I THE CONSTITUTION A roll of the drums; clowns, attention! THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, "Considering that--all the restrictive laws on the liberty of the press having been repealed, all the laws against hand-bills and posting-bills having been abolished, the right of public assemblage having been fully re-established, all the unconstitutional laws, including martial law, having been suppressed, every citizen being empowered to say what he likes through every medium of publicity, whether newspaper, placard, or electoral meeting, all solemn engagements, especially the oath of the 20th of December, 1848, having been scrupulously kept, all facts having been investigated, all questions propounded and discussed, all candidacies publicly defeated, without the possibility of alleging that the slightest violence had been exercised against the meanest citizen,--in one word, in the fullest enjoyment of liberty.

"The sovereign people being interrogated on this question:-- "'Do the French people mean to place themselves, tied neck and heels, at the discretion of M.Louis Bonaparte ?' "Have replied YES by 7,500,000 votes.

(_Interruption by the author_:--We shall have more to say of these 7,500,000 votes.) "PROMULGATES "THE CONSTITUTION IN MANNER FOLLOWING, THAT IS TO SAY: "Article 1.

The Constitution recognises, confirms, and guarantees the great principles proclaimed in 1789, which are the foundation of the public law of the French people.
"Article 2 and following.

The platform and the press, which impeded the march of progress, are superseded by the police and the censorship, and by the secret deliberations of the Senate, the Corps Legislatif and the Council of State.
"Article last.