The municipal councilors are not charged with lack of probity: but they are derived from too law a class and have too little regard for themselves to obtain consideration from the public...

The commune of Toulouse is very impatient at being governed by weak, ignorant men, formerly mixed in with the crowd, and whom, probably, it is urgent to send back to it....

It is remarkable that, in a city of such importance, which provides so large a number of worthy citizens of our sort of capacity and education, only men are selected for public duties who, with respect to instruction, attainments, and breeding, offer no guarantee whatever to the government and no inducement to win public consideration."] [Footnote 4129: "Correspondance de Napoleon," No.4474, note dictated to Lucien, minister of the interior, year VIII.] [Footnote 4130: Cf.

"Proces-verbaux des conseil generaux" of the year VIII, and especially of the year IX.

"Many of the cross roads have entirely disappeared at the hands of the neighboring owners of the land.
The paved roads are so much booty." (for example, Vosges, p.429, year IX.) "The roads of the department are in such a bad state that the landowners alongside carry off the stones to build their houses and wall in their inheritance.