[511] Out of 3,012,569 votes, 1562 rejected the new constitution; 3,011,007 accepted it.—See Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 117.
[512] "Cambacérès was of an honourable family in Languedoc; he was fifty years old; he had been a member of the Convention, and had conducted himself with moderation: he was generally esteemed, and had a just claim to the reputation which he enjoyed of being one of the ablest lawyers of the republic."—Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 153.
[513] "Lebrun was sixty years of age, and came from Normandy. He was one of the best writers in France, a man of inflexible integrity; and he approved of the changes of the Revolution only in consideration of the advantages which resulted from them to the mass of the people, for his own family were all of the class of peasantry."—Ibid., p. 153.
[514] Consid. sur la Rév. Française, tom. ii., p. 255.
[515] Thibaudeau, tom. i., p. 115; Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 115.
[516] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 116.
[517] "When Cambacérès afterwards vacated the office, Buonaparte appointed M. d'Abrial, who died in 1828, a peer of France. On remitting the folio to the new minister, the First Consul addressed him thus: 'M. d'Abrial, I know you not, but am informed you are the most upright man in the magistracy; it is on that account I name you minister of justice.'"—Bourrienne, tom. ii., p. 118.
[518] "Laplace, a geometrician of the first rank, soon proved himself below mediocrity as a minister. On his very first essay, the consuls found that they had been mistaken; not a question did Laplace seize in its true point of view: he sought for subtleties in every thing; had none but problematical ideas, and carried the doctrine of infinite littleness into the business of administration."—Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 116.
[519] "Forfait, a native of Normandy, had the reputation of being a naval architect of first-rate talent, but he was a mere projector, and did not answer the expectations formed of him."—Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 115.
[520] Moniteur, 31st Dec. 1799.