beration could have been of service: rapidly as each of the measures for securing the permanence of his power had been hurried through the constituted authorities, they followed in such quick succession that they actually overtook each other; and, before the registers could be forwarded, for the reception of signatures, to the different departments, they were charged with a further striking mark of the national gratitude,' expressed in the modest question, on which also the suffrages of the nation were to be collected, Shall Napoleon Bonaparte be invested with the power of naming his successor.'

It required, however, either a degree of assurance of which even the first consul did not find himself possessed, or it was apprehended that the source whence the first proposal originated might be laid too publicly open; or some kind of opposition was feared, should this happy after-thought of the consul, or his family, be brought forward through the medium of the tribunate, the senate, or the legislative body. A new and ingenious device was, therefore, adopted; not strictly legal, it is true; but what is illegal in France? Some of the inferior agents of the government were instructed to add to their signatures the desire that Bonaparte might choose his successor. On the strength of this circumstance, the mayor of Paris, on his own suggestion doubtless, transmitted to the prefects of the other communes the additional question which we have stated above. Without the least inquiry into the authority by which the people of France were cited to decide on a subject of importance, the question was entered on the registers, and the votes received as if the measure had been sanctioned by legislative authority.

In the mean time addresses poured in to the government in approbation of the measure, in that truly burlesque strain of which only the French nation is capable. The citizens of Soissons, by their organ, the municipal officers, earnestly entreated to be excused from the tedious process of giving their votes on the question; they requested to be led into the Champ

de Mars to give their assent by general acclamation; and another address, from the soldiers of Paris, transmitted by General Junot, added to the wish of a long life to the great consul

that he would indeed live long, if all those who love him could, with their signature, add a portion of their own lives to prolong his!' The language of addresses, however, does not always speak the sentiments of the people. The citizens, even of Paris, appeared backward or negligent to give their signatures; and it was affirmed on good authority, that, at one of the notaries, (with whom the registers were deposited), ia one of the most frequented districts of Paris, the signatures on the sixth day did not exceed nine, only four of which expressed the wish that Bonaparte should name a successor, While the registers continued open, a scarcity of bread happened at Paris; and this was believed, or represented by the government, to be an artifice of the disaffected, to interrupt the loyalty of the people, and to prevent it from displaying itself in the mock-election.

The slowness, however, with which the suffrages were collected, appears, at length, to have awakened the apprehensions of the government; and, in all the departments, every engine and instrument was at length employed to compel the lower orders to sign the registers. It was the 29th of July-that is, nearly two months from the time the registers were opened before a communication was made by the government to the senate of the result. The registers were submitted to the inspection of this body: they were referred by them to a select commitee; and, on the 2d of August, a senatus consultum was issued, declaring, what may be termed the state of the poll. The report justified what was observed above: out of a population of upwards of 25,000,000, only 3,577,259 could be prevailed upon, by all the exertions of the government, to inscribe their names; of these, however, 3,568,185 voted for the question that is, that Bonaparte should be consul for life.

The act of the senate was presented to the first consul on the following day: and Barthelemy, the president, disgraced a respectable character by being the organ of a gross piece of flattery to a man who had been the decided enemy of liberty. The first consul replied, with his usual bypocrisy, The life of a citizen belongs to his country. The French people wish that the whole of mine should be devoted to them-I obey their will!' He obscurely, however, hinted something like a divine right to this station, and observed, that he was called by HIM from whom all things emanate to restore upon earth justice, order, and equality.' The event was celebrated with the highest magnificence in Paris; and, on the evening of the 4th of August, the palace of the conservative senate was superbly illuminated. Addresses of congratulation were presented from the different courts of the continent of Europe; and even the Emperor of Germany was humbled so far as to join in complimenting the enemy of his family and throne.

