The Constitution to which Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte took oath on December 20, 1848, "in the face of God and man," contained, among other articles, these:-- "Article 36. The representatives of the people are inviolable. "Article 37. They may not be arrested on a criminal charge unless taken in the fact, or prosecuted without the permission of the Assembly first obtained. "Article 68. Every act by which the President of the Republic dissolves the National Assembly, prorogues it, or impedes the execution of its decrees, is high treason. "By such act, of itself, the President forfeits his office, the citizens are bound to refuse him obedience, and the executive power passes, of absolute right, to the National Assembly. The judges of the Supreme Court shall thereupon immediately assemble, under penalty of forfeiture; they shall convoke the jurors in such place as they shall appoint, to proceed to the trial of the President and his accomplices; and they shall themselves appoint magistrates who shall proceed to execute the functions of the ministry." In less than three years after this memorable day, on the 2nd of December, 1851, at daybreak, there might be read on all the street corners in Paris, this placard:-- "In the name of the French people, the President of the Republic: "Decrees-- "Article 1. The National Assembly is dissolved. "Article 2. Universal suffrage is re-established. The law of the 31st of May is repealed. "Article 3. The French people are convoked in their comitia. "Article 4. A state of siege is decreed throughout the first military division. "Article 5. The Council of State is dissolved. "Article 6. The Minister of the Interior is charged with the execution of this decree. "Done at the Palace of the Elysee, December 2, 1851. "LOUIS-NAPOLEON BONAPARTE." At the same time Paris learned that fifteen of the inviolable representatives of the people had been arrested in their homes, during the night, by order of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. II MISSION OF THE REPRESENTATIVES