THE CENTENARY OE THE ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE. 175 
this organisation* and the law of Frimaire is the real charter of the 
school. 
Under the Empire. 
The same Bonaparte* who had thus saved the school when Consul* 
overturned it when he became Emperor. The school which had pro¬ 
tested at the 18th Brumaire* also protested at the proclamation of the 
Empire. Napoleon could not pardon this. In spite of the counsels of 
Monge and the flattery of Fourcroy, Napoleon transformed the school- 
lie militarised it. By a decree* dated 16th July* 1804* the cadets were 
henceforth obliged to be put through their drill and treated like recruits 
in barracks. A new uniform* nearly resembling that of infantry of 
the line* was given to them. Instead of receiving as before a salary 
of 1200 livres* they were now obliged to pay to the State for their 
board and education at the rate of 800 francs per annum. The school 
was* moreover* moved into the old College of Navarre* where it still 
remains* and on the 3rd December* 1804* it participated at the review 
on the Champ de Mars* when eagles were distributed to the regiments. 
The first for promotion* who was Arago—afterwards the eminent astron¬ 
omer-received the flag from the hands of the Emperor. After this 
event the course of instruction tended more and more to the military 
art: letters were put aside* and it was considered that the candidates 
were qualified if they knew sufficient Latin to translate the “ de officus 33 
of Cicero. Napoleon took a strange view of the Ecole Polytechnique ; 
for one day* desirous of rewarding a youth* 1 5 years of age* who had 
distinguished himself in action* he nominated him as a fit pupil. The 
Polytechnicians* rebellious against the Empire* were gained over by 
the glory of the great warrior and the constantly recurring series of 
victories gained by the Emperor. Each day the latest bulletin from the 
armies was read aloud in the amphitheatre *• and after Austerlitz there 
was a burst of enthusiastic admiration and wild applause. The school 
became firmly devoted to the hero of Marengo. 
It is to Napoleon that the school owes its fine voltaic pile. One day, 
as Berth oil et was talking to him about the works* by Davy, on elec¬ 
tricity* he asked with some warmth why these experiments had not 
been tried in France* and when Berthollet replied that it was because 
there was not a voltaic pile sufficiently powerful in the country* “ Eh 
bien \” he cried out* “ a sufficiently strong machine for this purpose 
must be constructed immediately.^ 
“ Vive U’Empereur V 3 
In 1811 more liberal ideas took possession of the Ecole Polytechnique. 
After the attempted coup-de-main of General Mallet, the cadets again 
made manifestations against the Imperial despotism. One fine morning 
all the black boards were found* inscribed in chalk* with the following 
verses :— ~ 
“ Le monde est un atome oh rampe avec fierte 
Uinsecte usurpateur qu’on nomme Majeste. 33 
Napoleon took umbrage and resolved to disestablish the school. 
The project of a decree was drawn up at the Council of State* the 
