewhat conservative. He was a member of the provisional government of 1848, and was assigned to the Ministry of Finance, but was not entirely happy in his administration of it. At this time he was a man of striking personal appearance. Tall and slim, and with long white hair, he could not otherwise than attract attention wherever he went. As a speaker he was described as having the "parole chaleureuse," and such was his benevolent and exemplary character that he enjoyed the esteem of all men, even of his adversaries. After
