World's Best Histories — Volume 7: France

by François Guizot; Madame de Witt

The public works had not been neglected in this whirlwind of affairs which circled round Napoleon. He had ordered vast contracts in road and canal- making; in the intervals of leisure which he devoted to France and the home government, he conceived the idea of monuments destined to immortalize his glory and to fix in the spirit of the people the remembrance of the past, on which the new master of France, set much value. He repaired the basilica of St. Denis, built sepulchral chapels, and instituted a chapter composed of former bishops. He finished the Pantheon, restored to public worship under the old name of Sainte- Geneviève, ordered the construction of the arcs de triomphe (triumphal arches) of the Carrousel and l'Etoile, and the erection of the column in the Place Vendôme. He also decreed two new bridges over the Seine, those of Austerlitz and Jena. The termination of the Louvre, the construction of the Bourse, the erection of a temple consecrated to the memory of the exploits of the great army and which became the church of the Madeleine, were also decreed. In the great range of his thoughts, which constantly advanced before his epoch and the resources at his disposal, Napoleon prepared an enormous task for the governments succeeding him. All have laboriously contributed to the completion of the works which he had conceived.

At the same time that he constructed monuments and reorganized the public administration, Napoleon desired to found new social conditions. He had created kings and princes; he had raised around him his family and the companions of his glory, to unheard-of fortune; he wished to consolidate this aristocracy, which owed all its splendor to him, by extending it. He had magnificently endowed the great functionaries of the Empire; he wished to re-establish below and around them a hierarchy of subalterns, honored by public offices and henceforth, for this reason, to have themselves and families distinguished by hereditary titles. In the speech from the throne, by which he opened the session of the legislative body in 1807, Napoleon showed his intentions on this subject. "The nation," said he, "has experienced the most happy results from the establishment of the Legion of Honor. I have created several imperial titles, to give new splendor to my principal subjects, to honor striking services by striking recompenses, and also to prevent the return of any feudal titles incompatible with our Constitution."

Thus it was that, by a child of the Revolution, still possessed by most of its doctrines, a nobility was to be created in France. The country was not deceived. The emperor could make dukes, marquises, counts, barons; he could not constitute an aristocracy, that slow product of ages in the history of nations. The new nobles remained functionaries when they were not soldiers, illustrious by themselves as well as by the incomparable lustre of the glory of their chief.

The emperor gained battles, concluded treaties, raised or overthrew thrones; he founded a new nobility, and decreed the erection of magnificent monuments by the simple effort of his all-powerful will; he imagined that his imperial action had no limit, and thought himself able to command the master-pieces of genius as well as the movements of his armies. He was not, and had never been, indifferent to the great beauties of intellect, and his taste was shocked when he was extolled at the opera in bad verses.

In his opinion, mind had its place in the social state, and should be everywhere regulated as a class of that institute which he had reconstituted and completed. He had already laid the foundations of a great university corporation, which he was soon to establish, and which has since, in spite of some defects, rendered such important services to the national education and instruction. In the session of 1806, a project of law, drawn up by M. Fourcroy, Director of Public Instruction, had made the fundamental principles known. By the side of the clerical body, to whom Napoleon would not confide the public education, he had imagined the idea of a lay corporation, which should not be subject to permanent vows, while at the same time imbued with that esprit de corps which he had come to look on as one of the great moral forces of society. Under the name of the Imperial University, a new body of teachers was to be entrusted with the public education throughout the empire; the members of this body of teachers were to undertake civil, special, and temporary obligations. The professional education of the men destined to this career, their examinations, their incorporation in the university, the government of this body, confided to a superior council, composed of men illustrious by their talents; all this vast and fertile scheme, due in a great measure to the aid of Fontanes, was afterwards to be developed in the midst of the storms which already commenced to gather around France. Napoleon had long conceived the project, but deferred the details to another time, waiting until he had created the nursery which should furnish France with learned men, whose duty was to educate the rising generation. The all-powerful conqueror, in the midst of his Polish campaign, and in his winter-quarters of Finkestein, prepared a minute on the establishment of Écouen, which had been recently founded for the education of poor girls belonging to members of the Legion of Honor. I wish to quote this document, which, though blunt and insolent, shows much good sense, in order to show how this infinitely active and powerful mind pursued at once different enterprises and thoughts, stamping on all his works the seal of his character and his personal will.

"This establishment must be handsome in all that relates to building, and simple in all that relates to education. Beware of following the example of the old establishment of St. Cyr, where they spent considerable sums and brought up the young ladies badly. The employment and distribution of time are objects which principally demand your attention. What shall be taught to the young ladies who are to be educated at Écouen? We must begin by religion in all its strictness. Do not admit on this point any modification. Religion is an important matter in a public institution for young ladies. It is, whatever may be said to the contrary, the surest guarantee for mothers and for husbands. Let us bring up believers, and not reasoners. The weakness of woman's brain, the uncertainty of their ideas, their destiny in society, the necessity of constant and perpetual resignation, and a sort of indulgent and easy charity; all this cannot be obtained, except by religion, by a religion charitable and mild. I attached but small importance to the religious institutions of the military school of Fontainebleau, and I have ordained only what is absolutely necessary for the lyceums. It is quite the reverse for the institution of Écouen. Nearly all the science taught there ought to be that of the Gospel. I desire that there may proceed from it not very charming women, but virtuous women; that their accomplishments may be those of manners and heart, not of wit and amusement.

"There must, therefore, be at Écouen a director, an intelligent man, of middle age and good morals. The pupils must each day say regular prayers, hear mass, and receive lessons on the catechism. This part of their education must be most carefully attended to.

"The pupils must then also be taught arithmetic, writing, and the principles of their mother tongue, so that they know orthography. They must be taught a little geography and history, but be careful not to teach them Latin or any foreign tongue. To the eldest may be taught a little botany, or a slight course of physics or natural history, and even that may have a bad effect. They must be limited in physics to what is necessary to prevent gross ignorance or stupid superstition, and must keep to facts, without reasonings which tend directly or indirectly to first causes.

"It will afterwards be considered if it would be useful to give to those who attain to a certain class a sum for their clothing. They might by that get accustomed to economy, to calculate the value of things, and to keep their own accounts. But, in general, they must all be occupied during three fourths of the day in manual work; they ought to know how to make stockings, chemises, embroidery—in fact, all kinds of women's work. These young girls ought to be considered as if they belonged to families who have in the provinces from fifteen to eighteen thousand francs a year, and be treated accordingly. You will therefore understand that hand-work in the household should not be indifferent to them.

"I do not know if it is possible to teach them some little of medicine and pharmacy, at least of that kind of medicine which is within the reach of a nurse. It would be well also if they knew a little part of the kitchen occupied by medicinal herbs. I wish that a young girl, quitting Écouen to take her place at the head of a small household, should know how to cut out her dresses, mend her husband's clothes, make her baby-linen, and procure little comforts for her family by the means usually employed in a provincial household; nurse her husband and children when ill, and know on these points, because it has been early inculcated on her, all that nurses have learnt by habit. All this is so simple and trivial as scarcely to require reflection. As to dress, it ought to be uniform and of common material, but well made. I think that on that head the present female costume leaves nothing to be desired. The arms, however, must of course be covered, and other modifications adopted which modesty and the conditions of health require.