The three grand machines which the Revolution had demolished with so little foresight, and which he had reconstructed at so little cost, are in working order, and, with deviations or shortcomings in result, they render to the public the required services, each its own, worship, charity and instruction.

Full toleration and legal protection to the three leading Christian cults, and even to Judaism, would of itself already satisfy the most sensitive of religious demands; owing to the donation furnished by the State and communes and by private individuals, the necessary complement is not wanting.
The Catholic community, in particular, the most numerous of all, exercises and celebrates its system of worship in conformity with its faith, according to ecclesiastical canons under its own orthodox hierarchy; in each parish, or within reach of each parish, dwells one authorized priest who administers valid sacraments; in his stole he says mass publicly in a consecrated edifice, plainly decorated at first but gradually beautified; not less publicly, various congregations of monks and nuns, the former in black robes and the "sisters in wimples and white caps, serve in the schools and asylums.
On the other hand, in these well-equipped and well-governed asylums and hospitals, in the bureaux of charity, their resources are no longer inferior to their needs, while Christian charity and philanthropic generosity are constantly operating in all directions to fill the empty drawers; legacies and private donations, after 1802, authorized by the Council of State, multiply; we see them swelling the pages of the "Bulletin des Lois."[31140] From 1800 to 1845, the hospitals and asylums are thus to receive more than 72 millions, and the charity bureaux over 49 millions; from 1800 to 1878, all together will thus receive more than 415 millions.[31141] The old patrimony of the poor is again reconstituted piece by piece; and on January 1st, 1833, asylums and hospitals, with their 51 millions of revenue, are able to support 154,000 elderly and the sickly.[31142] Like public charity, public education again becomes effective; Fourcroy, after 1806,[31143] lists 29 organized and full lycees; besides these, 370 communal secondary schools and 377 private secondary schools are open and receive 50,200; there are 25,000 children in the 4500 schools.
Finally, in 1815,[31144] we find in France, restored to its ancient boundaries, 12 faculties of Law or Medicine with 6,329 students, 36 lycees with 9000 pupils, 368 colleges with 28,000 pupils, 41 small seminaries with 5233 pupils, 1255 boarding-schools and private institutions with 39,623 pupils, and 22,348 primary schools with 737,369 scholars; as far as can be gathered, the proportion of men and women able to read and to sign their name is raised under the empire up to and beyond the figures[31145] it had reached previous to 1789.
In this manner are the worst damages repaired.

The three new administrative services, with a different set-up, do the job of the old ones and, at the expiration of twenty-five years, give an almost equal return .-- In sum, the new proprietor of the great structure sacked by the Revolution has again set up the indispensable apparatus for warming, lighting and ventilation; as he knows his own interests perfectly, and is poorly off in ready money, he contributes only a minimum of the expense; in other respects, he has grouped together his tenants into syndicates, into barracks, in apartments, and, voluntarily or involuntarily, he has put upon them the burden of cost.

In the meantime, he has kept the three keys of the three engines in his own cabinet, in his own hands, for himself alone; henceforth, it is he who distributes throughout the building, on each story and in every room, light, air and heat.

If he does not distribute the same quantity as before he at least distributes whatever is necessary; the tenants can, at last, breathe comfortably, see clearly and not shiver; after ten years of suffocation, darkness and cold they are too well satisfied to wrangle with the proprietor, discuss his ways, and dispute over the monopoly by which he has constituted himself the arbitrator of their wants .-- The same thing is done in the material order of things, in relation to the highways, dikes, canals, and structures useful to the people: here also he repairs or creates through the same despotic initiative, * with the same economy,[31146] * the same apportionment of expense,[31147] * the same spontaneous or forced aid to those interested, * the same practical efficiency.[31148] Summing it up and if we take things as a whole, and if we offset the worse with the better, it may be said that the French people have recovered the possessions they had been missing since 1789: * internal peace, * public tranquility, * administrative regularity, * impartial justice, * a strict police, * security of persons, property and consciences, * liberty in private life, * enjoyment of one's native land, and, on leaving it, the privilege of coming back; * the satisfactory endowment, gratuitous celebration and full exercise of worship; * schools and instruction for the young; * beds, nursing and assistance for the sick, the indigent and for foundlings; * the maintenance of roads and public buildings.
So that of the two groups of cravings which troubled men in 1800, the first one, that which dated from the Revolution, has, towards 1808 or 1810, obtained reasonable satisfaction.
***** [Footnote 3101: Roederer, III., 334 (August 6, 1800).] [Footnote 3102: The word means "what is beyond the Alps" but refers to a number of doctrines favoring the Pope's absolute authority.