The Reorganisation of the Conseil d'Etat in 1852: The Study of a French Elite*

Vincent Wright

doi:10.1017/S0020859000003576

The Reorganisation of the Conseil d'Etat in 1852

The Study of a French Elite*

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2008

Vincent Wright

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The Conseil d'Etat of the Second Republic was dissolved on 2nd December 1851. A letter of protest, signed by eighteen of the forty Conseillers, was sent to Boulay de la Meurthe, Vice-President of the Republic. The Conseil was distrusted by Louis Napoleon; although initially well-disposed towards him after his election, it had generally sided with the Legislative Assembly in its clashes with him. Less than a month before the coup d'état, the Conseil clearly demonstrated where its sympathies lay; in November 1851, a large majority backed the Assembly and not the President over the project of law on “la responsibilité des dépositaries de l'autorité publique” (the “Loi des Questeurs”).

Type: Research Article
Information: International Review of Social History , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , August 1969 , pp. 180 - 214

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859000003576 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1969

References

^{page 180 note 1} The protest, together with an accompanying letter, is now in the Bibliothèque of the Conseil d'Etat. It was published in Etudes et Documents du Conseil d'Etat, Paris 1948, p. 27.Google Scholar

^{page 180 note 2} Boulay, J.de la Meurthe, Notice sur Henri Georges Boulay de la Meurthe, Paris 1873, p. 64.Google Scholar

^{page 181 note 1} For the purpose of this article I have excluded these three men and included their replacements. I have examined the events of January to May 1852 concerning the Conseil d'Etat and the confiscation of the Orleans family goods in an article which is to appear in the 1969 Etudes et Documents du Conseil d'Etat.

^{page 181 note 2} Letter Marchand, A. M. L. – Prince President, 26 12 1851,Google Scholar Bib. Conseil d'Etat.

^{page 182 note 1} One malevolent observer of the time could write that the only reason the members of the Consultative Commission met was to “se surveiller et à se dénoncer mutuellement à l'Elysée. Cela est tout simple. Ils veulent tous être sénateurs ou conseillers d'Etat et ils travaillent à diminuer la concurrence.” Letter Duvergier de Hauranne –Thiers, 29 p. 1851,Google Scholar quoted in Maurain, J., Baroche, Ministre de Napoléon III, Paris 1936, p. 112.Google Scholar

^{page 182 note 2} Quatrelles-L'Epine, , Le Maréchal de Saint-Arnaud, Paris 1929, Vol. II, p. 170.Google Scholar On the other appointments: Letters Herman and Allard – Morny, 4 and 21 January 1852, Archives Nationales (AN), Morny papers 116 AP 1, and extensive correspondence in the Fortoul papers AN, 246 AP 16, and in AN, BB30 728 and BB30 736.

^{page 183 note 1} Quentin-Bauchart, , Etudes sur la Seconde République et le Second Empire, Paris 1901, lère partie, p. 455,Google Scholar and Veuillot, L., Correspondance, Paris 1931, pp. 328–329,Google Scholar and Veuillot, E., Vie de Louis Veuillot, Paris 1899, Vol. II, p. 484.Google Scholar

^{page 184 note 1} There are a number of very good studies of Baroche, ; amongst the better ones are those of Pierre de la Gorce, Histoire du Second Empire, Paris 1905, Vol. II, pp. 18–19,Google Scholar and Oscar de Vallee, M. Baroche, Paris 1875. The best work is, of course, that of J. Maurain, op. cit.

^{page 184 note 2} The six sections were: Guerre et Marine; Travaux Publics; Agriculture et Commerce; Législation, Justice et Affaires étrangères; Intéieur; Instruction Publique et Cultes; Finances.

^{page 185 note 1} For this article I have quite simply adopted the twenty-one modern regions.

^{page 186 note 1} A word of caution: in the great majority of cases, I have adopted the profession of the father at the time of the reorganisation of the Conseil – or as close as possible to that date. In a small number of cases, however, I have been obliged to take the father's professions from the members' birth certificates. Several fathers held a number of posts during their careers; I have included the one he spent most time in; this is the case, for example, of those government officials who spent only short spells in the Conseil d'Etat. All fathers owned some property, but in the category “landowners” I have included only those with no other occupation. The profession of Boilay's father has not been included as no indication was given in the biographies of the time. His birth certificate, one of the very few not reconstituted by the Archives de la Seine (it was finally traced to his dossier in the Chancellerie de la Legion d'Honneur), reads “fils de Sophie Boilay et de père absent”.

