STATE PAPERS. 



661 



are preserred to you and to your 

 children : institutions conceiFed and 

 began in the midst of the storms of in- 

 terior and exterior Avars, developed 

 ■with constancy, are just terminated 

 in the noise of the attempts and plots 

 of our most mortal enemies, by the 

 adoption of every thing which the 

 experience of centuries and of 

 nations has demonstrated as proper 

 to guarantee the rights which the 

 nation had judged necessary for its 

 dignity, its liberty, and it» hap- 

 piness. 



Official Account of the Proceedings 

 of the French Ncttion on confer- 

 ing the Title of Emperor on Nu- 

 poleon Buonaparte. 



On the ISth of May, the senate, 

 under the presidency of Camba- 

 ceres, decrees the organic senatus 

 consultum, which confers the title 

 of emperor on the first consul, and 

 establishes the imperial dignity here- 

 ditary in his family. It instantly 

 decreed, that the members should 

 immediately rej)air to St. Cloud, to 

 present the organic senatus consul- 

 tum to the emperor. They set out 

 after the close of the sitting, accom- 

 panied by several bodies of troops. 

 — The senate, on its arrival, being 

 immediately admitted to an audience 

 of the emperor, the consul Camba- 

 ceres, the president, presented the 

 organic senatus consultum to the 

 first consul, and spoke as follows : 

 — Sire, — The decree which the se- 

 nate has passed, and which it takes 

 the earliest opportunity of present- 

 ing to your imperial majesty, is only 

 the authentic expression of a will 

 already manifested l)y the nation. 

 This decree, which confers on yoti 

 a now title, and which after )ou, 

 •ecurc* the dignity hereditary to 



3'our race, adds nothing either to 

 your glory or to your rights. The 

 love and gratitude of the French 

 people have, for four years, en- 

 trusted to your majcst)' the reins of 

 government, and the constitution of 

 the state reposed in you the choice 

 of a successor. The most august de- 

 nomination, decreed to you, is then 

 only a tribute which the nation pajs 

 to its own dignity, and to the ne- 

 cessity it experiences in giving you 

 daily testimonies of respect and of 

 attachment, Avhich every day in- 

 crease. — How could the French 

 people find bounds to its gratitude, 

 Avhen you place none to your care 

 and solicitude for it? Preserving 

 the remembrance of the evils which 

 it suffered when abandoned to itself, 

 how could it reflect without enthu- 

 siasm on the happiness it has expe- 

 rienced, since providence insj)ired 

 it with the idea of throwing itself 

 info your arms ? Its armies were 

 dcf*!ated ; its finances were in dis- 

 order ; public credit was annihi- 

 lated; factions were disputing for 

 the remains of our ancient splendor ; 

 every idea of morality, and even re- 

 ligion, was obscured ; the habit of 

 giving and resuming power, left the 

 magistrates without consideration, 

 and even rendered odious every kind 

 of authority. Your majesty ap- 

 peared ; you recalled victory to our 

 standards; you established order 

 and economy in the public cx- 

 j)cnces; the nation, enrouraged by 

 the use you made of your authority, 

 resumed confidence in its own re- 

 sources ; your wi.-:dom allayed the 

 rage of party ; religion saw her 

 altars raised up; ide;is of justice 

 and injustice were awakened in the 

 minds of the citizens, when they saAT 

 crimes followed by punishment, and 

 virtue signalized and rewarded with 

 U u ^ hoHourablo 



