Napoleon， in his preparation of jurists， wants executants and not critics； his faculties must furnish him with men able to apply and not to give opinions on his laws. Hence， in the teaching of the law， as he prescribes it， there must be nothing of history， of political economy or of comparative law； there must be no exposition of foreign legislation， of feudal or custom law， or of canon law； no account of the transformations which governed public and private law in Rome down to the Digest[25] and， after that， in France， down to the recent codes. But nothing on remote origins， on successive forms and the diverse and ever-changing conditions of labor， property and the family； nothing which， through the law， exposes to view and brings us in contact with the social body to which it is applied. That is to say， this or that active and human group， with its habits， prejudices， instincts， dangers and necessities； nothing but two dry， rigid codes， like two aerolites fallen from the sky ready-made and all of a piece at an interval of fourteen centuries. At first， the Institutes，[26]
"by cutting out[27] what is not applicable to our legislation and replacing these matters by a comparison with much finer laws scattered through other books of Roman law，" similar to the classes in the humanities， where Latin literature is reduced to the finest passages of the classic authors. Next， the French code， with the comments on it due to the decisions of the court of appeals and the court of cassation.[28] All the courses of lectures of the school shall be obligatory and arranged as a whole， or tacked on to each other in a compulsory order； each step the student takes shall be counted， measured and verified every three months by a certificate， and each year by an examination； at these examinations there shall be no optional matters， no estimate of collateral studies or those of complimentary or superior importance. The student finds no attraction or benefit in studies outside of the programme， and， in this programme he finds only official texts， explained by the bill of fare， one by one， with subtlety， and patched together as well as may be by means of distinctions and interpretations， so as to provide the understood solution in ordinary cases and a plausible solution in disputed cases， in other terms， a system of casuistry.[29]
And this is just the education which suits the future practitioner.
As a celebrated professor of the second Empire says，[30] "our young graduates need a system of instruction which enables them to pass without perplexity or discouragement from the school to the halls of justice；" to have the 2281 articles of the civil code at their fingers' ends， also the rest， hundreds and thousands of them， of the other four codes； to find at once in relation to each case the set of pertinent articles， the general rule， neither too broad nor too narrow， which fits the particular case in question. As for law taken in itself and as a whole， they have none of that clear， full conception of it to which a comprehensive and curious mind aspires.
"I know nothing of the civil code，" said another professor， older and in closer proximity with the primitive institution， "I teach only the Code Napoléon." Accordingly， with his clear-sightedness and his practical and graphic imagination， Napoleon could perceive in advance the future and certain products of his machine， the magistrates in their bonnets， seated or standing in their court-rooms， with the lawyers in their robes facing them pleading， and， farther on， the great consumers of stamped papers in their bureaus encumbered with files of documents with the attorneys and notaries engaged in drawing them up； elsewhere， prefects， sub-prefects， prefect councilors， government commissioners and other officials， all at work and doing pretty well， all of them useful organs but mere organs of the law.
The chances were small， fewer than under the ancient régime， for an erudite and independent thinker， a Montesquieu， to issue from that school.
III. On Science， Reason and Truth.
Crowning point of the university edifice. - Faith based on criticism.
- How it binds men together and forms a lay Church. - Social power of this Church. - Scientific and literary authorities. - How Napoleon enrolls them. - The Institute， an appendage of the State.
Everywhere else， the direction and reach of superior instruction are similar. In the Faculties of Science and Literature， much more than in the Faculties of Medicine and of Law， the principal employment of the professors is the awarding of grades. - They likewise confer the titles of bachelor， licentiate and doctor； but the future bachelor is not prepared by them； the lycée furnishes him for the examination， fresh from its benches； they have then no audience but future licentiates， that is to say a few schoolmasters and a licentiate at long intervals who wants to become a doctor in order to mount upward into the university hierarchy. Besides these， occasional amateurs， nearly all of ripe age， who wish to freshen their classic souvenirs， and idlers who want to kill time， fill the lecture-room. To prevent empty benches the lecture course becomes a conférence d'Athenée， which is pleasant enough or sufficiently general to interest or， at least， not to repel people of society.[31] Two establishments remain for teaching true science to the workers who wish to acquire it； who， in the widespread wreck of the ancient régime have alone survived in the Museum of Natural History， with its thirteen chairs， and the College of France， with nineteen. But here， too， the audience is sparse， mixed， disunited and unsatisfactory； the lectures being public and free， everybody enters the room and leaves as he pleases during the lecture. Many of the attendants are idlers who seek distraction in the tone and gestures of the professors， or birds of passage who come there to warm themselves in winter and to sleep in summer.