rantee they
require." From the subsequent passages of the message it will be
sufficient to extract the following: "We have been constantly guided by
this great truth: that the sovereignty dwells with the French people, and
that it is for their interest, happiness, and glory that the Supreme
Magistracy, the Senate, the Council of State, the Legislative Body, the
Electoral Colleges, and the different branches of the Government, are and
must be instituted." The omission of the Tribunate in this enumeration
is somewhat remarkable. It announced a promise which was speedily
realised.

The will of Bonaparte being thus expressed in his message to the--Senate,
that body, which was created to preserve the institutions consecrated by
the Constitution of the year VIII., had no alternative but to submit to
the intentions manifested by the First Consul. The reply to the message
was, therefore, merely a counterpart of the message itself. It
positively declared that hereditary government was essential to the
happiness, the glory, and the prosperity of France, and that that
government could be confided only to Bonaparte and his family. While the
Senate so complaisantly played its part in this well-get-up piece, yet,
the better to impose on the credulity of the multitude, its reply, like
Bonaparte's message, resounded with the words liberty and equality.
Indeed, it was impudently asserted in that reply that Bonaparte's
accession to hereditary power would be a certain guarantee for the
liberty of the press, a liberty which Bonaparte held in the greatest
horror, and without which all other liberty is but a vain illusion.

By this reply of the Senate the most important step was performed. There
now remained merely ceremonies to regulate and formulas to fill up.
These various arrangements occasioned a delay of a fortnight. On the
18th of May the First Consul was greeted for the first time by the
appellation of Sire by his former colleague, Cambaceres, who at the head
of the Senate went to present to Bonaparte the organic 'Senatus-consulte'
containing the foundation of the Empire. Napoleon was at St. Cloud,
whither the Senate proceeded in state. After the speech of Cambaceres,
in which the old designation of Majesty was for the first time revived,
the EMPEROR replied:--

All that can contribute to the welfare of the country is essentially
connected with my happiness. I accept the title which you believe
to be conducive to the glor