Memoirs of Napoleon, vol 6 | Page 5

and provisions."
Ignorant of the motives of so strange a perversion, I showed this letter
to the First Consul. He shrugged up his shoulders and said, laughing,
"Take no notice of him, he is a fool; give yourself no further trouble
about it."
It was clear there was nothing more to be done. It was, however, in
despite of me that M. Doublet was played this ill turn. I represented to
the First Consul the inconveniences which M. Doublet might
experience from this affair. But I very rarely saw letters or reports
published as they were received. I can easily understand how particular
motives might be alleged in order to justify such falsifications; for,
when the path of candour and good faith is departed from, any pretest is
put forward to excuse bad conduct. What sort of a history would he
write who should consult only the pages of the 'Moniteur'?
After the vote for adding a second ten years to the duration of
Bonaparte's Consulship he created, on the 19th of May, the order of the
Legion of Honour. This institution was soon followed by that of the
new nobility. Thus, in a short space of time, the Concordat to
tranquillize consciences and re-establish harmony in the Church; the
decree to recall the emigrants; the continuance 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 lie 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 394 voters in those three separate bodies a
majority only of 78 was obtained. Surprised at so feeble a majority, the
First Consul said in the evening, "Ah! I see very clearly the prejudices
are still too strong. You were right; I should have waited. It was not a
thing of such urgency. But then, it must be owned, the speakers for the
measure defended it badly. The strong minority has not judged me
fairly."-- "Be calm," rejoined I: "without doubt it would have been
better to wait; but the thing is done, and you will soon find that the taste
for these distinctions is not near gone by. It is a taste which belongs to
the nature of man. You may expect some extraordinary circumstances
from this creation--you will soon see them."
In April 1802 the First Consul left no stone unturned to get himself
declared Consul for