272 ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1853 en a p. of Paris was brought into the streets with instrue- tions well fitted to bring about the events which marked the afternoon of the 4th of December.* For reasons which then remained unknown, the troops were abstaining from action, and there was a good distance between the heads of the columns and the outposts of the insurgents. Hesitation It is plain that, either because of his own oi jgnan. jjggj^tioiij or because of the hesitation of the President or M. St Arnaud, the General in com- mand of the army was hanging back ; -f* and in truth, though the mere physical task which he its rrobaUc had to perform was a slight one, Magnan could grounds. not ■| jiit gee t j ia ^ politically, he had got into danger. The mechanical arrangements of the night of the 2d of December had met with a success which was wondrously complete ; but in other respects the enterprise of the Elysian brethren seemed to be failing, for no one of mark and character had come forward to abet the Presi- dent. There were many lovers of order and tran-
- My knowledge as to what the troops were made to under-
stand is derived from a source highly favourable to the Elysee. ' t Magnan, in his Despatch, accounts for his delay in words which tend to justify the conclusion of those who believe that the opportunity of inflicting slaughter on the people of Paris was deliberately sought for and prepared ; but I am not in- clined to believe that for such an object a French General would throw away the first seven hours of a short December day, and therefore, so far as concerns his motives, I reject Mngnan's statement. 1 consider that the disclosures made before the Chamber of Peers, in 1S40, give me a right to use my own judgment in determining the weight which is due to this person's assertions.
