authority to cause the catholic religion to be freely professed,-publicly exercised in France; and who has shewn his mind so anxious for increasing the prosperity of that religion. We have also formed great hope, tu: t. having undertaken this journey by his invitation, when we shall speak to him face to face, such things may be effected by his wisdom for the good of the catholic church, which is the only ark of salvation, that we may be able to congratulate our selves on having perfected the work of our most holy religion. It is not so much on our weak eloquence that we build that hope, as on the grace of him whose unworthy vicegerent we are upon earth, whose grace, when invoked by holy rites, is pour ed largely into the hearts of princes, who are rightly disposed for receiving the good effects of a sacred ceremony, especially when they are the fathers of their people, solicitous about their eternal salvation, and determined to live and die true sons of the catholic church.--For these causes, venerable brethren, follow ing the example of some of our predecessors, who have, for a certain time, left their own abode to visit distant regions, to promote the interests of religion, and to gratify those princes who have deserved well of the church, we undertake the present journey, although the distance, the unfavourable season of the year, our advanced age, and the infirm state of our health, would have otherwise completely deterred us from such a voyage. But we esteem these considerations as nothing, if God will but grant us the prayers of our heart. Nor have those things which should be before our eyes, at all escaped our mind before we formed our serious reso

Intion; b

687

fuse ha

mo

but

sidered evelave seen and consideration g; in which conand our condifficulties arose, them doubtfulwas on some of such answers uncertain: but and such declareen returned, der of the empe made by or been persuaded of hat we have journey for the gility of our which is an object. f religion, cessary to detail in 't is unnerangue, these causes whom I have already coou, to them, and whose opinidicated we undertook a step of before ment) we not only consul to whom, as it was right, w the greatest weight.-Not te over, however, that which is all things necessary in important liberations, well knowing that ( cording to the saying of Divis Wisdom) the resolutions of mortal are weak and timid, and their foresight doubtful, even of those men who excel most in morals and in piety, and whose speeches rise like incense to the presence of God; we have therefore taken care to put up the most earnest prayers to the Father of all light, that, directed by him, we may do that only which is pleasing in his eyes, and which may end in the prosperity and increase of his church.-God is our witness, before whom we have in all humility poured forth our heart, to whom we have often raised our hands in his holy temple, beseeching him to listen to our prayer and help us, that we have proposed to ourselves nothing else than what ought always' to be our object; his glory, the interests of the Catholic religion, the salvation of souls, and the discharge of those apostolic functions which have been entrusted

to

the most striking manner. All the armies have seen themselves at once separated from their generals, all the military corps from their chiefs; the superior tribunals, deprived of their first magistrates; the public ministry, of its first organs; the churches of their principal pastors; the towns, the countries, simultaneously quitted by every one who has power and influence over men's minds; the people every where abandoned to their genius; and the people have every where shown themselves desirous of order and of the laws. At the same moment the sovereign pontiff travelled through France. From the banks of the Po to the borders of the Seine, he has every where been the object of a religious homage rendered him by that immense majority, who, faithful to the ancient doctrine, see a common father and the centre of the common belief in him whom all Europe reveres as a sovereign, raised to the throne by his piety and his virtues. A plot laid by an implacable government, was going to replunge France into the abyss of civil wars and of anarchy. At the discovery of that horrible plot, all France was moved; inquietudes, ill laid asleep, were again awakened, and in every mind was at once found anew, principles which have been those of all wise men, and which were constantly ours before error and weakness had alienated men's minds, and guilty intrigues had misled their opinions. The nation had experienced that power divided, was without accord and without strength; it had been made sensible that intrusted for a time, it was only precarious, and permitted neither long labours nor long thoughts; that intrusted for the life of a single man, VOL. XLVI.

it grew weak with him, and left after him only chances of discord and of anarchy; it was convinced in fine that there was safety, for great nations, only in hereditary power; that it alone secured their political life, and embraced in its duration, generations and ages.-The senate was, as it should be, the organ of the common inquietude. Soon burst forth that wish to see the power hereditary which dwelt in all hearts truly French; it was proclaimed by the electoral colleges, by the armies, the council of state, magistrates, the most enlightened men were consulted, and their answer was unanimous.—— The necessity of hereditary power in a state so vast as France, had been long since perceived by the first consul. In vain had he resisted the force of principles, in vain had he tried to establish a system of election which might perpetuate public authority, and transmit it without danger and without troubles.-Public inquietudes, the hopes of our enemies, accused his work. His death was to be the ruin of his labours. It was till this term that foreign jealousy, and the spirit of discord and anarchy waited for us. Reason, sentiment, experience dictated equally to all Frenchmen that there was no certain transmission of power but that which was effected without interval, that there was no tranquil succession but that which was regulated by the laws of nature.

