At home I once made a speech deploring the injuries inflicted by the High School in making handicrafts distasteful to boys who would have been willing to make a living at trades and agriculture if they had but had the good luck to stop with the common school. But I made no converts. Not one， in a community overrun with educated idlers who were above following their fathers' mechanical trades， yet could find no market for their book-knowledge."[97] Among the pupils who receive this primary instruction the most intelligent， who study hardest， push on and pass an examination by which they obtain the certificate that qualifies them for elementary teaching. The consequences are as follows. Comparative table of annual vacancies in the various services of the prefecture of the Seine and of the candidates registered for these places. ("Débats，" Sep. 16， 1890：) Vacancies for teachers， 42； number of registered candidates， 1，847. Vacancies for female teachers， 54； number of candidates， 7，139.
- 7，085 of these young women， educated and with certificates， and who cannot get these places， must be content to marry some workman， or become housemaids， and are tempted to become lorettes. (From the church of Notre Dame de Lorette in Paris in the neighborhood of which many young， pretty women of easy virtue were to be found. (SR.))[98] Taine wrote this when compulsory education in France kept the children in school until their 13th year. Today in year 2000 they must stay until they are 16 years old but more often continue until they are 19 - 23 years old. (SR.)[99] In certain cases， the school commission may grant exemptions. But there art two or three parties in each commune， and the father of a family must stand well with the dominant party to obtain them.
[100] After the second world war the world， helped by the United Nations， have pushed obligatory education further and further， and the number of dissatisfied youth have consequently increased and increased. (SR.)[101] Law of March 28， 1882， and Oct. 30， 1886.
[102] "Journal des Débats，" Sep. 1， 1891. Report of the Commission on Statistics： "In 1878-9 the number of congregationist schools was 23，625 with 2，301，943 pupils."[103] Bureaux of the direction of public instruction， budget of 1892.
[104] "Exposition universelle" of 1889. "Rapport général，" by M.
Alfred Picard， p. 367. At the same date， the number of pupils in the public schools was 4，500，119. - "Journal des Débats，" Sep. 12， 1891， Report of the commission of statistics. "From 1878-79 to 1889-90， 5，063 public congregationist schools are transformed into secular schools or suppressed； at the time of their transformation they enumerated in all 648，824 pupils. - Following upon this secularization， 2，839 private congregationist schools are opened as competitors and count in 1889-90， 354，473 pupils." - In ten years public secular instruction gains 12，229 schools and 973，380 pupils；public congregationist instruction loses 5，218 schools and 550，639pupils. On the other hand， private congregationist instruction gains 3，790 schools and 413，979 pupils."[105] Turlin， ibid， p. 61. (M. Turlin enumerates "104，765functionaries，" to which must be added the teaching， administrative and auxiliary staff of teachers of the 173 normal schools and their 3000 pupils， all gratuitous). (In 1994 there were 247 000 primary school teachers (instituteurs) in public schools in France. Taine could not foresee that the French schools and universities should become an enormous industry， the number of teachers and universities multiplied by ten and the number of government functionaries multiplied by 20 and that the annual 50 000 vacancies should find more than a million candidates， the young overeducated persons dreaming of becoming functionaries and hence "safe" for life. (SR.))[106] In this respect， very instructive indications may be found in the autobiography of Jules Valès， "l'Enfant，" "le Bachelier，' and "l′Insurge'." Since 1871， not only in literature do the successful works of men of talent but， again， the abortive attempts of impotent innovators and blasted half-talents， converge to this point."End of The Modern Regime， Volume 2End of The Origins of Contemporary France _