There was a great amount of patronage attached to his ministry, nominations to all the universities, lycees, schools, etc., and, what was most agreeable to me, boxes at all the government theatres,the Grand Opera, Opera Comique, Francais, Odeon, and Conservatoire.

The other group, educated in the state colleges or in the lycees, were less hypocritical and much more courageous, but they were neither more interesting nor less bigoted.

Unlike most graduates of lycees or private schools, he had preserved a vivid memory of his college and of his masters.