In effect， whatever vacancy may occur， each aspirant thinks himself fit for it， and only one of the aspirants can obtain it. Accordingly some rule of preference must be adopted outside of the opinion that each candidate entertains of himself. Accordingly， at a very early date， one was established， and there could be no better one， namely， that， among the competitors for the place， the most competent to fill it should be chosen. Unfortunately， the judge， ordinary， extraordinary and supreme， instituted to decide in this case， was the plurality of male， adult Frenchmen， counted by heads， that is to say a collective being in which the small intelligent， élite body is drowned in the great rude mass； of all juries， the most incompetent， the easiest duped and misled， the least able to comprehend the questions laid before it and the consequences of its answer； the worst informed， the most inattentive， the most blinded by preconceived sympathies or antipathies， the most willingly absent， a mere flock of enlisted sheep always robbed or cheated out of their vote， and whose verdict， forced or simulated， depended on politicians beforehand， above and below， through the clubs as well as through the revolutionary government， the latter， consequently， maneuvering in such a way as to impose itself along with their favorites on the choice of the French people. Between 1792 and 1799， the republican official staff just described is thus obtained. - It is only in the army where the daily and keen sense of a common physical and mortal danger ends in dictating the choice of the best， and raises tried merit to the highest rank； and yet it must be noted that Jacobin infatuation bore down as rigorously on the army as elsewhere and on two occasions： at the outset through the election of a superior officer conferred on subordinates， which handed rank over to the noisy disputants and intemperate intriguers of the mess-room；and again during the Reign of Terror， and even later，[21] in the persecution or dismissal of so many patriotic and deserving officers， which led Gouvion-Saint-Cyr and his comrades， through disgust， to avoid or decline accepting high rank， in the scandalous promotion of club brawlers and docile nullities， in the military dictatorship of the civil proconsuls， in the supremacy conferred on Léchelle and Rossignol， in the subordination forced on Kléber and Marceau， in the absurd plans of a demagogue with huge epaulettes like Cartaux，[22] in the grotesque orders of the day issued by a swaggering inebriate like Henriot，[23] in the disgrace of Bonaparte， and in the detention of Hoche. - In the civil order of things， it was worse. Not only was the rule of regulating promotion by merit not recognized but it was applied in an inverse sense. In the central government as in the local government， and from top to bottom of the hierarchy， from the post of minister of foreign affairs down to that of president of a petty revolutionary committee， all offices were for the unworthy. Their unfitness kept on increasing inasmuch as incessant weeding out worked against them， the functionary， degraded by his work， growing worse along with his function. - Thus the constitutional rights of merit and capacity ended in the practical privilege of incapacity and demerit.
And in the allotment of grades and social advantages， distributive justice had given way to distributive injustice， while practice， contrary to theory， instituted permanently， on the one hand， the exclusion or retirement of competent， instructed， expert， well-bred， honorable and respected men and， on the other hand， brought forward illiterate， inept and rude novices， coarse and vulgar brutes， common blackguards， men used up or of tarnished reputations， rogues ready for anything， fugitives from justice， in short the adventurers and outcasts of every kind and degree.[24] The latter， owing their success to perversion or lack of conscientiousness， derived their principal title from their vigorous fists and a fixed determination to hold on to their places as they had obtained them， that is to say by main force and by the murder or exile of their rivals. - Evidently， the staff of officials which the Declaration of Human Rights had promised was not the staff on duty ten years later there was a lack of experience.[25] In 1789， careers were open to every ambition； down to 1799， the rivalry of ambitions had simply produced a wild uproar and a brutal conquest. The great modern difficulty remained： how to discipline the competition and to find an impartial judge， an undisputed arbitrator of the competition.
IV. Napoleon， Judge-Arbitrator-Ruler.
Napoleon as judge of competition. - Security of his seat. -Independence of his decisions. - Suppression of former influences and end of monarchical or democratic intrigues. - Other influences against which he is on guard. - His favorite rule. - Estimate of candidates according to the kind and amount of their useful labor. - His own competency. - His perspicacity. - His vigilance. - Zeal and labor of his functionaries. - Result of competition thus viewed and of functions thus exercised. - Talents utilized and jealousies disarmed.