In Paris, the metropolis of civilization, people do not easily believe that a man will push his crime to the last extremity; and, therefore, these notices had been looked upon as a means of intimidation that was hideous and barbarous, but almost ridiculous.
"The public were wrong.

These placards contained in germ Louis Bonaparte's whole plan.

They were seriously meant.
"One word as to the spot which is about to be the theatre of the unheard-of drama, prepared and perpetrated by the man of December.
"From the Madeleine to Faubourg Poissonniere, the boulevard was unobstructed; from the Gymnase Theatre to the Theatre of the Porte Saint-Martin it was barricaded, as were Rue de Bondy, Rue Neslay, Rue de la Lune, and all the streets which bound, or debouch at, Porte Saint-Denis and Porte Saint-Martin.

Beyond Porte Saint-Martin the boulevard was again free as far as the Bastile, with the exception of a single barricade, which had been begun opposite the Chateau d'Eau.
Between Porte Saint-Denis and Porte Saint-Martin, seven or eight redoubts crossed the street at intervals.

A square of four barricades shut in Porte Saint-Denis.