^{page 187 note 1} Baroche, Madame Jules, Notes et Souvenirs, Paris 1921, p. 1.Google Scholar

^{page 187 note 2} Durieux, J., Le Ministre Pierre Magne 1806–1879, Paris 1929, Vol. I, p. 16.Google Scholar

^{page 187 note 3} Mémoires du Baron Haussmann, Paris 1891, Vol. II, p. 39.

^{page 189 note 1} Letter Prefect Eure-et-Loire – Minister of Justice, 21 June 1838, AN, BB30 740.

^{page 190 note 1} I am most grateful to Monsieur Roland de Margerie (member of the present Conseil d'Etat) and his wife who kindly provided me with this information.

^{page 190 note 2} Based essentially on four sources: 1) their dossiers, 2) the electoral lists of the Seine in the Archives de la Seine VD4 4163 and DM 259 and of a number of other departments for which details are given in the departmental almanachs Bibliothèque Nationale (BN), série Lc30 and 1x31, 3) AN, Fib I 230 1–21 for those who belonged to a Conseil Général, 4) AN, BB30 736–742 for those who belonged to the Conseil d'Etat of the July Monarchy. On the value of these private incomes, the relationship between the property tax and the amount of private annual income, and a discussion of the private incomes of other groups: Tudesq, A. J., Les Conseillers Généraux en France au temps de Guizot, Paris 1967, pp. 111–159 and p. 272;Google ScholarGirard, L. et al. , Les Conseillers Généraux en 1870, Paris 1967, pp. 22–26 and pp. 54–84;Google ScholarZeldin, Th., The Political System of Napoleon III, London 1958, pp. 61–65Google Scholar (for the private incomes of the deputies of 1852); Tudesq, A. J., Les Grands Notables en France 1840–1849, Paris 1964, Vol. I, pp. 384–385Google Scholar (for a comParison with members of the Conseil d'Etat of 1840); my article “Les préfets d'Emile Ollivier”, in: Revue Historique, juillet-septembre 1968, Vol. CCXL, pp. 123–125Google Scholar (for the private incomes of another elite of the Empire).

^{page 191 note 1} Of the thirty nine men for whom details were found:

^{page 192 note 1} For details of the men mentioned in this paragraph, cf. their dossiers which are listed in Appendix II.

^{page 192 note 2} Nine Lycée Henri IV; six Lycée Louis-le-Grand; four Lycée Charlemagne; four Lycée Saint-Louis; eight “études classiques à Paris” (there is some slight overlapping as three men went to two of the above schools).

For details of secondary educations: their dossiers and

a) Archives de la Seine, Collège Sainte-Barbe:

104 Association amicale des élèves 1852–1889;

105 Association amicale etc Annuaires 1790–1837;

106–108 Association amicale etc Correspondance, lettres de faire-part.

b) Associations des anciens élèves de:

Louis-le-Grand BN, 8° Jo 4411;

Saint-Louis BN, 8° R 55(1053);

Henri IV BN, 8° Jo 379.

c) On the Collège Sainte-Barbe:

J. Quicherat, Paris 1862, 3 vols, BN, R 47853;

E. Nouvel, Paris 1948, BN, 4° R 6283.

d) On Lycée Henri IV:

M. Chaumeix, Paris 1936, BN, 8° 42655(3);

Centenaire 1804–1904, Paris 1904, BN, 8° R 20306.

e) On Lycée Louis-le-Grand:

M. Donnay, Paris 1939, 8° R 42655(4);

Etudes, Souvenirs et Documents, Paris 1963, BN, 8° R 65757;

G. Dupont-Ferrier, Paris 1921, 3 vols, BN, 8° R 35677.

f) On Lycée Charlemagne:

Centenaire 1804–1904, Paris 1905, BN, Rés m R 71.