When such motives supported such pressing wishes, the determination of the first consul could not be doubtful. He resolved then to accept for himself and for two of his brothers after him, the load which was in.posed on him by the necessity of circumstances. From his medi tations ripened by conferences with Y y

tire

the members of the senate, by discussions in the councils, by the observations of the wisest men, was formed a series of dispositions which fixes the inheritance of the imperial throne;--which assigns to the princes their rights and their duties;which promises to the heir of the empire an education regulated by the laws, and such that he will be worthy of his high destinies ;which designates those who, in case of minority, will be called to the regency, and marks the limits of their power;--which places between the throne and the citizens, dignities and offices accessible to all, encouragements and recompences of the public virtues-which give to men honoured with great distinctions, or invested with great authority, judges sufficiently great to bend neither before their authority, nor before their distinctions ;which gives to crimes against the public safety and the interest of the empire, judges essentially attached to the safety of the empire and to its interests;-which places more lustre and more weight in the functions of the legislator, more developement and more extent in the public discussion of the laws;--which recals the tribunals and their judgments to those ancient denominations which had obtained the respect of ages;-which guarantees in fine the rights of the prince and of the people, by oaths, the eternal guardians of all interest.These dispositions were decreed by the senatus consultum of the 28th of Florcal last: the French people have manifested their free and independent will; they have expressed their wish that the imperial dignity should be hereditary in the direct, Jegitimate, and adoptive descendants

1

of Napoleon Buonaparte, in the direct and legitimate descendants of Joseph Buonaparte, in the direct and legitimate descendants of Louis Buonaparte.-At that moment, Napoleon was, by the most just of titles, emperor of the French; no other act was necessary to ascertain his rights and consecrate his authority.-But he wished to restore to France her ancient forms, to recal among us those institutions which the Divinity seems to have inspired, and to impress upon the beginning of his reign the seal of religion itself. To give to the French a striking proof of his paternal tenderness, the chief of the church has been willing to lend his ministry to this august ceremony.-What a deep and lasting impression it has left in the mind of the emperor and in the remembrance of the nation! What conversations for future races! and what a subject of admiration for Europe. Napoleon prostrate at the foot of the altars which he has just raised; the sovereign pontiff imploring upon France and upon him the celestial benedictions, and in his wishes for the felicity of one nation, embracing the felicity of all nations! -Pastors and priests, lately divided, uniting with his supplications their gratitude and their voice!-The senators, the legislators, the tribunes, magistrates, warriors, the admini. strators of the people and those who preside over their assemblies, confounding together their opinions, their hopes and their wishes; sorereigns, princes, ambassadors, struck with the grand spectacle of France again seated upon her ancient foundations; and, by her repose, securing the repose of their country

In the midst of this pomp, and under the look of the Eternal, Na

poleon

poleon pronouncing the immutable oath which secures the integrity of the empire, the stability of property, the perpetuity of institutions, the respect for the laws and the happiness of the nation.-The oath of Napoleon will be for ever the terror of the enemies and the buckler of the French. If our frontiers are attacked, it will be repeated at the head of our armies, and our frontiers will no longer dread a foreign invaston.-It will be present to the memory of the delegates of authority, it will remind them of the end of their labours and the rule of their duties; and though it may not guarantee their administration from some errors, it will insure the prompt reparation of them.

-A project of a criminal code, finished for these two years past, has been submitted to the censure of the tribunals, and is now undergoing a final discussion in the council of state. The code of procedure and the code of commerce are still in the same state the labours of last year left them in. More urgent cares have called on the emperor, and it is one of his maxims to propose to the deliberations of the legislators, those projects of laws alone which have been ripened by long and wise discussions. The schools of legislation are about to open; inspectors are nominated who will enlighten public teaching, and prevent its degenerating into vain and sterile proofs; the lyceums, the secondary schools, are filling with youth eager for instruction.-Fontainbleau has already sent forth military men, who are remarked in our armies for their soldierly appearance, their knowledge, and their respect for discipline.-The polytechnic school peoples, with useful

hands, our arsenals, our ports and our workshops.At Compiegne, the school of arts and trades obtains every day new successes. That which is to be formed upon the borders of la Vendée, is expected there with impatience, and will shortly be in complete activity.--Prizes have been decreed to sciences, to letters and to arts, and in a period of ten years, assigned to labours that his majesty wishes to recompence, he has a right to expect that French genius will bring forth new master-pieces.

In the department of bridges and highways, the works begun have been carried on with constancy, others are in contemplation, and every year prepares for the following years, new schemes for the prospe rity of the state. But the intemperance of the seasons had deceived the foresight and the zeal of administration; rains and torrents have injured the roads more rapidly than we have been able to repair them, some labours have been destroyed, others have been for a moment suspended, great calamities have afflicted some departments, particu larly that of the Rhine and Moselle. A judicious prefect, interpreter of the intentions of the emperor, has presented the first succour to those unhappy men who have been the victims of it. His majesty has reanimated their courage by his presence, and has consoled them by his benefits.--The scourge of contagion has afflicted some neighbouring countries, the vigilance of administration has preserved our territory from it; it is rapidly diminishing in those places where it exercised its ravages. In maintaining the measures which are still dictated by prudence and regard for the public health, the introduction of

Yy 2

the

1