第1004章

- Under the Republic， noble birth consigned， or confined， the ablest and best qualified men for their posts to a voluntary obscurity， only too glad when their names did not condemn them to exile， imprisonment or to the guillotine. Under the Empire， M. de Talleyrand is prince of Benevento， minister of foreign affairs and vice-grand-elector with a salary of five hundred thousand francs. We see personages of old nobility figuring in the first ranks： among the clergy M. de Roquelaure， M. de Boisgelin， M. de Broglie， M. Ferdinand de Rohan； in the magistracy， M. Séguier， M. Pasquier， M. Molé； on the domestic and decorative staff of the palace， Comte de Ségur， grand-master of ceremonies， Comte de Montesquiou-Fézensac， grand-chamberlain， also as chamberlains， Comtes d'Aubusson de la Feuillade， de Brigode， de Croy， de Coutades， de Louvois， de Brancas， de Gontaut， de Grammont， de Beauvau， de Lur-Saluces， d'Haussonville， de Noailles， de Chabot， de Turenne，[9] and other bearers of historic names. - During the Revolution， at each new parliamentarian， popular or military coup d'état the notabilities of the vanquished party were always excluded from office and generally outlawed. After the coup d'état of Brumaire， not only are the vanquished of the old parties all brought back under the protection of the law， but， again， their notables are promoted to the highest offices. Among the monarchists of the Constituent Assembly Mabuet is made councilor of State， and Maury archbishop of Paris；forty-seven other ecclesiastics who， like himself， refused to take the oath to the civil constitution of the clergy， are appointed， like him， to episcopal thrones. Among the Feuillants of the Legislative Assembly， Vaublanc is made prefect， Beugnot a councilor of State and minister of the finances in the grand-duchy of Berg， Matthieu Dumas a brigadier-general and director of reviews， Narbonne becomes the aid-de-camp and the intimate interlocutor of Napoleon， and then ambassador to Vienna； if Lafayette had been willing， not to ask for but to accept the post， he would have been made a marshal of France. - Among the few Girondists or Federalists who did not perish after the 2nd June， Riouffe is prefect and baron， Lanjuinais is senator and count； among others proscribed， or half proscribed， the new Régime restores to and places at the head of affairs the superior and special employees whom the Reign of Terror had driven away， or singled out for slaughter， particularly the heads of the financial and diplomatic services who， denounced by Robespierre on the 8th Thermidor， or arrested on the morning of the 9th already felt their necks under the blade of the guillotine； Reinhart and Otto are ambassadors， Mollien is count and treasury minister， Miot becomes councilor of state， Comte de Melito minister of finances at Naples， while Gaudin is made minister of finances in France and Duc de Ga？te. Among the transported or fugitives of Fructidor， Barthélemy becomes senator， Barbé-Marbois director of the Treasury and first president of the Cour des Comptes；Siméon， councilor of State and then minister of justice in Westphalia；Portalis is made minister of worship， and Fontanes grand-master of the University. The First Consul passes the sponge over all political antecedents： not only does he summon to his side the moderates and half-moderates of the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies， of the Convention and of the Directory， but again he seeks recruits among pure royalists and pure Jacobins， among the men the most devoted to the ancient Régime and amongst those most compromised by the Revolution， at both extremities of the most extreme opinions. We have just seen， on the one side， what hereditary favorites of a venerable royalty， what born supporters of the deposed dynasty， are elevated by him to the first of his magisterial， clerical and court dignities. On the other hand， apart from Chasset， Roederer and Grégoire， apart from Fourcroy， Bérlier and Réal， apart from Treilhard and Boulay de La Meurthe， he employs others branded or noted for terrible acts， Barère himself， at least for a certain period， and in the sole office he was fitted for， that of a denunciator， gazetteer and stimulator of public opinion； everybody has a place according to his faculties， and each has rank according to his usefulness and merit. Barère， consequently， becomes a paid spy and pamphleteer； Drouet， the postmaster， who arrested the royal family at Varennes， becomes sub-prefect at Sainte-Menehould； Jean-Bon Saint-André， one of the Committee of Public Safety， is made prefect at Mayence； Merlin de Douai， reporter of the law against suspects， is prosecuting attorney in the court of cassation； Fouché， whose name tells all， becomes minister of state and Duke of Otranto； nearly all of the survivors of the Convention are made judges of première instancc or of appeal， revenue-collectors， deputies， prefects， foreign consuls， police commissioners， inspectors of reviews， head-clerks in the post-offices， custom-houses and tax-offices， while， in 1808， among these functionaries， one hundred and thirty were regicides.[10]

II. Ambitions during the Ancient Regime.

The need of success. - Initiation and conditions of promotion under the old monarchy. - Effect on minds. - Ambitions are limited. - The external outlets open to them. -To make one's way， get ahead， and succeed in the world is now the dominant thought in the minds of men. Before 1789， this thought had not acquired sovereign control in their minds； it found that there were rival ideas to contend with， and it had only half-developed itself； its roots had not sunk down deep enough to monopolize the activity of the imagination， to absorb the will and possess the mind entirely； and the reason is that it lacked both air and victuals.