For details of higher education: there is much more information in the dossiers and biographical studies on university education. Note also:

Ecole Polytechnique, Livre du Centenaire, Paris 1895–1897, 3 vols, BN, Lf 210 33;

Ecole Normale, Le Centenaire 1795–1895, Paris 1895, BN, 4° R 1192 and

Notice Historique: Listes des élèves par promotion, Paris 1884, BN, 8° R 5808;

Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Association des anciens élèves: Revue de la cinquantaine, Paris 1899, BN, 8° R Pièce 13595.

^{page 194 note 1} Letter Chassériau – Minister of Navy, 17 November 1826, dossier Chassériau.

^{page 194 note 2} There were three vacancies amongst the auditeurs at the time.

^{page 194 note 3} They were the Conseillers Hé1y d'Oissel, Paravey and Pérignon and the auditeurs Batbie, Meurinne, Montesquiou-Fezensac and Martin (du Nord).

^{page 197 note 1} Letters Cornudet to his father, 26 January and 12 February 1852, quoted in Leon Cornudet d'après sa correspondance et d'autres documents inédits, pp. 83–84, an unpublished manuscript kindly made available by Monsieur Le Seigneur, whose wife is the great granddaughter of Cornudet.

^{page 197 note 2} “Aux orléanistes la personne importe moins que le régime et la dénomination du régime moins que les institutions … alors que la fidélité au souverain constitue une définition valable et presque suffisante du légitimisme, l'attachement à la branche des Orléans ne caractérise pas l'orléanisme et en épuise moins encore le programme; il y a bien autre chose dans cette nouvelle force politique que les Orléans.” Rémond, R., La Droite en France, Paris 1954, p. 78.Google Scholar

^{page 198 note 1} Others to lose their posts in 1848 included Chevalier (professeur d'Economie Politique at the Collège de France), Giraud (vice-recteur de l'Académie de Paris), Cuvier (chef de la division des cultes non-catholiques), Boilay (Inspecteur Général des prisons) and Allard (Directeur des fortifications à Paris).

^{page 199 note 1} Nowhere is this better described than in A. J. Tudesq, Les Grands Notables etc., op cit., pp. 1233–1235.

^{page 199 note 2} Letter Proc. Gén. Nîmes – Minister of Justice 4 March 1848, dossier Sibert-Cornillon.

^{page 200 note 1} Profils critiques et biographies des sénateurs, conseillers d'Etat et députés par un vieil écrivain, Paris 1852, p. 119.Google Scholar

^{page 200 note 2} A. J. Tudesq, Les Grands Notables etc., op. cit., p. 1152. Other appointments in February and March 1848 included those of Carlier (chef de police municipale de Paris) and Petitet (sous-directeur de la comptabilité at the Ministry of War).

^{page 200 note 3} Supra, p. 182.

^{page 200 note 4} Pierre de la Gorce, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 20, and dossier Chassaigne-Goyon.

^{page 200 note 5} Dansette, A., Louis Napoléon à la conquête du pouvoir, Paris 1961, p. 352.Google Scholar

^{page 201 note 1} Trannoy, A., “Notes et Lettres de Montalembert”, in: Revue Historique, Vol. 196, 1946, pp. 428–429,Google Scholar and Cornudet, unpublished manuscript, op. cit., p. 83.

^{page 201 note 2} Rouher papers, AN, 45 AP 4, and Morny papers, AN, 116 AP 1.

^{page 201 note 3} Letter Dabeaux – Minister of State, 31 January 1852, AN, F70 636: “Le deux décembre, alors que plusieurs de mes collègues plus heureux que moi protestaient contre les actes de cette mémorable journée … j'étais sur la brèche à la préfecture de police, où je prêtais le concours le plus dévoue à mon ami M. de Maupas.”

^{page 201 note 4} R. Rémond, op. cit., p. 93: “L'orléanisme fera, le cas échéant, bon marché de la dénomination du régime; il ne transigera jamais sur les libertés parlementaires … l'attachement au parlementarisme est si vif qu'il est devenu pour l'orléanisme une manière d'être, un comportement.”

^{page 201 note 5} Pinard, P. E., Mon Journal, Paris 1892, Vol. II, pp. 83–84.Google Scholar

^{page 202 note 1} J. Maurain, op. cit., p. 159.

