The matters which have been mentioned are only a few of those which D., with bold and unsparing hand, leaving no part of the system of education untouched, dealt with while in office. It is unquestionable that he in many cases effected improvements; but the spirit and tendency of his administration were strongly impugned, and his conduct was jealously- watched by the best portion of French society. It is alleged that he steadily attempted to secure the entire control of education for the state, and to use national schools as a state instrument. For example, the changes which he introduced in the examinations for the degree of bachelor of letters are said to have been intended to force candidates to study at the government establishments; and certainly, if their working has not been misrepresented, their tendency seems to be to place candidates educated elsewhere at a disadvantage. In such charges as this, there may be exaggera tion or misconception; but D. is an ardent Bonapartist, and it is natural to suppose that he intended the results which his acts were calculated to produce. He resigned the office of minister of public instruction in 1869. He was decorated with the legion of honor in 1845 and was promoted to be officer, commander, and grand commander of that order. He has been an officer of the Turkish order of Medjidie since 1857.
Of D.'s numerous works, not a few were written for a series published under the title L'Ilistoire Universelle, of which D. was the editor. His earliest work, Geographie Poll ague de In Republique Romaine et de l'Empire, first appeared in 1838; it was followed by Geographie Historique the Mogen Age in 1839; Geographie Historique de in France in 1840; and Atlas de Geographie Historique Universelle in 1841. In 1840, he published the first volume of a work of greater pretensions than these—Histoire des Romains et des Peuples soumis iz leur Domination; a second volume appehred In 1844; a third in 1853, under the title L'Etat du Monde Remain viers la Fondation de l'Empire; but the work appears to be still incomplete. Ilistoire Sainte d'apres la Bible (1845), Histoire Romaine (1848), Ilistoire de France (1852), Histoire Grecque (4851), were among his subsequent productions. In 1862, appeared two volumes of his "Astaire de la G ace Ancienne, a work which has been crowned by the French academy. Histoire Moderns (1863), Ristoire Populaire de in France (1863), Ifistoire Populaire Contemporaine (1864), Introduction Generale a l'Histoire de Fiance (1865), were works prepared under his direction, and some of them partly con sisting of extracts from his previous writings on French history.