A meeting of the three consuls took place in the morning. Sieyes, who had up to this moment conceived himself to be the head, and the others but the arms of the new constitution, asked, as a form of politeness, "Which of us is to preside?" "Do you not see," answered Ducos, "that the general presides?"

Napoleon did indeed most fully preside, not only over the councils of his colleagues, but over France. He had thoroughly overturned the constitutional forms of liberty, for which the enthusiastic and devoted struggles of so many years had contended. The fairest judgment of his conduct will be found in the careful consideration, first, of the state of France at the moment; and, secondly, of the use he made of his power. With regard to the former, we shall quote a passage from Hazlitt, in which the best, and indeed the only grounds of defence, are eloquently stated. "If the revolution had been firmly and securely established without him, and he had erased or undermined the stately fabric, to raise his own power upon the ruins, then he would have been entitled to the execration of the friends of freedom, and would have received the thanks of its hereditary enemies: but the building had already been endangered, and nodded to its fall; had been defaced and broken to pieces by internal discord and by foreign war; and the arch of power and ambition that he reared, stood on ground forfeited over and over again to humanity."

The foregoing arguments are not to be regarded as proceeding from an enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon, but as proceeding from a man who was himself one of the most powerful, disinterested, and uncompromising advocates of freedom that ever lived. It is for this latter reason that we feel bound to give a careful consideration of the grounds of his

opinions on the present equally momentous and complicated question. Admitting all that he says of the condition of France and its government at the time, and that "the arch of power and ambition which Napoleon reared, stood on ground forfeited over and over again to humanity," by a long series of tyrannies, abuses, errors, and imbecilities, we are still compelled to ask, why did not Napoleon establish and maintain constitutional liberty, instead of rearing that arch of personal power and ambition? The shortest answer to this is perhaps the best: whatever had been the principles with which he had commenced his career, he was no longer to be regarded as the champion of liberty; and he did not wish France to continue a Republic. The other side of the question is fraught with difficulties, in which we have to consider whether he could have maintained such a popular form of government, and yet have been able to exercise his utmost means, though controlled by popular forms, to defend France from the new coalition which was established soon after the rejection by England of his proposals for peace. As to Napoleon's private thoughts and principles on the matter, they may be thus estimated: he was a soldier, not a philosopher; a plotting statesman, not a pure patriot. Accustomed, by the force of his character, and by long habit, to command men, he eventually came to despise them, and believed the people unfit for self government, and France most especially so at that time, when she had but recently broken her bonds of slavery, and been obliged to wage war ever since. Touching the criminality of his usurpation-if it be correct to use that indefinite expression-we must look to the crowned heads of Europe, whose coalition against the republican principles and struggles of the French nation, were the cause of its government being thrown into a condition which inevitably rendered it an easy prey for any description of military despotism.

Napoleon at this time had two colleagues, nominally equal in authority with himself. Their power faded away before they had time even to commence its exercise. Sieyes had expected that Napoleon would content himself with the supreme command of all the armies, and had no idea that he was conversant with, or wished to interfere in profound and extensive political affairs and projects. He was, however, so astonished at the knowledge displayed by Napoleon in questions of administration, even to the minutest details, and in every department, that when their first conference was concluded, he hurried to Talleyrand, Cabanis, and other counsellors, assembled at St. Cloud, exclaiming, "Gentlemen, you have now a master. He knows everything, arranges every thing, and can accomplish everything."

FIRST SITTING OF THE CONSULAR GOVERNMENT AT THE LUXEMBOURG-JUST AND POPULAR MEASURES-FORMATION OF THE MINISTRY-DEBATES ON THE NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT-SIEYES AND DUCOS RETIRE-DECLARATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR EIGHT-NAPOLEON, CAMBACERES, AND LEBRUN, CONSULS-LETTER TO THE KING OF ENGLAND-NAPOLEON RESIDES IN THE TUILERIES-FUNERAL HONOURS TO WASHINGTON.

effusion of blood, and the utmost clemency was observed in its establishment. Sixty individuals were indeed at first sentenced to deportation; but this severe measure, which originated in the timid policy of Sieyes, was never executed. The decree was altered into a command that they should repair to certain communes of France, which were named, and remain there until further orders.