^{page 202 note 2} Edouard de Goncourt et Cléard, Henri, Note in Correspondance inédite, Paris 1965, p. 121.Google Scholar

^{page 202 note 3} Particularly useful in tracing the Protestants of the Conseil were the Almanach-annuaire protestant, administratif, statistique et historique pour 1855, BN, Lc25 241 and Almanach protestant 1848–1870, BN, Lc25 240.

^{page 203 note 1} On the freemasons: documents pour servir à l'histoire de la franc-maçonnerie au XIXe siècle, Paris 1866,Google Scholar BN, 8° H 2665; Aimiable, L. et Colfauru, J. C., Grand Orient de France, Paris 1889,Google Scholar BN, 8° H 2552; Wentz, , Opuscules Maçonniques, Paris 1864,Google Scholar BN, 8° H 2543 (particularly useful); Marbeau, E., “Le Grand Orient de France devant le Conseil d'Etat: Avril 1863”, in: Revue des Deux-Mondes, 15 03 1901, pp. 364 and 369.Google Scholar

^{page 203 note 2} Most of these issues are discussed in Maurain, J., La Politique Ecclésiastique du Second Empire, Paris 1930,Google Scholar and Debidour, A., Histoire des rapports de l'Eglise et de l'Etat en France de 1789 à 1870, Paris 1911.Google Scholar

^{page 205 note 1} On this case, cf. dossier in AN, F19 6092; J. Maurain, op. cit., pp. 489, 499–501, 515–520; A. Debidour, op. cit. pp. 569–570; Baunard, M., Histoire du cardinal Pie, Paris 1893, Vol. II, pp. 111–136;Google ScholarVauthier, G., Mgr. Pie, évêque de Poitiers, et le gouvernement de Napoléon III, Révolution de 1848, 1923, pp. 288–302.Google Scholar

^{page 206 note 1} For details of the Corps 1égislatif, Pierre de la Gorse, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 26.

^{page 206 note 2} For a discussion of salaries and expenses, Girard et al., op. cit., p. 57.

^{page 207 note 1} Pierre de la Gorce, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 20.

^{page 207 note 2} Quatrelles-L'Epine, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 195.

^{page 207 note 3} On the attitude of the Conseil d'Etat to the Loi de Sûreté Générale, of. Quentin-Bauchart, op. cit., Vol II, pp. 204–205; Nassau Senior, Conversations with Thiers, M., Guizot, M. and other distinguished persons during the Second Empire, London 1878, Vol. II, pp. 162, and 188;Google Scholar Projet de loi sur les mesures de Sûreté Générate 1858, Bibliothèque Thiers, Papiers Baroche Ms. 1112; Un ancien membre du d'Etat, Conseil, Le Conseil d'Etat sous le Second Empire et la Troisième République, Paris 1880, p. 12;Google Scholar Projet de loi sur les mesures de Sûreté Générate, AN, C 1058 dossier 173.

^{page 208 note 1} Beslay, F., Notice sur Léon Cornudet, Paris 1876, p. 7.Google Scholar

^{page 208 note 2} M., J. and Chapman, Brian, The Life and Times of Baron Haussmann, London 1957, pp. 144–149,Google Scholar and J. Maurain, Baroche, op. cit., p. 506.

^{page 208 note 3} Article in the 1969 Etudes et Documents du Conseil d'Etat, op. cit.

^{page 208 note 4} Pouthas, Charles, Histoire Politique du Second Empire, Paris 1956, p. 65.Google Scholar

^{page 209 note 1} On the position of Baroche, cf. for example, J. Maurain, op. cit., pp. 133–134; Discours de Persigny, Sénat, 14 February 1866, and Maupas, M. de, Mémoires sur le Second Empire, Paris 1884, Vol. II, p. 95.Google Scholar

^{page 209 note 2} For examples of this bullying, Blanchard, Marcel, “Le Journal de Michel Chevalier”, in: Revue Historique, Vol. 171, pp. 120–121,Google Scholar and Reverchon, E., Les décrets du 22 Janvier 1852, Paris 1872, p. 58.Google Scholar

^{page 209 note 3} Journal du maréchal de Castellane, Paris 1897, Vol. V, p. 73.Google Scholar

^{page 209 note 4} Darimon, A., Les irréconciliables sous l'Empire 1867–1869, Paris 1888, p. 391.Google Scholar

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