"It is owing to ideology，" he says，[44] "to that metaphysical obscurity which， employing its subtleties in trying to get at first causes， seeks to base the legislation of a people on that foundation， instead of appropriating laws to a knowledge of the human heart and the lessons of history， that all the misfortunes of our beautiful France must be attributed."In 1806， M. de Tracy， unable to print his "Commentaire sur l'Esprit des Lois" in France， sends it to the president of the United States， Jefferson， who translates it into English， publishes it anonymously， and has it taught in his schools.[45] About the same date， the republication of the "Traité d'économie-politique" of J. -B. Say is prohibited， the first edition of which， published in 1804， was soon exhausted.[46] In 1808， all publications of local and general statistics， formerly incited and directed by Chaptal， were interrupted and stopped； Napoleon always demands figures， but he keeps them for himself； if divulged they would prove inconvenient， and henceforth they become State secrets. The same precautions and the same rigor are extended to books on law， even technical， and against a "Précis historique du droit Romain." "This work，" says the censorship， "might give rise to a comparison between the progress of authority under Augustus and that going on under the reign of Napoleon， in such a way as to produce a bad effect on public opinion."[47] In effect， nothing is more dangerous than history， for it is composed， not of general propositions that are unintelligible except to the meditative， but of particular facts accessible and interesting to the first one that comes along.
For this reason， not only the science of sensations and of ideas， philosophic law and comparative law， politics and moral law， the science of wealth and statistics， but again， and especially， the history of France， is a State affair， an object of government； for no object affects the government more nearly； no study contributes so much towards strengthening or weakening the ideas and impressions which shape public opinion for or against him.[48] It is not sufficient to superintend this history， to suppress it if need be， to prevent it from being a poor one； it must again be ordered， inspired and manufactured， that it may be a good one.
"There is no work more important.[49] . . . I do not count the expense in this regard. It is even my intention to make the minister ensure that this work is under my protection.."Above all， the attitude of the authors who write should be made sure of. "Not only must this work be entrusted to authors of real talent， but again to attached men， who will present facts in this true light and prepare healthy instruction by bringing history down to the year VIII." But this instruction can be healthy only through a series of preliminary and convergent judgments， insinuating into all minds the final approval and well-founded admiration of the existing régime.
Accordingly， the historian must feel at each line" the defects of the ancient régime， "the influence of the court of Rome， of confessional tickets， of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes， of the ridiculous marriage of Louis XIV. with Madame de Maintenon， the perpetual disorder in the finances， the pretensions of the parliament， the want of rules and leadership in the administration， . . in such a way that one breathes on reaching the epoch when one enjoys the benefits of that which is due to the unity of the laws， administration and territory." The constant feebleness of the government under Louis XIV， even， under Louis XV. and Louis XVI.， "should inspire the need of sustaining the newly accomplished work and its acquired preponderance." On the 18th of Brumaire (19-11-1799)， France came into port； the Revolution must be spoken of only as a final， fatal and inevitable tempest.[50] "When that work， well done and written in a right direction， appears， nobody will have the will or the patience to write another， especially when， far from being encouraged by the police， one will be discouraged by it." In this way， the government which， in relation to the young， has awarded to itself the monopoly of teaching， awards to itself in relation to adults， the monopoly of history.
V. On Censorship under Napoleon.
Measures against writers so called and popularizers. - Censorship， control of theaters， publications and printing. - Extent and minuteness of the repression. - Persistency in direction and impulsion. - The logical completeness and beauty of the whole system his final object. - How he accomplishes his own destruction.