men and families of consideration by direct or personal restitution.

He created at the same time a new instrument of government the fruit of a
powerful mind and profound acquaintance with human nature. Formerly the
honorary orders successively founded by kings of France had been reserved
for a small number of privileged persons; in this limited circle they had
been the object of great ambition and of long intrigues. By the
institution of the Legion of Honor, Bonaparte resolved to extend to the
entire nation, in the camp and in civil life, that rivalry of hopes and
that ardent thirst for honors which formerly animated the courtiers. He
had proved the importance which the military attached to arms of honor,
and he was impatient of the objections which the Council of State brought
before him on this subject. "People call this kind of thing a bauble,"
said he. "Well! it is with baubles that men are managed. I would not say
it to a Tribune, but I do not believe that Frenchmen love liberty and
equality; they have not been changed by ten years of Revolution; like the
Gauls, they must have distinctions. It is one means more of managing men."
The experience of the rulers who have succeeded him has justified the far-
seeing and cynical conception of Bonaparte. It has proved once more what
abuses can be brought about, and what weaknesses can be created, by an
institution originally intended to appeal to noble sentiments. The passion
for equality was much stronger than the First Consul thought; the
institution of the Legion of Honor encountered great opposition in the
purified Tribunate and Corps Legislatif, and was only voted by a small
majority.

A great law on public instruction prepared the way for the foundation of
the University, from that time one of the favorite ideas of the First
Consul. Primary instruction remained neglected, as it had been practically
by the Convention. The communes were entrusted with the direction and