and
endeavour to render him foreign to the nation, was guilty of an act of
weakness and indifference, that deeply grieved Napoleon. "I perceive
with sorrow," he said, "that the deputies are not disposed, to act in
union with me; and that they let no opportunity escape of seeking a
quarrel. Of what have they to complain? What have I done to them? I
have given them liberty with an unsparing hand; I have given them
perhaps too much; for kings in the present day have more need than
nations of guarantees. I will act with them as long as I can: but if
they think to make of me a King Log, or a second Louis XVI., they are
mistaken; I am not a man to receive the law from counsellors[31], or
to allow my head to be cut off by factionaries."

[Footnote 31: MM. Dupin and Roi, who appeared to him the
heads of the party of insurgents.]

The hostile disposition of the representatives would have given him no
uneasiness at any other time: the constitution conferred on him the
right of dissolving the chamber, and he would have availed himself of
it: but on the eve of a war, and in the critical situation in which he
was placed, he could not have recourse to such an expedient, without
endangering the fate of France. He resolved, therefore, to conceal his
vexation and ill humour, and permit what he could not prevent.

On the 7th of June he repaired to the legislative body, to open the
chambers; and, after having received the oaths of the peers and
deputies, delivered the following speech:

"Gentlemen of the chamber of peers, and gentlemen of the chamber of
representatives:

"Circumstances, and the confidence of the people, have invested me
these three months with unlimited power. To-day the most urgent desire
of my heart is accomplished: I come to commence the constitutional
monarchy.

"Men are too feeble, to ensure the future: institutions alone fix the
fate of nations. Monarchy is necessary in France, to guaranty the
liberty, the independence, and the rights of the people.

"Our constitution is made up of scattered parts: one of our most
important occupations will be, to unite them within one frame, and
arrange them in one simple design. This labour will transmit the fame
of the present period to future generations.

"I am ambitious of seeing France enjoy all the liberty possible: I say
possible, because anarchy always leads to an absolute government.

"A formidable coalition of kings aims at our inde