"-Immediately after the arrival of the new representatives， the roll of the Legislative Corps having been checked off， it is found that "the Government has 70 out of 250 votes among the Ancients， and 200out of 500 among the Council of the Young，" and soon less than 200 in this Council，[51] 130 at the most， who will certainly be excluded at the coming renewal of the chambers in elections which are becoming more and more anti-Jacobin. One year more， as the rulers themselves admit， and not one Conventionalist， not one pure Jacobin， will sit in the Legislative Corps. Consequently， according to the revolutionaries， the counter-revolution will have taken place in the year VI.
This means that the Revolution is to end in the year VI.， and that the pacific reign of law will be substituted for the brutal reign of force. In fact， the great majority of the representatives and almost the entire French nation have no other end in view： they wish to rid themselves of the social and civil régime to which they have been subject since the 10th of August， 1792， and which， relaxed after Thermidor 9， but renewed by the 13th of Vendémiaire， has lasted up to the present time， through the enforcement of its most odious laws and the maintenance of its most disreputable agents. This is all. - Not twenty avowed or decided royalists could be found in the two Councils.[52] There are scarcely more than five or six - Imbert-Colomès， Pichegru， Willot， Delarne - who may be in correspondence with Louis XVIII. and disposed to raise the royal flag. For the other five hundred， the restoration of the legitimate King， or the establishment of any royalty whatever， is only in the background； they regard it only at a distance， as a possible accompaniment and remote consequence of their present undertaking. In any event， they would accept only "the mitigated monarchy，"[53] that which the Liberals of 1788 hoped for， that which Mounier demanded after the days of October 5 and 6， that advocated by Barnave after the return from Varennes， that which Malouet， Gouverneur Morris， Mallet-Dupan and all good observers and wise councillors of France， always recommended. None of them propose to proclaim divine right and return to aristocratic feudalism； each proposes to abrogate revolutionary right and destroy Jacobin feudalism. The principle condemned by them is that which sustains the theory of anarchy and despotism，* the application of the Contrat Social，[54]
* a dictatorship established by coups détat， carried on arbitrarily and supported by terror，* the systematic and dogmatic persistence of assaults on persons， property and consciences，* the usurpation of a vicious， fanatical minority which has devastated France for five years and， under the pretext of everywhere setting up the rights of man， purposely maintaining a war to propagate its system abroad.
That which they are really averse to is the Directory and its clique， Barras with his court of gorged contractors and kept women， Reubell with his family of extortioners， stamp of a parvenu and ways of a tavern keeper， La Révellière-Lepaux with his hunchback vanity， philosophic pretensions， sectarian intolerance and silly airs of a pedantic dupe. What they demand in the tribune，[55] is the purification of the administration， the suppression of jobbery， an end to persecution and， according as they are more or less excited or circumspect， they demand legal sentences or simply the removal of Jacobins in office， the immediate and entire suppression or partial and careful reform of the laws against priests and worship， against émigrés and the nobles.[56] -- Nobody has any idea of innovation with respect to the distribution of public powers， or to the way of appointing central or local authorities. " I swear on my honor，"writes Mathieu Dumas， "that it has always been my intention to maintain the Republican Constitution， persuaded as I am that， with a temperate and equitable administration， it might give repose to France， make liberty known and cherished， and repair in time the evils of the Revolution. I swear that no proposals， direct or indirect， have ever been made to me to serve， either by my actions， speech or silence， or cause to prevail in any near or remote manner， any other interest than that of the Republic and the Constitution." -- "Among the deputies，" says Camille Jordan， "several might prefer royalty； but they did not conspire， regarding the Constitution as a deposit entrusted to their honor . . They kept their most cherished plans subordinate to the national will； they comprehended that royalty could not be re-established without blows and through the development of this bill." -- " Between ourselves，" says again Barbé-Marbois， "there were disagreements as to the way of getting along with the Directory， but none at all as to the maintenance of the Constitution."[57]
Almost up to the last moment they confined themselves strictly to their legal rights， and when， towards the end， they were disposed to set these aside， it was simply to defend themselves against the uplifted saber above their heads.[58] It is incontestable that their leaders are "the most estimable and the ablest men in the Republic，"[59] the only representatives of free suffrage， mature opinions and long experience， the only ones at least in whose hands the Republic， restored to order and justice， would have any chance of becoming viable， in fact， the only liberals. And this is the reason why the merely nominal Republicans were bound to crush them.