he proces verbal declaring his orders; he alone
commanded, "he alone had the say, he alone appointed to all offices," so
that they were already subjects as he alone was already the sovereign.

VI. Irreconcilable divisions.

Difficulty of organizing a legislative power.--Fraudulent
and violent elections for ten years.--Spirit and diffusion
of hatred against the men and dogmas of the Revolution.
--Probable composition of a freely elected Assembly.--Its two
irreconcilable divisions.--Sentiments of the army.
--Proximity and probable meaning of a new coup d'Etat.

It remained to frame a legislative power as a counterpoise to this
executive power, so concentrated and so strong.--In organized and
tolerably sound communities this point is reached through an elective
parliament which represents the public will; it represents this because
it is a copy, a faithful reduction of that will on a small scale; it
is so organized as to present a loyal and proportionate expression of
diverse controlling opinions. In this case, the electoral selection has
worked well; one superior right, that of election, has been respected,
or, in other words, the passions excited have not proved too strong,
which is owing to the most important interests not having proved too
divergent.--Unfortunately, in France, rent asunder and discordant, all
the most important interests were in sharp antagonism; the passions
brought into play, consequently, were furious; no right was respected,
and least of all that of election; hence the electoral test worked
badly, and no elected parliament was or could be a veritable expression
of the public will. Since 1791, the elections, violated and deserted,
had brought intruders only to the legislative benches, under the name of
mandatories. These were endured for lack of better; but nobody had any
confidence in them, and nobody showed them any deference. People knew
how they had been elected and how little their title was worth. Through
inertness, fear, or disgust, the great majority of electors had not
voted, while the voters at the polls fought among themselves, the
strongest or least scrupulous expelling or constraining the rest. During
the last three years of the Directory the electoral assembly was often
divided; each faction elected its own deputy and protested against
the election of the other. The government then chose between the two
candidates elected, arbitrarily and always wi