第1039章

[15] Thibaudeau， p.72 (words of the First Consul at a meeting of the Council of State， Pluvi？se 14， year X).

[16] Roederer， III.， 439 (Note of Pluvi？se 28， year VIII)， ib.， 443"The pretended organic sénatus-consulte of Aug. 4， 1802， put an end to notability by instituting electoral colleges. . . The First Consul was really recognized as the grand-elector of the notability，"[17] Any dictator or dictator's draftsman will， upon reading this understand how easy it is to make a sham constitution and sham electoral systems for a de facto dictatorship.(SR.)[18] Thibaudeau， 72， 289 (words of the First Consul at a meeting of the Council of State， Thermidor 16， year X).

[19] Ibid.， p. 293. Sénatus-consulte of Thermidor 16， year X， and of Fructidor 19， year X.

[20] Decree of January 17， 1806， article 40.

[21] Aucoc， " Conférence sur l'administration et le droit administratif，" §§ 101， 162， 165. In our legislative system the council of the arrondissement has not become a civil personality， while it has scarcely any other object than to apportion direct taxes among the communes of the arrondissement[22] Sénatus-consulte of Thermidor 16， year X.

[23] Decree of May 13， 1806， title III.， article 32.

[24] Thibaudeau， ibid.， 294 (Speech of the First Consul to the Council of State， Thermidor 16， year X). "What has become of the men of the Revolution？ Once out of place， they have been entirely neglected： they have nothing left； they have no support， no natural refuge. Look at Barras， Reubell， etc." The electoral colleges are to furnish them with the asylum they lack. "Now is the time to elect the largest number of men of the Revolution； the longer we wait， the fewer there will be. . . . With the exception of some of them， who have appeared on a grand stage， . . . who have signed some treaty of peace . . . the rest are all isolated and in obscurity. That is an important gap which must be filled up . . . . It is for this reason that I have instituted the Legion of Honor."[25] Baron de Vitrolles， "Memoires，" preface， XXI. Comte de Villèle， "Memoires et Correspondance，" I.， 189 (August， 1807).

[26] Faber， "Notice sur l'intérieur de la France" (1807)， p.25.

[27] Supporters of the Sovereign king or of the legitimate royal dynasty. (SR.)[28] The following document shows the sense and aim of the change， which goes on after the year VIII， also the contrast between both administrative staffs. (Archives Nationales， F 7， 3219； letter of M.

Alquier to the First Consul， Pluviose 18， year VIII.) M. Alquier， on his way to Madrid， stops at Toulouse and sends a report to the authorities of Haute-Garonne： "I was desirous of seeing the central administration. I found there the ideas and language of 1793. Two personages， Citizens Barreau and Desbarreaux， play an active part then. Up to 1792， the first was a shoemaker， and owed his political fortune simply to his audacity and revolutionary frenzy. The second， Desbarreaux， was a comedian of Toulouse， his principal role being that of valets. In the month of Prairial， year III， he was compelled to go down on his knees on the stage and ask pardon for having made incendiary speeches at some previous period in the decadal temple. The public， not deeming his apology sufficient， drove him out of the theater. He now combines with his function of departmental administrator the post of cashier for the actors， which thus brings him in 1200 francs . . . The municipal councilors are not charged with lack of probity： but they are derived from too law a class and have too little regard for themselves to obtain consideration from the public. . . The commune of Toulouse is very impatient at being governed by weak， ignorant men， formerly mixed in with the crowd， and whom， probably， it is urgent to send back to it. . . . It is remarkable that， in a city of such importance， which provides so large a number of worthy citizens of our sort of capacity and education， only men are selected for public duties who， with respect to instruction， attainments， and breeding， offer no guarantee whatever to the government and no inducement to win public consideration."[29] "Correspondance de Napoléon，" No.4474， note dictated to Lucien， minister of the interior， year VIII.

[30] Cf. "Procés-verbaux des conseil généraux" of the year VIII， and especially of the year IX. "Many of the cross roads have entirely disappeared at the hands of the neighboring owners of the land. The paved roads are so much booty." (for example， Vosges， p.429， year IX.)"The roads of the department are in such a bad state that the landowners alongside carry off the stones to build their houses and wall in their inheritance. They encroach on the roads daily； the ditches are cultivated by them the same as their own property."[31] Laws of February 29- March 9， 1804 And February 28 - March 10， 1805.

[32] Laws of July 23， 1802， and of February 27， 1811.

[33] "Correspondance de Napoléon，" No. 4474 (note dictated to Lucien).