Of these signers, 741,011 prayed that the constitu-
tion be revised, while 382,624 others did not hesitate
to ask that it be revised in such a way as to lengthen
the President's term. By the end of July, the num-
ber of petitions had reached the formidable number
of a round 300,000, exclusive of only 526 opposed to

23



MEMOIES OF THE EMPEESS EUGENIE

revision. The parties whose plans had been upset
by these popular manifestations accused the govern-
ment of having brought pressure to bear to produce
these results. But two months later, eighty Depart-
ments out of eighty-five, through their Councils Gen-
eral, or Departmental Legislatures, called upon the
Assembly to carry out the revision of the constitu-
tion. Men of sense recognized the fact that the
nation demanded a change. Berryer, Dufaure,
Odilon Barrot and others, who were not friends of
the Prince-President, admitted that the people
wanted the term of office prolonged. No one ques-
tioned the necessity of a coup d'etat of some sort,
whether brought about by the parliamentarians or
the executive power, if proper conditions of order,
authority and government were to be reestablished
in France ; there must be some escape through ener-
getic and determined means, from the complicated
situation. As to the character of the method to be
employed or the way of accomplishing it, there was
diversity of opinion. Hence the many plans, varying
in certain particulars but similar in their results,
and all a violation of the constitution, which were
proposed to Prince Louis Napoleon during his three
years' presidency. The idea of an appeal to the
people became very general and seemed all the more
fitting because it received the approval of such men
as Thiers, Comte Falloux, Montalembert, the Due de
Mortemart, General Changarnier and Comte Mole.
