This general preparation is specified and directed by Napoleon as a policy， and， as he specially needs soldiers， the school， in his hands， becomes the vestibule of the barracks. Right away the institution received a military turn and spirit， and this form， which is essential to him， becomes more and more restricted. In 1805， during four months，[62] Fourcroy， ordered by the Emperor， visits the new lycées "with an inspector of reviews and a captain or adjutant-major， who everywhere gives instruction in drill and discipline." The young have been already broke in； "almost everywhere，" he says on his return， "Isaw young people without a murmur or reflection obey even younger and weaker corporals and sergeants who had been raised to a merited rank through their good behavior and progress. He himself， although a liberal， finds reasons which justify to the legislative body this unpopular practice；[63] he replies to the objections and alarm of the parents "that it is favorable to order， without which there are no good studies，" and moreover " it accustoms the pupils to carrying and using arms， which shortens their work and accelerates their promotion on being summoned by the conscription to the service of the State."The tap of the drum， the attitude in presenting arms， marching at command， uniform， gold lace， and all that， in 1811， becomes obligatory， not only for the lycées and colleges， but again， and under the penalty of being closed， for private institutions.[64] At the end of the Empire， there were in the departments which composed old France 76，000 scholars studying under this system of stimulation and constraint. "Our masters，" as a former pupil is to say later on， "resembled captain-instructors， our study-rooms mess - rooms， our recreations drills， and our examinations reviews."[65] The whole tendency of the school inclines it towards the military and merges therein on the studies being completed - sometimes， even， it flows into it before the term is over. After 1806，[66] the anticipated conscriptions take youths from the benches of the philosophy and rhetoric classes. After 1808， ministerial circulars[67] demand of the lycées boys (des enfants de bonne volonté)， scholars of eighteen and nineteen who "know how to man？uvre，" so that they may at once be made under-officers or second-lieutenants； and these the lycées furnish without any difficulty by hundreds. In this way， the beardless volunteer entering upon the career one or two years sooner， but gaining by this one or two grades in rank. - "Thus，" says a principal[68] of one of the colleges， "the brain of the French boy is full of the soldier. As far as knowledge goes there is but little hope of it， at least under existing circumstances. In the schools， says another witness of the reign，[69] "the young refuse to learn anything but mathematics and a knowledge of arms. I can recall many examples of young lads of ten or twelve years who daily entreated their father and mother to let them go with Napoleon." - In those days， the military profession is evidently the first of all， almost the only one. Every civilian is a pékin， that is to say an inferior， and is treated as such.[70] At the door of the theatre， the officer breaks the line of those who are waiting to get their tickets and， as a right， takes one under the nose of those who came before him； they let him pass， go in， and they wait. In the café， where the newspapers are read in common， he lays hold of them as if through a requisition and uses them as he pleases in the face of the patient bourgeois.
The central idea of this glorification of the army， be it understood， is the worship of Napoleon， the supreme， unique， absolute sovereign of the army and all the rest， while the prestige of this name is as great， as carefully maintained， in the school as in the army. At the start， he put his own free scholars (boursiers) into the lycées and colleges， about 3000 boys[71] whom he supports and brings up at his own expense， for his own advantage， destined to become his creatures， and who form the uppermost layer of the school population； about one hundred and fifty of these scholarships to each lycée， first occupants of the lycée and still for a long time more numerous than their paying comrades， all of a more or less needy family， sons of soldiers and functionaries who live on the Emperor and rely on him only， all accustomed from infancy to regard the Emperor as the arbiter of their destiny， the special， generous and all-powerful patron who， having taken charge of them now， will also take charge of them in the future.
A figure of this kind fills and occupies the entire field of their imagination； whatever grandeur it already possesses it here becomes still more grand， colossal and superhuman. At the beginning their enthusiasm gave the pitch to their co-disciples；[72] the institution， through its mechanism， labors to keep this up， and the administrators or professors， by order or through zeal， use all their efforts to make the sonorous and ringing chord vibrate with all the more energy.
After 1811， even in a private institution，[73] "the victories of the Emperor form almost the only subject on which the imagination of the pupils is allowed to exercise itself." After 1807，[74] at Louis le Grand， the prize compositions are those on the recent victory of Jena.
"Our masters themselves，" says Alfred de Vigny， "unceasingly read to us the bulletins of the Grande Armée， while cries of Vive l'Empereur interrupted Virgil and Plato." In sum， write many witnesses，[75]