In a _plebiscite_, or mass vote of the people, held in the early days of 1800, it was accepted by an overwhelming majority, viz., by 3,011,007 as against only 1,562 negatives.

No fact so forcibly proves the failure of absolute democracy in France; and, whatever may be said of the methods of securing this national acclaim, it was, and must ever remain, the soundest of Bonaparte's titles to power.

To a pedant who once inquired about his genealogy he significantly replied: "It dates from Brumaire." Shortly before the _plebiscite_, Sieyes and Ducos resigned their temporary commissions as Consuls: they were rewarded with seats in the Senate; and Sieyes, in consideration of his constitutional work, received the estate of Crosne from the nation.
"Sieyes a Bonaparte a fait present du trone, Sous un pompeux debris croyant l'ensevelir.
Bonaparte a Sieyes a fait present de Crosne Pour le payer et l'avilir." The sting in the tail of Lebrun's epigram struck home.

Sieyes' acceptance of Crosne was, in fact, his acceptance of notice to quit public affairs, in which he had always moved with philosophic disdain.
He lived on to the year 1836 in dignified ease, surveying with Olympian calm the storms of French and Continental politics.
The two new Consuls were Cambaceres and Lebrun.

The former was known as a learned jurist and a tactful man.