strife within the Convention, and the critical
condition of affairs generally, the constitution of 1793, although
duly ratified by the people, was never put in operation. On the basis
of a decree of December 4, 1793, the Convention maintained through
upwards of two years a revolutionary provisional government, and when,
finally, in October, 1795, the body passed out of existence, it left
behind it in the Constitution of the Year III. an instrument of
government essentially different from the proposed instrument of 1793.
The Constitution of the Year III. was framed under a hurried order of
the Convention by a committee of eleven. The Convention adopted the
committee's plan with but few modifications, and when the project was
submitted to a popular vote it was approved by the overwhelming
majority of 1,057,390 to 49,997. September 23, 1795, the new frame of
government was solemnly promulgated.

The instrument of 1795, like that of 1791, was introduced by a
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, in which were
stated succinctly the fundamental principles of the Revolution.
Legislative power was henceforth to be vested in two chambers
conjointly--a Council of Five Hundred and a Council of Elders--the
members of which should be chosen by the same electors, but under
differing conditions of eligibility. The term of members of both
chambers was fixed at three years, and one-third of the membership was
renewable annually. The franchise was broader than under the (p. 293)
constitution of 1791, being extended now to all citizens over
twenty-one years of age who were able to read and write and who
followed a trade or were liable to direct taxation; but the earlier
system of indirect election by means of electoral colleges was
retained. Upon the lower chamber alone was conferred the right of
initiating legislation. The Elders, whose number was fixed at 250,
might approve or reject, but were not permitted to amend, any measure
submitted to them. Executive power was vested in a Directory
consisting of five members chosen for a term of five years, one member
retiring annually. Directors were selected by the Council of Elders
from a double quota of nominees offered by the Council of Five
Hundred. Aside from its creation of a plural, republican executive,
the most notable feature of the constitution was its provision for the
establishment of a bicameral legislative system, until now generally
opposed by French reform