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rest on the banks of the Seine; amidst that French people I have so

dearly loved。〃



'135' 〃Correspondance de Napoleon I。;  XXII。; 119。  (Note by Napoleon;

April; 1811。) 〃There will always be at Hamburg; Bremen; and Lubeck

from 8000 to 10;000 Frenchmen; either as employees or as gendarmes; in

the custom…houses and warehouses。〃



'136' 〃Souvenirs〃; by PASQUIER (Etienne…Dennis; duc); Librarie Plon;

Paris 1893。…; II。; 88; and following pages: 〃During the year 1813;

from Jan。 1 to Oct。 7; 840;000 men had already been drafted from

imperial France and they had to be furnished。〃 … Other decrees in

December; placing at the disposition of the government 300;000

conscripts for the years 1806 to 1814 inclusive。 … Another decree in

November organizing 140;000 men of the national guard in cohorts;

intended for the defense of strongholds。 … In all; 1;300;000 men

summoned in one year。  〃Never has any nation been thus asked to let

itself be voluntarily led in a mass to the slaughterhouse。 … Ibid。;

II。; 59。  Senatus…consulte; and order of council for raising 10;000

young men; exempt or redeemed from conscription; as the prefects might

choose; arbitrarily; from amongst the highest classes in society。  The

purpose was plainly 〃 to secure hostages in every family of doubtful

loyalty。  No measure created for Napoleon more irreconcilable

enemies。〃

 … Cf。 De Ségur; II。; 34。  (He was charged with organizing and

commanding a division of young men。) Many were sons of Vendéans or of

Conventionalists; some torn from their wives the day after their

marriage; or from the bedside of a wife in her confinement; of a dying

father; or of a sick son; 〃some looked so feeble that they seemed

dying。〃 One half perished in the campaign of 1814。 … 〃

Correspondance;〃 letter to Clarke; Minister of War; Oct。23; 1813 (in

relation to the new levies): 〃I rely on 100;000 refractory

conscripts。〃



'137' 〃Archives nationales;〃 A F。;VI。; 1297。  (Documents 206 to 210。)

(Report to the Emperor by Count Dumas; April 10; 1810。) Besides the

170 millions of penalties 1;675;457 francs of penalty were inflicted

on 2335 individuals; 〃 abettors or accomplices。〃 …  Ibid。; A F。;VI。;

1051。  (Report of Gen。 Lacoste on the department of Haute…Loire; Oct。

13; 1808。)  〃He always calculated in this department on the desertion

of one…half of the conscripts。  In most of the cantons the gendarmes

traffic with the conscription shamefully; certain conscripts pension

them to show them favors。〃 … Ibid。; A F。;VI。; 1052。   (Report by

Pelet; Jan。 12; 1812。)  〃The operation of the conscription has

improved (in the Herault); the contingents of 1811 have been

furnished。  There remained 1800 refractory; or deserters of the

previous classes; 1600 have been arrested or made to surrender by the

flying column; 200 have still to be pursued。〃  Faber; …  〃Notice

(1807) sur l'intérieur de la France;〃 p。 141: 〃Desertion; especially

on the frontiers; is occasionally frightful; 80 deserters out of 160

have sometimes been arrested。〃 … Ibid。; p。149:  It has been stated in

the public journals that in 1801 the court in session at Lille had

condemned 135 refractory out of the annual conscription; and that

which holds its sittings at Ghent had condemned 70。  Now; 200

conscripts form the maximum of what an arrondissement in a department

could furnish。〃 …Ibid; p。145。  〃France resembles a vast house of

detention where everybody is suspicious of his neighbor; where each

avoids the other。 。  。 One often sees a young man with a gendarme at

his heels oftentimes; on looking closely; this young man's hands are

found tied; or he is handcuffed。〃 … Mathieu Dumas; III。; 507 (After

the battle of Dresden; in the Dresden hospitals): 〃I observed; with

sorrow; that many of these men were slightly wounded: most of them;

young conscripts just arrived in the army; had not been wounded by the

enemy's fire; but they had mutilated each other's feet and hands。

Antecedents of this kind; of equally bad augury; had already been

remarked in the campaign of 1809。〃



'138' De Ségur; III。; 474。 … Thiers; XIV。; 159。 (One month after

crossing the Niemen one hundred and fifty thousand men had dropped out

of the ranks。)



