governed by one single thought,
that of displaying this force and this estimate himself immediately so
as to demonstrate what he is worth." This must have been written around
1830. (SR.)]

[Footnote 6373: This last quality is given by Sainte-Beuve.]

[Footnote 6374: Dunoyer, "De la liberte du travail" (1845), II.,119. The
extraordinary progress of England in the mechanical arts, according to
English engineers, "depends much less on the theoretical knowledge of
scholars than on the practical skill of the workmen who always succeed
better in overcoming difficulties than cultivated minds." For example,
Watt, Stephenson, Arkwright, Crampton and, in France, Jacquart.]

[Footnote 6375: Today, in year 2000, the socialist revolutionaries
have, through the Human Rights activities broken the chain between the
generations, forbidden the parents, the teachers and the supervisors
to correct and discipline their children and apprentices. The French
educational system, perfectly equal, still survives and is probably the
best in existence since it insists on teaching the students even if
a lot of the curriculum is a dead loss. The final product is still a
useful citizen and functionary, something which make France tick. (SR.)]

[Footnote 6376: Breal, "Quelques mots," etc.,, p. 336. (He quotes M.
Cournot, a former rector, inspector-general, etc.:) "The Faculties know
that they would be subject to warnings on the part of the authorities
as well as to comparisons and regrettable desertions on the part of the
pupils if the proportion between candidates and admissions did not
vary between 45 and 50%... When the proportion of postponements reaches
between 50 and 555 the examiners admit with groans, considering the hard
times, candidates of which they would reject at least one half their
hands were not tied." (This was 100 years ago, today less than 30%
on the average, but more than 70% in certain bad areas, fail their
Baccalaureat. The curriculum has, however, been lightened so that about
50% of the population may end up passing their baccalaureat. Democracy
oblige. (SR.))]

[Footnote 6377: A machine for the forced feeding of ducks and geese to
make their liver grow to excessive proportions.]

[Footnote 6378: An old professor, after thirty years of service,
observed to me by way of summing up: "One half, at least, of our pupils
are not fitted to receive the instruction we give them."]

[Footnote 6379: Lately, the director of one of t