The new government found the affairs of the country in a wretched condition; every department required to be reformed, or re-modelled. The treasury was nearly empty: on the second day of the consulate there were not twelve hundred francs disposable to give to a courier, whom it was requisite to despatch on matters of state. The minister at war was unable to produce any returns of the pay, clothing, or victualling of the army, which was, in general, in a condition of great privation and insubordination, the divisions which were abroad being dependant for all their supplies on forced requisitions on foreign countries, and those at home on encroachments upon the treasury. The most important changes in the administration of justice; in the internal regulations, and external relations of the country, were imperatively requisite.

M. Collot, who had served under Napoleon in Italy, came forward nobly to the assistance of the government in its embarrassing financial position. He instantly supplied the treasury with 500,000 francs in gold. For this important service, Bourrienne asserts that he was badly rewarded by Napoleon the money was not repaid for a very long time, and then without interest. This piece of ingratitude, it is extremely likely, is a true charge. Napoleon was accustomed to regard all financiers as cheats and swindlers on a large scale; and to consider anything of which he could defraud them, as so much saved from theft; and he may very reprehensibly have made no exception even of such a case as this.

The first business of the consuls was to re-model the ministry. Nearly all the appointments bore witness to that extraordinary power of judging of the capabilities of men, for which Napoleon was so remarkable. He sought earnestly for talent, completely disregarding party prejudices, and employing men of all shades of political opinion. The office of minister of finance was entrusted to Gaudin, afterwards Duke of Gaeta, who had long been employed in that department. He began his difficult task with conscientious integrity and zeal, neither resting night nor day until he had devised a plan to reform the glaring abuses which he discovered. The compulsory loan, which had produced the most pernicious effects on property, and created the utmost discontent, he instantly suppressed. The wise measures which he adopted, and by which he shortly placed the finances in a flourishing condition, were perfected during fifteen years of an able administration. Berthier was made minister at war, an arduous post, considering the situation of the army, but it was soon brought into the finest possible condition. Cambacérès retained the post of minister of justice. He was an able lawyer, and had been one of the men of the revolution, though of a noble family of Languedoc. Reinhard, the minister for foreign affairs, did not immediately lose his place, but was soon afterwards succeeded by Talleyrand. Forfait, who had a great reputation as a naval architect, was put at the head of the

admiralty. He did not realise the expectations entertained of him; but causes beyond the power of any single man, kept down the French navy. La Place was made minister of the interior; but this great astronomer and mathematician proved quite incompetent to the details of his office. He soon returned to his high place in the scientific world, and left his share in the regulation of sublunary politics to Lucien Bonaparte. Monge was entrusted with the chief direction of the Polytechnic school, an institution then in its infancy; and it became, under his charge, one of the most celebrated schools in the world, and of important service to the country. All these official appointments had been unanimously agreed upon by the three consuls; or rather, Sieyes and Ducos had followed the opinion of Napoleon without any opposition: but a serious difference occurred on the subject of the minister of police. Napoleon determined to continue Fouché in that office. He admitted that Fouché was venal, sanguinary, and insincere; yet, he contended, that his abilities made him too valuable to be dispensed with at this difficult period of affairs. Sieyes considered the government insecure so long as such a man was at the head of the police; but the will of Napoleon prevailed, and Fouché continued in office.

Several most popular measures were passed without delay by the provisional consuls. The first of these was the repeal of the law of hostages; by which all the relations of suspected emigrants, who had been thrown into prison according to that law, were at once released, and a joyful gratitude was spread all over France. The next measure resulted from a principle agreed upon by the government, that "Conscience was not amenable to the law; and that the right of the sovereign power extended no farther than to the exaction of obedience and fidelity." In compliance with this principle, it was decreed that every priest who had been banished or imprisoned, and would take an oath of fidelity to the established government, should immediately be set at liberty, whatever were his religious persuasions. More than twenty thousand individuals were thus restored to their families soon after the passing of this law, some of whom had been in foreign countries, either in banishment in the isle of Rhé or Guiana, others in prison. Very few, by refusing to take the oaths, remained in exile for conscience sake. In conformity with the spirit of this decree, the churches were again opened for public worship, and Christians of every shade of opinion and peculiarity of forms, were permitted to keep the Sunday accordingly. The universal enforcement of the law of décades, which divided time by ten days instead of seven, was therefore repealed. In the same spirit of respect to the outward forms of all classes of the Christian world, the customary honours were ordered to be paid to the remains of Pope Pius VI. This unfortunate pontiff, who had been stripped of nearly all his domains by Napoleon in