more than all her old prestige and stability under the new
institutions which form the most enduring tribute to the First
Consul's glory.

* * * * *




CHAPTER XII

THE NEW INSTITUTIONS OF FRANCE


"We have done with the romance of the Revolution: we must now commence
its history. We must have eyes only for what is real and practicable
in the application of principles, and not for the speculative and
hypothetical." Such were the memorable words of Bonaparte to his
Council of State at one of its early meetings. They strike the keynote
of the era of the Consulate. It was a period of intensely practical
activity that absorbed all the energies of France and caused the
earlier events of the Revolution to fade away into a seemingly remote
past. The failures of the civilian rulers and the military triumphs of
Bonaparte had exerted a curious influence on the French character,
which was in a mood of expectant receptivity. In 1800 everything was
in the transitional state that favours the efforts of a master
builder; and one was now at hand whose constructive ability in civil
affairs equalled his transcendent genius for war.

I propose here briefly to review the most important works of