ace might not thereafter acquire domicile in that
department, and could do so in others only by becoming a landowner and
tilling the soil. Every Jew should be liable to military service, and,
unlike his Christian fellow-citizens might not provide a substitute;
moreover, he must adopt and use a family name. This stringent law was
rigidly enforced, except in Bordeaux, the Gironde, and the Landes,
where no offense had been given. Its effect was steady and sure.
Before long, first one and then another Israelite was exempted from
its rigors, until finally, in 1812, the department or the man still
subject to its provisions was the exception and not the rule. From
that day to this there has scarcely been in France what is known
elsewhere as the Jewish question. Hebrews are found in every line of
human activity; they have the same civil, political, and religious
standing as men of other blood and confessions; they are illustrious
in finance, in politics, in science, and in the arts. They are,
moreover, passionate patriots, and to the casual observer scarcely
distinguishable in mien and appearance from other citizens. The
temporary contravention of the civil code, both as to spirit and
letter, by the notorious decree above referred to has been so
beneficent that it has for the most part escaped any criticism or even
remark.[15]

[Footnote 15: See Lemoine: Napoleon et les Juifs.]

While in ways like these the clutch of the usurer was relaxed and the
general well-being promoted, measures were taken to crown the work by
a stable system of finance. It will be recalled that two years before
the Emperor had saved the public credit by the direct expenditure of
the Austrian war indemnity. It was his fixed principle that France
should not pay for his wars, except with her children. He knew too
well the thrift of the whole nation and the greed of the lower classes
to jeopardize their good will either by the emission of paper money or
by the increase of tax rates. The panic of 1805 had been precipitated
by the virtual failure of a bankers' syndicate which made advances to
the government on its taxes and on the annual Spanish contribution as
well. In 1807 the war indemnity exacted from Prussia, Poland, and
Westphalia was used for a double purpose, the creation of two funds:
one to furnish an immediate supply of cash on the outbreak of war, the
other to replace the bankers' syndicate by making advances on the
taxes whenever requir