to fill up their own number, and to nominate the members of the tribunate and legislative senate.  VIII.  The acts of legislation shall be proposed by the consuls:  the tribunate shall discuss and propound them to the legislative senate, but not vote:  the legislative senate shall hear the tribunate, and vote, but not debate themselves; and the act thus discussed and voted, shall become law on being promulgated by the chief consul.  IX.  Buonaparte is nominated chief consul, Cambaceres (minister of justice) second, and Lebrun third consul.

It would be rash to say that this could never have turned out in practice a free constitution.  Circumstances might have modified its arrangements, and given the spirit of freedom to institutions not ex-facie favourable to it.  But for the present it was universally admitted that, under these new forms, the power of the state must be virtually lodged in Buonaparte.  He, in fact, named himself chief consul.  His creatures chose the conservative senate, and the conservative senate were to choose the members of the other two assemblies.  The machinery, thus set in motion, could hardly fail to remain under his control; and, looking at things more largely, the contrivances of making the electoral bodies in the departments choose, not their actual representatives, but only the persons from among whom these were to be chosen by the conservative senate, and of preventing the legislative senate from debating for themselves on the measures destined to pass into law, appear to have been devised for the purpose of reducing to a mere nullity the forms of a representative government.[32] However, the consuls announced their manufacture to the people in these terms:—­“Citizens, the Constitution is grounded on the true principles of a representative government, on the sacred rights of property, of equality, and of liberty.  The powers which it institutes will be vigorous and permanent:  such they should be to secure the rights of the citizens and the interests of the state.  Citizens! the Revolution is fixed on the principles from which it originated:  IT IS ENDED.”  And in effect, books being opened throughout France, the names of the citizens who inscribed their acceptance of this new constitution amounted to four millions, while but a few votes to the contrary were registered—­an irrefragable proof that the national mind was disposed to think no sacrifice too dear, so tranquillity could be obtained.

The circumstance, perhaps, which occasioned most surprise on the promulgation of the new constitution, was the non-appearance of the name of Sieyes in the list of permanent consuls.  It is probable that the Abbe made up his mind to retire, so soon as he found that Buonaparte was capable not only of mutilating his ideal republican scheme, but of fulfiling in his own person all the functions of a civil ruler of France.  Howbeit the ingenious metaphysician did not disdain to accept of a large estate (part of the royal domain of Versailles!) and a large pension besides, by way of “public recompense”—­when he withdrew to a situation of comparative obscurity, as President of the Conservative Senate.