those
who did not sign, were, as in the former instance, reckoned as
voting for; and the small number of individuals who thought proper
to write no, were dismissed from their employments. M. de Lafayette,
the constant friend of liberty, again exhibited an invariable
resistance; he had the greater merit, because already in this
country of bravery, they no longer knew how to estimate courage. It
is quite necessary to make this distinction, as we see the divinity
of fear reign in France over the most intrepid warriors. Bonaparte
would not even subject himself to the law of hereditary monarchy,
but reserved the power of adopting and choosing his successor in the
manner of the East. As he had then no children, he wished not to
give his own family the least right; and at the very moment of his
elevating them to ranks to which assuredly they had no pretensions,
he subjected them to his will by profoundly combined decrees, which
entwined the new thrones with chains.

The fourteenth of July was again celebrated this year, (1804)
because it was said the empire consecrated all the benefits of the
revolution. Bonaparte had said that storms had strengthened the
roots of government; he pretended that the throne would guarantee
liberty: he repeated in all manner of ways, that Europe would be
tranquillized by the re-establishment of monarchy in the government
of France. In fact, the whole of Europe, with the exception of
illustrious England, recognized his new dignity: he was styled my
brother, by the knights of the ancient royal brotherhood. We have
seen in what manner he has rewarded them for their fatal
condescension. If he had been sincerely desirous of peace, even old
King George himself, whose reign has been the most glorious in the
English annals, would have been obliged to recognize him as his
equal. But, a very few days after his coronation, Bonaparte
pronounced some words which disclosed all his purposes: "People
laugh at my new dynasty; in five years time it will be the oldest in
all Europe." And from that moment he has never ceased tending
towards this end.

A pretext was required, to be always advancing, and this pretext was
the liberty of the seas. It is quite incredible how easy it is to
make the most intelligent people on earth swallow any nonsense for
gospel. It is still one of those contrasts which would be altogether
inexplicable, if unhappy France had not been stripped of religion
and morality by a fatal concur