The Arcades Project - Operi

ceased to have the character of a preparatory school for public service . ... Pure
science was to gain nothing by this; for ... the graduating classes ... of 1817 to
1830 contributed hy far the lowest proportion of memhers to t.he Illstitut de
France . ... In 1848, the Ecole was in danger ofhcing closed." A. de Lapparent, Le
Centena.;'·e de l'Ecole poly technique (Paris, 1894), PI" 6-7, 12-15. [rl,3]
Vote of March 18, 1871, at the Ecole Poly technique, on the position to he adopted
vis-a.-vis the Commune: ·'Some . . . wonder what. this committee is that claims t.o
have been elected hy the federation of 300,000 cit.izens . ... Others . . . propose
taking up the tradition of the past and putting themselves at the forefront of the
movement. After a very lively hut peaceful discussion, a vote is helll: the partisans
of the Central Committee are fourteen in nmnher!" G. Pinet, I-listoire de l'Ecole
poly technique (Paris , 1887), p. 293. [rla,l]
In 1871, the Ecole Polyteehnique encountered justified mistrust. Voiees were
heard to say: '''The Ecole is no longer what it was in 1830!" (Pinet, p. 297).
[r1a,2]
Two characteristic passages from Edouard Foucaud, Pans invente"r: Physiologie de
['industrie ji-an,aise (paris, 1844), on the conception of industry and of the worker
before 1848: "Industrial intelligence is the daughter of heaven. It loves and
surrenders itself only to those whom society . . . calls manual laborers, those
whom intelligent persons know as brathen or workers" (p. 181). "Today, in the
nineteenth century, the chattel of the Romans, ... the Jelj of Charlemagne, the
peasant of Francis I-this miserable trinity which slavery has bmtalized bnt which
the genius of emancipation has made radiant-is called the !Jeople" (pp. 220-221).
[r1a,3]
"Without the advantages of wealth, ... or a narrow mind, ... the worker finds
retirement on an annuity to be oppressive. The sky above may well be cloudless,
and his home may well be verdant, perfumed with flowers, and enlivened by the
song of birds; yet his inactive mind remains insensible to the charms of solitude.
If, by chance, his ear should catch some sharp noise coming from a distant
manufacturing plant, or even the monotonous churning of a factory mill, then his
countenance immediately brightens ; he no longer notices the birdsongs or the
perfumes. The thick smoke escaping from the factory's high chinmey, the ringing
of the anvil, make him tremble with joy. These things remind him of the good aIel
days of manual labor motivated by a mind inspired;' Edouard Foucaud, Paris
inventeur: Physiologie de l'industrie.fran,aise (Paris, 1844), pp. 222-223. [rla,'l]
""Amid the reigning disorder,' writes Vaulahelle, 'their well-known uniform, beloved
of all, gave them a sort of' official character, which turned them into . .. the
mosl a(tive and most useful agents of the up and coming power' . ... ·'Whenever
we had to give un order that required the backing of some kind of force,' says
Mauguiu, 'we would generally entrust its execution to a student of the Ecole