'139' Bulletin 29 (December 3; 1812)。



'140' De Pradt;  Histoire de l'Ambassade de Varsovie;〃 p。219。



'141' M。 de Metternich; I。; 147。 … Fain; 〃Manuscript;〃 of 1813; II。;

26。 (Napoleon's address to his generals。) 〃What we want is a complete

triumph。  To abandon this or that province is not the question; our

political superiority and our existence depend on it。 〃 … II。; 41; 42。

(Words of Napoleon to Metternich。) 〃And it is my father…in…law who

favors such a project! And he sends you! In what attitude does he wish

to place me before the French people? He is strangely deluded if he

thinks that a mutilated throne can offer an asylum to his daughter and

grandson。 。 。 。 Ah; Metternich; how much has England given you to make

you play this part against me?〃 (This last phrase; omitted in

Metternich's narrative; is a characteristic trait; Napoleon at this

decisive moment; remains insulting and aggressive; gratuitously and

even to his own destruction。)



'142' 〃Souvenirs du feu duc de Broglie;〃 I。; 235。



'143' Ibid。; I。; 230。 Some days before Napoleon had said to M。 de

Narbonne; who told me that very evening: 〃After all; what has this

(the Russian campaign) cost me?  300;000 men; among whom; again; were

a good many Germans。〃 … 〃Souvenirs〃; by PASQUIER (Etienne…Dennis; duc;

Librarie Plon;  Paris 1893。  II。 110。 (Apropos of the Frankfurt basis;

and accepted by Napoleon when too late。) 〃What characterizes this

mistake is that it was committed much more against the interests of

France than against his own。 。 。 。 He sacrificed her to the

perplexities of his personal situation; to the mauvaise honte of his

own ambition; to the difficulty he finds in standing alone to a

certain extent before a nation which had done everything for him and

which could justly reproach him with having sacrificed so much

treasure and spilled so much blood on enterprises proved to have been

foolish and impracticable。〃



'144' Leonce de Lavergne; 〃Economie rurale de la France;〃 P。40。

(According to the former director of the conscription under the

Empire。)









BOOK SECOND。 FORMATION AND CHARACTER OF THE NEW STATE。



CHAPTER I。



I。 The Institution of Government。



Conditions on which the public power can act。 … Two points forgotten

by the authors of the preceding constitutions。 … Difficulty of the

undertaking and poor quality of the available materials。



Every human society requires government; that is to say an authority。

No other machinery is more useful。 But a machinery is useful only if

it is adapted to its purpose; if not it will not work; or may even

work contrary to its purpose。 Hence; during its construction; one must

first of all consider the magnitude of the work it has to do as well

as the quality of the materials one has at one's disposal。 It is very

important to know beforehand whether it will lift 100 or of 100;000

kilograms; whether the pieces fitted together will be of iron or of

steel; of sound or of unsound timber。 … But the legislators had not

taken that into consideration during the last ten years。 They had set

themselves up as theoreticians; and likewise as optimists; without

looking at the things; or else imagining the them as they wished to

have them。 In the national assemblies; as well as with the public; the

task was deemed easy and simple; whereas it was extraordinary and

immense; for the matter in hand consisted in effecting a social

revolution and in carrying on an European war。 The materials were

supposed to be excellent; as manageable as they were substantial;

while; in fact; they were very poor; being both refractory and

brittle; for these human materials consisted of the Frenchmen of 1789

and of the following years; that is to say; of exceedingly se

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