第1151章

Let the first division of the Institute， in the mathematical， physical and natural sciences， Lagrange， Laplace， Legendre， Carnot， Biot， Monge， Cassini， Lalande， Burckardt and Arago， Poisson， Berthollet， Gay-Lussac， Guyton de Morveau， Vauquelin， Thénard and Haüy， Duhamel， Lamarck， Jussieu， Mirbel， Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier， pursue their researches； let Delambre and Cuvier， in their quarterly reports， sum up and announce discoveries； let， in the second division of the Institute， Volney， Destutt de Tracy， Andrieux， Picard， Lemercier and Chateaubriand， if the latter desires to take part in its sittings， give dissertations on language， grammar， rhetoric， rules of style and of taste； let， in the third division of the Institute， Sylvestre de Sacy publish his Arabic grammar； let Langlés continue his Persian， Indian and Tartar studies； let Quatremère de Quincy， explaining the structure of the great chryselephantine statues， reproduce conjecturally the surface of ivory and the internal framework of the Olympian Jupiter； let D'Ansse de Villoison discover in Venice the commentary of the Alexandrian critics on Homer； let Larcher， Boissonade， Clavier， alongside of Cora？ publish their editions of the old Greek authors - all this causes no trouble， and all is for the honor of the government. Their credit reflects on the avowed promoter， the official patron and responsible director of science， erudition and talent therefore， in his own interest， he favors and rewards them. Laurent de Jussieu and Cuvier are titular councillors of the University， Delambre is its treasurer， and Fontanes its Grand-Master. Delille， Boissonade and Royer-Collard and Guizot teach in the faculty of letters； Biot， Poisson， Gay-Lussac， Haüy， Thénard， Brongniart， Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire in the faculty of the sciences；Monge， Berthollet， Fourier， Andrieux in the Ecole Polytechnique；Pinel， Vauquelin， Jussieu， Richerand， Dupuytren in the Ecole de Médecine. Fourcroy is councillor of State， Laplace and Chaptal， after having been ministers， become senators； in 1813， there are twenty-three members of the Institute in the Senate； the zoologist Lacépede is grand-chancellor of the Legion of Honor； while fifty-six members of the Institute， decorated with an imperial title， are chevaliers， barons， dukes， and even princes.[41] - This is even one more lien， admirably serving to bind them to the government more firmly and to in-corporate them more and more in the system. In effect， they now derive their importance and their living from the system and the government； having become dignitaries and functionaries they possess a password in this twofold capacity； henceforth， they will do well to look upward to the master before expressing a thought and to know how far the password allows them to think.

In this respect， the First Consul's intentions are clear from the very first day： In his reconstruction of the Institute[42] he has suppressed "the division of moral and political sciences，" and consequently the first four sections of this division， "analysis of sensations and ideas， moral science， social science and legislation， and political economy." He thus cuts off the main branch with its four distinct branches， and what he keeps or tolerates he trims and grafts or fastens on to another branch of the third class， that of the erudites and antiquaries. The latter may very well occupy themselves with political and moral sciences but only "in their relations with history，" and especially with ancient history. General conclusions， applicable theories， on account of their generality， to late events and to the actual situation are unnecessary； even as applied to the State in the abstract， and in the cold forms of speculative discussion， they are forbidden. The First Consul， on the strength of this， in connection with "Dernières vues de politique et de finances， published by Necker， has set forth his exact rule and his threatening purpose：

"Can you imagine，" says he to Roederer， "that any man， since I became head of the State， could propose three sorts of government for France？

Never shall the daughter of M. Necker come back to Paris！"She would then get to be a distinct center of political opinion while only one is necessary， that of the First Consul in his Council of State. Again， this council itself is only half competent and at best consultative：

"You yourselves do not know what government is.[43] You have no idea of it. I am the only one， owing to my position， that can know what a government is."On this sphere， and everywhere on its undefined perimeter， afar， as far away as his piercing eye can penetrate， no independent way of thinking must be conceived or， especially， published.

In particular， the foremost and guiding science of the analysis of the human understanding， pursued according to the methods and after the examples furnished by Locke， Hume， Condillac and Destutt de Tracy， ideology is forbidden.