severity after
the disorders of the preceding years. When Fox and Romilly paid a
visit to Talleyrand at Paris, they were informed by his secretary
that:

"In his opinion nothing could restore good morals and order in the
country but 'la roue et la religion de nos ancetres.' He knew, he
said, that the English did not think so, but we knew nothing of the
people. Fox was deeply shocked at the idea of restoring the wheel
as a punishment in France."[167]

This horrible punishment was not actually restored: but this extract
from Romilly's diary shows what was the state of feeling in official
circles at Paris, and how strong was the reaction towards older ideas.
The reaction was unquestionably emphasized by Bonaparte's influence,
and it is noteworthy that the Penal and other Codes, passed during the
Empire, were more reactionary than the laws of the Consulate. Yet,
even as First Consul, he exerted an influence that began to banish the
customs and traditions of the Revolution, except in the single sphere
of material interests; and he satisfied the peasants' love of land and
money in order that he might the more securely triumph over
revolutionary ideals and draw France insensibly back to the age of
Louis XIV.

While the legislator must always keep in reserve punishment as the
_ultima ratio_ for the lawless, he will turn by preference to
education as a more potent moralizing agency; and certainly education
urgently needed Bonaparte's attention. The work of carrying into
practice the grand educational aims of Condorcet and his coadjutors in
the French Convention was enough to tax the energies of a Hercules.
Those ardent reformers did little more than clear the ground for
future action: they abolished the old monastic and clerical training,
and declared for a generous system of national education in primary,
secondary, and advanced schools. But amid strifes and bankruptcy their
aims remained unfulfilled. In 1799 there were only twenty-four
elementary schools open in Paris, with a total attendance of less than
1,000 pupils; and in rural districts matters were equally bad. Indeed,
Lucien Bonaparte asserted that scarcely any education was to be found
in France. Exaggerated though this statement was, in relation to
secondary and advanced education, it was proximately true of the
elementary schools. The revolutionists had merely traced the outlines
of a scheme: it remained for the First Consul to fill in