hall and imposed silence upon all parties. Notwithstanding
this, Count Melzi was actually chosen President by the majority of
the Committee of Thirty; but he declined the honour, and suggested
in significant terms that, to enable him to render any service to
the country, the committee had better fix upon General Bonaparte as
their Chief Magistrate. This being done, Bonaparte immediately
appointed Count Melzi Vice-President."[193]

Bonaparte's determination to fill this important position is clearly
seen in his correspondence. On the 2nd and 4th of Pluviose (January
22nd and 24th), he writes from Lyons:

"All the principal affairs of the Consulta are settled. I count on
being back at Paris in the course of the decade."

"To-morrow I shall review the troops from Egypt. On the 6th [of
Pluviose] all the business of the Consulta will be finished, and I
shall probably set out on my journey on the 7th."

The next day, 5th Pluviose, sees the accomplishment of his desires:

"To-day I have reviewed the troops on the Place Bellecour; the sun
shone as it does in Floreal. The Consulta has named a committee of
thirty individuals, which has reported to it that, considering the
domestic and foreign affairs of the Cisalpine, it was indispensable
to let me discharge the first magistracy, until circumstances
permit and I judge it suitable to appoint a successor."

These extracts prove that the acts of the Consulta could be planned
beforehand no less precisely than the movements of the soldiery, and
that even so complex a matter as the voting of a constitution and the
choice of its chief had to fall in with the arrangements of this
methodizing genius. Certainly civilization had progressed since the
weary years when the French people groped through mists and waded in
blood in order to gain a perfect polity: that precious boon was now
conferred on a neighbouring people in so sure a way that the plans of
their benefactor could be infallibly fixed and his return to Paris
calculated to the hour.

The final address uttered by Bonaparte to the Italian notables is
remarkable for the short, sharp sentences, which recall the tones of
the parade ground. Passing recent events in rapid review, he said,
speaking in his mother tongue:

"...Every effort had been made to dismember you: the protection of
France won the day: you have been recognized at Lune