38] ANNUAL HEGISTER, 1800. 



They arc invented with all the 

 powers necessary for doing j^ood. 

 No more acts of oppression, no more 

 lists of prescription, no more swi- 

 nishness und immorality ! Hence- 

 forth liberty and security of pro- 

 perty for the French citizens: u 

 sm-e guarantee for such foreign 

 governments as are willing to make 

 jieace ! And as for those who arc 

 disposed to continue the war, if they 

 have been unable to prevail against 

 France in a state of disorganiza- 

 tion^, and exhausted by plunder, 

 what can they do now ?" 



Thus we have seen the over- 

 throw of four diflcrent constitu- 

 tions in France in the space of ten 

 years. The same soldier who estab- 

 lished the constitution of 179.'>, by 

 the mouth of the cannon, dissolved 

 it, in 1799, by the point of the bayo- 

 net. It seems to be a law in the 

 moral as well as political world, that 

 nothing that is quickly produced, 

 is of long duration. Two maxims 

 both equally erroneous produced 

 these rapid changes : the one, that 

 governments may be made and per- 

 fected by one continuous and unin- 

 terrupted effort, like any inanimate 

 machine or structure, and without a 

 gradual and leisurely improvement 

 of times and circumstances : the 

 other, that the end justifies the 

 means ; and consequently that with- 

 out any regard to oaths, compacts, 

 or established authority, a political 

 constitution may be taken to pieces 

 without ceremony or hesltati(m, 

 in order to make way for a new 

 one. But this series of revolutions 

 is marked by two distinct tenden- 

 cies, by which, bath in the order 

 of tiiiie, cause, and effect, they 

 were equally divided. From 1 790 

 to ] 795, the new institutions ran 

 in favour of democratic anarchy ; 



from 1 79.1, in favour of executive 

 government. 



Throughout the whole of the last 

 revolution, eft'ectcd on the ninth 

 and tenth of November, the oppo- 

 site characters of its principal au- 

 thors were strikingly displayed. — 

 Sieyes was as usual silent, reserved, 

 and trusted for success entirely to 

 intrigue and management. Not a 

 word escaped from him. He might 

 have been taken for a spectator. — 

 Buonaparte discovered the natural 

 impetuosity of his temper, the frank- 

 ness of a soldier-, and the confidence 

 and assurance of a conqueror. Their 

 opposite modes of conduct were va- 

 riously spoken of, not only in point 

 of moral and political propriety, 

 but as they were calculated to eflect 

 or to frustrate the end proposed by 

 both. It was certainly intended 

 by abbe Sieyes, and others in the 

 secret, to bring about the revolution, 

 agreeably to the declaration of Bou- 

 lay la Meurthe, by moj-al, though 

 certainly not altogether consilium 

 /eo«rt/ influence; and by this influ- 

 ence, it was alleged by the partizans 

 of Sieyes, it might easily have been 

 brought about without violence, 

 which was an object much to be 

 desired on many accounts — " By 

 the constitution, the elders were 

 empowered to remove the legisla- 

 ture to St. Cloud, or any other 

 place within a certain distance of 

 the capital. By the constitution 

 they were even authorized to pro- 

 pose a revision of it. It is true, 

 that three affirmative resolutions 

 of the two councils, in the coui'se 

 of nine years, were necessary to give 

 authority to the assembly, which 

 was to be charged with reviewing 

 and correcting the laws. But the 

 assemblies at St. Cloud might easily 

 have found, in the urgency of affairs^ 



