Beugnot， who presented it， clearly explains its aims and object ： the Government "must assemble the moral forces of the country and unite them with each other to combat with and overthrow the common enemy，"the anti-social party， "which， victorious， would have no mercy on anybody，" neither on the University nor on the Church. Consequently， the University abandons its monopoly： the State is no longer the sole purveyor of public instruction； private schools and associations may teach as they please. The government will no longer inspect their "education，" but only "morality， hygiene， and salubrity；"[31] - they are out of its jurisdiction and exempt from its taxes. Therefore， the government establishments and free establishments will no longer be dangerous adversaries， but "useful co-operators；" they will owe and give to each other "good advice and good examples；" it will maintain for both "an equal interest；" henceforth， its University "will be merely an institution supported by it to quicken competition and make this bear good fruit，" and， to this end， it comes to an understanding with its principal competitor， the Church.
But in this coalition of the two powers it is the Church which has the best of it， takes the upper hand and points out the way. For， not only does she profit by the liberty decreed， and profit by it almost alone， founding in twenty years afterwards nearly one hundred ecclesiastical colleges and putting the Ignorantin brethren everywhere in the primary schools； but， again， by virtue of the law，[32] she places four bishops or archbishops in the superior council of the University； by virtue of the law， she puts into each departmental academic council the bishop of the diocese and a priest selected by him； moreover， through her credit with the central government she enjoys all the administrative favors. In short， from above and close at hand， she leads， keeps in check， and governs the lay University and， from 1849 to 1859， the priestly domination and interference， the bickering， the repressions， the dismissals，[33] the cases of disgrace， are a revival of the system which， from 1821 to 1828， had already been severe. As under the Restoration， the Church had joined hands with the State to administrate the school-machine in concert with it； but， under the Restoration， she reserves to herself the upper hand， and it is she who works the machine rather than the State. In sum， under the name， the show， and the theoretical proclamation of liberty for all， the University monopoly is reorganized， if not by law， at least in fact， and in favor of the Church.
Towards 1859， and after the war in Italy， regarding the Pope and the temporal power， the hands which were joined now let go and then separate； there is a dissolution of partnership； their interests cease to agree. Two words are coined， both predestined to great fortune， on the one side the "secular" interest and on the other side the "clerical" interest； henceforth， the government no longer subordinates the former to the latter and， under the ministry of M. Duruy， the direction of the University becomes frankly secular. Consequently， the entire educational system， in gross and in its principal features， is to resemble， until 1876， that of the of July.[34] For sixteen years， the two great teaching powers， the spiritual and the temporal， unable to do better， are to support each other but act apart， each on its own ground and each in its own way； only the Church no longer acts through the toleration and gracious permission of the University， but through the legal abolition of the monopoly and by virtue of a written law. The whole composes a passable régime， less oppressive than those that preceded it； in any event， the two millions of devout Catholics who consider unbelief as a terrible evil， the fathers and mothers who subordinate instruction to education，[35] and desire above all things to preserve the faith of their children up to adult age， now find in the ecclesiastical establishments well-run hothouses and protected against draughts of modernity. One urgent need of the first order，[36] legitimate， deeply felt by many men and especially by women， has received satisfaction； parents who do not experience this want， place their children in the lycées； in 1865， in the smaller seminaries and other ecclesiastical schools there are 54，000 pupils and in the State colleges and 1ycées 64，000，[37] which two bodies balance each other.