I. Primary Instruction.
Primary instruction. - Additional and special restrictions on the teacher. - Ecclesiastical supervision. - Napoleon's motives. -Limitation of primary instruction. - Ignorantin monks preferred. - The imperial catechism.
SUCH is secondary education， his most personal， most elaborate， most complete work； the other two stories of the educational system， under and over， built in a more summary fashion， are adapted to the middle story and form， the three together， a regular monument， of which the architect has skillfully balanced the proportions， distributed the rooms， calculated the service and designed the facade and scenic effect.
"Napoleon，" says a contemporary adversary，[1] "familiar with power only in its most absolute form， military despotism， tried to partition France in two categories， one composed of the masses， destined to fill the ranks of his vast army， and disposed， through the brutishness which he was willing to maintain； to passive obedience and fanatical devotion； the other， more refined by reason of its wealth， was to lead the former according to the views of the chief who equally dominated both， for which purpose it was to be formed in schools where， trained for a servile and， so to say， mechanical submission， it would acquire relative knowledge， especially in the art of war and with regard to a wholly material administration； after this， vanity and self-interest were to attach it to his person and identify it， in some way with his system of government."Lighten this gloomy picture one degree and it is true.[2] As to primary instruction， there was no State appropriation， no credit inscribed on the budget， no aid in money， save 25，000 francs， allotted in 1812， to the novices of the Frères Ignorantins and of which they received but 4，500 francs；[3] the sole mark of favor accorded to the small schools is an exemption from the dues of the University.[4] His councillors， with their habits of fiscal logic， proposed to exact this tax here as elsewhere； a shrewd politician， he thinks that its collection would prove odious and he is bound not to let his popularity suffer among villagers and common people； it is 200，000francs a year which he abstains from taking from them； but here his liberalities in behalf of primary instruction stop. Let parents and the communes take this burden on themselves， pay its expenses， seek out and hire the teacher， and provide for a necessity which is local and almost domestic. The government， which invites them to do this， will simply furnish the plan， that is to say， a set of rules， prescriptions and restrictions.
At first， there is the authorization of the prefect， guardian of the commune， who， having invited the commune to found a school， has himself， through a circular， given instructions to this end， and who now interferes in the contract between the municipal council and the teacher， to approve of or to rectify its clauses - the name of the employee， duration of his engagement， hours and seasons for his classes， subjects to be taught， the sum total and conditions of his pay in money or in kind； the school grant must be paid by the commune， the school tax by the pupils， the petty fees which help pay the teacher's living expenses and which he gets from accessory offices such as mayor's clerk， clock-winder， sexton， bell-ringer and chorister in the church[5] - At the same time， and in addition， there is the authorization of the rector； for the small as well as the average or larger schools are included in the University；[6] the new master becomes a member of the teaching body， binds himself and belongs to it by oath， takes upon himself its obligations and submissions， comes under the special jurisdiction of the university authorities， and is inspected， directed and controlled by them in his class and outside of his class. - The last supervision， still more searching and active， which close by， incessantly and on the spot， hovers over all small schools by order and spontaneously， is the ecclesiastical supervision.
A circular of the Grand-Master， M. de Fontanes，[7] requests the bishops to instruct "messieurs les curés of their diocese to send in detailed notes on their parish schoolmasters；" "when these notes are returned，" he says， "please address them to me with your remarks on them； according to these indications I will approve of the instructor who merits your suffrage and he will receive the diploma authorizing him to continue in his functions. Whoever fails to present these guarantees will not receive a diploma and I shall take care to replace him with another man whom you may judge to be the most capable."[8]
If Napoleon thus places his small schools under ecclesiastical oversight， it is not merely to conciliate the clergy by giving it the lead of the majority of souls， all the uncultivated souls， but because， for his own interests， he does not want the mass of the people to think and reason too much for themselves.