The project for instituting a legion of honour was not accomplished, while the other still more important transaction, which we have been relating, was in agitation. The court of the Thuilleries might not consider it as the most politic step to complete the measure, and to fill up the lists, while the hopes of those who aspired to become members of this new order of nobility might be turned so much to the advantage of the consular views, and when the resentment of unsuccessful candidates might have caused an opposition which might have proved fatal to them. The project was, however, introduced to the legislative body, on the 15th of May, by Roederer, one of the counsellors of state. He recommended it as a means of preserving the grandeur of the French republic, and protecting its territory. Notwithstanding peace had been so lately concluded, he reminded them of the probability that it might be speedily violated; and it is remarkable that both he and Sabire, another of the consular orators, pointed directly in terms which could not be misunderstood, to a rupture with

Great Britain: much was said of the jealousy of a rival nation, which formerly armed against France the whole earth' -and let us not dissemble,' continued Sahire: the wounds of self-love are sometimes healed, but the scars still remain.'

The project (and projects in the dumb legislature of France, are laws, since they cannot be modified or altered) expressed, that the legion was to be composed of a grand council of administration, and of fifteen cohorts. There shall be assigned to each cohort national property bringing an annual produce of 200,000 francs (about 5000l. sterling). The first consul is, by right, chief of the legion, and chief of the grand council of administration. Each cohort shall be composed of seven grand officers, 20 commandants, 30 officers, and 850, legionaries: the members of the legions are for life. The pay of each grand officer shall be 5000 francs (about 401. sterling), and of each legionary 250 francs (about 10%, sterling). These sums shall be taken from the property assigned to each cohort. Each individual admitted into the legion shall swear, on his honour, that he will devote himself to the service of the republic, the preservation of the integrity of its territory, the defence of its government, and of the laws and property they have consecrated. All military men who have received arms of honour, are members of the legion. Those also who have rendered eminent services to the state in the war of liberty!!! and citizens who, by their knowledge, talents, and virtues, have contributed to establish or defend the principles of the republic, or caused justice and the public administration to be respected, may be nominated members.'

After this, it appears that the government conceived the task of putting the order into execution to devolve upon itself; for, on the 12th of July, by an arret dated from the palace of the government, the first consul decreed to the following ef fect: 1st, The great officers, chiefs of cohorts of the legion of honour, shall, in conjunction with the councils of administration of their cohort, manage the whole of the property appropriated to the legion, of whatever kind it may be, which

shall be found within the departments of the district belonging to the cohort. 2dly, All the members of the cohort shalk,. be paid every three months, by the treasurer of the cohort,, agreeably to the lists made out by the inspectors, and upon seeing the certificates of their being alive, which shall have been previously inspected by the chancellor of the cohort. 3dly, The treasurers of the cohort shall, every ten days, inform the treasurer-general of the state of their finances, as well as the wants of the cohort, agreeably to the lists of inspection. 4thly, The treasurer-general of the legion shall, every three months, make known the want of each cohort, shall propose the means of providing for them, and give in an account of any alterations that may happen in the funds in consequence of excess or deficiency in the receipts of each cohort. 5thly, In order to carry the above articles in to execution, the director-general of the national domains, shall give a detailed account of the total produce of all the national property belonging to the legion of honour, in the department and district of the cohort. This statement shall be transmitted to the grand council of the legion. on 1st Vendemiaire. 6thly, In estimating the revenues arising from estates belonging to the cohort, the estimated value of buildings destined for the use of the establishment, shall not be comprehended. All the estates belonging to the cohort shall be farmed. 7thly, The present leases shall be in force till they are all expired; and the money from them shall be added to the treasury of the cohort. Sthly, The leases shall be renewed, in the country, one year, at least, before their expiration; and in towns, six months before their expiration. 9thly, The lots shall be anounced a month before, by bills posted up in the usual places. The time and place of sale shall be pointed out. It shall be conducted publicly before the council of administration of the cohort; and the persons appointed to regulate the domains, and the registering of the same, shall postpone the sale till a future day, if disputes among the bidders shall render it ne