So， that after Vendémiaire 13， it looks as if the Jacobin band had made the conquest of France a second time. This， however not yet so， for， if it has recovered its authority， it has not yet recovered the dictatorship. - In vain do Barras and Tallien， Dubois-Crancé， Merlin de Douai and Marie Chénier， Delmas， Louvet， Siéyès and their corrupt gang， the habitués of power， the despotic， unscrupulous theorists， try to postpone indefinitely the opening of the legislative bodies， to annul the elections， to purge the Convention， to restore for their own advantage that total concentration of powers which， under the title of revolutionary government， has converted France into a pachalic[38] in the hands of the old Committee of Public Safety.[39] But the Convention has become frightened for its own safety； at the last moment the plot is exposed， and the blow frustrated.[40] The Constitution， decreed， is put in operation， and a system of the law has replaced the system of arbitrariness. The Jacobin invasion， through that alone， is checked and then arrested. The nation is in a condition to defend itself and does defend itself. It gradually regains lost ground， even at the center. - At Paris， the electoral body，[41] which is obliged to take two-thirds of its deputies from the Convention， takes none of the regicide deputation representing Paris.
All who are chosen， Lanjuinais， Larivière， Fermon， Saladin， Boissy d'Anglas， wished to save the King， and nearly all were proscribed after the 31st May. The departments show the same spirit. The members of the Convention for whom the provinces show a decided preference are the most prominent of the anti-Jacobins： Thibaudeau is re-elected by 32 electoral colleges， Pelet de la Lozére by 71， Boissy d'Anglas by 72， Lanjuinais by 73. As to the 250 of the new third， these are liberals of 1789 or moderates of 1791，[42] most of them honorable men and many of them well-informed and of real merit， jurisconsults， officers， administrators， members of the Constitutional Assembly or Feuillants in the Legislative Assembly， Mathieu Dumas， Vaublanc， Dupont de Nemours， Siméon， Barbé-Marbois and Tron？on-Ducoudray. The capital， especially， chose Dambray， former general-advocate to the Paris parliament， and Pastoret， former minister of Louis XVI.. Versailles sends the two celebrated lawyers who defended the King before the Convention， Tronchet and De Séze. - Now， previous to the 13th Vendémiaire， two hundred members of the Convention had already heartily sided with the Parisian electors[43] against the terrorists. This creates a strong opposition minority inside the Legislative Corps which function protected by the Constitution.
Hidden behind it and behind them， the élite and the plurality of Frenchmen wait for better days. The Directory is obliged to act cautiously with this large group， so well supported by public opinion， and， accordingly， not to govern à la Turk. So they respect， if not the spirit， at least the letter of the law， and not to exercise a too barefaced influence on local elections. Hence most of the local elections remain free， so that the nation，* in spite of the decree excluding every relation of an émigré and every notorious opponent of the government from present and future offices，* in spite of fear， lassitude and disgust，* in spite of the small number of votes， the rarity of candidates and the frequent refusal of the elected to serve，[44]
substantially exercises its privilege of electing its administrators and judges according to its preferences. Consequently， the very large majority of new administrators in the departments， cantons and municipalities， and the very large majority of new civil and criminal judges and justices of the peace are， like the new third of the Convention， highly esteemed or estimable men. They are untainted with excesses， still preserving their hopes of 1789， but preserved from the outset against， or soon cured of， the revolutionary fever. Every decree of spoliation or persecution loses some of its force in their hands. Supported by the steady and manifest will of their present constituents， we see them resisting the commissioners of the Directory， at least protesting against their exactions and brutality， gaining time in favor of the proscribed， dulling the point of， or turning aside， the Jacobin sword.
Again， on the other hand， the government which holds this sword dare not， like the Committee of Public Safety， thrust it in up to the hilt.