[34] Decree of March 1， 1808： "Are counts by right， all ministers， senators， councilors of state for life， presidents of the corps Legislatif， and archbishops. Are barons by right， all bishops. May become barons， after ten years of service， all first presidents and attorney generals， the mayors of the thirty-six principal towns. (In 1811， instead of 36， there are 52 principal towns.) May also become barons， the presidents and members of the department electoral colleges who have attended three sessions of these colleges."[35] Decree of Thermidor 4， year X.
[36] Law of Pluvi？se 28， year VIII.
[37] "Procés-verbaux des conseils généraux" of the years VIII and X.
(The second series drawn up after those propounded by the minister Chaptal， is much more complete and furnishes an historical document of the highest importance.)[38] " Statistiques des préfets (from the years IX to XIII， about 40volumes).
[39] Beugnot， "Mémoires，" I.， 363.
[40] Faber， ibid.， 127. - Cf. Charlotte de Sohr， "Napoleon en 1811"(details and anecdotes on Napoleon's journey through Belgium and Holland).
[41] Beugnot， I.， 380， 384. "He struck the good Germans dumb with admiration， unable to comprehend how it was that their interests had become so familiar to him and with what superiority he treated them."[42] Beugnot， ibid.， I.， 395. Everywhere， on the Emperor's passage (1811)， the impression experienced was a kind of shock as at the sight of a wonderful apparition.
[43] Thiers， " Histoire du Consulat et l'Empire，" XVI.， 246 (January， 1813). "A word to the prefect， who transmitted this to one of the municipal councilors of his town， was enough to insure an offer from some large town and have this imitated throughout the empire. Napoleon had an idea that he could get towns and cantons to offer him troops of horse， armed and equipped." - In fact， this offer was voted with shouts by the Paris municipal council and， through contagion， in the provinces. As to voting this freely it suffices to remark how the annexed towns voted， which， six months later， are to rebel. Their offers are not the least. For instance， Amsterdam offers 100 horsemen， Hamburg 100， Rotterdam 50， the Hague 40， Leyden 24， Utrecht 20， Dusseldorf 12. - The horsemen furnished are men enlisted for money；16，000 are obtained， and the sum voted suffices to purchase additionally 22，000 horses and 22，000 equipments. - To obtain this money， the prefect himself apportions the requisite sum among those in his department who pay the most taxes， at the rate of from 6oo to 1000francs per head. On these arbitrary requisitions and a great many others， either in money or in produce， and on the sentiments of the farmers and landed proprietors in the South， especially after 1813， cf. the " Mémoires de M. Villèle，" vol. I.， passim.
[44] Comte Joseph d'Estourmel， "Souvenirs de France et d'Italie， 240.
The general council of Rouen was the first to suggest the vote for guards of honor. Assembled spontaneously (meetings are always spontaneous)， its members pass an enthusiastic address. "The example was found to be excellent； the address was published in the Moniteur， and sent to all the prefects . . . . The councils were obliged to meet， which generously disposed of other people's children， and very worthy persons， myself first of all， thought that they might join in this shameful purpose， to such an extent had imperial fanaticism fascinated them and perverted consciences！"[45] Archives nationales (state of accounts of the prefects and reports of the general police commissioners， F7， 5014 and following records. - Reports of senators on their senatoreries， AF， IV.， 1051， and following records). - These papers disclose at different dates the state of minds and of things in the provinces. Of all these reports， that of Roederer on the senatorerie of Caen is the most instructive， and gives the most details on the three departments composing it.
(Printed in his "？uvres complètes，" vol. III.)[46] The reader will find in the Archives nationales， the fullest and most precise information concerning local administration and the sentiments of the different classes of society， in the correspondence of the prefects of the first Restoration， of the hundred days， and of the second Restoration from 1814 to 1823 (Cf. especially those of Haute-Garonne， the Rhine， C？te d'Or， Ain， Loiret， Indre-et-Loire， Indre， Loire-Inférieure and Aisne.) The letters of several prefects， M. de Chabroe， M. de Tocqueville， M. de Remusat， M. de Barante， are often worth publishing； occasionally， the minister of the interior has noted with a pencil in the margin， " To be shown to the King."[47] M. de Villèle， ibid.， I.， 248.
[48] Rocquam， "l'état de la France au 18 Brumaire，" reports of the councilors of state sent on missions， p.40.
[49] De Feville， "La France economique，" 248 and 249.
[50] Pelet de la Lozère， "Opinions de Napoléon au conseil d'Etat，" P.
277 (Session of March 15， 1806). - Decree of March 16， 1806， and of September 15， 1807.
[51] Ibid.， 276. "To those who objected that a tax could only be made according to law， Napoleon replied that it was not a tax， since there were no other taxes than those which the law established， and that this one (the extra assessment of a quarter of the produce of timber)was established by decree. It is only a master， and an absolute master， who could reason in this way."[52] Law of March 20， 1813. (Woods， meadows， and pasture-grounds used by the population in common are excepted， also buildings devoted to public use， promenades， and public gardens.) - The law takes rural possessions， houses and factories， rented and producing an income.
Thiers， XVI.， 279. The five percents at this time were worth 75francs， and 138 millions of these gave a revenue of 9 millions， about the annual income derived by the communes from their confiscated real estate.
[53] Aucoc， ibid.， §§ 55 and 135.