ntinuance of the Consular power for ten years, by
way of preparation for the Consulship for life, and the possession of the
Empire; and the creation, in a country which had abolished all
distinctions, of an order which was to engender prodigies, followed
closely on the heels of each other. The Bourbons, in reviving the
abolished orders, were wise enough to preserve along with them the Legion
of Honour.

It has already been seen how, in certain circumstances, the First Consul
always escaped from the consequences of his own precipitation, and got
rid of his blunders by throwing the blame on others--as, for example, in
the affair of the parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte. He
was indeed so precipitate that one might say, had he been a gardener, he
would have wished to see the fruits ripen before the blossoms had fallen
off. This inconsiderate haste nearly proved fatal to the creation of the
Legion of Honour, a project which ripened in his mind as soon as he
beheld the orders glittering at the button-holes of the Foreign
Ministers. He would frequently exclaim, "This is well! These are the
things for the people!"

I was, I must confess, a decided partisan of the foundation in France of
a new chivalric order, because I think, in every well-conducted State,
the chief of the Government ought to do all in his power to stimulate the
honour of the citizens, and to render them more sensible to honorary
distinctions than to pecuniary advantages. I tried, however, at the same
time to warn the First Consul of his precipitancy. He heard me not; but
I must with equal frankness confess that on this occasion I was soon
freed from all apprehension with respect to the consequences of the
difficulties he had to encounter in the Council and in the other
constituted orders of the State.

On the 4th of May 1801 he brought forward, for the first time
officially, in the Council of State the question of the establishment of
the Legion of Honour, which on the 19th May 1802 was proclaimed a law of
the State. The opposition to this measure was very great, and all the
power of the First Consul, the force of his arguments, and the immense
influence of his position, could procure him no more than 14 votes out of
24. The same feeling was displayed at the Tribunate; where the measure
only passed by a vote of 56 to 38. The balance was about the same in the
Legislative Body, where the votes were 166 to 110. It follows, then,
that out of the