hostile to the right of
election which belonged to the Senate. Against such conscious
sophistry all the bolts of logic were harmless. The question was left
undecided, in order that the Senate might forthwith declare in favour
of its own right to determine every year not only the elections to,
but the exclusions from, the Tribunate and the _Corps Legislatif_. A
_senatus consultant_ of March legalized this monstrous innovation,
which led to the exclusion from the Tribunate of zealous republicans
like Benjamin Constant, Isnard, Ganilh, Daunou, and Chenier. The
infusion of the senatorial nominees served to complete the nullity of
these bodies; and the Tribunate, the lineal descendant of the terrible
Convention, was gagged and bound within eight years of the stilling of
Danton's mighty voice.

In days when civic zeal was the strength of the French Republic, the
mere suggestion of such a violation of liberty would have cost the
speaker his life. But since the rise of Bonaparte, civic sentiments
had yielded place to the military spirit and to boundless pride in the
nation's glory. Whenever republican feelings were outraged, there were
sufficient distractions to dissipate any of the sombre broodings which
Bonaparte so heartily disliked; and an event of international
importance now came to still the voice of political criticism.

The signature of the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain
(March 25th, 1802) sufficed to drown the muttered discontent of the
old republican party under the paeans of a nation's joy. The
jubilation was natural. While Londoners were grumbling at the
sacrifices which Addington's timidity had entailed, all France rang
with praises of the diplomatic skill which could rescue several
islands from England's grip and yet assure French supremacy on the
Continent. The event seemed to call for some sign of the nation's
thankfulness to the restorer of peace and prosperity. The hint having
been given by the tactful Cambaceres to some of the members of the
Tribunate, this now docile body expressed a wish that there should be
a striking token of the national gratitude; and a motion to that
effect was made by the Senate to the _Corps Legislatif_ and to the
Government itself.

The form which the national memorial should take was left entirely
vague. Under ordinary circumstances the outcome would have been a
column or a statue: to a Napoleon it was monarchy.

The Senate was in much doubt as to the fit cours