THE SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT IN FRANCE. 



149 



The influence of the first Napoleon on science is natur- se. 



Influence of 



ally a matter of as much controversy as his merit in the first 



Napoleon 



almost every branch of administration. The reports l on scien ce. 



1 According to a decree of the 

 Government, dated 13th ventose, an 

 x (4th March 1802), the Institute, 

 then consisting of three classes 

 the "Acade"mie des Sciences phy- 

 siques et mathe'matiques, " the 

 " Academic des Sciences morales 

 et politiques," and the "Academic 

 de Litterature et Beaux - arts " 

 was ordered to furnish " un tableau 

 de l'e*tat et des progres des sciences, 

 des lettres et des arts, depuis 1789 

 jusqu'au l re vende"miaire an x." 

 This " tableau " was to be divided 

 into three parts according to the 

 three classes of the Institute. These 

 Reports were to be repeated every 

 five years. The first (and only) 

 Reports were not presented before 

 February and March 1808. The 

 Republican Government had then 

 been superseded by the Empire, and 

 by a decree of the 3d pluviose, an 

 xi (23d January 1803), the Institute 

 had been reorganised. There were 

 now four classes : 1. Des Sciences 

 physiques et mathematiques (corre- 

 sponding to the old Academic des 

 Sciences). 2. De la langue et de la 

 litterature franQaises (correspond- 

 ing to the old AcadeYnie franijaise). 

 3. D'histoire et de litterature anci- 

 enne (corresponding to the "Acad- 

 e"mie d' Inscriptions et de Belles- 

 lettres "). 4. Des beaux-arts. " On 

 supprima la classe des sciences 

 morales et politiques qui existait 

 dans 1'organisation du 3 brumaire, 

 an iv. Ce fut un trait caracteris- 

 tique de la repugnance du premier 

 Consul pour la discussion des 

 matieres politiques et leur enseigne- 

 ment" (Thibaudeau, 'Le Consulat et 

 1'Empire,' Paris, 1835-37, vol. iii. p. 

 396). Accordingly there were pre- 

 pared four, or rather five, Reports, 

 the first in two parts by Delambre 



and Cuvier on the progress of the 

 Mathematical and Physical Sciences ; 

 the second by Marie- Joseph Che"nier 

 on the progress of Literature ; the 

 third by Dacier on the progress of 

 History and Classical Literature ; 

 the fourth by Le Breton on Fine 

 Arts. Of these the two Reports of 

 Delambre and Cuvier gave great 

 satisfaction, that of Dacier gave less 

 satisfaction ; Che"nier, who himself 

 admired the eighteenth - century 

 philosophy, had an embarrassing task 

 to perform, of which, however, he 

 acquitted himself worthily (Thibau- 

 deau, loc. cit., vol. vi. p. 557). The 

 Report of Chenier has been several 

 times reprinted. The new science 

 which was founded by Condillac, 

 Turgot, Condorcet, and others, and 

 which aimed at introducing the truly 

 scientific spirit into psychology, psy- 

 cho-physical researches, and ques- 

 tions of society u,nd legislation, re- 

 ceived no recognition, as it had also 

 lost its representation in the sus- 

 pended " Academic des Sciences 

 morales et politiques." After the 

 re-establishment of this section of 

 the Institute in 1832, a royal decree 

 of 22d March 1840 ordered a Re- 

 port on the progress of the Moral 

 and Political Sciences from 1789 to 

 1832. The task was so great that 

 it could not be accomplished before 

 the Revolution of 1848, and was 

 therefore abandoned (Aucoc, ' L'ln- 

 stitut de France,' pp. 62 note, 300). 

 Some reference to the subject is 

 contained in the introduction to 

 Ch^nier's Report, and in the last 

 chapter of Dacier's, which was 

 written by De Gerando. The true 

 history of the new science has been 

 recently written by F. Picavet, 

 'Les Ideologues/ Paris, 1891. 



