* Let him be competent and worthy of confidence in his particular profession，* let him know how to teach classes or frame a course of lectures， how to build a bridge， a bastion， an edifice， how to cure a disease， perform an amputation， draw up a contract， manage a case in court， and give judgment；* let the State， for greater public convenience， organize， check， and certify this special capacity，* let it verify this by examinations and diploma，* let it make of this a sort of coin of current value， duly minted and of proper standard；* let this be protected against counterfeits， not only by its preferences but again by its prohibitions， by the penalties it enacts against the illegal practice of pharmacy and of medicine， by the obligations it imposes on magistrates， lawyers and ministerial officials not to act until obtaining this or that grade， -such is what the interest of society demands and what it may exact.
According to this principle， the State creates special schools， (today in 1998 called Grande Ecoles[21])， and， through the indirect monopoly which it possesses， it fills them with listeners； henceforth， these are to furnish the youth of France with superior education.[22]
From the start， Napoleon， as logician， with his usual lucidity and precision， lays it down that they shall be strictly practical and professional. "Make professors (régents) for me，" said he one day in connection with the Ecole normale， "and not littérateurs， wits or seekers or inventors in any branch of knowledge." In like manner says he again，[23]
"I do not approve of the regulation requiring a man to be bachelor (bachelier) in the sciences before he can be a bachelor in the medical faculty； medicine is not an exact and positive science， but a science of guess and observation. I should place more confidence in a doctor who had not studied the exact sciences than in one who possessed them.
I preferred M. Corvisart to M. Hallé， because M. Hallé belongs to the Institute. M. Corvisart does not even know what two equal triangles are. The medical student should not be diverted from hospital practice， from dissections and studies relating to his trade."There is the same subordination of science to the professions， the same concern for immediate or near application， the same utilitarian tendency to aim at a public function or a private career， the same contraction of studies in the law school， in that order of truths of which Montesquieu， a Frenchman， fifty years before， had first seized the entire body， marked the connections and delineated the chart. At issue are the laws and the "spirit of laws，" unwritten or written， by which diverse human societies live， of whatever form， extent and kind， -the State， commune， Church， school， army， agricultural or industrial workshop， tribe or family. These， existing or fossilized， are realities， open to observation like plants or animals. One may， the same as with animals and plants， observe them， describe them， compare them together， follow their history from first to last， study their organization， classify them in natural groups， disengage the distinctive and dominant characteristics in each， note its ambient surroundings and ascertain the internal or external conditions， or "necessary relationships，" which determine its failure or its bloom.
For men who live together in society and in a State， no study is so important； it alone can furnish them with a clear， demonstrable idea of what society and the State are； and it is in the law schools that this capital idea must be sought by an educated student body. If they do not find it there， they invent one to suit themselves. As 1789drew near， the antiquated， poor， barren， teaching of law， fallen into contempt and almost null，[24] offered no sound， accredited doctrine which could impose itself on young minds， fill their empty minds and prevent the intrusion of utopic dreams. And intrude it did： in the shape of Rousseau's anti-social Utopia， in his anarchical and despotic Social Contract. To hinder it from returning， the best thing to do was not to repeat the same mistake， not to leave the lodging empty， to install in it a fixed occupant beforehand， and to see that this fixed occupant， which is science， may at all times represent its title of legitimate proprietor， its method analogous to that of the natural sciences， its studies of detail from life and in the texts， its restricted inductions， its concordant verifications， its progressive discoveries. This in order that， confronting every chance system and without these titles， minds may of themselves shut their doors， or only open them provisionally， and always with a care to make the intruder present his letters of credit： here we have the social service rendered by the instruction in Law as given in the German mode， as Cuvier had just described it. Before 1789， in the University of Strasbourg， in France， it was thus given； but， in this condition and to this extent， it is not suitable under the new régime， and still less than under the old one.