[75] Today， in year 2000， the socialist revolutionaries have， through the Human Rights activities broken the chain between the generations， forbidden the parents， the teachers and the supervisors to correct and discipline their children and apprentices. The French educational system， perfectly equal， still survives and is probably the best in existence since it insists on teaching the students even if a lot of the curriculum is a dead loss. The final product is still a useful citizen and functionary， something which make France tick. (SR.)[76] Bréal， "Quelques mots，" etc.，， p. 336. (He quotes M. Cournot， a former rector， inspector-general， etc.：) "The Faculties know that they would be subject to warnings on the part of the authorities as well as to comparisons and regrettable desertions on the part of the pupils if the proportion between candidates and admissions did not vary between 45 and 50%. .. When the proportion of postponements reaches between 50and 555 the examiners admit with groans， considering the hard times， candidates of which they would reject at least one half their hands were not tied." (This was 100 years ago， today less than 30% on the average， but more than 70% in certain bad areas， fail their Baccalauréat. The curriculum has， however， been lightened so that about 50% of the population may end up passing their baccalauréat.
Democracy oblige. (SR.))
[77] A machine for the forced feeding of ducks and geese to make their liver grow to excessive proportions.
[78] An old professor， after thirty years of service， observed to me by way of summing up： "One half， at least， of our pupils are not fitted to receive the instruction we give them."[79] Lately， the director of one of these schools remarked with great satisfaction and still greater na？veté ： "This school is superior to all others of its kind in Europe， for nowhere else is what we teach taught in the same number of years."[80] But what if Taine was mistaken？ What if he， like so many other highly talented and intelligent men， took his own superb intelligence and imagination for granted？ What if the talent of such men is inherited？ We know from identical twins how many of our particularities have been given to us at birth. What if most men are lazy and especially intellectually so， what if we can only be made to learn and think when under great stress， the stress introduced by fear of dismissal or hope of promotion or riches？ Then the French system is perhaps hard， perhaps expensive but certainly useful in producing the great number of hardworking and competent and passively obedient supervisors and civil servants that any large organization needs.
(SR.)
[819 "Souvenirs"， by Pasquier (Etienne-Dennis， duc)， chancelier de France. in VI volumes， Librarie Plon， Paris 1893. Although pupils were admitted in the preparatory Schools very early， "our navy， engineer and artillery officers were justly esteemed the best instructed in Europe， as able practically as theoretically； the position occupied by artillery and engineer officers from 1792 in the French army sufficiently attests this truth. And yet they did not know one tenth of those who now issue from the preparatory schools. Vauban himself would have been unable to undergo the examination for admission into the Polytechnic School." There is then in our system "a luxury of science， very fine in itself， but which is not necessary to insure good service on land or at sea." The same in civil careers， with the bar， in the magistracy， in the administration and even in literature and the sciences. The proof of this is found in the men of great talent who， after 1789， were prominent in the Constituent Assembly. In the new-born University there was not one half of the demand for attainments as is now exacted. There is nothing like our over-loaded baccalauréat， and yet there issued from it Villemain， Cousin， Hugo， Lamartine， etc. No école Polytechnique existed， and yet at the end of the eighteenth century in France， we find the richest constellation of savants， Lagrange， Laplace， Monge， Fourcroy， Lavoisier， Berthollet， Haüy， and others. (Since the date of these souvenirs (1843) the defects in the French system have gotten worse.
[82] In England and in the United States the architect and engineer produce more than we do with greater pliancy， fertility， originality and boldness of invention， with a practical capacity at least equal and without having passed six， eight or ten years in purely theoretical studies. - Cf. Des Rousiers， "La Vie Américaine，" p. 619：
"Our polytechnicians are scientific erudites. . . . The American engineer is not omniscient as they were， he is special." "But， in his specialty he has profound knowledge； he is always trying to make it more perfect by additions， and he does more than the polytechnician to advance his science" or his art. (Since Taine noted this times have changed； I once put my 3 older sons into the American school in Bangkok (in 1972)， and not only did they not learn anything during their year there， they actually lost some of their reading and writing skills and I had to remove them as soon as I could. (SR.)).
[83] In 1889 a law called Freycinet， France introduced 3 years of military service for all young men. Students and married men were， subject to certain conditions， released after one year of service.
(SR.)